As a now-seldom but was-daily user of Org-mode (work changed) who has long been fascinated with Scrivener. I think this project is a great idea. And emacs/org seems a very fertile ground to implement it in.
Scot On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 7:21 AM, Matt Price <mopto...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 7:44 PM, Alan L Tyree <alanty...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On 06/12/12 11:22, Rasmus wrote: > >> > >> Andrew Hyatt <ahy...@gmail.com> writes: > >> > >>> This sounds like an interesting project. My advice is to make a few > >>> screenshots that give people an idea what you are working towards. > >>> Of course, they could be completely fake, but it would be helpful to > >>> understand for people like me who haven't used Scrivener. > >> > >> I would also like to see this. It sounds nice when I read your > >> description, but I still don't fully appreciate the idea. > >> > >> –Rasmus > >> > > I'm also very interested. I haven't used Scrivener -- what features do > you > > see as making org a *way* better writing environment? > > > > Cheers, > > Alan > > > > -- > > Alan L Tyree http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan > > Tel: 04 2748 6206 sip:172...@iptel.org > > > > > > Hi Everyone, > > Sorry, I sent that last email off too quickly as I was realizing that > I actually had /work/ to do while I was at work... > > Scrivener is a really neat program, which is designed to help writers > organize and manage large writing problems while staying focused on > the actual task of writing. Like org-mode, it has pretty powerful > tools for manipulating the structure of a text; in general it is (from > what I can tell) way less powerful than org-mode (what isn't?) but for > a writer that may sometimes be an advantage -- it removes > distractions. > > From what I can tell (and I am not a very experienced user) one of the > main attractions of Scrivener is the metaphors it uses to organize > your work. Each project is called a 'Binder'; it's where you keep > your drafts, your notes, and any supporting materials for your > project. When you work on a project, you can "open up" your binder > and look at the materials on a 2-dimensional canvas to sort through > them. So, it's like taking your papers out of your binder and > spreading them out on your desk. > > Each element in a binder is also represented as an "index card". On > the front of hte index card is a title and a synopsis; on the back is > the actual text you've been writing. > > In combination, these two metaphors are a really helpful way of > thinking about your project, I think. > > In org-mode, it would be very difficult to replicate the > almost-tactile feel of dragging index cards around a canvas to > organize them. (the .org file structure is actually probably really > well-suited to this, but one would need to write a whole other > program,I imagine in Javascript/HTML5, to implement the dragging). > However, some of the cool things about the Scrivener interface *can* > be implemented in org. > > Take a look at the attached screenshots. I admire the 3-column > layout, with an outline view in the left-hand column, metadata > displayed on the right-hand side, and a main panel in the center which > is used either to display index-card representations of the document > structure, or the actual text that one intends to edit. > > To start with I would like to just replicate this window structure, > because it keeps you focused on writing, while having the larger > structure available if you feel the need to flit around a bit. The > third screenshot shows a semi-fake, still very primitive version of > what I'd like to have. (I haven't figured out a good way to do the > metadata yet). > > Does this help clarify a bit? Anyone think it's interesting? >
