Idea Cruncher in Writing Projects
The features in Idea Cruncher are definitely designed to help with the writing process. Like other types of projects, there are initially usually a ton of ideas coming into your head in more-or-less random order. You can capture these ideas as they come to you and reorganize as you go.
When you start reorganizing after the initial brainstorm, it usually helps to start big and gradually work the outline down into finer levels of detail. These first items might represent the major sections of the document. The more detailed ideas can be added directly to the section you believe they will ultimately be found by dragging and dropping ideas with the mouse, or using the cut and paste commands.
As you continue to refine, try to think of each top-level entry as a section, and each second-level entry as a paragraph within its section. Third-level items are individual ideas to include inside the paragraph. Check for logic and flow, and move ideas around until you are happy with the overall outline.
Write the first draft of each paragraph in the notes section associated with the paragraph entry in the tree. That is, click on a (second-level) item in the tree that represents a paragraph, and write a draft of that paragraph in the notes section on the right side of the window. Refer to any third-level ideas that you have made for inclusion in that paragraph as you go. Organization problems that become apparent at this stage of the process can still be dealt with by moving ideas around in the tree. You can print the outline with corresponding notes at any point in the process to see how the paragraphs are fitting together.
These draft paragraphs are essentially the first draft of your document, but they are stored separately from eachother in individual notes entries. You can produce a second draft by rewriting each paragraph in the draft section at the bottom of the window. Start by selecting the first paragraph in your outline and looking at the corresponding rough paragraph in the notes section. Move to the draft section at the bottom of the window and rewrite the paragraph there. (If the paragraph is perfect, you can just copy it with the copy and paste commands, but retyping usually improves the writing.) When you are finished with that paragraph, click on the next one in the tree. While the notes section changes to reflect the notes for the currently selected idea, the draft section remains constant, making it possible for you to construct your entire document there, paragraph by paragraph.
When you are finished with the rewriting process, the draft section should contain a complete second draft of the document. At that point, you can copy the contents of the draft section to your word processor and work on it there, or you can keep editing right in the draft section.
The Zoom command on the View menu can be useful, especially in the early parts of the writing process, if you want to temporarily focus on a portion of your outline without being distracted by the other parts. This command can usually clear the mist away if the outline is getting overwhelming.
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