How to Make Notes and Write

Writing notes is really pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. And it’s a way of proving to yourself (and eventually, to others) that you’ve understood the text. Our notes can also provide us some clues into what in a text actually interested us. Where a source’s ideas really excite us, notes will cluster. Even so, we should try to write a separ

What then is the point of taking notes? It is to enter a relationship with the ideas in a text; potentially one that will expand and deepen over time, as you return to the source with new questions. Not every book will be one you’ll want to have this type of relationship with, of course.

writing about something you have read or researched should serve at least three purposes: to explore the material; to describe your reactions to it; and to communicate with your reader.

An important element of this is critical thinking. Try not to passively accept what you’re told or what you read. Ask questions, look for evidence that might corroborate or challenge claims, and compare what you’re reading or hearing with things you’ve heard before, things you’ve read, things you believe. And write your thoughts down, because, agai

Generally, the steps in the process of making information into knowledge are:

1. Highlight a text, take notes on a lecture, video, or other source, or record ideas as they come to you;


2. Summarize and paraphrase (and only rarely quote) this information into a Source Note;


3. Engage with the idea and comment or elaborate on it in a Point Note.