Writing to Learn

William Zinsser, 1989

In my first semester at university, I attended a lecture with a math professor who was ambitious to improve student math results. He invited us to bring lunch while he gave us some tips on how to improve our skills. He made two main points that I can still remember today. Firstly, he (repeatedly) warned us about dividing by zero. Secondly, he encouraged us to use words to describe what we are doing in math, rather than just listing equations.

In Writing to Learn, William Zinsser argues that writing is not just a tool for communicating knowledge but a powerful method for acquiring it. Across subjects as diverse as science, mathematics, history, and art, Zinsser demonstrates how writing helps students and professionals clarify their thoughts, deepen their understanding, and engage more fully with the material they are studying.

This is precisely the point my math professor made. By explaining what I was doing, I gained a deeper understanding of the concept. And by reasoning with myself while writing, I could sometimes catch my errors before submitting them.

Writing to Learn is both a practical guide and an inspiring call to see writing as an essential part of learning at every stage of life. Zinsser emphasizes that writing should be clear, simple, and personal, encouraging individuals to use it as a means of active thinking rather than passive reporting.

Once again, I find myself at university—this time pursuing a Ph.D. in the fields of AI, cybersecurity, and defense. It’s hard to find a better challenge for the motto: Writing to Learn. That is the task at hand: learning by writing a thesis and contributing to the body of scientific knowledge. This Substack will be an integral part of this work. It will serve as an outlet to think out loud, sharing ideas and research with others.

Writing to Learn is both a practical guide and an inspiring call to see writing as an essential part of learning at every stage of life. The book draws from real-world examples to illustrate how writing can be integrated into all areas of education. Not unexpectedly, I find myself reading the chapter on Writing Mathematics and the teacher Joan Contryman with great pleasure.

I would recommend this book to anyone curious about the power of writing, whether you're a student looking to improve your writing or a teacher seeking to incorporate this technique into your work.