The Benefits of a Big Ass Text File

I struggle to keep a lid on my inner geek when it comes to software. I can happily waste hours trying out new tools for writing, outlining, mind mapping, note taking, and capturing ideas and random bits of information.  

And—after the computer cools down and all the bells and whistles fade—I go back to one Big-Ass Text File (BATF).

Ideas for articles, blog posts, and books go in the BATF. Lists of books I want to read go in the BATF. Names, addresses, phone numbers, project lists, to-do items, menus, quotations, Websites to check, and anything else that occurs to me on the run—all get dumped in the same place. 

The BATF.

Note that BATF is singular, not plural. I only have one. When I want to find something that I noted earlier, I always go to the same place—the BATF. This single file functions as my short-term memory. Without it, life is inconceivable.

Tracking your ideas in one BATF means:
  1. Eliminating the need for new software. You're already using software to write, right? Use it for your BATF.
  2. Eliminating the extra expense for new software (flows from benefit #1).
  3. Eliminating the leaning curve for new software (also flows from benefit #1). 
  4. Using the most platform-independent digital format (text).
  5. Using the easiest-to-search digital format (text).
  6. Using the least memory-intensive digital format (text).
Plus, you never have to edit this file. If you want to find a specific piece of information, just use the "find" command in your word processor or text editor. Search your BATF with keywords, just like you search the Internet.

In short, you never have to "get organized." With a BATF and the "find" command, you are organized.

This idea is not new. Giles Turnbull wrote about it years ago. For more ideas, just do a Google search on "one big text file."

So that's my dirty little writing secret for this week: Plain text is sexy.