Org mode is the writer's secret weapon
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Emacs org mode is the writer's secret weapon.
Prose writers benefit a lot from org mode.
Org mode has a lot to offer. In this text we pick out
one element: the outline functionality.
The outline functionality of org mode is unique and brilliant.
Prose writers spend a lot of time rewriting, and moving
around sentences, paragraphs of text and sometimes
even chapters. In org mode, this is all done very
easy, with just a few key strokes.
Working with the keyboard is much less error prone
than working with a mouse.
Org mode
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Org mode is a subsystem of the Emacs text editor.
This is how orgmode.org describes it:
> A GNU Emacs major mode for keeping notes, authoring
> documents, computational notebooks, literate programming,
> maintaining to-do lists, planning projects, and more
> -- in a fast and effective plain text system
Org file format
---------------
Org mode uses the org file format.
This is how orgmode.org describes it:
> Org is a highly flexible structured plain text file
> format, composed of a few simple, yet versatile,
> structures — constructed to be both simple enough for the
> novice and powerful enough for the expert.
The org file format uses a structured markup, a bit like
Markdown.
Export to many formats
----------------------
Org mode files can be exported to many formats.
All it takes are a few key strokes.
Some examples are:
* export to ODT and to docx
* export to HTML
* export to LaTex
Also, Pandoc, the universal document format translator,
can use org mode, both as an input format as well as an
output format.
What you mean is what you get
-----------------------------
Because of the structured markup, writing in the org file
format follows the concept of "what you mean is what you
get".
The writer can focus completely on the content and the
structure of the text.
The final markup, form and presentation is done during the
export from the org format to the final format.
Plain text
----------
The org file format is plain text, it can be used with
character sets like UTF-8.
This has several advantages:
* Suitable for every version management system, like
Git, RCS, and so on.
* Future proof format, without any vendor lock-in
* Can be used with any plain text editor
Outline functionality
-----------------------
Org mode is a very powerful system with impressive
capabilities.
The outline functionalities and their ease of use alone
makes it worthwhile to use org mode.
Outlining in org mode
---------------------
Org mode headers start with one or more stars (*),
depending on the level of the header. The stars start
right at the start of the line, and are directly followed
by a space and the title of the header.
* The highest level, level 1 (like H1 in html) starts
with a single star.
* The second level, level 2 (like H2 in html) starts with
two stars
* The third level, level 3 (like H3 in html) starts with
three stars
* and so on.
The content follows directly below the header.
Visibility
----------
With the TAB-key, the visibility changes, depending on the
number of TAB-key presses.
The TAB-key affects the current header and it's siblings.
Pressing the TAB-key circulates through the following states:
* Show only to top header
* Show only the headers
* Show the headers and there content
Changing the level of a header
------------------------------
The level of a header can be changed with Alt-left and
Alt-right.
Reordering headers
------------------
Headers, together with their content, can be moved up or down
by Alt-up and Alt-down.
Reordering paragraphs
---------------------
Paragraphs can be reordered just like headers. Again, just
use the Alt-up and Alt-down key to move a paragraph
up or down.
The paragraph can not move outside its headers.
* Going up the movement stop when the paragraph is immediate
below its header.
* Going down the movement stop when the paragraph reaches
a new header below it.
Trying to move a paragraph outside these boundaries will
result in a beep.
Much more
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Emacs, and org mode, have a lot more to offer!
There are many, many reasons why prose writers should ditch
every thing else and start working with Emacs and org mode.
