On the notes

What these notes are

These are working notes, not a blog. Each one tries to say a single thing, and I revise it in place as my thinking changes — so a note gets better over time instead of scrolling away into an archive.

The idea borrows from the practice of evergreen notes: notes written to be revisited and built on, densely linked to each other. A blog post is finished the day it is published. A note is never quite finished; it just gets more true.

Three small rules I try to follow

• One idea per note. If a note wants to be about two things, it becomes two notes. Small notes link together more easily — like this one.
• Write for my future self. The test is whether it still makes sense to me in a year.
• Link generously. The value is in the connections, which is exactly what the side-by-side layout is for.

None of this is original to me — it’s a well-worn practice in the note-taking world. I just find it a kinder way to think in public.