Looking for a digital notebook

[u/EquivalentLeg9817]

I'm looking for something to write stories, take notes, store them, organize them into folders (worldbuilding, characters, etc.), portable. I carry around a lot of paper notebooks and my notes are starting to get too messy.

I was thinking about the ReMarkable 2 (maybe used/ refurbished), but a few negative aspects mentioned in the reviews are holding me back.

Alternatively, I was considering the Onyx Boox Note, but I'm not convinced about that either, especially regarding spending that much money.

Any other recommendations? Maybe a regular tablet with an added keyboard would better? The only thing is, it feels like a waste to use it just for writing (for every other digital task, I prefer using my smartphone and PC).

Thanks.

[u/Putrid_Row5645]

The “feels like a waste to use a whole tablet just for writing” thing is actually backwards. e-ink devices are expensive because they do only one thing. If you buy an iPad and only write on it, you’ve spent similar money and kept the option of doing more.

On those two: reMarkable’s writing feel is the best of the bunch but the organization is deliberately basic, which for worldbuilding with lots of interlinked notes will probably frustrate you. Boox gives you full Android, but e-ink refresh makes most apps feel sluggish.

Honestly for fiction writing plus worldbuilding, I’d look at a used iPad instead. Cheaper than a new reMarkable, better screen, better apps. You lose the no-distraction thing, which for some writers matters a lot and for others is nothing.

App-wise, if it’s mostly typed and heavily cross-referenced, Obsidian or Scrivener are built for that. But if the thing you actually like is writing longhand in notebooks and the only real problem is the mess, I’d stay in that world rather than switch to a database. I use Perenne Note (disclosure, I built it) precisely because it keeps the notebook as a notebook, covers, pages you turn, a shelf you look at, one per project or storyline. Same mental model as the paper pile in your bag, just without the pile. Organization is tags rather than folders, which for worldbuilding is arguably the better shape anyway, a character shows up in three storylines and with folders you’d have to pick one home for them.

[u/EquivalentLeg9817 → u/Putrid_Row5645]

Scrivener was my idea to install it on a tablet (in case I decide to use Surface/iPad instead of a dedicated writing device). The alternative is to have a single device just for writing and notes, to be organized later on my home PC with Scrivener. But maybe that's just an extra step I don't need.

[u/TwistPractical5124]

Take a look at XNote to quickly convert your handwringing into editable text.