An exploration of how Darwin kept track of his various notes, enabling him to produce a huge body of work.
Writing tagged: ‘Darwin book’
My unplanned archives
Collections of informally documented stuff have become my archives of sorts.
Converting my notes into a chapter
How I used my note-making system to research and write a chapter of my Darwin book.
Newsletter No. 28: ‘Breaking my golden rule’
Thoughts on nature writing · Richard Feynman · Vikings! · Bronze Age diets · recovered daguerreotypes · transit of Phobos · Alice Roberts · Cal Flyn
Nature writing’s ill-defined, thriving ecosystem
There is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to whatever ‘nature writing’ is supposed to be these days. It might not all be to my personal taste, but such diversity has to be a good thing.
Fools and dilettantes
How the problems I’ve been encountering lately are a sign (I hope) that my book is starting to come together.
Newsletter No. 26: ‘Slits for pupils’
Research triage · filing your nuggets · pupil shapes · Amy Liptrot · moths and bats · critical reading · early medieval history · Tim Dee · book reviews
No going back
How was I ever able to organise my thoughts without ‘atomising’ them—breaking them down into smaller and smaller discrete notes—and then linking them together?
Everything I needed was already in my notes!
I’ve known it from the start, but this new way of making notes is perfect for the way I tend to work. It’s what I’ve been looking for all these years.
HebWeb interview
I have been interviewed for the local HebWeb site.
New facts emerge
On the unavoidably provisional nature of essay collections.
When notes begin talking to each other
Out of nowhere, I suddenly found myself with an interesting new idea…