How I'm writing a book in public

TL;DR

The pivot from “Obsidian Playbook” to “Doing it in Public” is driven by theme: learning publicly is the consistent thread across her work, not the note-taking tool itself.

Briefing Cornell Notes

Briefing

A year after announcing “Obsidian Playbook,” Nicole van der Hoeven is pivoting to a new book built around a single through-line: learning in public. The shift matters because it reframes the project from a tool-centric guide—step-by-step instructions for Obsidian—into a broader, transferable playbook about how to grow publicly, handle the nerves and feedback, and build a sustainable publishing practice.

The earlier “Obsidian Playbook” effort stalled for several practical and creative reasons. What began as a methodology guide started to feel like documentation rather than something new and conceptually fresh. Van der Hoeven also concluded that the market already had plenty of resources for using Obsidian and for digital note-taking more generally, including Jorge Arango’s “Duly Noted,” which she recommends to beginners and credits as a strong, non-overlapping contribution. Another concern was avoiding over-reliance on a single tool: even if Obsidian remains her current favorite, she wants the book’s value to survive tool changes. Finally, personal and professional load last year made it hard to add another commitment.

Instead of deleting the work, she published the 20,000 words she had already written, along with her notes, and plans to revisit them later if needed. But the real reason for the pivot is thematic. Looking back across her videos, conference talks, and notes, a consistent pattern emerges: her process and her career have been shaped less by Obsidian itself and more by the practice of learning in public. She also emphasizes that she’s not trying to position herself as an all-knowing expert—she’s learning alongside her audience, including through plugins she’s still discovering and through live streams and presentations.

The new book, titled “Doing it in Public,” is designed to combine motivation with structure. The outline begins with a case for learning publicly—why it works, and what it has enabled for her—then moves into mindset principles. From there, it turns practical: the easiest first step for new public learners, how to systematize the practice (including version control, GitHub, and turning notes into a personal knowledge management system), and how to add rigor with a public change log. Later chapters address experimentation with formats and longer writing, what to do when no one is watching, and how to build a “learning pipeline” inspired by CI/CD concepts—automating the parts of publishing and consumption that can be automated while keeping the learning itself human.

Community and boundaries are also central. She plans to discuss how smaller communities—like the PKM community, the Obsidian community, and her own Mastodon and Discord spaces—can create rituals and culture around sharing. She also intends to cover pitfalls such as too much feedback, setting boundaries, and deciding when to learn privately versus publicly, especially when personal and professional lives overlap.

For the writing workflow, she’s using Obsidian as a vault for the outline and notes, but she’s also writing longform in iA Writer using its Longform plugin in Obsidian for the book structure. For publishing, she’s generating a static site with Quartz and hosting it on GitHub Pages, keeping the same underlying files compatible across tools. Feedback will come through GitHub issues and—more likely—through an opened Discord server. She’s also planning to attend the PKM Summit in Utrecht, Netherlands (March 22–23), with the possibility of recording her process live, “warts and all,” to keep the learning-in-public experiment going.

Cornell Notes

Nicole van der Hoeven is abandoning her tool-specific “Obsidian Playbook” and replacing it with a new book, “Doing it in Public,” because the core theme across her work is learning publicly—not Obsidian itself. The earlier project stalled as it started to feel like documentation, duplicated existing Obsidian resources, and risked tying readers to one tool. She kept the 20,000 words she wrote by publishing them with her notes, then pivoted to a transferable framework for public learning. The new outline blends motivation, mindset, and practical systems: version control and GitHub, turning notes into a PKM system, public change logs, experimenting with formats, and building a sustainable “learning pipeline” inspired by CI/CD. It also addresses community-building and boundaries, including when to learn privately.

Why did “Obsidian Playbook” lose momentum, even though the project started with a clear commitment?

Several factors converged. First, the work began to feel like documentation—step-by-step instructions—rather than conceptually new writing. Second, she saw heavy overlap with existing resources for Obsidian and digital note-taking, including Jorge Arango’s “Duly Noted,” which she recommends to beginners. Third, she didn’t want the book to lock readers into one tool; she wants freedom to pivot if a better tool appears. Finally, personal and professional busyness reduced capacity to carry the project forward.

What does “learning in public” mean in this new book, and why does it matter to her career?

Learning in public is framed as a practice she’s already doing: sharing what she’s working on while she’s still learning, including discovering plugins, publishing notes, and participating in live streams and conference talks. She emphasizes that her career and happiness have been tied to learning publicly, and she resists the “expert” label—she’s learning alongside her audience. The book’s purpose is to make that practice intentional and replicable for others.

How is the new book structured from high-level motivation to operational steps?

The outline starts with a “case for doing it in public” (why it’s worth it and what it enables), then shifts to mindset principles. It then moves into practical execution: the single easiest thing to do first, how to systematize the process, and how to add rigor through version control and GitHub, plus a public change log. Later chapters cover experimenting with formats and longer writing, what to do when nobody is watching, and how to build a learning pipeline.

What does a “learning pipeline” borrow from CI/CD, and what can be automated?

She draws an analogy to CI/CD pipelines: the process shouldn’t be “done,” and sustainability comes from automating what can be automated. In this context, automation applies to parts of publishing and consumption—while the learning itself still requires the person’s active engagement. The goal is to keep sharing and iterating without burning out.

How does she plan to handle feedback, boundaries, and the line between public and private learning?

She plans a dedicated chapter on obstacles and pitfalls, including “too much feedback” and how to set boundaries. She also intends to address how to manage overlap between personal life and professional responsibilities—whether to mix them, steer into them, or keep them separate. Another section focuses on deciding when learning should be private, using criteria for what to share versus keep.

What tools and publishing setup support the “in public” workflow?

She keeps the book outline and notes in an Obsidian vault, but writes longform in iA Writer for focus. For publishing, she uses Quartz as a static site generator and hosts the output on GitHub Pages. Because both tools work from the same underlying files, the workflow stays compatible. Feedback channels include GitHub issues and a Discord server opened for broader discussion.

Review Questions

What specific reasons led to abandoning the Obsidian Playbook, and which of those reasons were creative versus logistical?
Map the new book’s outline: which chapters handle mindset, which handle systems, and which handle community and boundaries?
How does the CI/CD-inspired “learning pipeline” concept translate into concrete actions for publishing and consumption?

Key Points

1
The pivot from “Obsidian Playbook” to “Doing it in Public” is driven by theme: learning publicly is the consistent thread across her work, not the note-taking tool itself.
2
The earlier book stalled as it started to resemble documentation, duplicated existing Obsidian resources, and risked creating tool dependence for readers.
3
Van der Hoeven preserved the 20,000 words already written by publishing them with her notes rather than deleting them.
4
The new outline blends motivation, mindset, and operational systems, including GitHub/version control, public change logs, and turning notes into a PKM system.
5
A CI/CD-inspired “learning pipeline” frames sustainability as automating publishing and consumption while keeping learning human.
6
Community-building is treated as part of the method, with attention to smaller groups and rituals rather than relying on a single platform.
7
A dedicated focus on feedback and boundaries addresses when to learn privately—especially when personal and professional contexts overlap.

Highlights

“Obsidian Playbook” shifted from a fresh methodology guide into documentation, and that creative mismatch helped trigger the pivot.

The new book’s core promise is transferable: it targets learning in public as a practice that should outlast any specific tool stack.

Publishing is built as a system: Obsidian + iA Writer for authoring, Quartz for static site generation, and GitHub Pages for hosting.

The outline explicitly includes the hard parts—too much feedback, boundary-setting, and deciding when learning should stay private.

The “learning pipeline” idea borrows from CI/CD to keep iteration sustainable through automation of publishing and consumption.

Topics

Learning in Public
Digital Note Taking
PKM Systems
Version Control
Static Site Publishing