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A simple method to convert your thinking into writing

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In many cases, you may need to write articles about your learning and research in Heptabase. For example, scholars and graduate students need to write papers, project managers and engineers need to write documents, creators need to write articles or proposals, and students need to write assignments and reports.

At Heptabase, we have designed a unique workflow that allows you to easily use the thinking frameworks you have built on whiteboards to produce writing. This workflow is based on the card editor's right sidebar, which is used for cross-referencing.

Step 1: Gather reference materials​

In the first step of this workflow, enter the whiteboard that contains your writing materials. The whiteboard should have some structured cards that you created in the past. You can use the whiteboard's selection tool to select these cards, then right-click to open the context menu and click the "Copy links to all" button to copy all the links. If you prefer shortcuts, you can also directly press Cmd + L to copy the links.

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After copying the links, you can double-click on an empty space on the whiteboard to create a new card. Give this card a temporary title and paste all the links onto the card.

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Step 2: Plan, write and cross-reference​

Next, you can expand the card onto a new tab and start outlining the structure of the article, categorizing these links under different paragraphs. If you forget the content of a card corresponding to a link, you can click on the link to read the card in the right-sidebar.

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Now you can start writing. You can begin with the paragraph you want to write first. Open the links you put in this paragraph to the right-sidebar. Refer to the content on the cards on the right while writing on the left in your own words. Gradually replace the links on the left with the text you have written.

If you are writing and suddenly want to refer to a card you have previously written, you can click Cmd/Ctrl + O to search for the card, and then press Shift + Enter to add the specified card to the sidebar on the right.

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