Why I love Obsidian for writing novels and fiction worldbuilding

LegendFiction
4 Jan 202419:59

Summary

TLDRIn this video, the speaker introduces Obsidian, a versatile and free tool for writers to organize and brainstorm their novels. They share their personal setup for world-building, character development, and scene planning, highlighting features like mood boards, note-taking, and linking documents akin to a wiki. The script also touches on the use of community plugins and the integration of AI for a brainstorming companion, showcasing how Obsidian can enhance creativity and productivity in novel writing.

Takeaways

  • πŸ“š The speaker discovered and recommends 'Obsidian' as a powerful tool for novel writing and world-building.
  • πŸ’‘ Obsidian offers a free and flexible alternative to paid tools, which is beneficial for writers with limited budgets.
  • 🌐 It functions like a personal Wiki, allowing users to create interlinked documents and notes.
  • 🎨 The tool supports the creation of mood boards and canvases for visual inspiration and organization.
  • πŸ“ Users can easily convert notes into documents when they become too lengthy or need more detailed development.
  • πŸ” Obsidian provides a 'scenes' feature, which acts like a kanban board for organizing novel chapters and scenes.
  • πŸ–ΌοΈ The tool allows for the incorporation of images, AI-generated art, and even music or video links into the workspace.
  • πŸ“ It enables writers to create visual connections between elements, such as characters, locations, and plot points.
  • πŸ“š The speaker emphasizes the simplicity and ease of use of Obsidian, which requires minimal setup and can be personalized.
  • πŸ”„ Obsidian supports community plugins to extend functionality, such as file explorer, iconizer, image converter, and typewriter mode.
  • πŸ€– The tool integrates with AI like Chat GPT for a co-writing experience, providing ideas and solving creative blocks.

Q & A

  • What tools were initially used by the speaker and their friends for world-building and brainstorming?

    -The speaker and their friends initially used tools like Google Docs, Word documents, and text files for world-building and brainstorming.

  • What tool did the speaker discover and start using for their novels?

    -The speaker discovered and started using Obsidian for their novels.

  • What features of Obsidian does the speaker highlight as beneficial for their writing process?

    -The speaker highlights features like creating mood boards, Kanban boards, linking notes, organizing pictures, and integrating different types of media as beneficial in Obsidian.

  • Why did the speaker prefer a free tool over paid tools for their writing process?

    -The speaker preferred a free tool because they had periods when they weren't writing consistently, making it impractical to pay for tools they were not using regularly.

  • What does the speaker use mood boards for in Obsidian?

    -The speaker uses mood boards in Obsidian to gather and organize visual inspirations, such as pictures from Google, AI-generated art, and Pinterest boards, to inspire their writing.

  • How does the speaker use the Kanban board feature in Obsidian?

    -The speaker uses the Kanban board feature to organize their novel into different columns for acts or sections, allowing them to drag and drop cards representing scenes or elements and maintain a structured overview of their work.

  • What are some examples of items the speaker adds to their canvases in Obsidian?

    -The speaker adds items like character notes, creature descriptions, location details, and elements of their magic system to their canvases in Obsidian.

  • How does the speaker integrate external media into their Obsidian notes?

    -The speaker integrates external media by embedding pictures, YouTube videos, Pinterest boards, and other types of content directly into their Obsidian notes and canvases.

  • What feature does the speaker use to keep their cursor centered while writing in Obsidian?

    -The speaker uses the typewriter mode feature in Obsidian, which keeps the cursor centered on the screen while writing.

  • How does the speaker utilize ChatGPT within Obsidian?

    -The speaker utilizes ChatGPT within Obsidian as a brainstorming buddy and co-writer, asking it for ideas, suggestions, and solutions to specific writing-related queries.

Outlines

00:00

πŸ“š Discovering Obsidian for Novel Organization

The speaker introduces a new tool called Obsidian, which they've been using for organizing their novels. They share their experience with traditional tools like Google Docs and Word documents but find Obsidian more adaptable and less distracting. Obsidian allows for creating mood boards, organizing ideas, and documents with ease. The speaker has been using it for two novels and encourages others to share their experiences with the tool.

05:01

🎨 Utilizing Obsidian for Creative World Building

The speaker elaborates on how they use Obsidian for world building in their novels. They describe creating mood boards with AI-generated art and other media for inspiration. Obsidian's flexibility lets them organize characters, creatures, and locations with visual cues and links to Pinterest boards or music. The tool also supports creating documents from notes, which can then be further developed into detailed character profiles or other elements of the story.

10:01

πŸ“ Organizing Writing with Obsidian's Canvas and Kanban Board

The speaker demonstrates how they organize their writing process using Obsidian. They use a canvas for visual inspiration and a kanban board for structuring scenes in their novel. The kanban board allows for adding columns and cards, which can be easily rearranged and linked to detailed documents. This method provides a simple yet effective way to plan and track the development of the story.

15:02

πŸ”— Linking Ideas and Enhancing Writing with Obsidian

The speaker discusses the interlinking feature of Obsidian, which enables them to connect ideas and elements within their writing. They can create links to characters, locations, and other documents, turning their notes into a comprehensive wiki. The speaker also mentions the use of community plugins to enhance Obsidian's functionality, such as file explorer, iconizer, and image converter.

πŸ€– Integrating AI for Brainstorming and Writing Assistance

The speaker highlights the integration of AI, specifically chat GPT, with Obsidian to act as a brainstorming buddy and co-writer. They can ask for ideas, get suggestions for improving chapters, and even generate funny scenarios inspired by the text or other authors. This feature allows the speaker to enhance their writing process without the need to consult external sources, streamlining their creativity and productivity.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Obsidian

Obsidian is a powerful knowledge management tool that the speaker uses for organizing and writing novels. It is a markdown-based note-taking app that allows for interlinking notes and ideas, creating a web of knowledge. In the video, the speaker discusses using Obsidian for mood boards, character development, and world-building, highlighting its flexibility and the ability to customize the workspace to fit their writing process.

πŸ’‘World Building

World building refers to the process of constructing an imaginary world for a novel, including its geography, history, cultures, and magic systems. The speaker uses Obsidian to create a 'canvas' for world building, where they can visually organize and link different elements of their fictional universe, such as characters, locations, and magical elements.

πŸ’‘Mood Board

A mood board is a collection of images, text, and other materials that help to convey a certain atmosphere or style. In the context of the video, the speaker mentions creating a mood board in Obsidian to inspire their novel writing, using AI-generated art and other visual elements to set the tone for their story.

πŸ’‘Character Development

Character development is the process of creating and evolving characters in a story. The speaker discusses using Obsidian to create detailed notes on each character, starting with a simple note and then converting it into a more comprehensive document as the character's profile grows. This allows for a flexible and dynamic approach to character creation.

πŸ’‘Canvas

In the context of the video, a canvas in Obsidian is a virtual space where the speaker organizes different elements of their novel, such as characters, creatures, and locations. The speaker uses canvases to create a visual representation of their world and story, allowing for easy rearrangement and expansion of ideas.

πŸ’‘Kanban Board

A Kanban board is a project management tool that helps visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and increase deliverables. The speaker mentions using a Kanban board within Obsidian to organize scenes for their novel, allowing them to easily add, move, and delete scenes as they plan and write their story.

πŸ’‘Interlinking

Interlinking in Obsidian refers to the ability to create connections between different notes, creating a network of related information. The speaker highlights this feature as a way to organize their writing, allowing them to link characters, locations, and plot points together, which aids in maintaining consistency and providing a deeper understanding of the story's elements.

πŸ’‘Community Plugins

Community plugins are additional features created by the user community of a software that can extend its functionality. The speaker mentions using community plugins in Obsidian to enhance their writing experience, such as adding a file explorer for easier organization and a typewriter mode for a focused writing environment.

πŸ’‘Co-Pilot

In the video, the term 'Co-Pilot' is used to describe the integration of an AI tool, like Chat GPT, with Obsidian to assist in the writing process. The speaker uses it as a brainstorming buddy, providing ideas for improving chapters or generating creative content based on prompts, without replacing the writer's original ideas.

πŸ’‘Typewriter Mode

Typewriter mode is a feature in Obsidian that keeps the cursor centered on the screen as you write, providing a distraction-free writing environment. The speaker mentions using this mode to maintain focus while writing their novel, illustrating how Obsidian can be customized to suit individual writing preferences.

πŸ’‘Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the process of generating a multitude of ideas in a short amount of time. The speaker uses the AI integration in Obsidian for brainstorming, asking for ideas related to their novel's content, such as food based on Christmas sauce or funny events for a chapter, demonstrating how the tool can facilitate creative thinking.

Highlights

Introduction of a new tool for world-building and brainstorming called Obsidian.

Obsidian allows for more control and freedom compared to Google Docs or Word documents.

The speaker has been using Obsidian for two novels and finds it highly beneficial.

Obsidian can be used for mood boards, organizing pictures, and ideas quickly.

The tool functions like a Wiki, offering more freedom than traditional online tools.

Obsidian is free and does not require payment during periods of inactivity.

The speaker demonstrates how to create mood boards and organize characters in Obsidian.

Obsidian supports the creation of documents from notes and vice versa.

The tool enables visual organization with canvases and the ability to link elements.

Obsidian can be used to create a scene board for novel structure and organization.

The speaker shares personal methods for staying organized with Obsidian during novel writing.

Obsidian has a feature for interlinking text, creating a Wiki-like experience.

Community plugins are available to enhance Obsidian's functionality.

The tool includes a typewriter mode to keep the cursor centered on the document.

Obsidian can be connected to Chat GPT for a co-writing and brainstorming experience.

The speaker encourages others to share their Obsidian setups and writing processes.

Obsidian's simplicity and flexibility make it an attractive tool for writers.

The speaker provides tips for getting started with Obsidian and customizing it to one's needs.

Transcripts

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hi there a little something different as

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we kick off the new year I was having a

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great conversation during a morning

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writing session with a couple of friends

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and we started talking about different

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tools that we use for how to World build

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and brainstorm and stay organized and I

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learned that a couple of our friends are

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using um things like Google Docs or Word

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documents or text files all the kinds of

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stuff that I used and I discovered this

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amazing tool called obsidian that I've

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been testing for two of my novels and

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I've been loving the process so I shared

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it with them and it just you could see

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sort of the lights going off in their

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eyes and that just made me think okay

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let me share a brief 15minute kind of

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walkthrough of how I've set up obsidian

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to work for me in writing novels just

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switched off all the stuff that I don't

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need to see so it can give you maybe

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some inspiration for how to get

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organized um and how to have an

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incredible New Year with writing your

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novels so let me know what you think and

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if you use obsidian drop a comment and

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let me know uh what you end up doing

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with it or let us know what tools you're

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using that you really enjoy and then

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maybe share why hey friends so so I want

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to share with you a really delightful uh

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tool that I've been using to organize my

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novels um so when it comes to my novel

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writing I've not been able to be as

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consistent as I wanted to be so paying

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for a tool has not proved practical um

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there's just been dead months where I'm

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paying for something that I'm not using

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and if you're like me you don't have a

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lot of income for that sort of thing so

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I needed something free I also wanted

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something that would allow me to do kind

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of whatever I wanted to do um as opposed

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to a lot of really amazing tools online

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where you're kind of forced into

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somebody else's process or there's too

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many Design Elements and for my brain I

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just get distracted by the colors and by

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everything so I wanted something that I

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could set up that I could have more

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control over that I could just get in

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and start creating stuff really quickly

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I also wanted something that could act

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like a Wiki so there are things you can

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do with Google Docs and so on but I

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really wanted something that would allow

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me uh more freedom I wanted mood boards

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I wanted can band boards I want to be

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able to just simply write the novel um

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organize pictures organize ideas and do

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it really easily and really quickly so

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here's the tool that I have found I give

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you a quick walk through um I can't show

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you all of the steps of how to use

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obsidian you'll need to go on YouTube

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and do your own research and and stuff

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for that um but here's an overview and

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how I'm using it so for example I've got

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this one novel that for children that

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I'm messing around with called so far

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days of marry and bright and I've

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created a mood board right which is

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lovely I can do things like take

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pictures from Google or in my case I've

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generated AI art to inspire myself and I

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can just drop them in here before I get

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a sense of what they are how I'm going

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to use them but I also really like about

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this I can take my Pinterest board and I

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can drop that in there if I find a piece

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of music or a YouTube video I can drop

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that in here all of my ideas and

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research and elements all of that can

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just go straight in cure you can then

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also theyve got this little thing down

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the bottom you can add a note where you

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can type anything into it you can

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actually even s a little color uh for

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this if you like it make them any size

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and you it's just like having little

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sticky notes you can just drop them

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right in there you can f them anywhere

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you like um you can also create uh if

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you add a note from your Vault so um if

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you are just starting out you may not

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have them but if you do have larger

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documents for example let me pull up

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something I've written uh here is a a

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character that I've created so I can

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take that document and drop it in here

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let's let's say for example we Zoom to

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this selection so pull that right in and

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then if I want to I can go ahead and

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open it in a new tab and now go ahead

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and continue typing and working on this

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document so as a a place for mood boards

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it is really fantastic because you can

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just click and drag and move things

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anywhere and kind of resize them so

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that's just kind of I created the canvas

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um which is called World building

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uh and then I made another canvas called

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characters and this pulls in all of the

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characters as you can imagine characters

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are working on I put a little picture

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for each one each one of these is a

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document and they started out by being a

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note so I would just say okay I need a

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character note start describing the

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character right in here you know

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describe the character and then at a

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certain point decide okay this is

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getting too long so I'm just going to

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right click and I'm going to convert it

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into a file and then it becomes a

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document so let's go ahead and do that

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and let's call this you know test 1 2 3

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and there it is automatically gets added

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right there so I can sit right here in

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this m board let's say I'm making a

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magic system and I can create cards for

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each of the different elements right

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here put in a picture um and when it

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starts getting too long or if I decide I

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want everything to be its own little

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files I can just right click and do that

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convert it into a document for this one

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I'm just going to delete

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that um 81 of these again you can just

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right click on them open in a new tab if

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you want to get into the details that

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that you're writing or you can just

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quite simply scroll right down in here

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to get access to that information um so

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I did that for characters and I added a

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little little icon for a character I

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created a canvas for creatures um not as

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organized I'm just dropping stuff in

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here here's one form they evolve into

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this form maybe

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um if actually I can show you another

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one here let's say creatures this one

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here is more organized there's a lot

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more in here there's like bad things

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down here and there's good things up

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here and so pair pictures with these

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things at some point I'm going to get

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more organized take the picture turn

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this into a uh convert it into a file

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and then drop that image right in there

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to start pairing things up and I'm still

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kind of figuring it out you can also

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take little arrows and you can indicate

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okay this is going to go let's say

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that's going to connect to that there

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and it's a way to show a little bit of

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organizing so I'm just going to close

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that one there um here for example you

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can see how I've done that with location

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so I've got a bunch of visual cues to

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inspire myself for where I'm writing the

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novel so for example characters start

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here and then they're going to go there

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and then there and there and then here's

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you can then outline for example the

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whole journey of where it's all going to

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go and um you know just keep inspiring

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yourself if you don't have a picture or

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something and just link it to a Blog

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adding descriptions

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um fantastic little tool as a canvas or

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a mood board you can do kinds of do

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basically anything you want here's the

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other thing that I like a lot it's

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called um I've called it scenes it's a

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can B board I added a little bit I

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tweaked the code a little bit to be a

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little bit larger for myself but it

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actually shows up uh narrower and um

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more shows up on the screen but it's a

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can band board which means you can add

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as many columns as you like they call

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them like a list so let's do one here

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call test there it is it adds a new

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thing to the side going to go okay let's

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say this is going to be I don't know

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maybe we want to do a Callum here called

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Magic

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system and then let's add a card um I

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don't know Firebolts something and then

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you can press either enter or shift

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enter and now that's created as a card

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you can also right click and make a

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note from that card and there it is

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testing we have now created let's close

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that see how that automatically now

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links off to that card let's go ahead

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and close that close the new tab go back

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to where we were with scenes so I

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structured this I just needed a threea

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structure um so I created three columns

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and that's a big simple way for me to

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get organized with my novel so um act

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one here's the setup here's everything

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that I can think of for the setup and

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then here's everything for the journey

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and of course because each one of these

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little scenes is a card you can drag and

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drop and organize and uh and delete

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things you can add cards at any point

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you can right click and let's make a

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card before let's make a card after so I

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love the Simplicity of this right um You

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can add of course as many columns as you

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want break it into a 5ax structure and

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and so on uh so that is for organizing

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and so here's my way of structuring it

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I've created canvases because they're

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more visually easy for me to kind of um

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take bits of information like uh

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ingredients in a recipe and just have

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fun with them and then I'll create a

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folder here called chapters where I'll

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do chapter one and then just start

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typing and it's nice because it has a

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spell check that's in there and for me

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that's all I need in fact Excuse me

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while I'm writing I'll often just have

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let's say like a location I'll have this

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open as a tab here on the side and then

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I'm just going to zoom to the thing that

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I want to see to inspire me while I'm

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writing and I might have this of course

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fill the screen so I can see that here

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now I can see this while I'm writing or

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uh you you can adjust the uh you know

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the width of these uh so you can make

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that a little larger and smaller so it

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for me it's fantastic you can actually

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even um where is it there's a way like

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you can pop this out so that it's in its

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own uh sitting in its own window put on

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a different screen something like that

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so those are all the chapters that I'm

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writing then what I did to keep myself

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organized I created something called

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notes and then here's where all of the

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bits of information that pull up inside

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the canvas they're all available

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uh right down here so here's this

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character here's this character and this

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one and so same thing for all the

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creatures that are created I just list

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them and just keep coming up with ideas

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just list them all here and then I get

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sort of an add a glance view of them by

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using my my canvas same thing with

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particular items or if I have like

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locations so on um and then just any

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other just sort of random ideas just all

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goes in my notes folder so that's the

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kind of thing I don't need to pay

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attention to too much I don't have to

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really worry about organizing it that's

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just where everything goes

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um and that's that's really it I for me

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I'm loving the Simplicity of this at

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some point I haven't yet figured it out

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it is possible to be able to share this

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online and that's one of the things that

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I loved about obsidian as not only kind

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of a I mean as a powerful tool that can

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do all kinds of things but I'm using it

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for writing and for organizing my world

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building you can also so share it as a

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Wiki Online and so that's something that

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I want to share look at how uh simple

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this process is so let's go aad and

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close some of that let's go on titled

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we're going to call this you know let's

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call this test again so as we're typing

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here I've set this so that it keeps my

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cursor in the middle of the screen uh

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you can have it so it's back up at the

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top but let's say we're let's say we're

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typing about our story all right doing

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some World building

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old building and let's say the

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characters come to a magical city called

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and then I'm going to do I'm going to

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put two brackets oops not the curly

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braces two brackets and I'm going to

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call it um grease right see how it has

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turned it uh blue that is automatically

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creating a link for something like a

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Wiki and there they meet uh let's go

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with chyron who's a character

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and let's see that there they meet

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chyron who hands them the sword of

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Destiny because why

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not period so what's lovely about this

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what's happened here is you can then

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click on these so if you like press

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control I'm on a PC you press see you go

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to hover over it's great click to create

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although to create that now I've got a

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whole new document to host all of my not

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about whatever I'm saying with this

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magical place when I'm done I can close

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that and then I can come back it says

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you can see it's not Auto added

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everything as individual documents down

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the end so you can just go through on a

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creation spree all sorts of stuff and

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then when that's all done just drag and

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drop these so for example pop up in my

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notes drag and drop these into um the

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right folder so if this is a location

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I'm just going to drag and drop I don't

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need to get any more organized than that

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maybe I might come back here to

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locations and let's say you know what I

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need to now add my new document because

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I forgot to do that so there we go

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grease it is now added right here and

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when I zoom in a bit closer it'll then

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start showing me what I've actually put

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there so that feature right there of

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being able to while I'm typing to

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Interlink things while you're writing

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your novel uh for example every time you

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mention a character or every time you

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mention something if you wanted to you

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could Interlink there are some people

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you'll see them online on YouTube who do

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crazy cool things with all the ton of

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interlinking that you can do um as a way

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to use it as a Wiki and to get organized

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and stay organized so um if you want to

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have mess around and have fun with this

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I'm just going to leave the extra notes

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here um these are little ways that I am

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staying organized with my um process you

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can see I've got um outlines like for

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example this one book one here has

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specific to just this book and it's just

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like

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notes and here's just more notes and I

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need to get it all organized and I need

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to put it into can band boards to get

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organized here's book one I'm just

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messing around like oh look I can do

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Canan boards I can move things around

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and so um this is a much bigger project

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and so I'm easing my way into it but

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this is how for this particular novel

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this is how I'm staying organized and

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you know scenes and so if you see it a

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feature on another writing software um I

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think I found a way to replicate all of

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that that feature uh from those other

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writing softwares and you just do it for

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free so uh those who are a little more

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advanced to get some of this I've um you

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can browse and turn on community plugins

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so watch a 10-minute you know

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walkthrough how to get set up with

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obsidian there are some really good ones

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out there um so just go ahead and Google

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those um and then there are Community

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plugins so I have turned on a bunch of

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them like there's file explorer that

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gives you the option to reorganize and

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drag and drop things over here the left

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and iconize allows you to add icons to

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make things a little more visually you

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know fun you can even add colors to to

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these icons which is nice image

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converter every time I drop in an image

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it'll automatically compress it convert

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it to make it a bit smaller can band

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that's to be able to have those columns

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where you can drag and drop scenes and

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stuff um typewriter mode that puts your

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cursor like right in the center of the

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thing um and always keeps your eyes kind

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of in the middle of the document so you

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don't have to keep scrolling then smart

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connections that's just that's using uh

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smart connections and co-pilot this is

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the one of the last things that I really

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like a lot about obsidian so for example

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let's say I'm typing I'm working on

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chapter one and I really need ideas I

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need help so what I've done is you I've

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hooked up chat GPT to this and there's a

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a free plan and then there's also a

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um I think I've also put in my credit

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card so it like pay a couple of cents

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every month if I

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use it um so for example let's say I'm

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writing my chat to get to the end chat

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TPT can act like a brainstorming buddy

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and a co-writer so for example I can

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tell it I can have just a random

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conversation with it right here like

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give me three you know three ideas for

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uh let's say food based on Christmas

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sauce right and I'm not exactly sure

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what that is okay here we go it's now

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just going to invent them and and list

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amount and these can be crazy and then

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be like you know wow that was you know

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that was great um mix mix and match them

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to make them more unique or something

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right or here for example was a question

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that stopped me from writing a novel

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years ago what are the flowers that grow

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in northern

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Europe during the fall right I realized

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I was writing this one scene and I

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didn't know that answer I didn't know

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how to find it out now look at this oh

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my goodness I now know

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exactly what these flowers are and so I

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can just drop them right into my you

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know right into my uh uh my writing now

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but here's the other thing that can be

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really really cool you can also change

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it to active node and here's where we

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can I can ask it questions about chapter

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one so for example give me three ideas

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to improve my chapter let's just see

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what it says it'll then read everything

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that I've got in my chapter and then

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it's going to uh chew on it think about

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it come back and give me ideas so here

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we go um for example develop the

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character's passion for Christmas it's

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like okay I kind of did that add more

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sensory details that's always a really

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good idea and then it gives a couple of

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you know things to think about and then

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introduce conflict or challenge so these

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are pretty basic things so let me try

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for example inspired by the text of you

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know I don't know this chapter give me

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five short funny things that could also

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happen to make the chapter longer and it

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was actually just messing around with

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stuff like that that I started getting

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ideas for my characters for example

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she's a little mouse and I was messing

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around with Christmas carols like what

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are fun ideas that could happen in the

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story based on Christmas carols and

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that's when I discovered she has a

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jingle bell Jinx meaning for some reason

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when she was born she can't sing or

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laugh without sounding like Jingle Bells

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El um so for example here's an idea I

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never thought about her heading out into

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the cold slipping on a patch of ice I

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mean that's kind of that's not a bad

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idea or while she's busy baking how

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about a mouse named Whiskers place a

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prank on her rearranging the ingredient

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jars you know what that's actually not a

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terrible idea that's kind of funny um

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and then it'll just give sort of fun

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ideas or I can also put in here inspired

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by I don't know JK Rowling or inspired

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by Michael kryon or Robert Le Stevenson

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gave me ideas something like that so in

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terms of a um brainstorming

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buddy rather than bugging your friends

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or your family uh you can now spend a

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ton more time right here um in your

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writing you know what's lovely about

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this is it does not replace your writing

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um it is a co-pilot somebody help you

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with your writing so you can then just

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hide that afterwards so if this is

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helpful I would love to know drop a

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comment below and

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um um I'd love to see how you end up

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organizing it if you end up playing

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around with it I literally downloaded it

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watched a couple of YouTube videos and

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then um just started messing around with

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it myself it's actually really quite

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easy and simple to get into I ended up

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switching off every because there's all

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kinds of extra Tools in here and stuff

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like that so I ended up switching up

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everything I didn't think I was going to

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need or use so you might see some a

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little more when you get in there

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um let's see what else and hey I'd love

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to take you know take a screenshot I'd

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love to see what you end up doing with

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your um with your obsidian how you set

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it up and if you have questions on this

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because we're all trying to figure out

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our world Building Together go ahead and

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drop them in the comments I'd love to

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hear from you love to see what you get

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up to and

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um as you play around with the Tool uh

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let's stay in touch and let's Inspire

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each other so have fun and Happy World

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building

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