I finished reading and commenting Sascha’s manuscript for the 2nd version of the Zettelkasten Method book. Here’re a few first impressions and why I’m excited to get a hold on the next draft.

The most apparent change is the change of focus: instead of a bird’s-eye view of the method and its components, Sascha now emphasizes teaching the reader to work with her Zettelkasten. I liked the systematic approach of the 1st edition, but with this fundamental change, the book becomes so much more inspiring!

As you probably know, I work with my Zettelkasten for a couple of years now, about 8 years, in fact, so I didn’t expect to learn a lot from reading the manuscript. There’s the gentle introduction on to how to feed your archive with notes. But after you finish this stage, you’re promoted from neophyte to apprentice, and Sascha begins a practical discourse with you. Like a master would instruct his apprentices about the intricacies of his craft, Sascha lays out the foundation for years of productive work and teaches you how to adapt to problems of scale. I was so thrilled when I finished that chapter that I wanted to change a lot of my older notes to become more useful for Future Me right away. I was pumped. And I honestly didn’t expect that at all.

After I went through this transformation, I added my two cents about how to change the book’s structure to make this effect even more prominent. So we’ll probably be discussing this stuff some more. But I have no doubt you’ll like the result. I can hardly wait to see how readers react to upcoming drafts of the revised edition.