@anon20961960 there are quite a few tutorials on Obsidian. You are probably already aware of Linking Your Thinking YouTube videos, if not I recommend it. That is a good place to start. I’m also taking the The Sweet Setup course on Obsidian.
Others may disagree with this but here is my perspective as it has evolved.
Obsidian is an OK markdown editor but there are, in my estimation, better md editors, e.g., iA Writer, Typora, et al. Obsidian’s power is in two primary areas:
- As a PKM note taking/thinking/idea emergence system
- The plugin system which enables a vast array of features, customization and expansion
Obsidian is suitable for writing much like any md editor, but as noted above, I believe there are better editors if that is one’s primary use case need. There are also better tools for long-form writing, e.g., Scrivener and Ulysses. That said, I am experimenting with Obsidian for my book project. There are a few reasons why I’m experimenting with Obsidian for long-form writing: - I can seamlessly and easily link research notes as I write using the backlinks or the Workbench plug-in. Obviously one can create links to research in Scrivener or Ulysses but these are one-way and require a copy/paste process, which is disruptive to thought and workflow.
- I like having everything in plain/md text. While I can technically write and compile in md in Scrivener, and Ulysses uses a form of md, both programs use a different underlying file format requiring exporting/compiling to get to the md/plain text files. I also find Scrivener to be a “heavy” application. In contrast, every file in Obsidian is in your local folder as a plain text file. This means that I can use ANY application that reads plain text files. However, Obsidian lacks a lot of writing features found in Ulysses and Scrivener. The ability to temporarily link multiple files together to get a better sense of ”flow” is but one example of a feature in Ulysses and Scrivener that is currently lacking in Obsidian—though a plug-in may well be developed to address this issue.
- IF Obsidian can handle a book length project, in addition to what I have stated above, I’ll save the Ulysses subscription each year and I will not have to content with DropBox for syncing my work in Scrivener between my MBP and iPad. I use my iPad for a lot of writing.
I think some of the enthusiasm for Obsidian is a Swiss Army Knife approach to the application, similar to how many approached Notion. Some are using Obsidian for notes, PKM, project management, writing and more.
So, where am I on my serpentine journey on writing and note-taking applications? - For now, Craft remains the application for work related meeting and project notes. However, IF I find Obsidian sufficient for writing, I’ll consider using it for work meeting and project notes. IF I take this route, Obsidian will be used for PKM, notes and writing with everything on my local drive in plain text. This is an appealing prospect.
- I’m experimenting with Obsidian for all writing projects, regardless of size. As an aside, I don’t find Craft a good application for writing—I find the block system makes longer form writing a frustrating experience.
In short, at this point, I’m at a three-way fork in the road.
Option 1- Craft for meeting and project notes
- Obsidian for PKM
- Ulysses or Scrivener for writing projects
Option 2 - Use Obsidian for meeting and project notes and PKM
- Use Ulysses or Scrivener for writing projects
Option 3 - Use Obsidian for meeting and project notes, PKM and writing of any size
I’m leaning toward Option 2 but I’m also using Craft in Obsidian in parallel during this experimental phase. Time will tell if I believe Obsidian will be a good long-form writing platform.
I will not use Obsidian for project and event management.