Two points resonated with me the most - 1. Do not overwrite, just because you are entering more words does not necessarily mean you are transferring more knowledge. I used to be guilty of this in the past, but of late I have been trying to type keeping brevity in mind 2. Conclusion must provide a sense of closure. I think while the headline is what gets people to start reading a text, the conclusion plays an equally important role in cementing the idea in the reader's mind, thereby enabling them to remember it better.
My biggest struggle with making an essay on books i read or movies i watch is that eventually, it feels like i'm just rewriting the damn book. It's personally difficult for me to synthesize the points I found interesting in a book without feeling like i'm rewriting the book in my own words. Frankly, the books are always fine as they are. So, in order to limit myself in a way where I still write the things i want to write is very simple: I try to summarize it in 2-3 sentences. This restricts me enough to force myself to write with accuracy & precision. Great video mate. I love writing personal essays despite my challenges with them.
Maybe try the litterature notes where you only highlight sentences that resonates with you, this way you will always have something personal to say about the part you selected
@@werosification Yes, I find it useful to think or write about just the opposite of what I read. It makes me notice the tiny things I didn't pay enough attention to during the reading. Most of the time, I like and adore the books I read, but when having this idea of picking out things I don't like or don't agree in a book, the book started to talk or even argue with me. That makes the whole reading and later on writing experience much more engaging. I don't summarise most books since it's easy to find out better version of it online or through AI tools. For me personally, discovering things I didn't know before is more fun, be it a simple fact that I never heard of or emotions from myself that I barely had because I never experienced sth similar that happened in the story. And then, I write about that. From that point on, I will be led to a rabbit hole of new and interesting thoughts, which is totally welcome for me.
Your videos are just what's needed. Not a second is wasted. I hardly learn anything from youtube lately, yet your videos have provided me with my most important tool since journaling. Mini-essays, however trivial they may seem, are helping me a great deal with sorting out my reflections. I hope you will keep going
You said one thing which seems very powerful to me when it comes to writing and its limits which is : "even creativity benefits from some level of restriction".
Hey just wanted to say I love your videos, I remember in high school a friend and I always discussed wanting to be polymaths and trying to learn multiple disciplines proficiently. And while it is a struggle it's nice to see someone who shares that same view rather than this constant mind numbing message of just push out content and do stuff to get money. So keep it up and God bless you.
Thanks, I'm grateful to hear it. You're right too, the broad 'self-improvement' trend has gone a disappointing direction but there's still loads of great people out there making genuine content
i remember watching your video on mini essays when it came out, it got randomly recommended to me. today, i found out that you made a video talking more about how to write them and, again, because it got randomly recommended to me. going to take it as the universe telling me to try it out lmao.
I changed 3 universities before landing on the one I did, then had no friends since the class had already been divided into groups and pairs, I was alone. Every group project I did alone (due to the only people left are freeloaders,most kinds are in some group with their friends). Knowing the fact that I was isolated, over-pressured with no friends, not even in a degree I wanted to do (I wanted to do Aerospace Engineering, not Computer Science) I quickly went into depression as I saw that after all that, I was not scoring good grades and becoming more & more isolated due to not being a good student. I finally found this one girl who had faith in me (she eventually became my girlfriend) but now in 3rd year of my degree, I discovered your channel and the grades are finally on a upward swing. It is not enough to change much, I am still going to score something equivalent to 2.3 or 2.5 (when converted to American 4-point grading system, the actual GPA on 10-grade point, it is 5.2 right now, expected to go upto 5.5) but at least the grades on an upswing & I wanted to thank you for the help in this journey.
Great video! In Brazil we are trained in school to produce only "mini-essays", ranging from 190 to 220 words, and they are cold, we are not alowed to creat emotion or write metaforicaly. Unfurtunatly we are not encouraged to produce longs essays, like in US.
I have been looking for a way to gather thoughts for videos about praising good forms of media (books, shows, movies, etc.) and appraising bad forms as well. This is perfect. Thank you for the work you are putting into your channel sir.
This came at the perfect time. I was just wondering yesterday if you ever made a video about, how to actually write the mini-essay. Thanks so much for all the inspiration and guidance. I started my daily 1h writing habit last week - thanks to you.
your videos are oddly exactly how i imagine the tone of the ones i imagine making but never do. i love the candid, informative content. your consistency and drive is paying off. ill join you soon in that! i hope
Thank goodness the TH-cam algorithm brought me to you. I have been struggling with my writing skills ever since I was in high school, even though I wanted to become a writer. I always felt like I did not have the proper structure and learning about grammar always threw me in a loop. Now that I'm in college, I've been wanting to explore writing in different topics and writing mini-essays sounds like the perfect step for a beginner like me.
You got this stuff dialed in nicely. I can tell. My college English prof liken the essay to the way an image forms on a clean piece of paper as you trace over it, revealing the image hidden below. Each subsequent essay is another stroke of the the pencil, or the crayon. Or the charcoal. The more essays you compose about a variety of topics, the more revealing and detailed will become the underlying image. I thought that an outstanding illustration. He was teaching about the different forms of literature. He was talking about Montaigne in particular. I heard Emily Ratajkowski say that her new book was constructed of a series of essays she spoke into her phone over a long period of time. (Her mom was an English teacher.) That is a NYT bestseller, btw. My Body. She is a beautiful creature. An essay needs to be as focused as possible. Confined in scope. In the end, the essay helps you give voice to your feelings and thoughts on any given topic. "What do I think about thus-n-such? Before you can write down what you think about a given topic, you first must clarify in your own mind. Not as easy it might sound.
11:41 this mini essay is something mentioned in bhagavat geetha that if you do evil you start getting used to it and habitualise it and after a while its impossible to remove it and becomes disease which cant be removed.
here is a summary for all of you comrades, thanks for Odysseas and for this community for everything. # -Four rules to keep your mini-essays useful (and not a pain in the ass to manage) 1- only **1 idea** per mini essay (use links to link mini essay) 2- keep them **short** (keep them between 100 and 500 words) 3- you have to give **references** 4- Organize your mini-essays with a **system** of tags or folders # The Three-Part Structure ## 1-intro A-Make the premise clear B-spark curiosity we could use one of these techniques - Make a strong **statement** - make an **emotional** intro (drama) - make a **question** - throw the reader into the middle of the **story** ## 2-body - here we **explain** the idea - make the idea **clear** and don't make it long or vague - someone how don't understand the idea should understand it after reading the mini essay ## 3-conclusion - Write a **Powerful** Conclusion - make it **short** and make them **stick** # Using Storytelling in Mini-Essays (Story Notes) these are one of the most powerful styles it could get your point better - they could be **made up** or **retold** or **personal experience** - think what is the point you are trying communicate ## we could use a **hybrid** approach (half story half discission)
Yet another banger of a video filled with practical tips. Ever since I saw your first video I have been mentally slowing down and putting more effort into really fleshing out my thoughts and learnings through mini essays. This has helped me, someone who loves learning but has the tendency of shooting off in different directions and not getting to the point. I've noticed that with the things I have taken the time and effort to write about, I have been able to provide much more stimulated yet structured conversation whenever the topics come up. Now when someone asks me about something I have not taken the time to reflect and write about, I respond with "you know, I haven't really fleshed that out yet, what do you think?" whereas before I would just sorta verbally jump around and almost guess about how I felt about the subject. Before things were very vague but now I have been able to mentally and literally seperate the levels of development and understanding on a topic. I appreciate you letting us into your world and sharing some of your concrete examples as well as your thinking behind them. Curious people need this kind of structure to enjoy the fruits of their aqcuisitions, thank you for sharing your system and encouraging us to adapt it as our own. Looking forward to the next vid and take care.
@@larastone9881 Thanks so much for sharing. That's really awesome to hear that and I wish you the same mental enlightenment and sense of organisation :)
This channel is a treasure trove. Thank you for helping us become better learners and thinkers. I’m so happy to see the success of your channel increasing more and more. You deserve it. Thank you!
I think of all your videos this has been one of the most helpful. It inspired me to start writing my own mini-essays and integrate them into my Digital Zettelkasten. By the way, I'm writing to you from Chile! 🇨🇱
Some great tips here. I definitely love the advice on keeping track of your sources as you go. As a librarain, it is one of the top things students come to us for help with. A few days before an essay deadline they panic, and can't remember where they read something then reach out for help finding it. They don't realise there is so much info out there, it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack! I hope lots of students are watching this and taking your advice onboard. 😄
The entire system is a masterpiece. All your videos are fantastic. I would like to learn how you store other information or learn other subjects. What are your other systems?
Nice work ! It does apply to scientific writing also When you have hundreds of pages with "important notes" you need a method to extract the essence of it without overwriting Thank you for the tips
I do not plan on being a writer, but I noticed that my work causes me lots of anxiety when I don’t know how to do a certain task or I depend on someone for it. In order to deal with that, I started opening a note on my computer that I called “brain” where I take the time to decide on how to go about the task in form of a list of steps. I then work on my task and check things off my list. Now I want to implement this kind of idea for my day to day life, and for bigger things like books or videos, mini essays seem like a great idea. Regarding limiting yourself in your mini essays, I’ve learned time and time again that keeping things simple is the best way to start anything. If you allow yourself too much freedom, too many features and too many goals, you’ll end up wanting to do so much that you won’t do anything or postpone it for the day when you think you’ll have the time for it. Limiting ourselves at first makes us realize what we actually need to improve.
Just found this today channel and I think your videos are great. I will definitely be watching your channel regularly(btw I just wanted to point out that you kinda give serious Benjamin mcevoy vibes. Not really important but I just love to see it). ❤
Thank you so much, I really learn a lot from you! One thought, that came to my mind: after you created such a big amount of useable knowledge, it might be really useful for your followers, to show one complete workflow from start to end - for example, from opening a book the first time, to the final Zettelkasten-note. This whole process is something I still miss on TH-cam, and after I decided to follow and copy your presented workflow, it would be a fitting conclusion! But seriousley, keep up that inspiring thing you do, it is so great! Greatings from Germany!
Great video as always! I always try to teach my students when discussing literature to link fiction to real life situations. What can you - as a reader - learn from this story? Part of our exam is dicussing those things, so will definitely recommend them to write mini-essays on those topics!
So much depth behind every detail! I love your teaching style, glad I found you out! I'm sure I'll bring my writing to the next lev because of this! Thank you SO much!
I'm thinking of adapting this idea for my media consumption. A place to remember all the serious theory and whatnot I need. But I would do is based on the work, not on a single idea, because that feels more helpful for me. But I might do it as a collection of ideas. I don't know. Something like that. But thanks a bunch for this this idea. I think it will help me alot, I do have trouble making things concise and rewording the thoughts of others. So yeah. :)
Your video is always a lot more easier to grasp than others, I really apreciate it for making it simple. Though this Zettelkasten way is still very foreign for me. I would love to see your workflow, an example of what to do.
This is the exact process I follow and writing blogs.
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14:23 I remember a writing professor recommends the 'drawer experience' (la experiencia del cajón). Write your text, store it away, and engage in different activities. After a few hours, return to it with fresh eyes and rewrite. This approach isn't magical; it simply reduces memory bias, allowing you to read and edit the text more like an external reader would, without unintentionally filling in gaps with information from your memory
Even though it wasn't the point of your video, you gave me just the right motivation to work on the essay for uni that I was postponing today. Thanks! 😊
@odysseas__ true! The passion you express for writing hjelps me think of it as not a chore but a talent I am developing, a craft I am refining. Brilliant channel, keep up the good work, and just know it hits just the right spot for adhd people like me ❤️
I love the videos you made about mini-essays, it inspired me to be a better writer I kinda wished this topic appeared sooner haha. My key takeaways here are that these mini-essay can also be notes for a bigger picture to form your main idea of a topic and mini-essays are a great tool for self-education, to formulate a deeper understanding. I'm doing freewriting, self-reflections and outlining my novel for past time, but as days goes by it came to my mind to by fulfilling a goal to learn new things and expand my perspectives, I have this guilt that my efforts on college is not enough and it's been filling to do something more that rambled out and can't organize it. I'm trying to read some philosophy or self-help books, but I'm resorting to videos as of now since I'm more used to it. Do you have any recommendations on how to not worry on your structure or be conscious when writing something? It's always my main hurdle and I want it to break it out because I regretted that doing in college. Anyways, thanks for the videos, hope I don't forget to apply it on following days.
I have 2 questions. 1) How do you decide on what colour you use on your node? 2) Could you please make a video on transferring a point from a sourced note to a main note? I have watched previous videos multiple times but I do think another more depth video would help
A huge thanks you and your work. I love learning about everything, but my interests seemed to outweigh my time. After discovering your channel, my projectd seem managable. Отличное видио! 🎉
Great! I just started back to University and several of the ideas in this video is super helpful in reminding me to keep my writing fun, to connect my ideas as I go, and to cite as I write. Thank you!
Thank you for the videos about obsidian and mini essay. Now i read and write much more compared to how it used to be. I have a question. After i read a source material, i tend to have a lot of ideas and I would like to write it down in mini essays. As a result i have a ton of mini essays backlog. Should I focus on reading the source material and have backlogs, or should i write the mini essay completely before continuing reading the source material? thank you!!
I already kinda do this in Google Docs, in a very haphazard fashion and mostly with musings that randomly come to mind. Still gotta watch the Obsidian video so I can start building my library of notes and mini essays in there…
the story of king solomon was mentioned in the Holy Qur'an . he was a prophet sent from Allah (the God). and he was the son of David which was another king and prophet. their kindom have lived in prosperity and they were really kind , wise and just . In Qur'an also solomon could understand the langauge of animals , insecets and even elves and demons! Allah just made him have power that no other king might have after him. and that what he wanted. Also the story of these two women were also mentioned in the Qur'an as you have said. ^_^ thank you Odysseas for your tips ! following you from Egypt :)
Many thanks for your content. I'm currently reading 2 books by William Zinsser : "On Writing Well" and "Writing to Learn". I just wondered if you're going to do reviews of these 2 classics ??? In this dumbed down culture, we have to play the game - get people's attention ... and keep it. Here's a question for you .... Thinking about your favourite books ..... What is your favourite opening sentence ?? Here's mine : "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13". There's a similar question related to movies. The beginning of the movie "Trainspotting" .... will make sure you stop shoving popcorn into your mouth ... and keep watching the movie. Anyway, thanks again for your channel ... and keep up the great work !
Thanks, and I'll definitely have to give them more attention. The opening line from the Iliad springs to mind: 'Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus,' mainly because it sets the scene for the rage which is so important to the story. It's perfect.
🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 📝 Mini essays are versatile tools for learning and practicing daily writing, offering a structured approach to exploring ideas. 🎯 Focus each mini essay on a single idea to maintain clarity and prevent overwhelming complexity. 📏 Keep mini essays short (100-500 words) to balance depth with practicality and maintain engagement. 🗂️ Organize mini essays systematically using tags or folders to easily retrieve and use them later. 🖋️ Structure mini essays with a clear introduction, detailed body, and concise conclusion to guide the reader effectively. 🎭 Use varied hooks for introductions: start with a bold statement, evoke emotions, pose a question, or dive straight into a story. 🤔 Promote curiosity and engagement in the introduction while ensuring clarity about the essay's purpose. 🎉 Conclude mini essays with a brief summary that reinforces the main idea and leaves a lasting impression. 📚 Stories are powerful tools for conveying ideas effectively in mini-essays. 🎭 Choose stories that align closely with the message you want to communicate. 💡 Start your mini-essay with a captivating story to engage readers from the beginning. 🔄 Transition from storytelling to informative writing to deepen the message. 📖 Stories can be fictional or based on real experiences to illustrate key points. 🧩 Ensure your chosen story enhances rather than distracts from your main message. 🌟 Blend storytelling with factual discussion to create a compelling narrative. 📝 Examples like King Solomon's dilemma showcase how stories can vividly convey complex ideas. Made with HARPA AI
you might like the writing advice of cato the elder to his son: rem tene, verba sequentur [know the thing, the words (will) follow]. topics clear in one’s mind help avoid those word salads 😜
Really interesting, but please consider never ever using that electronic beeping as a soundtrack, it was driving me insane. I’ll rewatch with audio off and subs on as the content is super valuable!
What do you think of using AI to improve your essay writing. Let’s say you read something and just type in an ai system to give you a summary, you approve or add some points, then throw it into that second brain software “dystopian”. Would you say that you are sacrificing comprehension for speed? Or would you say, with a structure like dystopian, this ai supported process is actually worthwhile. As the sacrifice of comprehension, that you would get from writing on your own and building the points of the essay by yourself, so you can cover way more material faster. Then the material is recorded using dystopian thus you have an idea where its coming from and review it when needed? There may be some external effects to this approach I may be missing. Just wondering what you might think about this. Also great video by the way. I’m currently studying for a few exams and definitely plan on setting up dystopian, as you’ve suggested in your videos, in the next coming weeks.
Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm against using AI for the writing itself because I like to practice with the slower, more thorough route. The only times I use it are for coming up with analogies, examples, or for research. That said, everyone's goals are different and if you want a little extra volume, you could follow your method just fine.
I find myself using this method of essay writing in a poor manner. I've decided on summarizing chapters of a PolSci book I was reading in pdf form side by side with an obsidian vault, but I've only wrote down disjointed quotes, names and ideas without much content to it. This seems to miss the point for me, but I'm not capable of understanding how to do it in a different way to how I was taught to write notes in class. Any suggestions or directions will be greatly appreciated.
Hey what do you think about writing mini-essay in google slides? I've just find it easier to compile information and give refrence and give a structure. (Your Opinion on this). Thanks for your work.
I love this video Odysseas but I have one question. Minni Essays are not the same as the permanent notes from the zettelkasten Method? if they aren't, What's the difference?
Thanks, and mini-essays are potential style of permanent note, but they don't have to fit into that system necessarily. Most of my zettelkasten notes just happen to be written as mini-essays.
@@odysseas__ Cool, let me know what you think. I am currently building a hybrid system. For the longest time I could not figure out how to use both Obsidian and the analog Antinet Zettelkasten to their fullest potential without disrupting each others principles... Until it finally clicked to me yesterday. Soon I will upload a post on LinkedIn detailing my process.
What is the difference between atomic notes and mini-essays? I've been trying to implement the advice from your previous video, but I haven't been writing by the standards you have mentioned in this video.
A mini-essay is a format of an atomic notes (assuming you are using them in the zettelkasten/second brain context). Every single mini-essays I write is also an atomic note, but not all my atomic notes are mini-essays
Hi Great Vid just wanted to Ask How much Time do you spend on Reading and how much For writing Ideas down cause Im Reading Paradise Lost Right now, and id say every 2 sentences or so, I'll have to Take some notes down which will lead me down a Completely new Rabbit hole Could I get some Advice?
Thanks, and I feel you. As I read, I jot down notes quickly, then once I finish the book, I go back through it and take more detailed notes. This helps me not interrupt the flow too bad. Another solution is to just be more selective in what you take notes on, as in, removing the less important stuff
@@odysseas__thank you. It works seamlessly with your essays. Also thank you so much for all the insights. My mind is constantly running and I didn't know where to put these thoughts, now each shall be a mini essay
If I could choose 1 youtube channel for the rest of my life it would be this one rethinking, its a hard choice between odysseas and kboges. one for the mind, one for the body
This is a little unrelated to the video, but, how do you take notes on visual media like videos or movies? I know you have a reference folder when it comes to books, and I have something similar. But, taking notes on visual media, where I can't export quotes and all that with ease, is something I have a hard time figuring out.
I take notes as I go usually, with both tabs side by side. I copy quotes manually if needed, but I think there's some transcription ai out there that can turn the video into text for copypasting
Two points resonated with me the most -
1. Do not overwrite, just because you are entering more words does not necessarily mean you are transferring more knowledge. I used to be guilty of this in the past, but of late I have been trying to type keeping brevity in mind
2. Conclusion must provide a sense of closure. I think while the headline is what gets people to start reading a text, the conclusion plays an equally important role in cementing the idea in the reader's mind, thereby enabling them to remember it better.
good points
Nice -first one is especially tricky to get good at, but so important
My biggest struggle with making an essay on books i read or movies i watch is that eventually, it feels like i'm just rewriting the damn book. It's personally difficult for me to synthesize the points I found interesting in a book without feeling like i'm rewriting the book in my own words. Frankly, the books are always fine as they are. So, in order to limit myself in a way where I still write the things i want to write is very simple: I try to summarize it in 2-3 sentences. This restricts me enough to force myself to write with accuracy & precision. Great video mate. I love writing personal essays despite my challenges with them.
maybe try finding an opposite, different point or opinion and compare them?
Maybe try the litterature notes where you only highlight sentences that resonates with you, this way you will always have something personal to say about the part you selected
Being able to almost rewrite a book from memory is a skill of its own
@@werosification Yes, I find it useful to think or write about just the opposite of what I read. It makes me notice the tiny things I didn't pay enough attention to during the reading. Most of the time, I like and adore the books I read, but when having this idea of picking out things I don't like or don't agree in a book, the book started to talk or even argue with me. That makes the whole reading and later on writing experience much more engaging. I don't summarise most books since it's easy to find out better version of it online or through AI tools. For me personally, discovering things I didn't know before is more fun, be it a simple fact that I never heard of or emotions from myself that I barely had because I never experienced sth similar that happened in the story. And then, I write about that. From that point on, I will be led to a rabbit hole of new and interesting thoughts, which is totally welcome for me.
Your videos are just what's needed. Not a second is wasted. I hardly learn anything from youtube lately, yet your videos have provided me with my most important tool since journaling. Mini-essays, however trivial they may seem, are helping me a great deal with sorting out my reflections. I hope you will keep going
Thanks man, I really appreciate it. It's cool that you're using them to reflect -we get fewer and fewer chances nowadays
A very good point. I find myself in a like position. Good day to you. 😊
You said one thing which seems very powerful to me when it comes to writing and its limits which is : "even creativity benefits from some level of restriction".
“Lacking something hurts in the moment, but it gives room for appreciation when it does come around” - the muse who changed my life 😂
Hey just wanted to say I love your videos, I remember in high school a friend and I always discussed wanting to be polymaths and trying to learn multiple disciplines proficiently. And while it is a struggle it's nice to see someone who shares that same view rather than this constant mind numbing message of just push out content and do stuff to get money. So keep it up and God bless you.
Thanks, I'm grateful to hear it. You're right too, the broad 'self-improvement' trend has gone a disappointing direction but there's still loads of great people out there making genuine content
i remember watching your video on mini essays when it came out, it got randomly recommended to me. today, i found out that you made a video talking more about how to write them and, again, because it got randomly recommended to me. going to take it as the universe telling me to try it out lmao.
Haha the algorithm works in mysterious ways
I changed 3 universities before landing on the one I did, then had no friends since the class had already been divided into groups and pairs, I was alone. Every group project I did alone (due to the only people left are freeloaders,most kinds are in some group with their friends).
Knowing the fact that I was isolated, over-pressured with no friends, not even in a degree I wanted to do (I wanted to do Aerospace Engineering, not Computer Science) I quickly went into depression as I saw that after all that, I was not scoring good grades and becoming more & more isolated due to not being a good student. I finally found this one girl who had faith in me (she eventually became my girlfriend) but now in 3rd year of my degree, I discovered your channel and the grades are finally on a upward swing. It is not enough to change much, I am still going to score something equivalent to 2.3 or 2.5 (when converted to American 4-point grading system, the actual GPA on 10-grade point, it is 5.2 right now, expected to go upto 5.5) but at least the grades on an upswing & I wanted to thank you for the help in this journey.
Nice story man, I love to see the turnaround. No matter what happens, the vigour you have will put you far. Keep it up
@@odysseas__ Thank you dude!
5:19 “System of organization, that makes sense” *shows the entire galaxy*
Great video! In Brazil we are trained in school to produce only "mini-essays", ranging from 190 to 220 words, and they are cold, we are not alowed to creat emotion or write metaforicaly. Unfurtunatly we are not encouraged to produce longs essays, like in US.
Ur straight outta Ravenclaw there bro…. Loved listening to this you employ a manner of speaking which is at once informative and deeply relaxing
I have been looking for a way to gather thoughts for videos about praising good forms of media (books, shows, movies, etc.) and appraising bad forms as well. This is perfect. Thank you for the work you are putting into your channel sir.
This came at the perfect time. I was just wondering yesterday if you ever made a video about, how to actually write the mini-essay.
Thanks so much for all the inspiration and guidance. I started my daily 1h writing habit last week - thanks to you.
Just applied the concept to this video. Now it actually feels like I learnt instead of "eh, I watched a video about it"
Love to hear that, keep the fire going
your videos are oddly exactly how i imagine the tone of the ones i imagine making but never do. i love the candid, informative content. your consistency and drive is paying off. ill join you soon in that! i hope
Can't wait to see it, and thanks!
Thank goodness the TH-cam algorithm brought me to you. I have been struggling with my writing skills ever since I was in high school, even though I wanted to become a writer. I always felt like I did not have the proper structure and learning about grammar always threw me in a loop. Now that I'm in college, I've been wanting to explore writing in different topics and writing mini-essays sounds like the perfect step for a beginner like me.
You got this stuff dialed in nicely. I can tell.
My college English prof liken the essay to the way an image forms on a clean piece of paper as you trace over it, revealing the image hidden below.
Each subsequent essay is another stroke of the the pencil, or the crayon. Or the charcoal.
The more essays you compose about a variety of topics, the more revealing and detailed will become the underlying image.
I thought that an outstanding illustration.
He was teaching about the different forms of literature.
He was talking about Montaigne in particular.
I heard Emily Ratajkowski say that her new book was constructed of a series of essays she spoke into her phone over a long period of time.
(Her mom was an English teacher.)
That is a NYT bestseller, btw. My Body.
She is a beautiful creature.
An essay needs to be as focused as possible. Confined in scope.
In the end, the essay helps you give voice to your feelings and thoughts on any given topic.
"What do I think about thus-n-such?
Before you can write down what you think about a given topic, you first must clarify in your own mind.
Not as easy it might sound.
11:41 this mini essay is something mentioned in bhagavat geetha that if you do evil you start getting used to it and habitualise it and after a while its impossible to remove it and becomes disease which cant be removed.
here is a summary for all of you comrades, thanks for Odysseas and for this community for everything.
# -Four rules to keep your mini-essays useful (and not a pain in the ass to manage)
1- only **1 idea** per mini essay (use links to link mini essay)
2- keep them **short** (keep them between 100 and 500 words)
3- you have to give **references**
4- Organize your mini-essays with a **system** of tags or folders
# The Three-Part Structure
## 1-intro
A-Make the premise clear
B-spark curiosity
we could use one of these techniques
- Make a strong **statement**
- make an **emotional** intro (drama)
- make a **question**
- throw the reader into the middle of the **story**
## 2-body
- here we **explain** the idea
- make the idea **clear** and don't make it long or vague
- someone how don't understand the idea should understand it after reading the mini essay
## 3-conclusion
- Write a **Powerful** Conclusion
- make it **short** and make them **stick**
# Using Storytelling in Mini-Essays (Story Notes)
these are one of the most powerful styles it could get your point better
- they could be **made up** or **retold** or **personal experience**
- think what is the point you are trying communicate
## we could use a **hybrid** approach (half story half discission)
Yet another banger of a video filled with practical tips.
Ever since I saw your first video I have been mentally slowing down and putting more effort into really fleshing out my thoughts and learnings through mini essays.
This has helped me, someone who loves learning but has the tendency of shooting off in different directions and not getting to the point. I've noticed that with the things I have taken the time and effort to write about, I have been able to provide much more stimulated yet structured conversation whenever the topics come up.
Now when someone asks me about something I have not taken the time to reflect and write about, I respond with "you know, I haven't really fleshed that out yet, what do you think?" whereas before I would just sorta verbally jump around and almost guess about how I felt about the subject. Before things were very vague but now I have been able to mentally and literally seperate the levels of development and understanding on a topic.
I appreciate you letting us into your world and sharing some of your concrete examples as well as your thinking behind them.
Curious people need this kind of structure to enjoy the fruits of their aqcuisitions, thank you for sharing your system and encouraging us to adapt it as our own.
Looking forward to the next vid and take care.
Your comment has motivated me to try this! This is where I want to get to!
@@larastone9881 Thanks so much for sharing. That's really awesome to hear that and I wish you the same mental enlightenment and sense of organisation :)
This channel is a treasure trove. Thank you for helping us become better learners and thinkers. I’m so happy to see the success of your channel increasing more and more. You deserve it. Thank you!
I love your posh-boy yet slightly ghetto-tinged southerner voice. I find it very relaxing somehow! Great content, too!
Thanks, can't argue with that description
Your videos are always exactly what I needed. Just so you know, you are helping people out there way more than you realise. Thanks mate, really!
Thanks man, I'm really grateful to hear this
I think of all your videos this has been one of the most helpful. It inspired me to start writing my own mini-essays and integrate them into my Digital Zettelkasten. By the way, I'm writing to you from Chile! 🇨🇱
I'm grateful to hear it, thanks!
Some great tips here. I definitely love the advice on keeping track of your sources as you go. As a librarain, it is one of the top things students come to us for help with. A few days before an essay deadline they panic, and can't remember where they read something then reach out for help finding it. They don't realise there is so much info out there, it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack! I hope lots of students are watching this and taking your advice onboard. 😄
This inspired me to go to Panera and start writing. Helped a lot - thanjs
Love to hear it, thanks
The entire system is a masterpiece. All your videos are fantastic.
I would like to learn how you store other information or learn other subjects. What are your other systems?
Nice work ! It does apply to scientific writing also
When you have hundreds of pages with "important notes" you need a method to extract the essence of it without overwriting
Thank you for the tips
Thanks, and yes it's very good in all academics
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I do not plan on being a writer, but I noticed that my work causes me lots of anxiety when I don’t know how to do a certain task or I depend on someone for it. In order to deal with that, I started opening a note on my computer that I called “brain” where I take the time to decide on how to go about the task in form of a list of steps. I then work on my task and check things off my list.
Now I want to implement this kind of idea for my day to day life, and for bigger things like books or videos, mini essays seem like a great idea. Regarding limiting yourself in your mini essays, I’ve learned time and time again that keeping things simple is the best way to start anything. If you allow yourself too much freedom, too many features and too many goals, you’ll end up wanting to do so much that you won’t do anything or postpone it for the day when you think you’ll have the time for it. Limiting ourselves at first makes us realize what we actually need to improve.
This is the quality content I pay my internet bills for !
Just found this today channel and I think your videos are great. I will definitely be watching your channel regularly(btw I just wanted to point out that you kinda give serious Benjamin mcevoy vibes. Not really important but I just love to see it). ❤
I admire you; you're a genius
Thank you so much, I really learn a lot from you! One thought, that came to my mind: after you created such a big amount of useable knowledge, it might be really useful for your followers, to show one complete workflow from start to end - for example, from opening a book the first time, to the final Zettelkasten-note. This whole process is something I still miss on TH-cam, and after I decided to follow and copy your presented workflow, it would be a fitting conclusion! But seriousley, keep up that inspiring thing you do, it is so great! Greatings from Germany!
Great video as always! I always try to teach my students when discussing literature to link fiction to real life situations. What can you - as a reader - learn from this story? Part of our exam is dicussing those things, so will definitely recommend them to write mini-essays on those topics!
I'm grateful to hear it, and yes I wish I was asked this in English class more often. I hope it sticks with them
So much depth behind every detail! I love your teaching style, glad I found you out! I'm sure I'll bring my writing to the next lev because of this! Thank you SO much!
Really grateful to hear it, thanks. Wishing you well in your practice
@@odysseas__ Just had a few hour writing session that felt orgasmic compared to what it used to be!
@@cd42095 Love to hear it
Great video. Thanks for the knowledge
I'm thinking of adapting this idea for my media consumption. A place to remember all the serious theory and whatnot I need. But I would do is based on the work, not on a single idea, because that feels more helpful for me. But I might do it as a collection of ideas. I don't know. Something like that. But thanks a bunch for this this idea. I think it will help me alot, I do have trouble making things concise and rewording the thoughts of others. So yeah. :)
Your video is always a lot more easier to grasp than others, I really apreciate it for making it simple.
Though this Zettelkasten way is still very foreign for me. I would love to see your workflow, an example of what to do.
Thanks, I appreciate it. I cover my process a little more here:
th-cam.com/video/0ue53UR2c48/w-d-xo.html
This is the exact process I follow and writing blogs.
14:23 I remember a writing professor recommends the 'drawer experience' (la experiencia del cajón). Write your text, store it away, and engage in different activities. After a few hours, return to it with fresh eyes and rewrite. This approach isn't magical; it simply reduces memory bias, allowing you to read and edit the text more like an external reader would, without unintentionally filling in gaps with information from your memory
Even though it wasn't the point of your video, you gave me just the right motivation to work on the essay for uni that I was postponing today. Thanks! 😊
Love to hear it, much appreciated. I have to grind one out now so I'll join you in spirit
@odysseas__ true! The passion you express for writing hjelps me think of it as not a chore but a talent I am developing, a craft I am refining. Brilliant channel, keep up the good work, and just know it hits just the right spot for adhd people like me ❤️
I love the videos you made about mini-essays, it inspired me to be a better writer I kinda wished this topic appeared sooner haha. My key takeaways here are that these mini-essay can also be notes for a bigger picture to form your main idea of a topic and mini-essays are a great tool for self-education, to formulate a deeper understanding.
I'm doing freewriting, self-reflections and outlining my novel for past time, but as days goes by it came to my mind to by fulfilling a goal to learn new things and expand my perspectives, I have this guilt that my efforts on college is not enough and it's been filling to do something more that rambled out and can't organize it. I'm trying to read some philosophy or self-help books, but I'm resorting to videos as of now since I'm more used to it.
Do you have any recommendations on how to not worry on your structure or be conscious when writing something? It's always my main hurdle and I want it to break it out because I regretted that doing in college. Anyways, thanks for the videos, hope I don't forget to apply it on following days.
Finally new video it felt like a century 🤌✨
I love this man's content. Keep up the good work, mate.
Cheers man, thankful to hear it
I have 2 questions.
1) How do you decide on what colour you use on your node?
2) Could you please make a video on transferring a point from a sourced note to a main note? I have watched previous videos multiple times but I do think another more depth video would help
A huge thanks you and your work. I love learning about everything, but my interests seemed to outweigh my time. After discovering your channel, my projectd seem managable. Отличное видио! 🎉
Thanks, I'm happy to hear it
Another Banger, and the haircut looks good!
Cheers man
Great! I just started back to University and several of the ideas in this video is super helpful in reminding me to keep my writing fun, to connect my ideas as I go, and to cite as I write. Thank you!
Love it, much appreciated
Thank you
Much appreciated
Thank you for the videos about obsidian and mini essay. Now i read and write much more compared to how it used to be.
I have a question. After i read a source material, i tend to have a lot of ideas and I would like to write it down in mini essays. As a result i have a ton of mini essays backlog.
Should I focus on reading the source material and have backlogs, or should i write the mini essay completely before continuing reading the source material?
thank you!!
I already kinda do this in Google Docs, in a very haphazard fashion and mostly with musings that randomly come to mind.
Still gotta watch the Obsidian video so I can start building my library of notes and mini essays in there…
the story of king solomon was mentioned in the Holy Qur'an . he was a prophet sent from Allah (the God). and he was the son of David which was another king and prophet. their kindom have lived in prosperity and they were really kind , wise and just .
In Qur'an also solomon could understand the langauge of animals , insecets and even elves and demons! Allah just made him have power that no other king might have after him. and that what he wanted.
Also the story of these two women were also mentioned in the Qur'an as you have said. ^_^
thank you Odysseas for your tips !
following you from Egypt :)
Much appreciated, and of course it's in the Old Testament too
Love your content. Keep up the great work 🎉
Much appreciated!
Where do you get these beautiful paintings
We had the same messy hairstyle. Now I'm thinking I need to head to the barbers 😂 Kidding aside, thanks for the video. Informative as always.
Bro, you would love Alan Moore's writing course on BBC Maestro. Oh my what a fantastic teacher and writer.
I'll have to check it out, thanks for suggesting it
whiteboard adds +15 IQ points
You are an inspiration, mate. Keep it up, God bless!
Thanks man, God bless you too
Nice, I'm reading On Writing Well and Writing to Learn. Great videos, very useful.
Thanks, I'm excited to get to Writing to Learn
Many thanks for your content. I'm currently reading 2 books by William Zinsser : "On Writing Well" and
"Writing to Learn". I just wondered if you're going to do reviews of these 2 classics ???
In this dumbed down culture, we have to play the game - get people's attention ... and keep it.
Here's a question for you .... Thinking about your favourite books ..... What is your favourite opening sentence ?? Here's mine : "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13".
There's a similar question related to movies. The beginning of the movie "Trainspotting" ....
will make sure you stop shoving popcorn into your mouth ... and keep watching the movie.
Anyway, thanks again for your channel ... and keep up the great work !
Thanks, and I'll definitely have to give them more attention. The opening line from the Iliad springs to mind: 'Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus,' mainly because it sets the scene for the rage which is so important to the story. It's perfect.
Huge value. Keep it up man.
Cheers man
@@odysseas__ Do you also offer any courses or products?
@@Tomino555 Not now, but I'm working on some paid + free stuff
@@odysseas__ cool. Looking forward to it
I love this channel!
Thank you!
🎯 Key points for quick navigation:
📝 Mini essays are versatile tools for learning and practicing daily writing, offering a structured approach to exploring ideas.
🎯 Focus each mini essay on a single idea to maintain clarity and prevent overwhelming complexity.
📏 Keep mini essays short (100-500 words) to balance depth with practicality and maintain engagement.
🗂️ Organize mini essays systematically using tags or folders to easily retrieve and use them later.
🖋️ Structure mini essays with a clear introduction, detailed body, and concise conclusion to guide the reader effectively.
🎭 Use varied hooks for introductions: start with a bold statement, evoke emotions, pose a question, or dive straight into a story.
🤔 Promote curiosity and engagement in the introduction while ensuring clarity about the essay's purpose.
🎉 Conclude mini essays with a brief summary that reinforces the main idea and leaves a lasting impression.
📚 Stories are powerful tools for conveying ideas effectively in mini-essays.
🎭 Choose stories that align closely with the message you want to communicate.
💡 Start your mini-essay with a captivating story to engage readers from the beginning.
🔄 Transition from storytelling to informative writing to deepen the message.
📖 Stories can be fictional or based on real experiences to illustrate key points.
🧩 Ensure your chosen story enhances rather than distracts from your main message.
🌟 Blend storytelling with factual discussion to create a compelling narrative.
📝 Examples like King Solomon's dilemma showcase how stories can vividly convey complex ideas.
Made with HARPA AI
Love this man
Thanks
you might like the writing advice of cato the elder to his son: rem tene, verba sequentur [know the thing, the words (will) follow]. topics clear in one’s mind help avoid those word salads 😜
You have to start your own book
I'm working on one
I saw a comment about writing an essay about how to write essays. At first I thought it was a joke, but it's actually a good place to start
I'd like to read your essay on videogame and masculinity
I'll be exploring this in future videos, or the newsletter. Needs more research.
THE BEST The Greatest The Best
what do you use for your thumbnails? they’re gorgeous
Really interesting, but please consider never ever using that electronic beeping as a soundtrack, it was driving me insane. I’ll rewatch with audio off and subs on as the content is super valuable!
I was somehow expecting a video from you today
The prophecy is true
@@odysseas__ yeah🤣
I think we need a setup tour
It's the obsidian video linked in the description
Do you have a website where you have these mini essays that you’ve written posted?
Nice
What do you think of using AI to improve your essay writing. Let’s say you read something and just type in an ai system to give you a summary, you approve or add some points, then throw it into that second brain software “dystopian”. Would you say that you are sacrificing comprehension for speed? Or would you say, with a structure like dystopian, this ai supported process is actually worthwhile. As the sacrifice of comprehension, that you would get from writing on your own and building the points of the essay by yourself, so you can cover way more material faster. Then the material is recorded using dystopian thus you have an idea where its coming from and review it when needed? There may be some external effects to this approach I may be missing. Just wondering what you might think about this.
Also great video by the way. I’m currently studying for a few exams and definitely plan on setting up dystopian, as you’ve suggested in your videos, in the next coming weeks.
Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm against using AI for the writing itself because I like to practice with the slower, more thorough route. The only times I use it are for coming up with analogies, examples, or for research.
That said, everyone's goals are different and if you want a little extra volume, you could follow your method just fine.
may I read your mini essays as a inspirations, please? do you have a blog / site where you post them?
I write some in the newsletter, but also articles based on the ideas in them. The link is in the description.
@@odysseas__ nice, will check them out, thanks!
I find myself using this method of essay writing in a poor manner. I've decided on summarizing chapters of a PolSci book I was reading in pdf form side by side with an obsidian vault, but I've only wrote down disjointed quotes, names and ideas without much content to it. This seems to miss the point for me, but I'm not capable of understanding how to do it in a different way to how I was taught to write notes in class. Any suggestions or directions will be greatly appreciated.
Where in Obsidian do you store mini-essays? In Source Material or Main Notes? Thank you
Main notes.
@@odysseas__ Thank you!
Hey what do you think about writing mini-essay in google slides? I've just find it easier to compile information and give refrence and give a structure. (Your Opinion on this). Thanks for your work.
Much appreciated, and I won't lie it sounds strange to me but if it helps you visualise the work and get writing done, then go for it
Great!
Very informative 😊What Is the Software you are using For mini essay and Mind mapping?
Thanks! It's obsidian, and I have a video on it if you're interested
@@odysseas__ yes. I’m interested on it, please share to us 🙏🏻
@@rickykongqy obsidian.md/
i think i love you
I love this video Odysseas but I have one question. Minni Essays are not the same as the permanent notes from the zettelkasten Method? if they aren't, What's the difference?
Thanks, and mini-essays are potential style of permanent note, but they don't have to fit into that system necessarily.
Most of my zettelkasten notes just happen to be written as mini-essays.
Hi!, This is like an atomic note?
You can use it as a format of atomic notes, yep
Have you taken a look at Scott Scheper's material yet?
No but it looks interesting, I'll have to check it out
@@odysseas__ Cool, let me know what you think. I am currently building a hybrid system. For the longest time I could not figure out how to use both Obsidian and the analog Antinet Zettelkasten to their fullest potential without disrupting each others principles... Until it finally clicked to me yesterday. Soon I will upload a post on LinkedIn detailing my process.
@@productivity6693 Yeah I like the sound of a middle ground too
What is the difference between atomic notes and mini-essays?
I've been trying to implement the advice from your previous video, but I haven't been writing by the standards you have mentioned in this video.
A mini-essay is a format of an atomic notes (assuming you are using them in the zettelkasten/second brain context). Every single mini-essays I write is also an atomic note, but not all my atomic notes are mini-essays
@@odysseas__ gotcha thanks
Hi Great Vid
just wanted to Ask
How much Time do you spend on Reading and how much For writing Ideas down
cause Im Reading Paradise Lost Right now, and id say every 2 sentences or so, I'll have to Take some notes down which will lead me down a Completely new Rabbit hole
Could I get some Advice?
Thanks, and I feel you.
As I read, I jot down notes quickly, then once I finish the book, I go back through it and take more detailed notes. This helps me not interrupt the flow too bad.
Another solution is to just be more selective in what you take notes on, as in, removing the less important stuff
What city are you from? I expected lad but got man.
London
good
Me who can't write any essay watching this 📝
What is the note taking app please??
Obsidian
What topics can I start with
Whatever interests you the most
@@odysseas__ thàt would be philosophy...Thanks 😊
Unrelated question: what theme are you using
It's called atom
@@odysseas__thank you. It works seamlessly with your essays.
Also thank you so much for all the insights. My mind is constantly running and I didn't know where to put these thoughts, now each shall be a mini essay
@@DanteMishima Much appreciated man, I hope it's the outlet you need
Best
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If I could choose 1 youtube channel for the rest of my life it would be this one
rethinking, its a hard choice between odysseas and kboges. one for the mind, one for the body
Thanks man I'm real grateful for that. He's got a great channel indeed
This is a little unrelated to the video, but, how do you take notes on visual media like videos or movies?
I know you have a reference folder when it comes to books, and I have something similar. But, taking notes on visual media, where I can't export quotes and all that with ease, is something I have a hard time figuring out.
I take notes as I go usually, with both tabs side by side. I copy quotes manually if needed, but I think there's some transcription ai out there that can turn the video into text for copypasting