[01:02:30] Memory and permanence<br /> 400,000 books burned; 700,000 books damaged<br /> Susan Orlean book on library fire

Award-Winning Writer Explains Her Entire Process — Susan Orlean - YouTube<br /> by [[David Perell]]<br /> accessed on 2025-11-05T09:13:24

0:00:38 Susan Orlean uses index cards as part of her process. She's done this for three or four books by October 29, 2025.

She uses her index cards (often in the range of 700) to arrange and re-arrange the material. She uses it to refresh her memory as she's working with it.

Things can be as small as a name of a character. Some are references to longer research documents.

"chunk of thought" (her version of atomic notes)

attention economy [7:59]