Are you like me, struggling to keep track of all those brilliant writing ideas that pop into your head?
Other writers might have problems running out of ideas, but my problem is just the opposite. I have too many ideas. Even so many I often forget some before I am able to write an article about them. I decided I needed a structured way to capture and organize my thoughts. A Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system is my secret weapon for staying organized and inspired as a writer. The search to build my ‘second brain’ led me to Google Keep. It might be the perfect starting point for you too.
Key Takeaways:
Overcome information overwhelm and keep your writing ideas organized with a Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system.
Google Keep is a free and accessible tool to quickly capture those sparks of writing inspiration on any device, using text or voice.
Organize your writing notes in Google Keep with labels and color-coding to find them easily.
Move your ideas into Google Docs to transform them into polished writing pieces.
Why do writers need a PKM
In today’s world, we can quickly become overwhelmed by the constant stream of information. How to make sense of it all? For writers, having a system to manage ideas, research, and inspiration is key. That’s where a Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system comes in. It doesn’t have to be complicated! The goal is to make things easier, not harder.
Each good PKM, regardless of the type of information you manage or the tools you use, is built around three essential parts:
Capture: A place to collect all sorts of information, from quick notes to interesting articles. Think of it as your idea inbox.
Organize: A system for storing and tagging your notes so you can easily find what you need later. This could be a notes app or a well-structured folder system.
Apply: The magic happens when you actually use this information, whether it’s for writing, learning, or even feeding ideas into your favorite AI tools.
Google Keep is a powerful capture tool
When it comes to building your PKM, Google Keep is a fantastic tool for that all-important first step: capturing information. It’s designed to be quick and easy, making it perfect for writers who need to grab ideas and inspiration on the fly.
Google Keep is often described as looking like a Post-it note board, suggesting notes should be simple. It's great for storing ideas for content, shopping lists, and reminders.
Here’s why Google Keep is a solid choice for the “capture” stage of your PKM, especially for writers:
Speedy Capture: As writers, we know ideas can appear at any moment. Keep lets you quickly jot down thoughts, create lists, and even sketch out concepts, whether you’re on your phone or laptop. It’s lightweight and responsive, so you can capture those gems before they disappear.
Cross-Device Access: Access Keep on various devices and platforms (Android, iOS, Chrome, the web, WearOS), ensuring you can capture ideas wherever you are. Notes sync seamlessly, so you’ll never lose that brilliant sentence you thought of on the bus!
Google Integration: If you use Google tools, Keep integrates nicely with Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Google Assistant. This can streamline your workflow when you’re ready to start writing.
Voice-to-Text: Record voice notes and have them automatically transcribed to text, which is incredibly useful for capturing ideas while you’re on the move.
Cost-Effective: It’s a free tool, making it an accessible starting point for anyone building a PKM.
Activate Google Keep Chrome extension
No need to manualy enter all your notes. Install the Chrome extention and capture webpages directly into Keep. Go to the Chrome Webstore and search for Google Keep. Click “Add to Chrome” and you are done.
When you found some info on a website that you want to save: select the text, right click and select “save selection to Keep”.
A popup will open where you can add extra information and create the note.
Organizing with Google Keep
As mentioned before, a PKM should not only be able to capture your ideas, but you should also be able to organize them. With these features, you can effectively organize your captured information within Google Keep, making it easier to retrieve and use it for your writing and other tasks.
Here’s how you can use Google Keep for the “Organize” part of a PKM:
Labels: Think of labels as categories or folders for your notes. You can create labels like “Writing Ideas,” “Research,” “To-Do,” or any other categories that fit your workflow. This is the primary way to organize in Google Keep.
Color-coding: Use different colors for your notes to visually distinguish between categories. For example, you could use blue for writing-related notes and green for research.
Pinning: Pin important notes to the top of your Google Keep feed for quick access. This is useful for notes you need to reference frequently.
Search: Google Keep has a robust search feature that allows you to find notes quickly based on keywords, labels, or even colors.
Archiving: Archive notes that you no longer need to see in your main view but still want to keep. This helps declutter your main view while keeping your notes accessible.
Applying The Information In Google Keep
Storing and organizing your ideas is important but without step 3 they are completely useless. This is where the integration with other tools from Google comes in handy.
I already showed how to create a note based on some text you read on a website using Chrome. After adding more thoughts about the subject and probably organizing it you can now export the note to Google Docs for further processing. Open the note, click the 3 dots and select “Copy to Google Docs”.
From there on, you can either start further research, I advise using Google’s NotebookLM, or directly start writing your first draft. In future articles, I’ll explain how to use NotebookLM and Google Docs to make your writing tasks more efficient.
Recognizing Google Keep’s Limitations
While Google Keep is fantastic for quickly grabbing ideas, it’s good to know where it shines brightest and where you might need a little extra help from other tools. Think of Keep as your trusty notepad for those initial sparks of inspiration.
Here are a few things to keep in mind about what Google Keep isn’t really designed for:
Long-form Writing: Keep notes have a limit, so it’s not the best place to write entire articles or book chapters. Think of it for snippets, not epics!
Lots of Pictures: If you’re working with tons of images, Keep might get a little sluggish.
Fancy Formatting: Keep is pretty basic when it comes to making your text look fancy. No bolding every other word here! And instead of traditional notebooks, it uses labels to organize.
Dedicated Desktop App: You’ll use Keep in your browser, as there isn’t a separate app for your computer.
Too Many Labels? There’s a limit to how many labels you can create, so keep it focused.
Complex Organization: If you’re building a really intricate web of knowledge with lots of connections, Keep’s simplicity might feel a bit limiting. It’s more like a collection of individual notes than a deeply linked system.
So, for things like writing longer pieces, managing big projects, or creating a complex knowledge network, you’ll likely want to move your ideas from Keep into tools like Google Docs, or other specialized apps. Think of Keep as your excellent idea-catcher that plays well with others!
Tips for Effective Use
Want to make Google Keep a powerful tool for your writing workflow? Here’s how:
Your Idea Hub: Use Keep as your initial inbox for all writing ideas, research snippets, and inspiration.
Capture Instantly: Use the mobile app and voice notes to grab ideas the moment they strike.
Save Inspiration: Send articles and web pages directly to Keep for later reading.
Organize with Labels: Create labels like “Blog Ideas,” “Character Sketches,” or “Research.” You can even add multiple labels to a note.
Color-Code Your Thoughts: Use colors to visually differentiate types of writing notes.
Pin What Matters: Pin your most active writing ideas to the top.
Set Writing Reminders: Schedule reminders to revisit ideas or work on specific pieces.
Create Writing Checklists: Use checklists for outlining or tracking progress on a draft.
Link to Your Drafts: Add links to your Google Docs within Keep notes for quick access.
Archive Finished Ideas: Keep your main view focused by archiving notes for completed projects.
Find Anything Fast: Use Keep’s search to quickly locate specific ideas or notes.
So there you have it! Google Keep is a fantastic, free, and super easy way to nail that crucial first step of building your personal knowledge system: capturing all those brilliant ideas. By using its simple yet powerful features for quick notes and reminders, and knowing when to bring in other tools for the more complex stuff, you can make Keep a key part of your writing journey. Go ahead, start capturing your carefree writing potential!
