3 Lessons from 800 Note Cards in the Zettelkasten

The Anatomy of a Frankensteined Zettelkasten

The full version of this article is available at my website. I’d prefer you read it there!

I was talking to Bryan Collins before we recorded an episode for his Become a Writer Today podcast recently, and the Zettelkasten note cards have changed the way he writes. We talked about it because he found it through my Forge piece on it, and it also changed the way I wrote and worked. If you have no idea what a Zettelkasten is, that’s the prequel to this piece.

If you’re an OG Star Wars fan or hate prequels for whatever reason (and sequels even more so now), I’m sorry I brought it up and offer this summary: it’s basically a note-taking method that focuses on connecting note cards together.

Disclaimer: I’m well aware of the mystique and criticisms on writing about taking notes. In this case, let’s treat note cards like the writing surface it is… which is basically just any other — nothing magical. It just happens to work really well for me, and I think it could work for you too.

Here are three lessons I’ve learned from writing 800 note cards through a year with the Zettelkasten:

1. Start with Writing by Hand

I first started taking notes by writing them on 4x6 index cards. The constraints are really useful. The extra effort of writing by hand encourages me to figure out if something really is worth noting down, instead of just copying and pasting. Plus, it removes the distraction of the internet (which was the main reason I went analog). There’s evidence it’s better for memory.

The constraint of the physical size of the note card also means that a note won’t get too long before I run out of space. This would be a problem if I started digitally.

I did start buying heavy duty 4x6 index cards, I didn’t like how thin the regular ones were. If you’re a klutz like me, be wary of papercuts. The Zettelkasten can bite.