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- Roam Is a Serendipity System
Note: no affiliate links, just LLCs (Learned—>Loved—>Curious)
Whether it’s notes, quotes, stories, ideas, books, or anything else, Roam is a knowledge management framework designed to help you not just capture information—but organize it.
And not just that—but to help your ideas connect with one another.
I spent years noting lonely ideas down on paper or in apps, and most of them went stale and never got used, because I had no system.
Learned
Using pages, indicated by [[ ]], or hashtags (they work the same in Roam), you can organize ideas. Each day automatically gets its own daily note, so you can use it as a journal if you like.
You also get a split-screen view, which is a subtle but killer feature.
Working on a draft and want to search your database for ideas—without navigating away? Use a right-sided expandable screen, like this:
Loved
As an abstract thinker, the nonlinear approach in Roam helps me discover connections between ideas that might not occur to me otherwise.
I can be in the middle of a draft or an outline, and do a quick search to see what I have in the bank that might be related or useful. It’s a serendipity system.
It also helps me categorize information in ways that help future me. For example, I have a page that’s just a quotes list, but each is organized under a topic, and each one links back to the source of the quote. Here’s an example:
I read a book, and create a page for that book: [[New Book]]
On that page I also create a tag for the [[Author]]
If there’s a quote I love, I can put it on my Quote page, under the [[Category]] I pick, noting the [[New Book]] and the [[Author]] too.
Now, all the items in brackets are connected, by links to their respective pages
Curious
It can feel like a steep learning curve, though. I’ve talked to folks curious about Roam who don’t know where to start—and I had a false start with it myself before deciding to buckle down and figure it out one afternoon.
So, if you’re curious I’d recommend some guidance.
For starters, here’s a YouTube walkthrough from Thomas Frank, who’s known for his Notion expertise and free videos and templates.
For paid learning specifically for writers, this course from Tim Denning and Todd Brison is well done (and sometimes they do discounts).
Finally, I have this book in my to-read list. After a few months in Roam it’s clear I need to make sure my notes system can save me from myself as things get more complex.
I don’t need a high-tech version of these old things:
🧠 and ❤️
Lauren
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