tags:
- formulation
- notes
- writing
created: 2024-09-09Write one note for one discrete source of information. If the source is separated into chapters, write a separate note for every chapter. If it feels like you're writing too much in a single document, split that source into sections and create a note for every section.
If you see a piece of information you want to hold on to, formulate it into the question-answer format. Why did I pick this format in the first place? I explain my reasoning here.
Italicize the part of the answer which is the minimum amount of information needed to answer the question. If the answer is a list, don't italicize the list items.
Match the spelling of the terminology in the source unless you know it's incorrect. If the source says, "FlipFlop," write FlipFlop. If the source says, "flip-flop," write flip-flop. This isn't a hard set rule, but often my brain doesn't know which way to write it and so I get hung up on it.
Ideally, you should include the question in the answer. Rephrase it so that the question is the first part of the answer, with the second part being the actual answer to the question. I might get to the point where I only include the italicized part of an answer and omit any unimportant words.
| Callout | Usage |
|---|---|
example |
To give an example of the concept being demonstrated. |
info |
To link other notes or sources which explain a concept more. |
note |
To provide more context in your own words based on your own understanding or the explanation of someone or something else. If the explanation is coming from another person, write "From (name of person), (name of source if applicable)." If the explanation is coming from AI, write "From (name of AI)." |
question |
To answer practice questions given directly by the source material. |
quote |
To include words verbatim from the source. You might find a beautiful quote or phrase that captures the idea better than anything you can come up with. Here is an example. You should also use a quote callout if the source is including a verbatim quote from someone else and you want to include it in your note. The title of the callout would follow this pattern: "Quote by (name) from (source of quote) where (describe context of the quote)." These are different from note callouts in that the words of a note callout aren't copied directly from any source (or they shouldn't be), while quote callouts are for signaling that the words in them are taken verbatim from somewhere else. |
summary |
To provide a summary of a section or the entirety of a note. Sometimes rephrasing a note again will help you retain the most important aspects of it and aid future you in referencing it if needed. |
todo |
To write down something in the source material which you're skipping. If a section may not worth writing notes for in the moment, but may be useful to look up later, reference it in a todo callout and move on through the source. |
Mermaid allows you to create graphs with text in Obsidian. If a source has a graph in it, you should use Mermaid to recreate it in your note.
You should also create graphs for mapping concepts which the source is describing. For example, if you were learning about the government you could create a graph of the various branches, agencies, courts, etc.
Another good use of Mermaid is for creating mindmaps. You can try creating mindmaps with Obsidian Canvases, but I can already foresee that process becoming arduous. Mermaid graphs are much easier to create in my opinion. I believe it would be best to create a formulation for the mindmap of a given concept.
Formulations are pieces of writing in your own words. They don't necessarily need to be in the question-answer format. They can use notes to base their information from.
Most commonly these can be homework assignments, essays, or even writing for the sake of writing. Writing essays about a topic is a great way to internalize the concepts of that topic. An example of this for programming or software is writing a guide on how to use the programming language or software, like in my Gentoo Installation Guide.