I don't really consider myself to have the most active imagination or be the most creative person around, so the idea of literally thinking on paper to spark creativity and imagination is something I'd really like to try. Writing down my scattered thoughts could very well be the key to feeling and, in turn, being a more creative writer. Having a thought about sports, then my schedule, then some philosophical construct all written down should lead to reflection. And sorting those ideas and organizing them could lead to inspiration I feel.
I also want to try the limiting my note-taking to one page, I feel like this too would be more effective for almost any subject. It forces you to summarize the ideas in your own words while picking and choosing the most important aspects to cover. You may have to reference where you found these themes, which leads you back to rereading the texts again. So in short, you work smarter, not harder.
I'm with you on trying to do note taking on one page. To me this is probably the most important element of this chapter.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I go back through my class/reading notes from semesters past. I usually have about 20 pages of irrelevant notes that I never return to. Then, hidden within those pages are one or two pages that are actually useful. Why the hell did I spend that much energy and hand-comfort doing something that means next to nothing in the long run?
It's going to be hard, but I think the advice we get in the book is right on. If we can really distill what we're reading to it's most important points, we should be able to get it all on one page.
Easier said than done. Good luck.