Second (and third) thoughts on Obsidian

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I was going to stop using Obsidian today.

But…

Yesterday I discovered how to use the text editing tool in Gboard. It seems to make selections in Obsidian much easier than using my finger. So that solved at least a bit of that problem.

And today, I solved my share to OneNote problem by activating the OneNote floatie. I tested it I’m making some notes, and while making those notes, I decided to use both apps because I still wasn’t feeling 100% ready to abandon Obsidian.

But I discovered while doing all this sharing and copy pasting articles, using the finger press instead of the Gboard clipboard (which is less likely to strip out formatting), that OneNote doesn’t keep links that are in the text, but Obsidian does. Which is quite handy.

And last night I discovered that embedding audio files in Obsidian places a playback tool right in the Obsidian note. OneNote does do something similar with the attachment in the note, but the player is nowhere near as attractive.

That seems like such a small thing but I was looking at that and thinking I really want to keep Obsidian just based on appearances. It’s not a good reason to choose one piece of software over another one. However, even though Obsidian is boring and gray and low contrast in light mode in some ways, at least I can get a white background behind my folder view?) (Custom CSS snippets.)

So here I am tonight seriously considering sticking with Obsidian despite what I consider to be significant drawbacks and only a few true advantages. Admittedly, a couple of those advantages really play right into the things that I like, but those drawbacks are significant.

But I don’t know, I kind of think I’m going to stick with Obsidian after all.

How I find things I need to know (for the next book)

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I was going to link to a post about how I have all my books for a series in one LibreOffice Writer file, but when I went looking I couldn’t find one. I still feel like it’s here somewhere, but since I can’t find it, it might as well not exist. So here’s a substitute.

The primary way I’ve used to find information I might need that’s in a previous book in a series isn’t a series bible. It’s a document that contains the text of every book and story I’ve written in that series. Yes, the file size is large—these documents for each series have a lot of words in them! One of them has almost one million words. But LibreOffice Writer doesn’t give me any trouble with it, and when I need to know something, I just search and find it.

Well, actually, to be exact, I make an EPUB from that file and I search it in Calibre.

Calibre’s EPUB viewer has some really powerful search abilities.

The type of search I use most often is:

Nearby words – Searches for whole words that are near each other. So for example, the search calibre cool will match places where the words calibre and cool occur within sixty characters of each other. To change the number of characters add the new number to the end of the list of words. For instance, calibre cool awesome 120 will match places where the three words occur within 120 characters of each other. Note that punctuation and accents are not ignored for these searches.

(Calibre User Manual, https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/viewer.html#id6, accessed 7/30/2025)

This is how I find what I want when I need it, straight from the source documents (even if it takes a while and a little extra reading). But it gives me context. And I try to copy anything out that I might need to reference later into my series notes file so I don’t have to look it up again.

That’s it. That’s my “series bible” substitute.

Obsidian is great, but is it for me?

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I want to love Obsidian, but as you can guess, any comment that starts with that kind of phrase is going to be a comment saying but…

I do love writing fiction in it.

I don’t love it for my notes in general.

It’s not nearly as easy to skim as my Writer documents, and it’s not as easy to paste into, copy from, or otherwise capture or organize notes as it is in OneNote. Some of that might be my incomplete set up. It seemed like the best move to make folders and subfolders as I go for organization, and not getting ahead of myself (especially since I wasn’t planning to get in a hurry to port over my notes from OneNote), but that means I’m making a lot of decisions every time I make a new note that doesn’t fit into the current setup. That’s a lot of little choke points.

Also, the interlinking isn’t really as great as I thought it would be. Only the embedding is truly awesome. Embedding other notes’ content in a note is really easy and really cool.

However, I made a new note and embedded some content into it from some other notes, with the plan to copy out the resulting text as a whole, but copying from the Reading View was finicky even on the computer (selecting text is very finicky on my Android phone from the Obsidian app). It did end up working the way I wanted, and I can see it working really well if I design my files in a certain way to make it work better, but for what I used it for, I could have copied and pasted the text from the other files faster, and I’d have ended up with an unchanging copy of what I used. To get that now, I’d have to copy from Reading View and paste it into another new note.

So, no, now that I’m thinking of it, the time spent wasn’t worth it in the set up of the new note at all, and if I change any of the text in the original files (which has huge benefits in some cases), I’ll have no way of confirming what was actually in the second file, because it will update, too (which is a negative in this case). Meaning embed isn’t as big a benefit as it seems on the surface after all.

I really need to decide if I’m ready to give up and go back to OneNote, or if I need to commit to going all in and quickly with Obsidian so I can get over these growing pains and learn to deal with the limitations and make the benefits actually work for me.

Because other than having md files I can move around, they really aren’t yet.

Make a list

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I want to make a list of the WIPs I want to finish. Well, not really, because I have a list. What I want is to add up the number of WIPs I want to finish this year, how many I’ve already finished this year, and then create a way to track it for the accountability page. Especially since I’ve already started and will continue to start new WIPs this year. It’s inevitable, mostly because I have series that are ongoing.

The Year of WIPs

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I wrote about this in a different post, but I thought I’d break it out into its own. It’s important. It’s my main goal for 2025, and it deserves its own space. :)

Time to move on; time to finish; time to start fresh

I’ve set a goal this year to finish as many works in progress as I can, preferably every last one of them. I’m talking specifically about those that I started before the end of 2024, but I’ve already added in a few new ones for 2025. I like to write short stories, and I’m not going to stop just because I’m trying to finish some novels, novellas and a few other short stories. And the novel ideas, well, they just keep coming.

I have several series, and in each one, I have a tendency to start the next book right after finishing the last. Then I run out of momentum on it or start feeling like I need to write a different book instead, because of need or expectation, so I leave it hanging until I can get back to it in the rotation (or whenever I decide I’ve had enough and am going to finish it anyway).

This year, I want to get some of those books out of the way. All of them, in fact. But I’ll settle for most.

It might be that I’ll always have a stack of WIPs waiting for me even if I get the old ones out of the way. It might not be preventable. :D But it would be nice to have a fresh start in 2026. To do that, I have to finish out 2025—and all these WIPs!

New streak?

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I have four days of writing in a row. Three days of more than 300 words a day. I’m thinking it’s a streak.

Now, to decide whether it’s a four day streak of writing or a three day streak of 300+ words. I’ll let you know tomorrow! ;)

Getting closer to done

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The scenes I thought would go quickly have taken a little more time to finish up. My subconscious thinks there’s more story there to tell, and I’m letting it.

But I am almost done with it, and it feels so good. I’ve spent longer than I wanted on this one, and I’m hoping to transfer my momentum to my next story.

The Year of WIPs

I’ve set a goal this year to finish as many works in progress as I can (those that I had started before the end of 2024). I have several series, and in each one, I have a tendency to start the next book right after finishing the last. Then I run out of momentum on it or start feeling like I need to write a different book instead, so I switch and leave it hanging until I can get back to it in the rotation (or whenever I decide I’ve had enough and am going to finish it anyway).

This year, I want to get some of those books out of the way. I’ll be honest with you, though, and tell you I’ve already added two new WIPs to the pile since 2025 started. It might be that I’ll always have a stack of WIPs waiting for me even if I get the old ones out of the way. I do usually finish what I start. There’s the occasional story start that doesn’t work out, but this is the exception, not the rule.

Today, I’m back at it. I’d like this to be the first WIP I cross off the list and I’d like to do that today. Wish me luck. :)

Today is a day for finishing

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I have a story I’m working on finishing today. I’m most of the way there, but there’s still a little to finish up. I want to say it’s one of the rare stories where I end up writing scenes out of order that have to be rearranged as the story consolidates itself in my head. That’d be a lie. Lately, this has been the rule instead of the exception.

I’ll say most of this seemed to start (or get considerably more common) in the last few years. I’ve written extensively about the probable reasons for that so I won’t bother again, but I’m hopeful it’ll get better. For a while, I didn’t even want to write at all, and that did get better, so there’s always hope!

Anyway, working on this story today and I’m pretty excited that it’s coming together finally, after some scene shifting, cuts, and redrafting.*

But sometimes the story that’s there isn’t the story you really want to tell, and your subconscious calls you on it. :D Now it is, and I’m so happy I trusted my subconscious. I’m really happy with what I have so far.

*I usually call this editing, but in truth, it’s really just being creative and finding the story that my subconscious is trying to get out onto the page in the way it wants it there.

January’s experiment

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I’m halfway through the month, but yesterday, I realized there was an experiment I needed to do, so I’m starting it now, even if it’s a bit late into the month.

I’ve been writing for most of my life. I’ve been self-publishing for over 14 years now. I thought I’d be further along by now, but I can pretty definitively say that the reason I’m not is because I’ve struggled so long with trying to get faster in a way that hasn’t worked for me. I may never get faster, and I’m tired of that struggle, to be honest. I think pushing so hard for it at various times has led to burn out and blocks and other struggles that have really affected my desire to write when I most needed to do it to keep up my momentum. I don’t think I’ll ever be faster than I am now—or at least I don’t think me consciously pushing for it is going to make it happen. Who knows what the future will bring?

Anyway, my point is that I’ve decided to eliminate some of the things that get in my way, things that make me having feelings that affect my joy in writing, and that aren’t helpful. These things might be tied to perfectionism. (Isn’t everything?)

I often use timers to keep me focused while I write. They work. They work really well. And then I see the WPH that my spreadsheet usually calculates for me (because once I’m using timers I can’t seem to avoid tracking them), and it jump-starts that internal critic. That’s all you did? You should try for more words next time! Didn’t you focus? Why aren’t you faster? Why can so-and-so write so many words in a sprint/session/hour but you can’t? What’s wrong with you?

Yeah.

That kind of criticism isn’t good for anyone. It certainly isn’t good for me.

So this experiment for January came to mind.

I’m going to use my timers and (gasp) not track a single one of them. Total word counts for the day is all I’ll pay attention to. It’s all I ever should pay attention to, anyway. I won’t stop tracking that, because it keeps me moving forward and it is important to me. I’ve been tracking my daily word count since August 2012. I like having that record of my progress.

But as for the rest? I don’t need it.

At the end of January in about two weeks, I’ll see how I feel about the experiment and if I want to make it permanent. Or if I’ve managed to pick up a habit of not caring about those sessions metrics. :D That’d be nice.

Just got it: tags

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Holy crap. I’ve struggled with how to tag entries here on this blog for years. But less than a minute ago, I finally figured it out.

From now on, tags on this site will be the index entries. Categories are the table of contents, really, in a usability sense, but now I have my answer for tags.

This seems like such a simple thing, and I have to wonder why it too me so long to figure this out. :) You know what they say about the forest and the trees. I guess this truly was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. :D

My new year

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I’m always trying to figure out what I want to do with this blog–how to make it work for me.

But it already does. I just forget sometimes that it’s okay for it to simply exist in the way that it does. I start to feel pressure when I notice that (nearly) everyone else in the blog business is trying to run a business.

Look, this is a blog. If you learn something here, it isn’t because I taught it, it’s because something I’ve said about my own journey and life resonated with you, and you did the work to apply it to your own life.

I ramble. I talk about my own struggles. This blog is like my body double so I can get closer to reaching my own goals. I need that accountability. I like writing about my failures. Maybe I’m too introspective. Maybe it slows me down. What I do know is that if I don’t write out these things they start to billow up inside me and make me feel like I’m ready to claw my way out of my own skin.

And I enjoy writing the blog for whatever reason. But I hate structured writing. Don’t like putting together essays or articles. It feels hard. It definitely isn’t fun.

This–stream of consciousness writing–is easy. It feels fun, and it relaxes me.

So here I am. It’s time to reset for 2025, a little early, I know, but is it ever really too early to do better? No, I don’t think so. :D

Welcome to my new year.

See you around.

P.S. If you have a blog that’s just a blog, let me know and I’ll share the link, for other writers who just want to read about someone else’s struggles with writing and publishing for a break from their own.

5 minutes of writing

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I don’t like intentions. They feel like a set up for failure. What they really are for me is a hit of dopamine that takes away the push I need to actually do the thing I intend to do.

Counterintuitive since I need real accountability to get things done if I’m basically not obsessed with it already, huh?

So, no intentions today. No stated intentions ever if I can control myself past this little rebellion.

But…

Yesterday, I tried out writing for 5 minutes while I let my (decaf) coffee brew and that worked surprisingly well, so of course I’m going to try that again today.

Uh oh. Is that a stated intention? Erase it. Pretend it doesn’t exist, because I actually want to do this 5 minute thing. :D

(Yes, I’m typing this blog post on my phone while I sit up in bed thinking about my day and try to motivate myself to step out onto the cold hardwood and get it started.)

A Good Day to Write

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Spending the day writing is a good way to avoid the stress of watching and reading election news.

I voted, had lunch, and now it’s time to sit down and catch up with my November word count goal. :)

First goal? Write for 3.25 hours and try to get nine 20 minute sprints in there. I’m already down 15 minutes so that’s probably not even possible, but as many as I can get in there will suffice.

September 2024 accountability post

Lynn

Let’s see. I finally cracked 10,000 again. I wrote 10,600 words in September. I restarted my daily writing streak. I’m on day 27 now of > 200 words a day (assuming I finish today’s words, which I will). However, and this is huge as far as I’m concerned, I didn’t finish any of the projects I wanted to finish—yes, those same August goals that I didn’t finish in August are still incomplete.

One of the short stories is not so short now, and I did get back to work on the novel. As for the rest, just didn’t get to it because I kept telling myself that the short story was close to being done and I should just stick with it instead of moving on to any of the rest of the things.

Mistake?

I’m honestly not sure.

I will say that as of last night, I’ve decided that one reason I’m stuck on this particular short story is because I haven’t been trusting myself. I wrote a whole bunch of scenes (or pieces of scenes, to be precise) that I cut out after I started them. I pulled one of the more fleshed out bits back into the story and told myself to stop second guessing everything. I know this isn’t the way to do my best. My best comes from writing what my subconscious tells me to write and letting it be.

Maybe I’ve started to think of the story as too important or something. That’s always a possibility. I’m always fighting the demons of perfectionism, and it gets its claws into everything I do the minute I stop guarding against it.

Anyway, September was an improvement. I’ve finally started to feel like I’m getting into a bit of a routine after the routine busting events of mid-year. Here’s to hoping October will be better still. :)

How’d I do with my goals in August?

Lynn

Not so well. I didn’t finish any of the things I wanted to finish in August and I’m really not sure why. Every day felt like a struggle to get to the writing, and I admit I’m still having a lot of trouble falling into a routine now that I don’t have my days to myself.

However, there does seem to be some movement in the right direction that started near the end of the month.

For the last four or five days, I’ve been sitting down and writing for an appreciable amount of time, and making progress on my stalled stories.

My total word count in August was very low, and it wasn’t helped when I deleted 3,821 words from one of my stories. Net word count for the month came in at an embarrassing 431 words. I’ve already blown past that in just one day of September.

August is behind me now, and I’m planning for a much better September.

Goals for August 2024

Lynn

This is a simple list of the goals I’ve set for August. I’ll post a comprehensive assessment after the month ends. It probably won’t be as formal as it sounds. :)

No word count goal for the month. Just a goal to finish:

  • 3 short stories
  • a weekly chapter of my serial
  • the novel I’ve been working on for far too long

At halfway through the month, I’ve gone over the length I wanted for one of those short stories and it feels kind of like it’s never going to end. I haven’t even touched the other two. As for the weekly chapters, I’m two behind, but I might push to get two up today and get that back on track.

June–July 2024 accountability

Lynn

So…the months keep slipping away and I keep forgetting to write these accountability posts. Not sure what to do about that other than make a calendar entry for them. I don’t want to do that, for various reasons, so I probably won’t.

In June, I wrote 1,537 words, and in July, I wrote 2,126.

I know what happened, and is still happening, but I’m not having a lot of luck fixing it. Yet. My daughter moved home, and it has really messed up every routine I had. And honestly, I was never good at keeping routines anyway, so this has been even more challenging than I thought it’d be. We’ve been living apart for several years, so reacquainting ourselves with compromise and sharing spaces has been a process. I also had to wrap up the last of the issues with my Dad’s estate.

July was when I really started to realize nothing was working for me with the writing and my routines. I feel lucky I’m doing better in August, even though it hasn’t been by much. My August word count is already higher than July.

But I’ve had to give up the effort to create some kind of schedule for my writing. I’m thinking I just need to really find something I love to write to get me working on my fiction as often as possible.

I need to worry about finishing things, writing new things that make me happy and enthusiastic, and publishing.

So there you go. I’ll write up an August goals post as soon as I publish this one.

Joined ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors)

Lynn

I’ve been meaning to join the Alliance for Independent Authors for a while, but I’ve just never gotten around to it.

Until now.

I’ve finally joined. :D

Alliance of Independent Authors member badge
There’s an affiliate link on the image, meaning I’ll get credit for it if you click through and join.

There are plenty of reasons why I decided it was finally time, but the big one was that I’m getting antsy about having few other authors to talk to about the publishing side of writing. It’s time for me to correct that. :)