Bob Doto
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bobdoto.bsky.social
Bob Doto
@bobdoto.bsky.social
Author of *A System for Writing* amazon.com/dp/B0D18J83VB

📝 Capture Thoughts
🕸 Make Connections
🐎 Think Wildly
💻 Write Constantly

I really enjoy talking with people. Hmu in the feed. Also, backgammon.
This is fundamental and key, imo, with regards to capturing ideas in a zettelkasten even when you can't express or even comprehend them completely. It's Luhmann's "septic tank" idea. The value of an idea comes later, in relationship to other ideas.
“You only come to know these things in hindsight – when you look back and see the precarious chain of events, happenstance, and good fortune that led to wherever you are now. Before you reach that point, you have no way of predicting... https://writingslowly.com/2025/05/04/you-only-come-to-know.html
The Organised Writer
How to stay on top of all your projects and never miss a deadline.
organised-writer.com
May 4, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
Look, all I'm saying is, in this age when they're stuffing hallucination engines into everything, it's time to start, or revive, your hipster PDAs and Zettelkästen.
April 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Timely and on point. When I get responses on Reddit that "post-structuralism and anything that came from it is *poison*", (like I did a month ago), Malabou's words ring in my ear. (listen to the first ten min if nothing else).
April 2, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Thank you, Malik, for this wonderful, off-the-cuff, chit-chat.... Zettelkasten, AI, garbage writing, and more malikalimoekhamedov.substack.com/p/bob-doto-t...
Bob Doto: The Genie of the Zettelkasten Subreddit
Become a better writer with the author of the magnificent "A System for Writing" and a Zettelkasten-powered writing instructor, Bob Doto.
malikalimoekhamedov.substack.com
March 26, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Haters of post-structualism beware.... iai.tv/articles/lan...
Language creates an altered state of consciousness | Jeremy I Skipper
iai.tv
March 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Looking for alternatives to Amazon for selling the digital format of A System for Writing. I'm only aware of Gumroad. Anyone have suggestions? Especially grateful if you've used the service for selling ebooks yourself and can speak to its ease of set-up.
March 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
Had a great time at #pkmsummit2025, diving deep into productivity, writing, and knowledge management over two days.

Highlights: Giving Nick Milo a demo of @markway.io, showing people
whats possible with Raycast, and @bobdoto.bsky.social writing talk.
March 16, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I'm giving a demo on how I write with a zettelkasten on Friday after lunch. So, don't stuff yourself into a food coma beforehand. Also, hmu if wanna meet up. I'll be holding court at The Bunk. digitalefitheid.notion.site/Program-PKM-...
Program PKM Summit 2025 | Notion
Besides a central opening and closure of the day, the program is mostly build out of workshops. Interactive sessions where you can learn from each other. In every workshop round you can choose 4 diffe...
digitalefitheid.notion.site
March 7, 2025 at 12:49 AM
One of the many problems with equating reading with "mining" (as in "mining books for knowledge," etc.) is that it equates ideas with rocks.

#uncookedideasabouthowknowledgeworks
March 3, 2025 at 10:31 PM
So stoked to be speaking at this year's PKM Summit in Utrecht, where I'll be live demoing how I write with a zettelkasten. Wanna come?? Wanna come for 20% off?? I bring you discounts... www.eventbrite.nl/e/tickets-pk...
PKM Summit 2025: 14 & 15 March
Unlock the Power of Knowledge! Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is revolutionizing the way we deal with information. Join the community!
www.eventbrite.nl
February 22, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Phones eat memory
February 20, 2025 at 1:16 AM
A recent ditty on folgezettel. The piece gives a couple brief examples of divergence within alphanumeric "regions" to show just how varied topics can be despite notes sharing the same numeric prefix.

writing.bobdoto.computer/folgezettel-...
Folgezettel Will Not Necessarily Create Discrete Topical Sections in Your Zettelkasten
Clearing up misunderstandings about how folgezettel functions in the zettelkasten
writing.bobdoto.computer
February 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
My five-week online course, "Writing with Your Zettelkasten," begins in one week! If you've read A System for Writing, and you feel confident putting to work the various note-types and principles discussed therein, you're ready to take this course. DM w/ ?
bobdoto.computer/sfw-writing-...
SFW Writing with Your Zettelkasten — bobdoto.computer
Creative people deserve creative systems.
bobdoto.computer
February 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Prieur: "The 'deep state' is a propaganda term for a clunky bureaucracy that T* wants to replace w old-fashioned corruption: public officials using the office for personal gain. Not that that doesn't happen now, but it will surely get worse w so many grifters & easy marks." ranprieur.com/index.html
Ran Prieur
ranprieur.com
January 22, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
ONE MORE DAY to save $200 on my Practical PKM cohort! Includes a complimentary copy of LifeHQ ($297), a year of access to The Library ($500), and ALL of my video courses ($485).

It's $797 until midnight Sunday! You can find out more and sign up here: join.practicalpkm.com
Practical PKM Cohort
4-week live cohort to craft your custom knowledge management system in Obsidian. Gain actionable workflows to organize your ideas, spark creativity, and confidently manage your projects
join.practicalpkm.com
January 18, 2025 at 11:36 PM
David Lynch (RIP) on where stories and scripts come from (hint: fragments of ideas). We need more David Lynch's in the pkm /zettelkasten world. m.youtube.com/shorts/-dBKj...
David Lynch on where ideas come from 🧩 (via ​⁠@BAMorg) #RIPDavidLynch
YouTube video by Screen Off Script
m.youtube.com
January 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
There seems to be some confusion in the PKM world re the difference btwn "maintaining" and "maintenance." You maintain your zettelkasten practice by regularly engaging with your zettelkasten. You perform maintenance on your zettelkasten when there's a problem. Doing -vs- fixing.
January 15, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Thanks, Donovan!
January 14, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
It's not just this situation, and it's not just Teslas
January 2, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
They broke down how much of a Google search is useless for finding information on a popular topic
January 3, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
December 28, 2024 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Bob Doto
maybe the single most damaging thing the internet ever did was expose rich assholes to what everyone else actually thought of them, because every last one of them lost their fucking minds and is determined to burn the world to the ground in order to stop us making fun of them
All of these fucking rich guys bitch and bitch and bitch, what else is American society supposed to give you? It’s given you everything! Is it that you don’t want everyone to think you’re embarrassing dorks? That’s not our problem
December 26, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Getting 2nd place on Mike's list is a great end-of-year surprise.
2: A System for Writing by Bob Doto

This book was the biggest surprise for me in 2024. Zettelkasten never really clicked for me, but Bob convinced me to give it another go. Even if you've written off zettelkasten as not for you, this book WILL make you a better writer.
December 27, 2024 at 1:38 AM