[Orgmode] A Header outline and an Argument outline in one?

[Scot Becker]

Greetings, org-moders,

I use org for academic writing, and it seems to me that org might be a
good way (perhaps even the only existing way) to keep the following
two kinds of outline structures in one place:

1.  The typographic outline.  Headers and Subheaders that should
organize my final document.
2.  The argument outline.  The running structure of my argument, not
finally published but visible to me as I organize and write.  This
should also be printable as an outline, to discuss my ongoing work.

Right now I do use org to do (1), as part of my writing, which then
gets exported to LaTeX.  This is nothing new.  Org makes a fantastic
sandbox for (2).  But it isn't very easy to keep them both together.
I'm thinking of a way that:

(a) I can use org's great outlining UI to do either (1) or (2), in the
same outline structure, even if not at the same time.
(b) keeps them both together, so I can use (2) to prompt my writing.
(c) Lets me just print the argument outline (i.e. with the easylist[1]
latex package), or just the document headings, or both
(c) lets me keep my statements of argument with my text as my written
piece develops, and possibly
(e) lets me have argument statements for small sections that I don't
want typographical headings for.  (Paragraphs yet to be written).

It seems to me that the only way to be able to use org-ui to do and
keep a non published argument outline is to have a mechanism that
would exchange the org heading ("*  Chapter One" ) with the argument
statements when I tell it to.  It could then store the currently
inactive 'header' either in a commented line or an org-property.  This
would allow all the goodness of org to operate freely on either kind
of node title, and the typical export case which keeps the Argument
lines hidden, or exports them as comments.

I could then have another mechanism which would allow both headers AND
argument lines to be exported to LaTeX/HTML, for those cases when I
want a talking points outline to discuss with my supervisor, or to
work on the whole in pen-and-paper mode.  I assume such a mechanism
would either put the two headers together in one heading (* Chapter
One :: The Music of the 50s made a generation crazy), or somehow
export the property containing the Argument AS the body text, or as
the argument of a custom latex command.


(e) above is a bit of another matter, and I'm not sure how to
accomplish it in orgmode, which only has native capacity to supress
whole nodes, not just the headers, but it would be a great addition,
since it would let me do pre-writing outlining at a far finer level.

I am an elisp learner (as an Emacs user must be, I suppose), but still
very early in my elisp childhood.  I would be very grateful for some
ideas about the best way to accomplish this, and/or some guidance
about what code I might take model these things on.  And of course any
expressions of enthusiasm for the idea, or hacks that already
accomplish something like it are mightily welcome.

Thanks,

Scot


Footnotes

[1] 
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/easylist/easylist-doc.pdf