Note-writing as compression

[draconica]

One thing you can do with digital notes that you can't do with hand-written notes is compacting your writing. On paper (n.p.i.), you may technically rewrite the same sentence more concisely, but the old text is still there, it's not gone, unless you physically destroy it. Digital data is much easier destroyed (unless it's already been published and redistributed), and that's its special superpower over physical writing besides the ease of copying. This allows dozens effortless ad-hoc approaches that will result in compact writing by iterating quickly. You can even unfold the entire sequence of iterations in the same paragraph and then swiftly delete all sentences you don't feel are right, if you feel like it.

 

Why even bother compacting your writing? The primary use case I had in mind is summarizing the writing of others. By compacting your summaries (removing redundancies, generalizing, maybe even replacing examples with your own instances you find easier to understand), you make it so much easier to 1. memorize the content of the work; 2. internalize it; 3. build upon the ideas you're summarizing. You read a sentence and the entire universe of associations and recollections arises - this is how reading a compact summary carefully written by yourself feels.