Writing Book 5 · Lesson 3

One sentence at the foot

A summary sentence at the foot must cover the whole page, not the top of it.

What it is

At the bottom of a page of notes, write ONE sentence saying what the whole page was about. It is the hardest line on the page and the most useful, because it forces you to decide what mattered — and if you cannot write it, you did not understand the page.

Watch it built

1
Read back your own notes, not the book.
(your page)
2
Ask what the whole page was about, not what was most interesting.
It was about why deserts are hard to live in.
3
Write it as one sentence at the foot of the page.
Deserts are hard to live in because of water, heat, and shelter.
Remember
One sentence at the foot. If you cannot write it, read the page again.
Ask yourself: “Does my sentence cover the bottom of the page too?”

Remember

One sentence at the foot that covers the page.

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