easy way to memorize essays

How to memorise essays and long responses

Lauren Condon

Marketing Specialist at Atomi

When it comes to memorising essays or long responses for your exams, there are three big things to consider.

• Should you even try to memorise an essay?
• Do you know how to adapt your memorised response to the exam question?
• How on earth are you meant to memorise a 1,200 word essay??

It’s a lot to weigh up but we can help you out here. If you want an answer to the first question, here’s one we prepared earlier. But wait, there’s more! If you’re super keen to read more about question #2, then go ahead and click here .

And for that third point on how to actually memorise a long essay? Well, all you have to do is keep reading...

1. Break it down

Your essay/long response/creative writing piece could be anywhere between 800 and 1,200 words long. Yeah… that’s a lot. So when it comes to memorising the whole thing, it’s a lot easier to break the answer down into logical chunks and work on memorising it bit by bit.

So if you want to memorise your Discovery Essay, you might have something like this:

• Introduction
• Theme 1 with the assigned text
• Theme 1 with the related text
• Theme 2 with the assigned text
• Theme 2 with the related text

You’re going to want to memorise the paragraphs and pay attention to the structure then you can piece it all together in the exam. Having a killer structure makes it a lot easier to remember the overall bones of this situation and if you’re finding this effective, you can even break those body paragraphs down further like topic sentence > example > explanation > connection to thesis.

2. Use memory tricks

Now, there are lots of different strategies and approaches when it comes to memorising a long piece of writing. Moving in sections, you can try reading it out loud over again (slowly looking at the paper less and less) or the classic look-cover-write-check approach. If you’re really struggling, make some of your own flashcards that have the first sentence on one side and the next sentence on the back so you can test your progress.

You could also enlist the help of some creative mnemonics (memory tricks) to remind you which sentence or section needs to come next. Pick one keyword from each sentence in the paragraph and turn them into a silly sentence to help you remember the structure of the paragraph and to make sure you don’t forget one of your awesome points.

3. Play to your strengths

Not all of us are super geniuses that can just read an essay and then memorise the entire thing but we’re all going to have our own strengths. There’s going to be something whether it’s art, music, writing, performance or sport that just ‘clicks’ in your brain and this is what you want to capitalise on. So for me, I was really into debating and public speaking (hold back the jokes please) and was used to giving speeches and remembering them. So whenever I wanted to memorise a long response, I would write out the essay onto palm cards and then practice it out loud like a speech. Did it annoy my family? Yes. Was I too embarrassed to tell people my strategy? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely. 💯

Whatever your strengths are, find a way to connect them to your essay and come up with a creative way of learning your long response that will be much easier and more effective for you!

4. Start early

So you know how there’s that whole long-term/short-term memory divide? Yeah well that’s going to be pretty relevant when it comes to memorising. You’re going to have a much better chance of remembering your long response if you start early and practice it often, instead of trying to cram it in the night before… sorry.

The good news is, you still have a couple of months before the HSC so try to get your prepared response written, get good feedback from your teachers and then make it perfect so it’s ready to go for the HSC. Then, the next step is to start memorising the essay now and test yourself on it fairly regularly all the way up to your exams. This way, you have plenty of time to really lock it deep into your memory.

5. Test yourself

The final and maybe even most important step is to test yourself. And not with flashcards or the look-cover-check-repeat anymore. Once you’ve got the essay memorised pretty well, you want to spend the weeks coming up to HSC doing past questions so you can practice

• Having the essay memorised
• Being able to recall it under pressure
• Adapting it to any question so that all your hard work will actually pay off

For this to work, you really need to commit 100% to exam conditions (no cheating!) and it’s definitely worth sending those responses to your teacher to get them marked. That way, you will actually know if you’re doing a good job of remembering the core of your argument but also tailoring it perfectly to the question.

Any subject with essays or long responses can be super daunting so if you want to have a pre-written, adaptable response ready to go then it’s worth making sure you can actually memorise it for your exam. Remember to break down the essay into sections, play to your memory strengths and make sure you consistently test yourself all the way up to HSC. That should do the trick. 👌

Published on

July 28, 2017

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BEST Memorisation Techniques For Exams: The Secret Science Of How To Remember What You Study

by William Wadsworth | Feb 28, 2019

by William Wadsworth

The Cambridge-educated memory psychologist & study coach on a mission to help YOU ace your exams . Helping half a million students in 175+ countries every year to study smarter, not harder. Supercharge your studies today with our time-saving, grade-boosting “genius” study tips sheet .

Pretty recently – the last decade or so – scientists have reached broad agreement that there is one memorisation technique for exams and tests that, above all others, will solve the age-old question of how to remember what you study.

Before I tell you what the technique is, I was shocked to learn that as few as 7% of college-level students (and possibly even fewer students at high school) say they are using this technique as their main revision strategy.

So what’s the technique?

It’s called “ retrieval practice ”, and it’s based on the act of trying to pull information out of your memory.

It seems counter-intuitive at first that trying to remember something helps you to learn it, but you’ll be astonished at how powerful this strategy can be for getting information locked away in memory, ready for when you need it.

Read on to discover:

• how retrieval practice works
• why it’s so useful
• and precisely how you should be using retrieval practice memorisation techniques to prepare for exams – including some common mistakes people often make when applying it.

What is “retrieval practice” and how can it help you to remember what you study?

When psychologists talk about “retrieving” something from memory, they mean recalling it, or remembering it. So “retrieval practice” just means practising remembering a piece of information you previously read, heard or saw.

A common misunderstanding – one I held myself for many years when studying for exams in high school – is that testing yourself on what you know only serves to “check” how much you know at that point, i.e. it won’t help you actually learn information.

We now know that’s not true.

A gigantic review of hundreds of studies testing how well various memorisation techniques prepared students for exams or tests concluded that, above all other techniques, retrieval practice (or “practice testing” as the review called it) was the most powerful.

The results from many of these studies were astonishing: students often improved by a whole grade (or more!) when learning using retrieval practice.

Part of the problem is that our own intuitions as students about what learning techniques are working for us are often flawed.

I highly recommend you take a look at a guest post I’ve written for my friends at Titanium Tutors, where I explain a fascinating experiment that beautifully demonstrates how our intuitions often lead to us making bad decisions about how to revise – and what we can do about it.

Benefits of using retrieval practice to learn for exams, and how it helps you to learn information

Retrieval practice works in a number of ways:

• Helps you lock information into memory: the very act of pulling a piece of information out of your memory means you can remember it more easily later on.
• Helps you find the gaps in your knowledge: by testing yourself, you’ll have a better idea of what you know and where you need to do more work.
• Helps you apply information to new contexts: it’s not just about learning the facts, studying using retrieval practice makes it more likely that you will be able to figure out unfamiliar problems based on what you know, make leaps of intuition, and apply knowledge in new ways. These are all skills often demanded by the questions that unlock top marks in exams.

The first of these is probably the most important of these effects, but also the most surprising: it can seem strange at first that simply trying to remember something will strengthen your memory of that information, making it easier to remember it later.

But think of it like this: a big chunk of success in most exams comes down to simply being able to remember the information from your course. In other words, the exam tests your memory of what you learned.

Let me give you an analogy. If you’re training for the Olympics, you’ll train for your chosen sport first and foremost by practising that sport .

For example:

If you’re a long jumper, your most important training will be practising jumping.

But if you’re a weightlifter, your most important training will be practising lifting weights.

And if you’re a 100m runner, your most important training will be practising sprinting.

So given that, if you’re a student preparing for exams that are largely tests of memory, your most important training should be practising remembering information .

Sure, you’ll need to do other things too – the runner will need to spend time in the gym doing leg exercises, and the student will need to spend time (re-)reading unfamiliar material, or working on their exam technique, or how they structure their essays. But the focus for getting knowledge under your belt and into your memory should be retrieval practice.

I often say to my more sporty students that the moment in which you’re trying to remember a fact is the “rep” (a “rep” is a single component of an exercise that makes you stronger – a single press-up, a single bicep curl, or a single pull-up in a set).

Fascinatingly, whether you succeed in pulling the fact you’re searching for out of your memory or not, you’ll still have done some good !

How to memorise for exams with retrieval practice strategies

So how to apply all of this when studying?

Here are some of my favourite retrieval practice based memorisation techniques for exams and tests you can start using today:

• Write what you know from memory on a blank sheet: a plain sheet of paper is a very under-rated study tool! Put your books away, then scribble down everything you can remember about a topic. After you’ve squeezed out as much as you can from memory, you might like to go back and add in any missing details in a different coloured pen. Next time you train yourself on this topic, aim to have fewer missing details – until you have none at all come the week before the exam!
• Draw concept maps from memory: a slightly more sophisticated variant on the “blank sheet” method is drawing concept maps based on what you know of a topic. A concept map links ideas together visually, putting ideas in boxes, and linking them together with arrows to show how they relate. Unlike mind maps, they are quick to draw, placing more importance on getting the right information down on the page, with a sensible structure around it, rather than spending too long making the final result sumptuously beautiful (I know it’s fun… but you’re not going to be graded on your artwork at the end of the day! Unless you’re studying Art, of course…) Here’s an example of a concept map summarising what you might need to know about rates of reaction in chemistry:

Got stuck sequencing my GCSE rates lessons until I made a concept map inspired by @Mr_Raichura ’s #CogSciSci talk. It works! pic.twitter.com/a7oRW1IueW — Elizabeth Mountstevens (@DrMountstevens) August 18, 2018

• Practice questions: Work through exercises from your text book or revision guide. Answer real exam questions. Or even make up your own quiz questions – I know some students who like to revise by first reading through their notes, making a list of their own “quiz questions” they know they will need to be able to answer to prove they know that topic properly. Then they put their notes away, and take the quiz.
• Train with flash cards: start by making them, and then use them! Flash cards are my favourite way to learn large amounts of information quickly, and through long experience (both my own, and coaching students), there are some very specific steps you need to take to get the most out of studying with flash cards.

Psst… why not grab a free copy of my “science of learning cheat sheet”, which includes a deep-dive “DOs and DONTs” to get the most out of retrieval practice techniques like flash cards:

Free: Exam Success Cheat Sheet

My Top 6 Strategies To Study Smarter and Ace Your Exams

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Whichever of these techniques you’re using, keep your notes away until you’ve had a good try at remembering. Then you can check your notes (or the mark scheme, if you’re doing past exam questions) and give yourself feedback on where you went wrong.

This feedback step, understanding where you missed things or slipped up, is a very important part of the overall learning process, so don’t skimp on it.

If you find you can’t reliably remember a particular aspect of a topic, you’ll know to prioritise giving that issue some extra time until you have it nailed.

Don’t make these mistakes when using retrieval practice

Even the best memory techniques in the world won’t work properly if not applied correctly. Some traps to avoid when you’re using retrieval practice techniques in your studies:

1. Some difficulty is good, but if it’s too hard, make it easier…

If you can barely remember anything in a topic, no matter how hard you try, you probably need to back up a step.

Going back and re-reading your notes at this point is OK, and if you’re struggling to go from re-reading to remembering at least a good chunk of what you’ve just read, you need to break it up into smaller chunks.

Take what you’re trying to learn one segment at a time, get comfortable retrieving each segment on its own, then start to string them together.

Or for tricky memory jobs, try using intermediate prompts as “stepping stones” to jog your memory while also giving it space to do at least some retrieval practice. 

Here are a few fun and creative ideas for how you could use “stepping stones” in practice, to build up gradually to remembering the whole thing from scratch. The video is about remembering English literature quotes (hard!), but some of the ideas here could easily be applied to other subjects, from recalling maths formulas to learning anatomical terms:

2. But if it’s too easy, you need to make it harder

On the other hand, if you break something up so small that it becomes trivial to remember, you’re not giving yourself enough of a memory workout and the benefits will be limited.

Say you’re trying to learn the formula for a chemical compound – you could learn it one atom at a time, and test yourself on each atom in the seconds after looking at it. With such small amounts of information and no delay before trying to remember it, you won’t even break a sweat as you recall each atom perfectly – but what you’ve learned won’t stick in memory for long.

So if it feels too easy, try going for larger chunks of knowledge, or leaving more of a gap between re-reading information and doing retrieval practice on it.

3. Don’t let yourself get away with not fully knowing something!

Let’s say you’re working with flashcards. You might feel like you almost knew it, flip the card, find something familiar, and say “ah yes, I did know that”.

But beware! You didn’t, did you?

Train with discipline: give yourself a good moment to rummage through your brain for the information, and if it’s not there, note it down as a missed effort and come back to it again.

Remember, even failing to remember something is useful memory training as long as you gave it a good try!

Though obviously your goal is to succeed in remembering things, so pay special attention to the things you couldn’t remember at the end of the session, and in your review at the end of the day.

4. Remembering something once doesn’t prove you’ll know it forever

Just because you know it today, doesn’t mean you’ll remember it tomorrow, or next week. Some scientists recommend aiming for at least 3 successful retrieval attempts before deciding you “know” something – though you might need more, depending on how long you’ve got before your exam, and how complex the information is.

5. If you’re trying to remember something complex, write it down

If you’re trying to remember a long formula, big number, quote, list, or diagram, you won’t be able to hold it all in your brain at once.

Say you need to remember a list of 7 factors.

By the time you’re trying to remember the sixth item, you can’t be sure whether you’re remembering a sixth that you hadn’t already thought of, or whether you’re actually just re-listing one of the items you’d already come up with!

So get the component parts out of your head and down on a sheet of paper as you think of them, so your memory is freed up to focus on remembering the missing information, and you can be certain you’ve got it all.

At first, retrieval practice won’t feel like the easiest way to memorise for exams, but stick with it!

You’re in elite study territory now: any student that decides to apply all of this properly will have a massive head-start on their peers when it comes to learning information for their exams.

Retrieval practice is incredibly powerful, but, let’s be honest, trying to pull information out of your brain is going to feel like harder work than just sitting back and re-reading your notes again!

A lot of students feel they prefer other ways to study for your exams: re-reading, highlighting, making notes or summarising are all very popular choices.

But here’s the thing:

Our own intuitions about what study techniques work best are really bad! Studies have repeatedly shown that “feel good” study methods that students like best (probably because they don’t take quite so much effort!) are having relatively small benefits, comparing to slightly more effortful but much more effective memorisation techniques for exams like retrieval practice.

Trust the science, and give it a go: you will be astonished at the results!

Ooooh, and just before you go… don’t leave without your copy of my “Science of Learning Cheat Sheet”: my four all-time fave strategies for studying smarter. Retrieval practice is absolutely on the list – but make sure you check out the other techniques too!

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18 Comments

This is an interesting and informative post on memorization techniques that can help students remember what they study during exams. It’s great to know about the science behind effective memory retention, and I look forward to learning more from this article.

How do you do the method on a day before your exam?

How can I remember what I read on the day of exam

1. Re. how to do the methods the day before an exam – it’s exactly the same. You might also like to check out my guide to exam-week / test-taking technique https://geni.us/exams .

2. Re. how to remember what you read on the day of the exam: “READ” is the key word that jumped out at me here! If all you’re doing is reading, it’s really hard to remember. Check out more effective study methods at https://examstudyexpert.com/how-to-study-effectively/

Am definitely trying out the retrieval practice cos am about to write an exam

Brilliant – good luck with it! It will probably feel hard at first – that feeling is the feeling of your memory building, keep going 🙂

Thanks for this enlightening . It really open my understanding to some things that u have been doing that are actually mKingm my brain weaker

Okay, this is seriously the first time I actually really enjoyed what I was reading and continued it till the end (considering English is not my mother language and I normally get tired and bored pretty fast). I also listened to one of your podcasts. Your content is really fascinating and helpful. Thank you.

That’s lovely feedback – thank you so much for sharing, Florentina. I hope you’re finding some useful ideas – anything else we can do to support, just let me know!

This was one of the first articles I read from this website – and I’m so glad I did! Tried and tested these tips myself and they work wonders – smart studying is the way to go 🙂

This is one of the most incredible blogs I’ve read in a very long time. The amount of information here is stunning. Great stuff; please keep it up!

I’ve been using retrieval practice for several years, after reading about it in a book by researchers in the field. Some other things that are necessary: 1. Retrieval practice is great for improving factual information for factual exams, but is less helpful for exams that require applying remembered knowledge to new situations. The main issue here is that students need to do more than just remember things, they need to apply that knowledge. So: 2. Practice applying remembered information to new situations. 3. When doing “brain dumps” or “mind maps” filling in the missing information is important, but students should also _correct_ their mistakes. 4. A related method that I use: write questions in the margins of lecture notes and Powerpoint slides related to the information in the slide. 5. After reading the slide, and writing and reading back the question, ask yourself to answer the question. And, ask your, “What did I just learn in this slide (or paragraph or abstract or paper or movie or video or flash card)?

I should add, 6. All of this takes time, so don’t cram or study at the last minute. 7. Check out the “Method of Inquiry” (related to my point #4) from researchers at Ryerson University in Canada.

Thanks for such a quality comment, Beccles. Are you a current student? Would love to do a mini-interview (5-10 mins) with you for the Exam Study Expert podcast about your experiences with retrieval practice, and your tips for success. Would you be up for that? ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exam-study-expert-study-tips-psychology-hacks-to-learn/id1456034719 )

Great tips for students!

I am preparing for my exam that I failed once. I was into feel good study mode, and now I discover this retrieval process. I will use this from now on and will try to stick with it. Better to stick with a scientific proven methods than repeating my feel good technique which didnt give me results.

Wishing you every success in your re-take! If you come up against any questions on using the techniques, I’m always happy to try and answer them – put them here or drop me an email ( https://examstudyexpert.com/about/contact/ ).

Good luck 🙂

Thank you for sharing this excellent article. I used this article to show my assignment in college. Excellent job.

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• Five minutes a day to exam success: with retrieval journaling - OC Tuition - […] “Retrieval practice” means learning by practising remembering (or “retrieving”) what you know. Flashcards, self-testing and past paper questions all…
• Introducing: the greatest back-to-school study tip of all time - - […] journaling is based on the two most powerful principles of effective learning known to science: retrieval practice and spaced…

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Memorization Strategies

Many college courses require you to memorize mass amounts of information. Memorizing for one class can be difficult, but it can be even more frustrating when you have multiple classes. Many students feel like they simply do not have strong memory skills. Fortunately, though, memorizing is not just for an elite group of people born with the right skills—anyone can train and develop their memorizing abilities.

Competitive memorizers claim that practicing visualization techniques and using memory tricks enable them to remember large chunks of information quickly. Research shows that students who use memory tricks perform better than those who do not. Memory tricks help you expand your working memory and access long term memory. These techniques can also enable you to remember some concepts for years or even for life. Finally, memory tricks like these lead to understanding and higher order thinking . Keep reading for an introduction to effective memorization techniques that will help you in school.

Simple memory tips and tricks

In addition to visual and spatial memory techniques, there are many others tricks you can use to help your brain remember information. Here are some simple tips to try. Check out this video from the Learning Center for a quick explanation of many of these tips.

Try to understand the information first. Information that is organized and makes sense to you is easier to memorize. If you find that you don’t understand the material, spend some time on understanding it before trying to memorize it.

Link it. Connect the information you are trying to memorize to something that you already know. Material in isolation is more difficult to remember than material that is connected to other concepts. If you cannot think of a way to connect the information to something you already know, make up a crazy connection. For example, say you are trying to memorize the fact that water at sea level boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and 212 happens to be the first three digits of your best friend’s phone number. Link these two by imagining throwing your phone into a boiling ocean. It’s a crazy link, but it can help that fact to stick.

Sleep on it. Studies show that your brain processes and stores information while you sleep. Try to review information just before you go to sleep—even if it’s only for a few minutes—and see if it helps embed the information in your memory.

Self-test. Quiz yourself every so often by actively recalling the information you are trying to study. Make sure to actively quiz yourself—do not simply reread notes or a textbook. Often, students think they remember material just because it is familiar to them when they reread it. Instead, ask yourself questions and force yourself to remember it without looking at the answer or material. This will enable you to identify areas that you are struggling with; you can then go back to one of the memory tricks to help yourself memorize it. Also, avoid quizzing yourself immediately after trying to memorize something. Wait a few hours, or even a day or two, to see if it has really stuck in your memory.

Use distributed practice. For a concept to move from your temporary working memory to your long-term memory, two things need to happen: the concept should be memorable and it should be repeated . Use repetition to firmly lodge information in your memory. Repetition techniques can involve things like flash cards, using the simple tips in this section, and self-testing. Space out your studying and repetition over several days, and start to increase the time in between each study session. Spacing it out and gradually extending the times in between can help us become more certain of mastery and lock the concepts into place.

Write it out. Writing appears to help us more deeply encode information that we’re trying to learn because there is a direct connection between our hand and our brain. Try writing your notes by hand during a lecture or rewriting and reorganizing notes or information by hand after a lecture. While you are writing out a concept you want to remember, try to say the information out loud and visualize the concept as well.

Create meaningful groups. A good strategy for memorizing is to create meaningful groups that simplify the material. For example, let’s say you wanted to remember the names of four plants—garlic, rose, hawthorn, and mustard. The first letters abbreviate to GRHM, so you can connect that with the image of a GRAHAM cracker. Now all you need to do is remember to picture a graham cracker, and the names of the plants will be easier to recall.

Use mnemonics. Mnemonics are systems and tricks that make information for memorable. One common type is when the first letter of each word in a sentence is also the first letter of each word in a list that needs to be memorized. For example, many children learned the order of operations in math by using the sentence Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract). Check out Wikipedia for a good list of examples and ideas.

Talk to yourself. It may seem strange at first, but talking to yourself about the material you are trying to memorize can be an effective memory tool. Try speaking aloud instead of simply highlighting or rereading information.

Exercise! Seriously! Studies show that exercise can improve our memory and learning capabilities because it helps create neurons in areas that relate to memory. Cardio and resistance training (weights) both have powerful effects, so do what works best for you.

Practice interleaving. Interleaving is the idea of mixing or alternating skills or concepts that you want to memorize. For example, spend some time memorizing vocabulary words for your science class and then immediately switch to studying historical dates and names for your history class. Follow that up with practicing a few math problems, and then jump back to the science definitions. This method may seem confusing at first, but yields better results in the end than simply spending long periods of time on the same concept. Check out this video for more explanation on interleaving and other similar strategies.

Visual and spatial techniques

Visual and spatial techniques are memory tricks that involve your five senses. They utilize images, songs, feelings, and our bodies to help information stick. Humans have outstanding visual and spatial memory systems. When you use visual and spatial memory techniques, you use fun, memorable, and creative approaches rather than boring, rote memorization. This makes it easier to see, feel, or hear the things you want to remember. Visual and spatial techniques also free up your working memory. When you group things together, you enhance your long-term memory. Using visual and spatial techniques helps your mind focus and pay attention when your mind would rather wander to something else. They help you make what you learn meaningful, memorable, and fun.

The common practice of using your knuckles to remember the number of days in each month is a great example of an easy visual spatial technique to help you remember details.

Memorable visual images. The next time you have a key item you need to remember, try making a memorable visual image to represent that item. Images are important because they connect directly to your brain’s visuospatial centers. Images help you remember difficult concepts by tapping into visual areas. But you don’t just have to use images—the more of the five senses you can use, the easier it will be for you to recall information. Rather than just visualizing an image, try to smell , feel , and hear the image as well. For example, if you are trying to remember that the capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge, draw up an image of a girl named Louise carrying a red baton.

The memory palace technique. This technique involves visualizing a familiar place—like the layout of your house or dorm room—and using it as a visual space where you can deposit concept-images that you want to remember. This technique can help with remembering unrelated items, like a grocery list. To use the memory palace technique, visualize your place (house or dorm room) and then imagine items from your grocery list in different areas around the place. For example, picture a cracked egg dripping off the edge of the table or a bushel of apples sitting on the couch. This technique can take some time to get used to, but once you do, the quicker and more effective it becomes. This Ted Talk explains memory palaces more.

Songs and jingles. Much like the memory palace and images, songs or jingles use your brain’s right hemisphere and can help us remember tricky things like equations and lists. There are already plenty of songs out there for things like the quadratic formula—try Googling what you are trying to remember to see if someone has already created a tune. If not, try making your own.

The five senses. Using as many of the five senses as possible when studying helps you use more parts of your brain and retain information better. For example, if studying for an anatomy exam, pick up the anatomy models, feel each part, and say the names of them out loud.

Lively visual metaphors or analogies. This can help you to not only remember but understand concepts, especially in math and science. A metaphor is a way of realizing that one thing is somehow similar to another. For example, think about the country of Syria as shaped like a bowl of cereal and the country Jordan as a Nike Air Jordan sneaker. Metaphors—especially visual ones—can stick with you for years. They help glue ideas in your mind because they make connections to neural structures that are already there.

Final thoughts

Some of these techniques can feel strange at first or take some time to develop. The more you practice them, the easier and more natural they become, and the more information you can commit to memory. Also, remember that you do not need to do every tip on this list. Experiment with a few and find which ones work for you.

Remember that you can make an appointment with an academic coach to discuss memory techniques, create a study plan, or talk through any other academic issue.

Check out some of the Learning Center’s resources on other effective study strategies:

• How to Succeed Academically at Carolina
• Metacognitive Study Strategies
• Strategic Test Prep

Works consulted

Brown, P., Roediger, H., and McDaniel, M. (2014). Make it stick. Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Foer, J. (2011). Moonwalking with Einstein: The art and science of remembering everything. New York: The Penguin Group.

Oakley, B. (2014). A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) . New York: Penguin Group.

Robinson, A. (1993). What Smart Students Know . New York: Three Rivers Press.

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

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How to Memorize Fast (and Why Most Memorization Tips Suck)

It's not too difficult to learn how to memorize fast and easily – if you use the right strategies, that is.

But most people don't use the right strategies. 

In fact, most people don't use any strategy – they use a few tactics that don't work very well. So, let me be straight with you: If you've been using flashcards or repetition to try to drill things into your brain, you're making things difficult for yourself.

It's time to work smarter, not harder .

Here's the thing: Your mind is a supercar that you haven't figured out how to drive yet. With practice, you can learn how to memorize anything – whether it's a new language, speech, or answers to an upcoming exam.

Oh, and learning how to memorize fast doesn't have to suck, either – it can even be fun. For real. This guide will show you how to memorize fast and easily – the smart way.

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6 Tips on How to Memorize Fast and Easily

If you want to learn how to memorize things fast and easily, you need to be strategic. Here are six tips on how to memorize fast that you'll learn about in this article:

• Understand your learning style
• Learn the 3 'R's of memorization
• Practice the substitution method
• Learn the story and link method
• Use the memory palace method
• Apply spaced repetition strategically

Step 1. Understand Your Learning Style

Before you try to learn how to memorize fast, it can help to have a basic understanding of how you best interpret and absorb new knowledge.

Now, there are four main learning styles usually referred to by the acronym "VARK":

• Reading/writing
• Kinesthetic

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Visual learners learn best through sight. They like information to be presented visually and tend to prefer seeing and observing things, such as diagrams, pictures, and demonstrations. Many visual learners also like to sketch, draw, and write lists.

2. Auditory 

Auditory learners learn best by listening and when the subject matter is communicated through sound.

They'd rather listen to podcasts , lectures, and audiobooks than read books and notes. If they have to read a book, they're likely to absorb more information if they read it aloud to themselves. Many auditory learners also like to engage in discussions.

3. Reading/Writing

Reading/writing learners prefer to learn through the written word.

They learn best when reading books and articles . They also learn well when taking and reviewing notes. This learning style overlaps with visual learning, however, these learners tend to prefer to express themselves through writing.

Traditional western education systems cater to reading/writing learners by focusing on reading books and writing essays.

4. Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners learn best by experiencing or doing things. They're sometimes referred to as "tactile learners." 

This type of learner likes to get moving and use their hands. They excel when they can interpret the subject matter through their physical senses. They prefer hands-on exercises over book-learning every day of the week.

Which Style of Learning Do You Prefer?

It may be pretty obvious which learning style you prefer. For example, it's clear to me that I'm a visual and reading/writing learner – after all, I'm a writer.

However, if you're unsure which style – or styles – of learning you prefer, check out this VARK questionnaire to find out.

It’s also worth noting that most people have a natural preference for more than one style. Oh, and in case you were wondering, no particular learning style is better than the others. They're just different!

Step 2. Learn the 3 'R's of Memorization

It's time to understand the foundations of how to memorize fast and easily: The three 'R's of memorization. 

These three steps are the strategy you need to learn how to memorize fast. Here's how they work:

• Registration: The first step is to record a new memory in your mind with the intention of storing it in your long-term memory. To learn how to memorize quickly, it helps to practice effective registration techniques.
• Retention: In this stage, you work to retain the information in your brain and move it from your short-term memory into your long-term memory so that you can recall it later.
• Recall: In the final stage of memorization, you can use techniques to retrieve the information stored in your mind.

People refer to these steps in different ways – for example, some people call them "encode, store, and retrieve" – but the basic principles are the same.

Most memorization tips miss one or more of these steps. 

For example, repetition can help with retention. However, reading something over and over does nothing to encode the information into your mind intentionally. Plus, it provides no mechanism that you can use to recall the information.

In short, to learn how to memorize faster, you need to use all three 'R's.

Step 3. Learn How to Memorize Fast and Easily

Now that you have the basics under your belt, it's time to learn how to memorize something quickly. So, what is the easiest way to remember something?

The best way to memorize things is to use a mnemonic device – which is just a fancy way of saying a memory device.

What is a mnemonic device?

Simply put, a mnemonic device is anything that helps you to remember something. For example, the phrase "'I' before 'E,' except after 'C'" is a mnemonic device. 

Here's an example of a visual mnemonic device to help remember the numbers of days in the months, with each knuckle representing a 31-day month:

Whenever you hear about 'memory athletes' that can recall the order of six decks of playing cards, they're using mnemonic devices.

It's not magic. It's just practice, and you can do it too.

There are countless mnemonic devices out there. However, we're going to focus on three of the most popular and effective techniques that you can use to learn how to memorize something faster.

Unlike repetition and flashcards, each of these mnemonic devices uses the three 'R's of memorization – registration, retention, and recall.

1. The Substitution Method

This first memory method is super simple. All you need to do is take what you want to remember and substitute it for something more memorable.

For example, say that you're trying to memorize the periodic table of elements. When trying to remember the first element, "hydrogen," you could link it to the word "hydrant" because they sound similar.

For the second element, helium, you could imagine a balloon filled with helium, and so on.

Then, consider which learning style you lean toward and use that information to help you forge a lasting connection. For example:

• If you're a visual learner, you could visualize a bright red fire hydrant on the sidewalk. 
• Auditory learners could practice saying the words "hydrogen, hydrant" out loud to emphasize how they sound similar.
• Reading/writing learners could write the words down, emphasizing how their spellings are similar, with both words beginning with "h, y, d, r."
• Every time they walk past a hydrant, kinesthetic learners could touch the hydrant with their hand and practice saying the word "hydrogen" out loud.

When you need to recall the first element of the periodic table, it'll be a lot easier to remember the red fire hydrant first, which will trigger the memory of "hydrogen."

Substitution is an effective way to register new information in your brain and have a way to recall it easily later.

Plus, this technique doesn't just work with words – you can also use it to remember ideas, concepts, names, dates, or even the key talking points in a speech.

Okay, but how do you remember lots of things?

2. The Link and Story Method

Here's where things get interesting: After you've created some substitutions to memorable words and objects, you can link them together with a story.

Here's an example of how you could link "fire hydrant" (hydrogen) with "balloon" (helium): 

Imagine a bright red hydrant (hydrogen) on a sunny sidewalk at a park entrance. Stood next to the hydrant at the park entrance is a vendor selling balloons (helium) to children entering the park.

Here's the trick: Exaggerate the story so it sticks in your mind more – this will help with retention and recall.

For instance, perhaps the hydrant is broken and is spraying water everywhere. Or maybe the balloon vendor is dressed as a clown. Use whatever works best for you!

Once you create effective associations and link them together with a compelling story , it becomes very easy to remember things.

This method is a great way to register large amounts of information in your mind while also providing a mechanism to recall it.

3. The Memory Palace Method

If you want to know how to memorize a lot of information, try the memory palace method. 

This method has stood the test of time – it was first presented in a book called the "Rhetorica ad Herennium," written in 80 B.C. by an unknown author.

Here’s how to use it:

• Think of a place or a journey you know well, such as your home or a daily commute.
• Identify some significant points in your home or on your commute .
• Link what you want to remember to each one of those points.

For example, say that you need to remember a speech. 

You could break your speech up into points, such as your introduction, three main talking points, your summary, and final thoughts. You can then link each of these points to something in your memory palace.

Your home's front door could represent your speech's introduction. Then, your three main talking points could be the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The summary may be the hallway leading out of the house, and your final thoughts could be the front yard.

Then, whenever you practice your speech, you can imagine walking around your house for each point.

If you have a long speech – or a large amount of information to remember – you can break the information down into smaller chunks and link them to things in each room. 

For example, say you have three aspects in your first talking point (the living room). You could link each one to a piece of furniture, such as the sofa, coffee table, and standing lamp. 

If you practice the memory palace method, you should be able to walk around your house – or run through your commute – in your mind and recall all of the information.

Again, this method hits all three 'R's by providing a way to encode, retain, and recall information.

Step 4. Apply Spaced Repetition

Once you've registered new information in your mind, how can you stop yourself from forgetting it? Apply spaced repetition.

Way back in 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus created the 'Forgetting Curve.' This concept demonstrates how we forget things. Simply put, as soon as we learn something, it starts to fade from our memory.

However, we can prevent this decline by reviewing the information periodically. When we do this, we can increase the strength of the memory.

If you're a visual learner, here's what it looks like:

So, when should you review the subject matter?

At first, it helps to review things often – for example, you may want to review something daily at first, then bi-weekly, and then weekly until you're confident you won't forget it.

Again, look to your preferred learning style to help you. For example:

• Visual learners could draw a storyboard or sketch their memory palace.
• Auditory learners could tell their story aloud or describe walking through their memory palace.
• Reading/writing learners could write their story down and review it regularly.
• Kinesthetic learners could act out the story or walk through their memory palace in real life.

You may also want to review material late in the evening before bed.

Why? Studies show that people who study before bedtime can often remember more of what they learn a day later. Plus, they also felt more confident about their answers.

Summary: How to Memorize Quickly 

If you want to learn how to memorize fast, repetition alone won't cut it – you have to be strategic.

Start by identifying how you learn best. Are you a visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic learner?

Then, understand the three 'R's of memorization (registration, retention, and recall) and put them to work:

• First, encode the information in your mind using a mnemonic device, such as the substitution method. 
• Link this information to a story or memory palace to ensure you can easily recall it later.
• Practice spaced repetition to combat the forgetting curve and retain the information.

What are you trying to learn? What is the best way to memorize something for you? Let us know in the comments below!

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Productivity tips

How to memorize things fast: 11 memorization techniques

Use these verbal and visual memory techniques to help you retain and recall information..

Despite taking piano lessons and music composition classes for nearly a decade, I remember very little about how to actually play the piano or how to transpose a song. What I do remember—with very little effort—are the notes on the lines and spaces of a treble clef staff. How? With the help of a mnemonic device (a fancy term for a technique used to boost your ability to retain and recall information). 

That's the neat thing about memorization tools: they can help you remember things you haven't thought about for years—decades, even. And these techniques go beyond boosting just your long-term memory. They can also help improve your working and short-term memory. 

No matter what you're trying to memorize—a video script, the periodic table of elements, your grocery list—here are 11 memorization techniques you can use to strengthen your memory for any period of time. 

If you want to first geek out on how memory works, keep reading. To jump straight to the memorization techniques, click on any of the links below. 

Music mnemonics

Rhyming mnemonics

Build a memory palace

Write it down

Use spaced repetition

Make visual connections

Share what you're learning

Get more sleep

Move your body

How does memory work? 

In order to truly appreciate the magic—I mean, science—behind memorization techniques, it's important to understand the basics of how memory works. Since the intricacies of the human brain are well beyond the scope of this article and this writer's degree in French literature, let's break it down with a heavy assist from some very smart people. 

As neuroscientist Daphna Shohamy explains , "our memory is basically a record in our brain of something that happened in the past." And according to How Memory Works , published by Harvard University, there are "three main processes that characterize how memory works: encoding, storage, and retrieval."

Encoding refers to how you learn and understand information. When you attach emotions and meaning to this information—referred to as semantic encoding —you're more likely to remember it and recall it later on. 

Storage refers to how much information is saved in your brain, where, and for how long. There are two commonly highlighted memory stores: short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). 

Retrieval refers to how you access your memories.  

How does memory retrieval work? 

Think of your short-term memory as your brain's scratchpad. It's where your brain temporarily stores information ( about 15 to 30 seconds ) before either dismissing it or transferring it to your long-term memory. 

In terms of accessing your long-term memories, your brain has four ways of doing this: recall, collection, recognition, and relearning . How your brain retrieves information depends on the availability of external clues or prompts or the lack thereof. 

Now that you understand the basics of how memory works, you can use that information to improve your memory. 

Start with mnemonic devices

Mnemonic devices are learning strategies used to boost your memory. Whether or not you realize it, you probably use mnemonics in your daily life to help you retain and recall information. I'll start with some of the most common mnemonic devices before moving on to other memorization tactics. 

1. Acronyms and acrostics

You may already be familiar with acronyms and acrostics as a mnemonic device. This method requires you to create a new word or group of words by taking the first letter of each word and putting them together. 

For example, to remember the names of the planets in our solar system, you might use this acrostic mnemonic: m y v ery e ducated m other j ust s erved u s n oodles. In this example, the first letter of each word corresponds with the first letter of each planet, respectively. 

2. Music mnemonics 

My partner knows all the words to House of Pain's Jump Around —yet he can't remember what I asked him to pick up from the grocery store an hour ago. Why? Because it's easier to remember a catchy song than it is to remember a long string of meaningless words or letters, such as a grocery list yelled to you while you're halfway out the door.

The next time you need to remember something, try pairing that information with a tune you're already familiar with. And if you just so happen to need help memorizing the periodic table of elements, look no further than the periodic table song .

3. Rhyming mnemonics 

Similar to music mnemonics, rhyming mnemonics take advantage of catchy beats and patterns created by ending each line with a rhyme to help you retain information. Here's a rhyming mnemonic I still use to this day to help avoid spelling errors: "I before E except after C."

Sadly, clever rhymes don't come naturally to me. If you're in the same boat, here's a little trick: let AI-powered tools like ChatGPT do the heavy lifting for you. 

4. Chunking 

Have you ever repeated a phone number out loud by grouping numbers together? For example, "six, four, seven, triple five, eleven, twenty-one" (instead of "6-4-7-5-5-5-1-1-2-1"). This is chunking. It's another mnemonic device that involves grouping individual pieces of information—like long strings of numbers—into larger, more memorable groups. 

And chunking isn't just limited to aiding the memorization of numbers. Another practical application of chunking would be grouping items on your grocery list by aisle. Or if you're learning a new language, grouping new vocabulary words together by category. 

5. Create a memory palace 

The memory palace technique, also known as the Method of Loci, is another popular mnemonic device. This technique involves mentally mapping out a physical space you're familiar with (a memory palace) and "placing" images representing the information you're memorizing in various spots or loci . ( Loci is the plural form of locus , which means "place" or "location.") When you need to recall that information, simply visualize your memory palace and retrieve it. 

Here's how to create and use your own memory palace:  

Choose your memory palace. Select a space that you're incredibly familiar with (e.g., your childhood home or the route you take to work), and create a mental map of it.

Identify distinct loci throughout your palace. Mentally walk through your palace, and pick different locations where you can "place" unique images (more on that in step 3). For example, the door to your coat closet, the lamp in your living room, and the dog bed in your guest room. 

Assign images to specific locations. Let's say you're trying to remember this grocery list: milk, chocolate chip cookies, and bananas. Place images of each of those items at your chosen locations. Or, to make it more memorable, create vivid images representing each item and place those at different locations. The more animated and outrageous, the better. For example, you could picture a waterfall of milk pouring over your closet door, your living room lamp teetering on top of a mountain of chocolate chip cookies, and a dog juggling bananas while standing on its bed. 

While this technique may sound absurd, it does work. Just take it from five-time USA Memory Champion Nelson Dellis , who uses the memory palace technique to help him quickly remember a full deck of cards, in sequence.

Recite what you know

Reciting information is a useful way to memorize something fast because it forces you to actively engage with the information (as opposed to passively taking everything in), which, in turn, increases your ability to remember and recall it later on. Here are some practical ways to add reciting to your memorization toolkit.

6. Write it down

While typing your notes might be faster and more convenient, especially if you have to take in a lot of information, there are advantages to doing things the old-fashioned way (i.e., taking pen to paper). 

In a 2014 study , researchers Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer examined the effects on learning and retention when students took notes by hand versus on a laptop. In terms of generative note-taking (e.g., "summarizing, paraphrasing, concept mapping"), students who took notes by hand had better retention and understanding of the material compared to those who took notes on a laptop. 

Why? The researchers suggest two possible reasons. First, there are fewer possible distractions, such as checking emails or social media, when writing notes. Second, generative note-taking encourages students to reframe the information into their own words, which aids in encoding. 

7. Use spaced repetition

Spaced repetition is a memorization technique that involves reviewing the same information at increasing intervals until that information is embedded into your long-term memory. If you've ever tried to learn a new language using apps like Duolingo or Rosetta Stone, you've used spaced repetition. 

Here's a simple way to apply this technique. Let's say you're learning another language and you need help remembering new vocabulary. Write the word in your native tongue on a flashcard. Or, to make it more fun, sketch an image of the word. Then review the flashcards daily. As you become more consistent recalling your new vocabulary words, you can increase the time between reviews from daily to weekly to monthly.

If you need to create a lot of flashcards, you can also use apps, like Quizlet , to do the heavy lifting for you. 

Use storytelling and linking

Tapping into the power of imagery and storytelling can significantly boost your memory because it encourages you to establish stronger connections with the information you're trying to remember. Here are some practical ways to do this.

8. Make visual connections 

The use of visual stimuli is a common method used to learn and recall information. Here are some strategies you can use to enhance your visual memory. 

Turn the sound of names into images. If you have difficulty remembering people's names , try connecting their names with an image. For example, if a stranger introduces himself as Mike, you might picture him holding a microphone. 

Animate the images. Similar to creating visuals for your memory palace, the more animated and vivid you can make your images, the better. Doing this creates stronger connections in your brain between the word and the image. Continuing with the name train, let's take the name Melanie. For this, you might visualize the person dressed in a gi, crushing a melon against their knee. (I bet you won't forget that visual anytime soon.)

9. Share what you're learning 

Let's say you're going to a dog training seminar. Your best friend has a dog, and they want you to share some of your key takeaways after. So you furiously scribble down notes, ask questions, and scribble some more. This goes to the heart of the Protégé Effect , which suggests that people put in more effort to learn information when they know they're going to teach it to someone else. 

Then when you share your key takeaways, you're likely to explain the concepts you learned in your own words . You'll probably even demonstrate a few of these lessons while explaining the concepts, which will make it more meaningful. And these acts—paraphrasing and adding meaning to information—all help with encoding. 

Take care of your body

Turns out, taking care of your body also takes care of your brain. You've heard these tips before, but here's how your physical well-being can improve your memory.

10. Get more sleep 

As a shock to no one, there's a direct relationship between sleep and productivity —and that productivity extends to our ability to take in new information. 

As much as possible, try to get your recommended six to eight hours of deep sleep—the knocked-out-cold kind—every night. This will help "reset" your brain , allowing you to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world—or, at least, more information. 

11. Move your body 

Just as sleep is important for both your physical and mental health, so, too, is that other pillar of health: exercise.

Moving your body regularly at moderate intensity—whatever that looks like to you—can directly and indirectly boost your memory . Indirectly, it can reduce anxiety and stress, and improve the quality of your sleep. Oftentimes, problems in these areas contribute to cognitive impairment. Directly, it improves the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your brain. This blood flow keeps your brain functioning properly, which includes processing and storing information. 

Bonus: offload the stuff you don't need to memorize 

Adult human brains can store the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of memory . So, in theory, you have the capacity to memorize…everything. But just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. 

Instead, use the memorization techniques listed in this article to help you recall the information that you might need at the drop of a hat, like your emergency contact's phone number. Or the password to your password manager . Everything else? Use a note-taking app to take a cognitive load off. 

Related reading:

5 tools that improved my note-taking and changed how I learn

What does "thinking big" really mean?

When to give up on a goal—and how to do it

How and why to take a personal inventory

7 mental models to help you make better business decisions

This article was originally published in June 2019 by Melanie Pinola. The most recent update was in April 2023.

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Jessica Lau

Jessica Lau is a senior content specialist at Zapier. Outside of writing, she likes to snuggle her dogs, and provide unsolicited podcast and book recommendations.

• Personal productivity
• Professional development

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Essay Writing Tips: 10 Steps to Writing a Great Essay (And Have Fun Doing It!)

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Do you dread essay writing? Are you looking for some essay tips that will help you write an amazing essay—and have fun doing it?

Lots of students, young and old, dread essay writing. It's a daunting assignment, one that takes research, time, and concentration.

It's also an assignment that you can break up into simple steps that make writing an essay manageable and, yes, even enjoyable.

These ten essay tips completely changed my writing process—and I hope that they can do the same for you.

Essay Writing Can Be Fun

Honestly, throughout most of high school and college, I was a mediocre essay writer.

Every once in a while, I would write a really good essay, but mostly I skated by with B's and A-minuses.

I know personally how boring writing an essay can be, and also, how hard it can be to write a good one.

However, toward the end of my time as a student, I made a breakthrough. I figured out how to not only write a great essay, I learned how to have fun while doing it . 

And since then, I've become a professional writer and have written more than a dozen books. I'm not saying that these essay writing tips are going to magically turn you into a writer, but at least they can help you enjoy the process more.

I'm excited to share these ten essay writing tips with you today! But first, we need to talk about why writing an essay is so hard.

Why Writing an Essay Is So Hard

When it comes to essay writing, a lot of students find a reason to put it off. And when they tackle it, they find it difficult to string sentences together that sound like a decent stance on the assigned subject.

Here are a few reasons why essay writing is hard:

• You'd rather be scrolling through Facebook
• You're trying to write something your teacher or professor will like
• You're trying to get an A instead of writing something that's actually good
• You want to do the least amount of work possible

The biggest reason writing an essay is so hard is because we mostly focus on those external  rewards like getting a passing grade, winning our teacher's approval, or just avoiding accusations of plagiarism.

The problem is that when you focus on external approval it not only makes writing much less fun, it also makes it significantly harder.

Because when you focus on external approval, you shut down your subconscious, and the subconscious is the source of your creativity.

The subconscious is the source of your creativity.

What this means practically is that when you're trying to write that perfect, A-plus-worthy sentence, you're turning off most of your best resources and writing skills.

So stop. Stop trying to write a good essay (or even a “good-enough” essay). Instead, write an interesting  essay, write an essay you think is fascinating. And when you're finished, go back and edit it until it's “good” according to your teacher's standards.

Yes, you need to follow the guidelines in your assignment. If your teacher tells you to write a five-paragraph essay, then write a five-paragraph essay! If your teacher asks for a specific type of essay, like an analysis, argument, or research essay, then make sure you write that type of essay!

However, within those guidelines, find room to express something that is uniquely you .

I can't guarantee you'll get a higher grade (although, you almost certainly will), but I can absolutely promise you'll have a lot more fun writing.

The Step-by-Step Process to Writing a Great Essay: Your 10 Essay Writing Tips

Ready to get writing? You can read my ten best tips for having fun while writing an essay that earns you the top grade, or check out this presentation designed by our friends at Canva Presentations .

1. Remember your essay is just a story.

Every story is about conflict and change, and the truth is that essays are about conflict and change, too! The difference is that in an essay, the conflict is between different ideas , and the change is in the way we should perceive those ideas.

That means that the best essays are about surprise: “You probably think it's one way, but in reality, you should think of it this other way.” See tip #3 for more on this.

How do you know what story you're telling? The prompt should tell you.

Any list of essay prompts includes various topics and tasks associated with them. Within those topics are characters (historical, fictional, or topical) faced with difficult choices. Your job is to work with those choices, usually by analyzing them, arguing about them, researching them, or describing them in detail.

2. Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”

It's normal to feel unmotivated when writing an academic essay. I'm a writer, and honestly, I feel unmotivated to write all the time. But I have a super-ninja, judo-mind trick I like to use to help motivate myself.

Here's the secret trick: One of the interesting things about your subconscious is that it will answer any question you ask yourself. So whenever you feel unmotivated to write your essay, ask yourself the following question:

“How much fun can I have writing this?”

Your subconscious will immediately start thinking of strategies to make the writing process more fun.

The best time to have your fun is the first draft. Since you're just brainstorming within the topic, and exploring the possible ways of approaching it, the first draft is the perfect place to get creative and even a little scandalous. Here are some wild suggestions to make your next essay a load of fun:

• Research the most surprising or outrageous fact about the topic and use it as your hook.
• Use a thesaurus to research the topic's key words. Get crazy with your vocabulary as you write, working in each key word synonym as much as possible.
• Play devil's advocate and take the opposing or immoral side of the issue. See where the discussion takes you as you write.

3. As you research, ask yourself, “What surprises me about this subject?”

The temptation, when you're writing an essay, is to write what you think your teacher or professor wants to read.

Don't do this .

Instead, ask yourself, “What do I find interesting about this subject? What surprises me?”

If you can't think of anything that surprises you, anything you find interesting, then you're not searching well enough, because history, science, and literature are all brimming   over with surprises. When you look at how great ideas actually happen, the story is always, “We used  to think the world was this way. We found out we were completely wrong, and that the world is actually quite different from what we thought.”

These pieces of surprising information often make for the best topic sentences as well. Use them to outline your essay and build your body paragraphs off of each unique fact or idea. These will function as excellent hooks for your reader as you transition from one topic to the next.

(By the way, what sources should you use for research? Check out tip #10 below.)

4. Overwhelmed? Write five original sentences.

The standard three-point essay is really made up of just five original sentences surrounded by supporting paragraphs that back up those five sentences. If you're feeling overwhelmed, just write five sentences covering your most basic main points.

Here's what they might look like for this article:

• Introductory Paragraph:  While most students consider writing an essay a boring task, with the right mindset, it can actually be an enjoyable experience.
• Body #1: Most students think writing an essay is tedious because they focus on external rewards.
• Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay.
• Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, it will also result in better essays.
• Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn't have to be simply a way to earn a good grade. Instead, it can be a means of finding fulfillment.

After you write your five sentences, it's easy to fill in the paragraphs for each one.

Now, you give it a shot!

5. Be “source heavy.”

In college, I discovered a trick that helped me go from a B-average student to an A-student, but before I explain how it works, let me warn you. This technique is powerful , but it might not work for all teachers or professors. Use with caution.

As I was writing a paper for a literature class, I realized that the articles and books I was reading said what I was trying to say much better than I ever could. So what did I do? I quoted them liberally throughout my paper. When I wasn't quoting, I re-phrased what they said in my own words, giving proper credit, of course. I found that not only did this formula create a well-written essay, it took about half the time to write.

It's good to keep in mind that using anyone else's words, even when morphed into your own phrasing, requires citation. While the definition of plagiarism is shifting with the rise of online collaboration and cooperative learning environments, always  err on the side of excessive citation to be safe.

When I used this technique, my professors sometimes mentioned that my papers were very “source” heavy. However, at the same time, they always gave me A's.

To keep yourself safe, I recommend using a 60/40 approach with your body paragraphs: Make sure 60% of the words are your own analysis and argumentation, while 40% can be quoted (or text you paraphrase) from your sources.

Like the five sentence trick, this technique makes the writing process simpler. Instead of putting the main focus on writing well, it instead forces you to research  well, which some students find easier.

6. Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.

Introductions are often the hardest part to write because you're trying to summarize your entire essay before you've even written it yet. Instead, try writing your introduction last, giving yourself the body of the paper to figure out the main point of your essay.

This is especially important with an essay topic you are not personally interested in. I definitely recommend this in classes you either don't excel in or care much for. Take plenty of time to draft and revise your body paragraphs before  attempting to craft a meaningful introductory paragraph.

Otherwise your opening may sound awkward, wooden, and bland.

7. Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”

If you get stuck trying to make your argument, or you're struggling to reach the required word count, try focusing on the question, “How?”

For example:

• How did J.D. Salinger convey the theme of inauthenticity in  The Catcher In the Rye ?
• How did Napoleon restore stability in France after the French Revolution?
• How does the research prove girls really do rule and boys really do drool?

If you focus on how, you'll always have enough to write about.

8. Don't be afraid to jump around.

Essay writing can be a dance. You don't have to stay in one place and write from beginning to end.

For the same reasons listed in point #6, give yourself the freedom to write as if you're circling around your topic rather than making a single, straightforward argument. Then, when you edit and proofread, you can make sure everything lines up correctly.

In fact, now is the perfect time to mention that proofreading your essay isn't just about spelling and commas.

It's about making sure your analysis or argument flows smoothly from one idea to another. (Okay, technically this comprises editing, but most students writing a high school or college essay don't take the time to complete every step of the writing process. Let's be honest.)

So as you clean up your mechanics and sentence structure, make sure your ideas flow smoothly, logically, and naturally from one to the next as you finish proofreading.

9. Here are some words and phrases you don't want to use.

• You  (You'll notice I use a lot of you's, which is great for a blog post. However, in an academic essay, it's better to omit the second-person.)
• To Be verbs (is, are, was, were, am)

Don't have time to edit? Here's a lightning-quick editing technique .

A note about “I”: Some teachers say you shouldn't use “I” statements in your writing, but the truth is that professional, academic papers often use phrases like “I believe” and “in my opinion,” especially in their introductions.

10. It's okay to use Wikipedia, if…

Wikipedia is one of the top five websites in the world for a reason: it can be a great tool for research. However, most teachers and professors don't consider Wikipedia a valid source for use in essays.

Don't totally discount it, though! Here are two ways you can use Wikipedia in your essay writing:

• Background research. If you don't know enough about your topic, Wikipedia can be a great resource to quickly learn everything you need to know to get started.
• Find sources . Check the reference section of Wikipedia's articles on your topic. While you may not be able to cite Wikipedia itself, you can often find those original sources and cite them . You can locate the links to primary and secondary sources at the bottom of any Wikipedia page under the headings “Further Reading” and “References.”

You Can Enjoy Essay Writing

The thing I regret most about high school and college is that I treated it like something I had  to do rather than something I wanted  to do.

The truth is, education is an opportunity many people in the world don't have access to.

It's a gift, not just something that makes your life more difficult. I don't want you to make the mistake of just “getting by” through school, waiting desperately for summer breaks and, eventually, graduation.

How would your life be better if you actively enjoyed writing an essay? What would school look like if you wanted to suck it dry of all the gifts it has to give you?

All I'm saying is, don't miss out!

Looking for More Essay Writing Tips?

Looking for more essay tips to strengthen your essay writing? Try some of these resources:

• 7 Tips on Writing an Effective Essay
• Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

How about you? Do you have any tips for writing an essay?  Let us know in the  comments .

Need more grammar help?  My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid . Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 20 percent off: WritePractice20

Coupon Code:WritePractice20 »

Ready to try out these ten essay tips to make your essay assignment fun? Spend fifteen minutes using tip #4 and write five original sentences that could be turned into an essay.

When you're finished, share your five sentences in the comments section. And don't forget to give feedback to your fellow writers!

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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Guest Essay

This Isn’t the China I Remember

By Gish Jen

Ms. Jen, an American novelist whose family hails from Shanghai, wrote from Shanghai.

In 1979 my mother pulled out a Band-Aid in a Nanjing hospital. The nurses clustered around it, amazed. “The West has everything!” they said.

We were on a family visit to China, where my Shanghai relatives were similarly wowed by our excellent teeth and ample body fat, not to mention our descriptions of American dishwashers, refrigerators and air-conditioning. And with the general awe came V.I.P. treatment. Hosts broke out bottles of expensive orange soda that they freely mixed with expensive warm beer. We could not escape drinking this any more than we could escape our government-assigned “guide,” whose job was to strictly monitor visitors like us. Relatives or not, we were foreigners.

I returned to teach English at the Shandong Mining Institute in 1981. My students were coal mining engineers preparing to study abroad, so that they might bring back safer mining techniques. I was their “foreign expert.” As such, I had not only a sit-down toilet in the apartment provided to me, but also running hot water, an unheard-of luxury. My ayi, or housekeeper, would make a fire under a vat of water on the roof and, when it was ready, turn the faucet handle in my bathtub.

After class, my students would bring stools out to the basketball court where, each facing a different direction, they would sit and study for hours on end. Loving their country and wanting to make it strong, they were grateful for Westerners like me. Foreign as we were, we were a help.

Fast forward a few decades to a booming China. In my many visits over the years — as a teacher, as a visiting artist and as a tourist — Shanghai hotel staff had always returned my credit card to me with two hands, a bow of the head, and a smile. But with a quarter of the world’s construction cranes said to be in the city during China’s boom years, raising skyscrapers from what had been rice paddies, attitudes had changed. My credit card was returned with one hand; the receptionist barely looked up. My relatives no longer asked that I bring American goods for them, either. “China has everything,” they said then. As many proudly proclaimed, the 20th century was America’s; the 21st was China’s.

One seldom hears that triumphalist tone today. Instead, the talk is of a loss of confidence and trust in the Chinese government. People remain proud of their city, which now boasts excellent, cosmopolitan food and spotless streets. There are huge new sports centers featuring tennis and paddle-boarding, there is an artificial beach with pink sand. The city is far greener than in years past, too. Magnolia and cherry trees bloom everywhere and even the strips under the freeways have been landscaped. And thanks to the ubiquitous security cameras, Shanghai is spectacularly safe.

Yet below the surface lurks a sense of malaise. In this famously cosmopolitan city, there are weirdly few foreigners compared to before, many having left due to the stifling policies during the pandemic or because international companies have pulled out staff, or other reasons. Clothing shops are empty and many other stores have closed. The Nanjing West Road shopping district, previously a sea of humans, is strangely underpopulated.

Shanghainese are still outraged at having been locked down for two months in the spring of 2022 to stem a surge in Covid-19 cases with little time to prepare. Such were the shortages of essentials that Tylenol was for sale by the pill. And so heavy-handed were even the post-lockdown policies that residents took to the streets in protest .

But for many, the pandemic debacle only capped a series of governmental blunders starting with Premier Li Keqiang urging young people to open their own businesses in 2014. This and other missteps cost wave after wave of people their life savings and many Chinese now blame government ineptitude and erraticism for bringing the economy to a standstill. As a Shanghainese friend put it, the government has turned China around and around until, like spinning cars, people’s engines have stalled and their wheels have locked up.

The result has been so steep and unrelenting a fall in real estate prices that elderly people, like my friend’s parents, can’t sell their apartments to pay for nursing or assisted living. And they are hardly the only ones affected by the downturn. Doctors find themselves squeezed — many patients don’t have money for operations — while businesspeople sit on their hands, unwilling to make investments in so unpredictable an environment. Many college graduates, faced with a grim job market, are essentially dropping out, or “lying flat,” as it’s called in China. Not even schoolchildren, it seems, have been spared the general despondency. As one teacher I spoke to observed, when the society is sick, the children pay the price. Too many parents know a child who has had to leave school because of depression.

Of course, for all of this the West is scapegoated — having opposed, people say, China’s rise — as is China’s other favorite enemy, Japan, whose brutal 1930s invasion and ensuing occupation of China still rankles. (One sequence of a CGI video shown in my recent Shanghai spin class featured huge coronaviruses studded with Japanese temples.)

Whoever is to blame, emigration is on the rise . According to U.N. figures, more than 310,000 Chinese left the country in each of the past two years, a 62 percent increase from the earlier average of around 191,000 per year over the decade through 2019. Those in Shanghai with the means to do so talk endlessly about “running away,” even to officially reviled countries like the United States .

This is not always an answer. One friend of mine has come back to China to stay, having spent six years attending graduate school in Boston, saying she missed the warmth of Chinese family life. And no one has illusions about the difficulty of getting established in another country. People in China speak of a whole new class of emigrants, women who have left high-powered careers to accompany their children to the United States early enough for them to assimilate — ideally, in middle or high school. As for the fruits of their sacrifice, it’s too early to say. Can the children really become Westerners? Will they — like me decades earlier — become the foreigners?

Things in China could change. Those “lying flat” are not asleep. They are watching and could someday rise up. But in the meantime, people in Shanghai are simply, as they put it, “xin lei ”: Their hearts are tired.

Gish Jen is an American novelist and the author of “Thank You, Mr. Nixon.” She is currently teaching at N.Y.U. Shanghai.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

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How to Study So You Can Remember Everything

Last Updated: April 20, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Megaera Lorenz, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 22 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,034,502 times.

Whether you’re studying for a test, trying to learn a language, or just hoping to retain what you learned in your college classes, remembering what you study can be a challenge. While your brain is surprisingly good at holding onto things you’ve learned for long periods of time, that information is not always easy to get at when you need it. Use a few memory tricks to boost your recall. Make your brain more receptive to absorbing new information by taking care of your mind and body and working in a good environment.

Using Memory Techniques

• For example, if you’re trying to remember vocabulary for a language class, don’t try to memorize more than 7-8 words at a time.
• If you’re studying from a textbook, it can be helpful to work with the structure of the book. Textbook chapters are usually divided into shorter sections that each provide a manageable amount of information. Focus on understanding and remembering one section before moving on to the next.

• For example, memorize a poem, then move on to studying some algebra rules.
• Try spending about 50 minutes on each topic, then take a break for about 15 minutes before going on to the next one. Taking breaks will boost your productivity and help you concentrate. [3] X Research source

• If you can, take notes with a pen and paper. Writing notes by hand engages your brain in a different way than typing on a keyboard, and makes you take a little more time to think about what you are writing down.
• If you like to doodle while you take notes, that’s great! Doodling can help you pay attention and retain information. [5] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public Go to source

• Quizlet can be a great help for quizzing yourself, either alone or with a friend. You can create your own digital flashcards based on your course material, or you can use flashcards prepared by other members.
• One way to test yourself is to ask yourself basic questions about the material as you go. For example, “What is the main point of this section of the text?” [7] X Trustworthy Source American Psychological Association Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists Go to source
• Self-quizzing not only helps you get a better idea of how well you understand the material, but it also forces your brain to work a little bit harder to remember.

Joseph Meyer

Become an active learner. Learn from your mistakes in order to confidently tackle new lessons. Before jumping into advanced topics, make sure your skills in basic concepts are up to scratch. Utilize online resources and interactive exercises that provide instant feedback to solidify your understanding.

• When you’re spacing out your review sessions, keep the intervals short at first, then gradually increase them. For example, if you studied something one day, sleep on it and do a little review the next day. Test yourself a couple days later, and then again a week after that.
• Try a study timer app like SuperMemo or Ultimate Study Timer to help you schedule your study intervals.

• The most common mnemonic devices are creating acronyms that represent the words you're trying to remember, making an acrostic sentence where the first letter of each word represents what you're trying to remember, and using rhymes to remember. However, you can also use image association, especially if you're a visual person.
• Music is also a powerful memory trigger, so putting the information to a melody can be very helpful. There’s a reason countless generations of kids have been taught the alphabet in song form!
• Your memory cue doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you. In fact, the weirder and more specific it is, the better. For example, if you’re trying to remember the ancient Greek word hepomai (“to follow”), you might picture a cool cartoon cat singing “I’m hep! Oh my! Everybody follow me!”

Establishing Good Habits

• Don’t nap for more than 20-30 minutes during the day.
• Avoid using stimulants, such as caffeine or nicotine, 6-8 hours before bedtime. [14] X Research source Having more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks in the evening can also disrupt your sleep. [15] X Research source
• Exercise at least 10 minutes a day to improve the quality of your sleep.
• Avoid eating evening meals that might cause heartburn or indigestion, such as spicy, acidic, or fatty foods.
• Develop a regular, relaxing bedtime routine. Put away your computer or smartphone, do some meditation or light stretching, and take a warm shower or bath. You might also try reading to help you fall asleep. Set aside about 30 minutes before bedtime each night to unwind. [16] X Research source

• Some healthy fats, like DHA, may actually improve your memory. Eat plenty of fish, or take fish oil supplements to get more DHA in your diet. [18] X Trustworthy Source EatRight.org Organization associated with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics providing advice about food, health, and fitness Go to source

Finding a Good Study Environment

• Good study spaces could include a desk in your room, a study carrel or cubicle in your school library, or a table in a quiet coffee shop.

• If you have to study around other people, such as family or roommates, let them know in advance that you need to be left alone for a certain period of time while you study.

• If you come to associate being in bed with studying, this can also make it harder for you to fall asleep there at night.

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Tips from our Readers

• If there's a topic you find particularly confusing, make a note of it so you know what you may want to spend a little more time reviewing.
• Before you study, you might want to try taking a walk or spending time outside; this may help prepare your mind for studying.
• Try reading the material you're studying aloud, since this may help you remember the information.

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• ↑ https://opentextbc.ca/studentsuccess/chapter/memory-techniques/
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5673147/
• ↑ https://www.educationcorner.com/effective-time-management.html
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/effective-note-taking-in-class/
• ↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-thinking-benefits-of-doodling-2016121510844
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/studying-101-study-smarter-not-harder/
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/learning-secrets
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/11/study-smart
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/lib/memory-and-mnemonic-devices
• ↑ https://www.usa.edu/blog/study-techniques/
• ↑ https://education.seattlepi.com/disadvantages-cramming-tests-2665.html
• ↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sleep-helps-learning-memory-201202154265
• ↑ https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/sleep-hygiene
• ↑ https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/caffeine-and-sleep
• ↑ http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/08/sleeping-it-off-how-alcohol-affects-sleep-quality/
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/lib/12-ways-to-shut-off-your-brain-before-bedtime/
• ↑ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2013/11/06/healthy-eating-ten-nutrition-tips-for-eating-right/
• ↑ https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/healthy-aging/4-types-of-foods-to-support-memory#:~:text=Get%20adequate%20omega%2D3%20fatty,%2D3%20fatty%20acid%2C%20DHA .
• ↑ https://www.educationcorner.com/study-location.html
• ↑ https://www.wgu.edu/blogpost/improve-online-study-environment
• ↑ https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/blog/2020/08/11/when-is-the-best-time-to-study-and-why/
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/decreasing-digital-distractions/

About This Article

While there's no real way to study so that you remember everything, it is possible to improve your memory with techniques like breaking up the material into smaller chunks. For example, if you're trying to memorize a long list of vocabulary words, work on memorizing 7 to 8 words at a time. If you're studying from a textbook, test yourself by doing the exercises or practice tests that are built into your textbook. To memorize facts, try using a mnemonic device such as "ROY G. BIV" to remember the colors of the rainbow. For tips from our Education reviewer on how to take notes to help you retain information more effectively, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Amy Grant on the 2022 bike wreck that 'changed everything' and her return to touring

It was a beautiful summer day in July of 2022 when Amy Grant and a friend went on a bicycle ride through Percy Warner Park. She was in the best shape she'd been in since before she had kids.

The singer and friend Mel Cox stopped to take in an overlook when she confided to her friend that she needed to make change in her life.

"I feel spread so thin," she told Cox that day. "I feel like I'm not giving the most energy to my family."

Cox responded, "If you were hit by a bus today, what would matter to you?"

She responded, "My family."

Ten minutes after that conversation, Grant's front bicycle wheel dropped hard into a four-inch deep pothole, sending her catapulting over her handlebars and into an unconscious state that would result in a traumatic brain injury and memory loss. Had it not been for her helmet, the outcome could have been worse.

The only reason Grant remembers any of the pre-wreck conversation is because Cox took the time to write down all the details of the day for Grant when she was ready to read it. It was nine pages of text that Grant didn't read until much later.

Another detail Cox shared with Grant (who still has no memory of that day) was what she said in her hospital room shortly after the wreck.

Cox told Grant that she kept saying over and over in the hospital, "I can't believe I still have all my teeth." Grant had landed on her face and was badly bruised. Then she said something unbelievable.

"I needed this."

The accident, as Grant said during our interview at her home earlier this month, "changed everything."

'I had to re-learn the words to my songs.'

Grant had to relearn how to sing. She had to relearn lyrics to songs she's been singing effortlessly for decades.

"The very first thing I did was I had the Christmas shows with Michael W. Smith," she said. "I couldn't remember... I had to re-learn the words for my songs. I had a teleprompter. My balance was messed up. I was scared to death. I tried to sing a song in soundcheck and it triggered tears and I couldn't stop them. I felt so vulnerable."

She didn't get much more recovery time before having to appear on a national stage as she was being inducted as a Kennedy Center honoree — just five months after her accident.

"I couldn't have done it if I'd had to sing," she remembers. "I'd done a handful of shows and each one felt better, but I did feel like I had worked my way on a treadmill up to about a 3.5-mile walk and I was merging onto the interstate."

It was the understanding of Grant and her longtime manager Jennifer Cooke that there would be no singing or speeches at any of the events. Then at the medallion dinner at the state department the night before the ceremony, each honoree got up with notes to speak.

"Jen is looking at me like, 'dear God, you've got to say something," Grant said, laughing.

"They told us no written speeches," Cooke remembered. "I'm like, she has a freaking brain injury and she has to get up and speak. She has nothing prepared."

What happened next would set the trajectory for Grant's continued healing and recovery. She stood in front of the crowd with no notes and no preparation and spoke just like she would have before her accident.

"She couldn't have written something in advance better than what she said," Cooke said. "It was beautiful and powerful and I remember thinking 'It's ultimately going to be OK.' That makes me cry to this day because during those few Christmas shows, it felt a little different and then that happened and I was like, 'OK. She's still there."

100th performance: Vince Gill, Amy Grant celebrate 100th Ryman Christmas performance with Nate Bargatze, more

TODAY show: Amy Grant on life after bicycle accident: 'I feel fantastic'

'Wiggle your toes and speak your truth'

Grant credits Cooke and fellow musician Sheryl Crow with some sage advice that helped her get through the nerves of that impromptu speaking engagement. Remember, among her fellow honorees in the room were George Clooney, Gladys Knight and U2.

Cooke said to Grant before her speech, "Wiggle your toes and speak your truth."

Grant, who can't remember what she said that night, said years ago when she was preparing to speak at her mother's funeral, she told Crow she was afraid she would get choked up while speaking. Crow's response was this: "I'm going to tell you what my mom told me. Wiggle your toes. Just wiggle your toes and it will ground you in the moment that you're in."

Cooke reminded Grant of this before her speech at the Kennedy Center dinner. It worked.

"I did that that day and I tell people all the time, 'if you have to present, whatever it is, if you start getting overwhelmed, just wiggle your toes.' I give the credit to Sheryl."

Trauma can manifest change and recovery takes time

The bicycle accident isn't the only thing Grant has had to overcome in the last four years. During COVID she discovered a birth defect in her heart that required open-heart surgery. In 2022, the bike accident required her to have a shoulder surgery. Then while re-training her voice, her vocal coach noticed a lump on her throat that would ultimately also require surgery right after the Kennedy Center Honors in January of 2023.

The cyst turned out to be non-cancerous, but was growing and affecting her vocal chords. She considers this just another blessing that came from the bike accident, which sent the cyst into "hyper growth" mode so it was discovered and remedied early.

"That cyst was keeping company with my vocal cords and was slowly making it impossible for me to hold pitch to sing. It felt like too much work. Singing wasn't fun anymore. I was trying, but I hated the way I sounded. The sound my vocal cords would make when they rubbed together was the same, but my ability to control it was awful."

After the wreck brought the cyst to her attention and it was removed, Grant said, "It gave me my voice back. How amazing. I'm so grateful for that."

Grant's husband Vince Gill said of Amy, "It didn't matter if it was a heart surgery or a bike wreck, you can't faze her. She's fearless every step of the way. It's pretty inspiring to watch. She's always had that aura around her that's contagious. It's remarkable."

Today Grant is learning to embrace the process of healing and recovery, which she has learned doesn't happen overnight. Both take time and she's taking life a little slower to make sure she creates space to heal. After all, isn't this exactly what she needed when she confided in her friend before the wreck?

"I'm going to enjoy the process of regaining balance. I'm going to enjoy the process of healing. And like for me with singing, my vocal coach Laura said you've got to strengthen the little tiny muscles in your vocal folds. And she said, pick any low note and see how long you can hold it. I went from getting to 'three Mississippi' and now I've got 'eight Mississippi.' The human body is incredible in response to attention."

'The View from Here'

In February of 2024, just two years after her accident, Grant embarked on a 33-city tour that will hit Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for two shows just in time for Mother's Day on May 10-11. It will be the first time in 25 years Grant has headlined a Nashville show outside of her annual Christmas residency at The Ryman.

The show has been billed as a walk down memory lane through her remarkable career. Contemporary Christian music's female pioneer's proverbial mantle of awards boats a whopping six Grammy Awards and 26 Dove Awards (including four Artist of the Year Awards). She was the first CCM artist to have a platinum record, the first to hit No. 1 on the pop charts and the first to perform at the Grammys. 

She has total career album sales in excess of 30 million and over 1 billion global streams. And she isn't done yet.

She has released two new songs “Trees We’ll Never See,” and “What You Heard” that she says will ultimately be part of an entire album she will call "A View From Here" even though its title track has yet to be written. It's her first new music in 10 years.

"So much of my touring life is singing old songs. That's what people want to hear. You can't recreate your musical past. And I love that people still are willing to buy a ticket, and they want to come and join us, and they know the words. But the view from 63 is a lot more in-depth. At this stage of the game, to me it's so much more meaningful to fall in love with the process. You know, if I fall in love with the process of cooking, it doesn't matter who is at the table."

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at  [email protected] , on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.

What : Amy Grant

When : May 10-11

Where : The Ryman Auditorium

Tickets : www.ryman.com/event/2024-amy-grant