Writing Good Notes
The quality of your knowledge graph depends entirely on the quality of your notes. This guide covers practical techniques for writing notes that are useful months or years after creation.
The Atomicity Test
Before saving a note, ask:
- Can I summarize this in one sentence? If not, split it.
- Does it make one claim? “X is true” is atomic. “X is true and Y is related” is two notes.
- Would someone understand this without context? Notes should be self-contained.
From Source to Note
When reading an article, book, or watching a lecture:
Step 1: Highlight (Don’t Write Yet)
Mark passages that surprise you, contradict what you know, or explain something you’ve been wondering about.
Step 2: Close the Source
Put the book down. Close the tab. This is critical.
Step 3: Write From Memory
Open Cortex and write what you remember in your own words. This forces elaboration — the cognitive process that creates durable memory.
Step 4: Check and Refine
Go back to the source. Did you capture the idea correctly? Refine your note, but keep it in your voice.
Templates by Note Type
Fact
Title: [Specific claim about the world]
Content: [Evidence or explanation. Include source if applicable.]
Tags: [domain, sub-topic]
Importance: 0.6-0.8Insight
Title: [Connection you've made between two ideas]
Content: [Explain the connection and why it matters.]
Tags: [both domains involved]
Importance: 0.7-0.9Decision
Title: [What you decided]
Content: [Context, alternatives considered, why you chose this.]
Tags: [project, domain]
Importance: 0.7-0.8Decision notes are often the most valuable in hindsight. When you revisit a project months later, they tell you why things are the way they are.
Experience
Title: [What you observed]
Content: [What happened, what you felt, what you learned.]
Tags: [context, domain]
Importance: 0.4-0.6Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Topic titles (“Machine Learning”) | Declarative titles (“Gradient descent converges faster with batch normalization”) |
| Copy-pasting quotes | Rewrite in your own words, then cite |
| Mega-notes with 10 ideas | Split into 10 atomic notes and link them |
| No tags | Add 2-3 tags for discoverability |
| Everything is importance 1.0 | Reserve high importance for genuinely critical knowledge |
How Many Notes Per Day?
Quality over quantity. 3–5 well-crafted notes per day is more valuable than 50 hasty ones. Each note should be something you’d want to revisit.