Some users combine org-mode and howm. It is possible because howm is a minor mode. ;; from http://howm.sourceforge.jp/cgi-bin/hiki/hiki.cgi?OrgMode (require 'org) (add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'howm-mode) (add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.howm$" . org-mode)) (setq howm-view-title-header "*") ;; BEFORE loading howm! (setq howm-prefix "\C-z") ;; change howm bindings from "C-c ," to "C-z" External grep command makes howm much faster. (setq howm-view-use-grep t) But too many notes and too long notes are impractical anyway. I like "one file for one day" rather than the default "one file for one note", with an experimental feature for search-in-result. (setq howm-file-name-format "%Y/%Y_%m_%d.rd") ;; I use RD format. (setq howm-view-search-in-result-correctly t) ;; be aware of paragraph See here for RD format. http://lists.sourceforge.jp/mailman/archives/howm-eng/2005/000014.html I rarely write titles for my notes; they are not necessary.