#1

Hi folks :slight_smile:

I am now with Obsidian round one week and think I really like it. To be honest, I think I like it so much that I would like to write the first draft of my new novel in Obsidian.
I understand, that I can do that in one single file but to be more flexibel, I would like to be able to write each chapter in a single file (breakdown to scenes) to be able to re-arrange in case I see the need of change it.
Is it possible or on the roadmap to have a function to export a complete folder with lots of sheets to a single … let´s say *.rtf file? Or into a single *.md file to be able to start exchange the manuscript with the publisher?

Best regards,
Peter

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#2

Hi guys!

Any idea if this is already possible or if this is already in the pipeline or never will be?

Thanks!
Peter

#3

There are many ways of merging .md files, and of converting .md to other formats. I would expect to see some implementation within Obsidian or through a plugin at some point in the next few months.

#4

Export to PDF (v0.9.11) includes transclusions.
Easy then to export from any PDF editor into any format you want.

So you can just transclude all the chapters and scenes you want and then export.

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#5

hey @nathschlaeger, awesome question @Dor 's solution is a great one if you want to have more control from inside obsidian

there are also simple online tools and apps you can use to convert all your .md files into one long one.

I couldn’t find the exact one that I use online for free, but you can just google

“merge markdown into one file online”

or something similar and you’ll find a lot of good options

if you are comfortable with learning new tools I use org-mode in spacemacs to draft, format and export my book all from one single file. it’s all free open source and in my opinion it’s even better than using something like scrivener

but using obsidian is an interesting challenge and I still think it’s doable

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#6

Dear Santi!

Thanks again for your support. I already wrote a novel in a Markdown Editor whilst having all notes on paper :slight_smile: I used IA-Writer, which is pretty good but not that, what I was looking for.

I like the idea of being able to create let´s say 20 chapters in 20 *.md files and havin linked several subdocuments to each chapter with relations, deeper info, character sheets, explanations and so on.

Writing a typoscript does not need lots of formatting, which makes an matkdown editor the tool of my choice. It is plain text, and that makes it fast, reliable and easy to handle …

I will check the google search string you mentioned and will come back to let you know if this is usable for me!

Thank you!
Peter

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#7

perfect @nathschlaeger sounds good. I agree with you.

in your case @Dor 's approach for using embeding notes to later export to pdf is a genius approach that you might benefit from.

If not the online converters / apps might be what you need.

I agree with you though, plaintext is a great idea for writing a book, I wish it was a more popular approach, just in case you are interested org-mode is also plain text and 100x more powerful than markdown with some great features for book writers

Perhaps you might find this awesome lecture useful

I recommend org-mode for long format content writing to keep things really organized and easy to navigate.

Eventhough markdown allows for this type of writing (specially when used with a powerful tool like obsidian) org-mode will no doubt save you a lot of formatting and structruing time (but it does have a learning curve)

Just a suggestion, but yeah If you’ve used .md before for writting a novel then obsidian would be a great choice!

#9

Dear StoltHD!

Thanks for the hint with Zettlr. It looks also good as a tool. Like Zettelkasten the name Zettlr sounds veeery german to me - could it be that both programs have been developed by german engineers?

Anyway: I did not know how much innovative and creative teams there are out there beside the usual suspects like Evernote and OneNote and Notion and Roam and so on …

Thanks to all of you!
Peter

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#10

Marked 2 is an md previewer that sits in your doc. It can render streaming previews of multiple docs, scrivener files, clipboards… whatever you drag and drop onto the icon. Great features for dealing with long documents too. If you dont want to spend $10 I’d suggest googling brett terpstra multiple markdown files and grab his grablink tool. Not sure if thats the name. But hes solid. Let me know if you try out marked 2 or something else. I will need to try this soon. But it works right now on my drafts app ulysses, scrivener…

#11

@nathschlaeger Zettlr is an awesome program as well, it takes it’s name from the concept of Zettelkasten which was made popular by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann.
Zettelkasten means box of index cards (there are a lot of other translations, that’s the one that I like the most)

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#12

Name is from zettel crossed with Tumblr
Developed by Hendrik Erz aka nathanlesage

The whole zettelkasten movement developed in Germany - zettelkasten.de

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