Oh this is just like what a sketchbook is for an artist.

this is so true. Nothing has worked better for me than pretending I am preparing a topic to teach in front of someone, it truly gives you more confidence and depth on the topics that you want to learn about.

Hmm. Interesting. I think I'll write a mini essay on why I should start writing mini essays.

As someone who hyperfixates on interesting topics and want to talk about them…. I feel like this concept is a great way to use that energy

FYI: These two books by William Zinsser might be of interest, especially the second: 1. On Writing Well 2. Writing to Learn

Great ideas. I tell my kids, "If it makes you frown, write it down". So capture literally everything that trips you up or you disagree with or you otherwise think twice about. Then try to write to someone about those things. Teach them through an essay they may never read. It is a remarkably effective technique to turn habitual judgement into contemplative curiosity.

My dad used to do this to me as a teenager. If I ever wondered something out loud, he would assign the topic to me as a project that I would have to present. It was always things I wanted to know, so I honestly enjoyed it.

I am self studying philosophy and obviously some topics in philosophy are pretty hard to conceptualize. Even after reading several books, Id find I could not very well explain what I had learned to another person.Writing essays on the most interesting ideas was the solution. There is a reason why this is the prime assignment give in classroom environments.

I’ve been writing weekly essays on my blog to help me focus my thinking. It’s worked wonders to improve my writing and my ability to be inspired. I haven’t had writers block in a year since I started writing and publishing a weekly essay!

This concept is one of the foundational methods in Charlotte Mason’s educationally philosophy. Doing oral and written narrations of living books.

My first semester college English teacher had us read wonderful essays and then write a mini essay with a thesis statement first, on each of these essays. Changed my life! Opened my world to great writing! Changed my way of thinking! So valuable!

I was scrolling back watching your older videos. I must say, the improvement is wild :00 The way you talk is a lot more engaging. It’s quite cool to see; it makes me encouraged to just start whatever it is I want to do even if it’s not perfect in the beginning.

I do this in my head ALL THE TIME. If I am not sure if I will be able to explain something, I go through the whole argument, explaination, idea, etc. in my head, or if I am alone, out loud until I can coherently explain it like it was a written essay. Talking to yourself is SO underrated. It also helps me realize if I actually have enough knowlegde to speak about a subject or if i am just repeating something someone else said.

This is one of those videos that feels like it could be life changing. I enjoy reading nonfiction, but I feel like I have terrible retention, and more often than not I'll finish a book and feel like I really didn't learn anything.

Great idea. I keep common books where I add quotes, notes, and my thoughts about what I read. I also write a summary and what I can use in life and resonated with. Makes a difference.

We teach this skill to our students in our homeschool community. We start with rudimentary persuasive essays based on booksthey read, and with each novel, we add a scheme or trope, gradually increasing the complexity. By reading excellent books, they increase their vocabulary and begin to develop an ear for arguments and good writing. We use IEW and LTW. It's been incredible to watch the growth from 7th-12th grade and beyond.

I'm writing a mini essay about this video

I don't know how the algorithm brought me to your channel, but I'm incredibly grateful for it. Not only did I find so many suggestions while scrolling through your videos, but I also find the form in which you deliver the content exceptionally good and understandable. Your channel is absolutely and completely undervalued, I hope you get many more followers.

I use a method like this as I work my was through mammoth classics. I write a small summary after natural breaks the author made (sections, chapters, parts, etc.) I’m retaining so much more of the story as well as the historical information generally embedded in the work. It helps me remember where I left off (I’m reading Les Miserbles on Sundays only) and need to reread my last summary before I begin reading again.I know this isn’t exactly what you’re referring to as I don’t always use an essay structure, but the benefit of rethinking what I read enough to summarize really boosts my retention.

I have been struggling with this weird fact, you mentioned, about not being able to properly recall what you thought you had clearly grasped a moment ago. I thought that writing a small research paper about what I have just read was a potentially good idea, but I was afraid of it being too time-consuming. So, I hoped to first see if somebody tried it before. And here you come with this brilliant idea that combines the idea I had with its solution. This is absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much! You have a new subscriber 😄.

Wow, man, it's reminds me about my first semester in college. A lecturer in my first semester suggested me, and my friends, to make a "scrap book" (basically just a pile of stapled leftover paper). He told us to write anything that comes to our mind after we read book, journal article, and any other source. I just realized that from that scrap book a lot of ideas can come to my mind and help me to writing paper for exam (or even maybe my thesis). And theh i found this video, just today. I hope i can start writing this kind of mini essay after reading some materials. Ps: sorry my english is pretty broken because it's not my first language

Metacognitive interaction with your learning experiences is absolutely proven as a way to bind concepts to memory. I like the idea of mini essays as a structured way to engage in this learning. For many years, I’ve asked students to create a “Learning Journal” to capture ideas as they interact with learning, Mini essays seem like great content for these journals. Thanks!

That point was so interesting. I would link it as: Self education gives life meaning. It improves our lives, and hence, any suffering we go through in the persuit of education and learning is justified because self education has more value than the pain of suffering as it also helps us cope with and survive times of suffering.

Love the idea of "mini essays"! This is essentially what I use a blog for!

I feel really inspired by the content discussed in this video. Personally, I watch a lot of video essay on youtube and feel that writing mini essay while watching them will really help strengthen my memory and understanding. Thanks for the vid, I’ve happily subscribed to your channel.

"Get those damn reps in." "Inaction hurts, and there's no good reason why you should suffer from it." Love it.

I just finished watching Before Sunrise and was blown away by the beauty of being able to clearly express such human and genuine ideas to someone you love in conversation. Being able to train myself to turn these complex but jumbled thoughts into writing mini-essays is definitely a great way to achieve this. Thanks for the awesome video :D

1. I don't know why I wasn't subscribed to this channel even if I enjoyed so many videos before 2. I was actually planning to start this habit a while ago, but didn't know exactly where to go with it - you really gave me a light to follow here. Thank you, man!

Funnily enough, this is exactly what I’ve been doing as of late! A great way to consolidate and retain knowledge.

wow, this semester i've just started turning practice labs into mini tutorials in which i describe why, for what, etc down to the smallest details. and find it actually works surprisingly well. and here's your new video with explanation why mini essays is so good as learning tool! thanks, your channel is awesome✨ p.s. btw there is Writing to Learn by William Zinsser. i haven't read it yet, but maybe it'll be interesting to someone.

My motivation is peaked right now I don't know why you sound so convincing but I'll come back after one year of practice ❤ wish me luck

I love this and what makes it so special is that I have had this idea before, save the mini aspect of it. This really drives home why I should do it, but with the emphasis being on brevity and concision. Thanks so much 💃🏽

I like that this guy responds to so many comments and gives so many Hearts. Cheers

This is an underrated channel. I personally use outlines for the Feynman method but am going to try mini essays. Well done sir. I hope you get the recognition you deserve on here

This is a great idea to keep writing regularly, especially when you’re uninspired or are stuck on other work and can’t seem to proceed. This still keeps you accomplishing writing. I’ve started incorporating mini essays into my writing schedule.

I've been meaning to start writing, just as a method of clarifying my thinking, for some time. This is the push I needed to actually do it, you have made it less daunting and emphasised the benefits. Really, a fantastic video.

Duuuuuude, seriously thank you for this. You've added a filter for me on the topic of writing to think and learn. This method feels so approachable.

This is the first of your videos that I have watched. I’ve been trying to find online content to help me develop a practice of writing as a way of learning. This was really great. Thank you!🎉

I can't express just how grateful I am for this video. I had always had a passion for writing, and with this idea you shared, I am very excited to try this out.

This is such valuable knowledge. It can be unbelievably helpful to anybody with any topic that they are trying to learn. Learning is not just a memorization process. It's a process where you should strive to connect the new knowledge to things you already know because that will make you _truly_ understand the world around you and will give you the ability to think abstractly and create new ideas, not just spit out a memorized fact. This is a great way to achieve that and force yourself to really *think* . Great advice and props to you for sharing it!

I have been thinking about this exercise for a while and could do it only occasionally. Thanks for reminding and sharing the steps, purpose and guidelines. I am going to start writing mini essays starting with this video

I have been working on long form essays since the beginning of the year but this is a game changer! I am def going to implement this; thank you for your insight!

I’m thankful today because you slipped into my feed. I’m deeply cynical about algorithms, but today almost makes me a believer. I’m older, but still taking on the Fool’s Journey. You’ve made me realize that I was following your principles for years. Now I have a narrative hook to hang this on. I’ll be diving into mini-essays as a method to improve and deepen my writing chops.

i rarely comment on videos that i’ve watched but with someone that has an attention span of a goldfish aka me this is a gem. no frills and all , just write and keep it condensed and short, keep up the good work :)

You've quickly became one of my fav you tube channels for knowledge workers, this was a great vid! I do something similar which is great knowing im on the right track! Keep it up man with the content 😊

i'm reading Homer's Odyssey for the first time and your video appeared on my yt homepage/rec. Great stuff, great editing and I found lots of takeaways to note. Thank you!

Thank you so much for this video! I feel so inspired now to write for my thesis using this technique! I’ve always felt so overwhelmed with the writing part because I always think of the bigger picture (whole section, chapter, …), but now I feel I can do it better this way. Thanks again!

My favorite professor uses this concept for each reading - we have to write weekly discussion boards on one aspect of the text we discussed in class. Being forced to do it for an assignment helps because it makes me investigate areas of the text that I might otherwise skim over (my favorite was when I did a narratological analysis of "The Sandman" by ETA Hoffman, specifically the shift a few pages in when the narrator explains why they opened the story with 3 letters exchanged between the characters. I didn't take the time to fully question or understand that shift until I wrote that post, and it transformed my understanding of the story). Also love this use for Obsidian. I've been using it myself for a couple years but my vault has stagnated lately, as I've been exploring other notetaking methods. This sounds like a great way to get back into it and really utilize the links between notes! Maybe I'll write a mini essay on it ;-) Thank you for sharing this video!

I swear google can sense my thoughts. I’m currently reading Walter issacsons bio on Benjamin Franklin and he goes into how Benjamin Franklin used to make pretty much these mini essays. Thank you for the awesome video and the sage advice.

I jusy wrote a mini essay on why I should write mini essays after watching this video

Truly a inspiring video. when you said many times a "writer" spends more time talking about being a writer and talking about it then actually writing was so true. i feel like that's me too in some way or form, always dreaming or pondering about what i "will" write but never truly getting to it.

Really grateful for this priceless diamond that you gave to us for free. I have been thinking of how to make essay writing easy for me because of the overwhelming nature of writing a large number of words which sometimes result in procrastination for me. However, with this mini essay, you just gave me the solution to my problem. Thanks.

this channel is gold

I really want a more extensive look into your obsidian vault(s), I'm so keen to have a better glance... I'd really appreciate if you could do a video on it because I believe it has the potential to inspire a lot.

This channel seems to have the answers to many of my questions, some of which I didn't even know I had. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

Something that immidiately comes to mind rn and Ive learnt in school, knowledge is pretty much like a language and everyone speaks one of their own. When you are taught by somebody, they present knowledge in their own words and you experience it through them, but after thats done youre left with very little actual understanding because its still in their language or at least dialect. When formulating it yourself, effort is put into the "translation" because its not simple repetition, highly effective strategy

This used to be what blog posts were. RIP classic internet.

Thank you man, Just came across this video in my feed. I want to be a writer, I've been dreaming about it for months now with no progress. It's very sad when I open my book or a blank document to write and I can't think of anything but now I know exactly what to do. I really appreciate the work you put in the video. New subscriber ☺️

I just stumbled upon your channel and you truly inspired me with your content. I’m extremely passionate about learning and I always struggled in how to take notes and how to keep my knowledge in one place. I like to take notes on a notebook but I struggled a lot in transferring my notes to obsidian, its a dull and boring tast since I’m just typing stuff all over again. The mini essays were honestly the perfect solution for my problem lol I just wrote my first one and I felt like I was back in high school writing a essay in summary my writing is so bad lol I’m hoping to improve that and maybe write my thoughts and studies on medium later on. Thank you very much for your video keep going

I'm getting insane value from your videos, they are just so great and really what I needed to step up my game as a person. I also use obsidian to take notes, but I am actually not that good, would love to see a vid where you show/explain what functions you personally use and how you use them. Keep up the good work!

This one weird trick English teachers don't want you to know.

You described me...the procrastinator 😮

Writing mini essays do resonate with me and I subscribed to your channel after that. Besides, your motto seems to be life long learning which is my primary principle of life. Thank you for sharing the light of knowledge with humanity!

can you please start to make book summaries video by the way love your channel ♥

📝 Summary of Key Points: 📌 Mini essays are powerful tools for learning and improving writing skills by focusing on single ideas or topics extracted from various sources like books, articles, or videos. 🧐 Writing mini essays helps in memory retention, understanding, and application of learned concepts through the Feynman technique of teaching what you've learned to others. 🚀 Mini essays aid in building writing skills by providing volume, novelty, and a bank of ideas, enabling consistent practice and improvement over time. 💡 Additional Insights and Observations: 💬 "Teaching what you learn is powerful for your own learning, as it forces ideas to stick and helps identify gaps in understanding." 📊 The Feynman technique, named after physicist Richard Feynman, is a valuable tool for learning and retention. 🌐 Obsidian, a note-taking app, is recommended for writing mini essays due to its offline usability and organizational features. 📣 Concluding Remarks: Mini essays offer a structured approach to learning and writing, enhancing comprehension, retention, and skill development. By incorporating the Feynman technique and utilizing tools like Obsidian, individuals can effectively engage with content, improve writing abilities, and build a strong foundation for continuous learning and growth. Generated using TalkBud

You just earned a new subscriber! I wish this was actually rewarding, because this video deserves a lot more than one subscribe. This idea has offered a lot of hope to me, after I had given up on reading and writing. Thank you for sharing this valuable treasure with the rest of the world! 💚

I hadn't thought about those mini essays until I saw your video, thanks for such a valuable tool

Wow, thanks so much. You are helping me so much. I had the same ideas, but had no idea how to get going. You explaining your work, is encouraging me to get going and getting better.

This is a great idea! Im a psychology major and in future i will have to write articles so this is a great way to gain experience and confidence to write longer and more academical papers. Its also great because as a person who likes to improve my cognitive skills and gain knowledge about different areas, i can collect my thoughts and knowledge into one little essay and store it so i can update it or check whenever i forget something. (im still struggling with english grammar so maybe it can improve on that too)

Your passion resonates with me long after the video ends. Thank you for taking the time to create such worthwhile content.

I've been doing this on index cards since I first watched, it works brilliantly. Thanks for this technique, it's a gamechanger.

Feynman taught me how to think! Turning 18 and starting to backpack the world, i listened to all his books, and it provided me with tools to understand it

probably the most valuable video I've seen in the site, great job and thanks for the help mate

I’m so glad your channel popped up on my feed. This is a superb video. This sounds like a good strategy for two reasons. First, to polish my writing and second to retain the information that I have just read.

This has to be the best video ever uploaded. I'm in love. 😭🎀

Cuando empece a escribir, mi desempeño académico no hizo mas que crecer. La estructura de una redacción facilita mucho el proceso de aprendizaje y, sobre todo, te ayuda a la hora de responder una pregunta en un examen o de hacer una exposición en clase. Por lo tanto, no puedo estar más de acuerdo con vos. Exelente video.

I have somewhat been doing something similar throughout the past year in a notebook diary, without being truly aware of what exactly it was that I was doing. No real grasp on the medium I was using. I wish to express my gratitude for you shedding light upon an area of my life of which I have a new-found love for. Therefore I exclaim, Thank You!

"You can always a edit a bad page, but you can't edit a blank page." - Jodi Picoult. Thank you so much for this video, I cannot tell you how much I smiled throughout the video because suddenly I felt seen, and the struggle of wanting to write but can't even form a good sentence is a huge problem to me, mainly because I want it to be perfect and I care too much about what people will say; I'm overcoming that. This is invaluable.

Thanks for that video! I came to the same realisation 2 days ago. To read and write about things I am reading or even watching, if I dont agree with the author I can write about why i don't agree, if it made me feel a strong emotion, I can express it in some ways. The goal is really to expand the mind and to get that writing working. Anyways, thanks for the confirmation that I was indeed heading towards the right way.

i really love writing i used to randomly write pages of things that kept bothering me or things i observed, i'm sure i'm gonna love this a lot

Now that I watched your video, you basically described how I used to keep my diaries - and I guess diaries in general serve the same very purposes.

I'm so glad that I clicked on this video when searching for "short video essays" because I also occasionally write articles. However, haven’t in a while because it started to feel so overwhelming. I've been wanting to become more consistent and improve my writing skills and this method is absolutely perfect. I've watched this video twice already and subscribed and already have an idea in mind for my first mini essay to get started. Day 1 of daily reps commences....

I actually did this inadvertently alot. I'd have an idea or have a talk with my friends or teachers and make a note on it coupled with my thoughts. Great minds do think alike it seems. Much love, brother.

so useful, i noticed whenever i wrote about something i'd suddenly fully understand it. doing that but a mini version will be also efficient and less time consuming!

I am generally doing freewriting, but I like this is a more structured way and more productive. Thanks!

I used to do this in the past. I will write anything that intrigues me and make a mini essay of it. But I don't know why I've dropped that habit. This video gave me an encouragement to pick up that habit again. Thank you so much!

I will start doing that from now on, great video man Glad I found you

These are the types of channels that contain TRUE knowledge and I appreciate it. It's value is not quantified by views.

Wow this video was amazing, it needs more views! It builds on an idea I vaguely had of why writing could be important to me (inspired by jordan peterson) and really grounds it. I’ll definitely try this. Thank you!

Mate, this is seriously class.

Hard facts, deep truths. Hits home and hurts. Good stuff. I’m going to try this!

I had this exact idea myself and this video really encouraged me to get into it. Since I've gotten into college, my reading and writing skills severely fell off and I stopped enjoying it, especially when I compare it to high school. In high school, I really enjoyed doing my writing assignments because the topic was always defined and I felt that there was always enough liberty for me to experiment with style and thinking. In college though, where I get to choose my own topics for writing assignments, I usually just wait until the end of the semester and pick an easy topic that I am already familiar with so I can rush it. It's so ironic how studying philosophy, which I thought was going to make me better at the thing I most enjoyed doing, actually made me less motivated to read and write.

Wow, it feels like this channel was created just for me. Just the other day, I was contemplating the immense power of writing short essays as a tool for learning, a practice remarkably akin to the Feynman Technique. I've adopted the habit of crafting short essays to test my knowledge and understanding, as well as to supplement my notes. Often, I'm struck by a particular idea, mindset, or feeling, compelling me to write it down. However, upon revisiting my notes, I find they sometimes lack the depth and essence of my initial inspiration-not academic notes, per se, but reflections captured in moments of true inspiration. I view these personal essays as letters to my future self. Crafting them, particularly because I write by hand using my Remarkable 2, demands significant time and effort. Yet, I've discovered that the more time, thought, and effort I invest, the more deeply my brain seems to grasp and retain the subjects of my writing, embedding them into my memory as integral components.

I really did this the other day, and this video came along to explain what was my suspicion all along.

One of the most captivating videos I've watched on writing. Well done.

Such an insightful video❤ For the longest time I was confused about why we have to write mini essays when we can write the whole book summary in one note. But this video made it clear. Thank you for putting this content out. God bless you❤😊

I always write essays about the books im reading! Its is truly amazing because the process of writing, reflecting and discussing the book makes me reaaally remember the entire book’s content whereas if i don’t write essays - i remember very little.

Wow, so glad this popped up in my feed! I used to be a writer, and need to get back into it; you gave me such good ideas!

This has been really helpful. I enjoy writing but now as a mother of 3 it has been difficult to write outside of journaling. Changing the goal to a mini-essay is so much more achievable. I always coach clients to break goals down to smaller ones and it never occurred to me to make the final writing task smaller…a mini essay 🤯 I’ve written a few mini essays since watching this video. Thank you for sharing!

So happy I found your channel! As someone who wants to learn as much as possible, youtube couldn't have given me a better recommendation