Write in your OWN words | zettelkasten/academic note-taking tips 📝

We're told to write in our own words when taking notes, but what does that really mean? Should we still use quotes? Are paraphrases of other people's thoughts enough? Should our notes reflect what we've learned or operate more like a journal where we develop new and personal thought? Let's talk about it!

BOOKS MENTIONED:

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
1:03 - Why take notes?
2:15 - About this video
3:00 - Don't plagiarize
4:21 - Quotes in notes
5:30 - Paraphrases
6:17 - Avoid clichés
7:40 - Don't write to impress people
8:51 - PART 2!
9:02 - Practice Noticing
10:32 - Try different approaches
12:20 - Get curious and emotional
13:22 - Write!
14:35 - Trust yourself
15:55 - The end

#notetaking #zettelkasten

[lajourdanne]

I love this video! I will note however it is very important to be careful when taking notes purely through your interpretative lens (your own words). When describing what someone else said in your own writing you want to paraphrase or summarize. Otherwise you could misattributed ideas and meaning to an author that is not at all what they were saying. While I think it is important to put in your connections, interpretations, feelings and thoughts, that all becomes useless when you can't point back to what the author intended to say. So when I write in my Zettelkasten, I add one note of the point they were actually making, then add my as a separate note. This also makes it so much easier to come up with new thoughts on what the author said later and avoids that awkward moment when citing someone at a conference where they say "I never said that" or "actually what I meant was..."

[kristoffer]

To anyone interested in the Zettelkasten system or any notetaking system, this is honestly one of the most essential note-taking skills to remember. To write in your own words instead of paraphrasing or copying gives you a lot of benefits. For people who cannot do so, I suggest using mental models or prompts to practice your mind into doing it: What is this? How can I relate it to myself? How did this come about? Where does this lead to? What does this imply?

Eventually, you won't need to rely on those questions as you ask them automatically. Then, you can find more ways to add to your thoughts which makes your notes richer and more personal, as it should be.

[bannnnny]

Another tip: What you “mean” in your writing, means nothing. You need to write clearly, your point. We often write around ideas and topics and tell our teachers; “well, this part meant that”. Meaning means nothing in academia. You need to say what you’re asked to say.
And – write in short sentences. An exercise; after every period, hit return and start a new paragraph. This separates each sentence so-to clearly see how it looks by layout and how it ‘feels’. Does this sentence suit this area best, or does it fit better over there? Analyse your writing maniacally and aspire to write in plain language. That is, so your writing reads smoothly when spoken aloud.

An incredible book recommendation:
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens.
The canonical book on The Zettelkasten Method, it is brimming with writing tips for students too. Saved me hundreds of hours!

[bzylarisa]

"Having original thoughts takes practice." What an inspirational video.

[heimlershistory]

Another great one. Let's have ten more! I'm just starting my own Zettelkasten, and your delineation between writing in your own words and paraphrasing was a kind of revelation to me. So THANK YOU.

[dagamusik]

After this I started doing:

[[I feel]]
[[I wonder]]
[[I think]]

Crazy and very useful connections you get doing it!

[kristiharman]

I got SO MUCH out of this video, as usual. Thank you so much for sharing and teaching your unique ways with us

[flyingcow]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I find it very confronting to notice that "writing in my own words" takes so much energy, just to graph an idea, and even then, I don't know if it's really my own. Your explanation really helpt me a lot to review and rewrite and come to the core of what I'm trying to say. Being your own critic is hard! But to find someone that will give you honest, constructive feedback is even harder, even between the Dutch.

[nickelbers]

I started working as a freelance journalist recently - completely out of my comfort zone (I mostly worked trades and labor through uni), but I'm enjoying it. I can not stress how much I wish someone had told me that writing == thinking when I was going through high school and undergrad. Thanks for that tip, and for breaking it down.

[murffmjtube]

So glad I discovered this channel. Very nice to know there are authentic intellectuals out there. Lots of learnings here.

[korbasiewicz]

Thank you for this great, informative and inspiring video! By the way, as a non-native English speaker I really appreciate your crystal clear pronunciation. Stay awesome!

[herbertvansintemaartensdij]

This is by far the best video I have seen in months. Thank you

[KirschblutenTsunami]

I wish your youtube chanel came to existence 6 years ago when I started Uni. I love love love your Zettelkasten and general study content. I did major in japanese studies and am now a software developer but next year I wanna do my masters in social studies as a hobby and I'm already taking notes of all the great input you're giving here. Thank you so so much for sharing. I wish you all the best for your studies as well as youtube <3

[flamboyanta]

I agree, this is such a good video. Especially the bit toward the end, very brave indeed!

[stephaniewright]

OH MY GOSH!!! just discovered your channel by looking up obsidian tips for PhD students, but so thankful I followed the links to this video! These tips are so helpful. I love the way you teach. I wish we were all taught this way from a young age - to think critically and independently and to value our thoughts and all their sources. Thank you!!!! Can't wait to learn more from your channel!

[mimipipi]

You're so wonderful!!! Keep them coming! I have a question!

Can you do a more ellaborate video on how you use obsidian, I've gone so far to taking the notes the way you showed in your video on it, but from there I'm a little lost.
And in this video when you mentioned journalling in your notes I was just perplexed. I thought "HOW is someone going to put thoughts and little notes into a more serious note taking method without mixing it all up?" so I would so look forward to that!

You seem like a great teacher and a wonderful bright person. Sending hugs and well wishes!

[jkameroncarter]

Fantastic video. I’m an academic who’s getting my PKS, my second brain, off the ground, a Zettlekasten using Obsidian. This video is a great reminder of the bread and butter of the trade. I’m also passing this along to my Engineering daughter. She’ll greatly benefit from this. Again, thx!!

[richardlees]

Your excellent ideas and presentation outline exactly why good writing takes WORK!

[whatznext]

Thanks Morgan for this video. Your answer not only covers taking better notes, but it ultimately covers how to think better! I keep watching this video on repeat to get a thorough understanding of what you covered. I'm going to implement these strategies and make them a part of my everyday thought process.

These aren't just gold nuggets, this is the whole bar! Thanks again!

[TheWooTubes]

This reminded me of something I learned from British stand-up comedian Robin Ince. When Charles Darwin was asked what made him so inventive, he said he thought he was unusually "good at noticing things", including noticing what he was good at, which many people don't seem to notice.