The importance of writing for learning, understanding, thinking and retention

Last updated Dec 17, 2022

Writing is the best way to ensure that you are thinking about what you’re reading, and not simply hearing the author’s voice in your head. Writing does not merely put down in words, the thoughts that are in the mind. Writing is thinking.

Here are some advantages of writing while reading or learning:

1. You will feel more engaged with the material you are learning
2. You will learn to differentiate actual good ideas from ones that only sound good to you at that moment. Some notes you write down will only become great ideas in the context of a future project you will work on.
3. You will be actively reading knowing that you will have to reforumulate the ideas you just read into your own notes, in your own words, when you create permanent notes.
4. Re-iterating ideas in a written note will allow you to phase your idea in a context that makes sense to you, and by linking it to your existing ideas, you are more likely to remember it later.
5. You will be more deliberate in your choice of reading material, knowing that it should likely relate to your other notes, or projects that you are working on. You will have to invest the time to create meaningful notes from what you read, or risk losing your thoughts and ideas from that material forever.

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• work strategies for successful writing