Boost Your Thinking and Writing with Mini-Essays

Hans L'HoestHans L'Hoest
1 min read

To become a better writer consistently writing is essential. Mini-essays provide a practical approach.

Mini-essays are short pieces of writing that focus on a single idea or topic.

Key properties of Mini-Essays

  1. Length: Mini-essays are short, usually 100 to 300 words to avoid digression.

  2. Focus: Each mini-essay is restricted to a single concept or idea.

Benefits of Mini-Essays

Mini-essays can help you become a a skilled writer and better reader and deepen your understanding of topics.

Mini-essays ...

  1. Identify gaps in your understanding, as writing demands precision.

  2. Build momentum: Mini-essays help to overcome the common hurdle of not knowing what to write about and procrastination.

  3. Build volume: Mini-essays serve as a tool for achieving writing volume through consistent, sustained effort.

  4. Build an Idea Bank: Mini-essays accumulate ideas, useful for future writing. (Especially with apps like Obsidian that support linking of notes.)

  5. Add novelty: Mini-essays allow exploring various topics in a short span of time.

How to write a Mini-Essay

Use the Feynman-method:

  1. Choose a topic to learn or explain

  2. Write as if teaching someone

  3. Identify and fill knowledge gaps and refer to the source material

  4. Re-write and streamline for clarity and brevity

Thank you for reading.

PS: Inspired by Mini Essays: The Ultimate Learning Tool

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Written by

Hans L'Hoest
Hans L'Hoest

I write about: Software architecture and engineering, Better software better. DDD, Scala and Rust