Re: Writing a dissertation using org-mode

["Sven Bretfeld" <sven.bretfeld@gmx.ch>]

Eric S Fraga <ucecesf@ucl.ac.uk> writes:

> if I may (respectfully) disagree?  Having examined too many PhD theses
> to count, I would prefer PhD candidates spent more of their time
> worrying about the content and organisation of their thesis than the
> actual layout.  Unlike the preparation of camera ready copy for
> conferences, say, most of the defaults taken by LaTeX are usually fine
> once you've set up the layout to meet the university's requirements
> (which are usually only about page size, margins and font sizes).  The
> great thing about using org-mode for writing is the outlining and the
> ability to easily move sections around.

I fully agree and would add some other advantages:

- Orgmode can help to plan a paper or thesis right from the first second
  onwards. If you plan your texts in the canonical bottom-up way,
  orgmode helps you through all the stages: 

  1. Brainstorming
  2. Selecting
  3. Mindmapping
  4. Visualizing (org-mindmap)
  5. Structuring
  6. Writing

- Orgmode has the fantastic (and AFAIK unique) feature that you can
  integrate your text project directly into your time and todo
  management. Most people writing with MSWord etc. use to use
  marginnotes or something similar to make notes like "Check the
  pagenumber of this citation again". They are lucky if they actually
  remember this task when they are in a library. Writing in orgmode you
  can just add:

  * TODO Check the pagenumber of this citation again   :@LIBRARY:

  And you automatically have that todo in your daily agenda.

Greetings,

Sven