Writing today for work I pulled out one of my reference books, 'Style Lessons in Clarity and Grace'. If one were to sit down and try to read this book cover to cover, compare it to reading a cookbook, cover to cover. We do not have time nor attention span for such indulgences, but when we want to look up appetizers or soups, well there you go; our cookbook is readily available.
Anyway, I thought of he who recommended this book to me years ago, good memories. We stay in touch, and I later email him, thanking him, his mother and father, Notre Dame, etc... for continuing to influence my writing. His reply was lovely, along with the tip of the day:
"I learned how to really write when I studied law. The most important tip I got was never use a form of “to be” for the verb in the sentence. Active voice always, not passive. The difference that results is the that the “recipient” in passive voice becomes the subject in the “active" sentence. E.g., The prize was awarded to Joe. or Joe won the prize. 4 words vs. 6. Less is more! Good writing is rigorous."
The man makes me smile, always. He nails my weakness every time, gently. I would say GOOD writing is indeed rigorous.
After a walk, and dinner for Maggie and me, I'm lying in bed mindlessly reading, not focused, just about to nod off, when I run across a gem on YouTube, "How I Memorized EVERYTHING in Medical School."
Pshttt.
I am terrible with memorization. Someone said the best way to remember is to understand. Yes, amen.
If you know my mind, if you know me, you know the tangent I'm about to take. Curiosity, dangerously high curiosity levels at times, take over. (There is so much to learn and not enough hours in the day. I wish I knew all these life lessons decades ago, though I have never wished to go back in time.) BUT will this vid teach me new study techniques? Let's click and see.
Oh yeah, some of the very tools I was given at Level 53 when returning to school were part of his study techniques. Cool. Continuing down the rabbit hole, the comment section was even more informative. I'll combine everything...
1.) Tutoring others teaches us, verbal tutoring, asking, and answering questions. I first learned of this from my anthropology tutor. We spent many hours in the archeology building at A&M studying. She was wrapping up her PhD. Tutoring others reinforced her knowledge, or so she said. I believe her, more now than ever before.
2.) Mind mapping. I did not know what this was, but I'm glad I learned. Google is your best friend. Kinda. Sometimes.
3.) Notetaking, organizing thoughts — think notes, color, contextual clues, and summary, condensing topics. (I will provide a photo sample of this. I'm telling you, if you or your children utilize this system or something similar life will be easier.) Color helps me better recall information. My highlighter of choice are Crayola map pencils. One day I overheard a classmate dissing my beloved pencils. Halfway through the semester she was asking study techniques. I use them to this day to highlight important information. I utilize highlighter pens at work, often. There's something in my brain that responds to color, a trigger of some sort.
4.) Study routine, so important. I didn't always study in the library, but I loved library time, all alone, no distractions. Studying was also accomplished while sitting on my sofa, comfortably propped up with pillows, highlighters, notepad, recorded audio from lectures, so forth. Find what works for you. Everyone is different, but routine is key. Just do it. (For those whose minds wander during boring lectures, I understand, thus my reason for audio recordings. I had audio to fall back on if I missed something while notetaking. Also, sometimes I wanted to give my full attention to lectures, no notetaking, as they were just that interesting.)
5.) Read your work out loud. Someone suggested reading out loud in a British accent. Okay, whatever works. When testing does this help you recall information? Reading work out loud, especially when writing term papers, also helps catch mistakes.
6.) Review your notes each day. This habit, shared by a former A&M student, proved invaluable. It works. Take time to review before class, while drinking your coffee in the morning, whatever works for you, but review your notes.
Writing for work is totally different from writing a blog post. With millions of words in the English language you would think descriptive phrases, or brief descriptive sentences would be easy. No. writing four or five paragraphs is easier. So, I write down words all day, every day, when something is triggered in my brain. I'm telling you, everywhere I go I find new words, different ways to describe without redundancy. I enter them into Notepad, in a Word doc, or on my physical notepad. Today while writing, I wanted a certain phrase I'd previously written, but I have pages and pages of notes, nothing but words. Here's the deal: I could see it on the page, in my mind. I had not highlighted it with a color, but I could see it about halfway down the page. Being able to visualize location simplified the search process. I have no idea why this works. I often feel spatial skills are my weakest skill. Is this true if I’m able to visualize notes and colors, retrieve information from past studies? Is this considered a spatial skill? I can ‘see’ my notes. Weird but beneficial. Maybe this is some type of spatial voodoo.
All this to say here you go, someone needs this and doesn’t yet know it, and I didn't fall asleep at 6:30 p.m.
Choose your friends AND your study partners carefully.
(Photos included of referenced books and my personal system.)
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