How Ideas are Born in Roam

Writing on the graph

This is one of the most difficult preconceptions we must get rid of when using Roam Research: there is no structure or location where you put the text you write but phrases — blocks — that relate to other phrases or even phrases born from the relationship between others.

(I am in no way, shape, or form affiliated with Roam Research and do not in any way profit from commissions or referrals to it. I’m just a regular user. Some ideas can be applied to apps like Roam Research.)

Traditional digital writing

When you start using Roam, you may have the temptation to look for where your documents or files are stored.

That’s normal. You use to think in objects called notes, documents, or files that are organized in a database.

That translates in that we type — even if we don’t directly notice it — in datasheets or forms to capture data in tables in order to store it. That’s a traditional database. Remember, there are different types of databases.

As I said in previous installments, a traditional database is like a library. You have a previously defined classification system with labels on bookcases and shelves. When a new book arrives, you have to put it on the appropriate shelf and stick a label with a code on it and keep a record in an index. You have a structure where you put your objects.