I’ve learned that creating and maintaining links between related notes is a key aspect of the Zettelkasten method. Linking notes to each other helps to uncover new insights and connections and improves the organization of my Zettelkasten. But how to find the best strategy for linking?
I choose using links for Zettelkasten with two different goals in mind:
to build up a network of ideas
to define a hierarchical structure
Both linking methods support the further access of ideas:
The links in my network of ideas are leading me to hidden connections in the slip-box and support serendipity.
The links which define hierarchical structures are leading me to often visited notes that belong together.
A folder structure with separated “Permanent Notes” and “Structure Notes” helps me to distinguish between the two structures.
Here‘s my collection of concepts for linking notes:
Move forward. Link backward.
Always keep a link to the source.
What‘s your preferred strategy for linking? And what‘s your benefit from using it?
I guess I don’t really think about link structure too often. I write notes like a Wikipedia article—if I mention something and I feel like it should have its own article, I link it.
So I suppose my graph view is more like some sort of “creativity catalyst” than a map for navigation purposes. Sometimes I’ll look at it and see an uncreated note that I linked a long time ago, but by then I’ll have gathered ideas from other notes on what that thing really is, and I’ll turn it into a real note. And then the links and ideas just keep building up.
I guess it’s because I mostly use Obsidian for planning stories. The only other thing I use it for is school, and with that, I just use folders and ocassionally tags. I rarely link.
Unless it’s vocab words, but then I just link it to a note in the inspiration folder with my writing stuff.
I like the idea of structured links for optimal navigation and organization without folders, but linking freely is my preferred method because it leads to more creativity. Also, more time is spent having fun writing the note than thinking about structure and which links to put where.
Compare these two types of linking with Permanent Notes:
Direct Linking and
Linking with Terms
Linking with terms will give you the chance to find hidden links between related ideas. For me terms with backlinks are best for finding theses hidden connections. I often use the Local Graph feature in Obsidian for having a visual overview.
In Obsidian, we typically create a folder structure to set up the process (1) when we start to build our Zettelkasten. Adding some notes to this structure is our next step. Note-to-note links connect our related ideas. This is the basic concept of building an idea network (2). If we want to revisit our ideas without searching, maps of content (MOCs) will help (3).
But this is just the beginning.
What are your next steps? How do you use “Trains of thought”, “Folgezettel” or other structures?
