#writing #reading #books #learning #notes
- It is impossible to write a good question about a specific topic without know nothing about it, so before every question is necessary to go deep reading and writing about it.
- Arguments about a specific topic are built and formed using writing, reading and discussion regarding it.
- The writing is circular: You have multiple topics and need to find a good topic. The questions become visible and give you the abundance to further you topics much more.
- If you don’t like about a specific topic you can answer the question of why it is not interesting
As proper note-taking is rarely taught or discussed, it is no wonder that almost every guide on writing recommends to start with brainstorming. If you haven’t written along the way, the brain is indeed the only place to turn to. On its own, it is not such a great choice: it is neither objective nor reliable – two quite important aspects in academic or nonfiction writing. The promotion of brainstorming as a starting point is all the more surprising as it is not the origin of most ideas: The things you are supposed to find in your head by brainstorming usually don’t have their origins in there. Rather, they come from the outside: through reading, having discussions and listening to others, through all the things that could have been accompanied and often even would have been improved by writing. (How To Take Smart Notes, Ahrens, 2017, page 47)
References
- Ahrens, 2017, p45-49