Metacognition and Writing

Metacognition is defined as ‘thinking about thinking’. According to the theory, one can learn more if one is aware of how one learns. Metacognition is a skill and good learners have this ability. There are ways to develop metacognition and one way is via visual thinking tools like mind mapping. Writing and reflection via journaling can also stimulate metacognition. This theory has been around since the 1970’s and I have come across this word a few times but it has passed me by. Only after reading an article in Poet & Writers by a writer called Dennis Cass was I able to understand its implication for writers. I checked his blog and he is also exploring the use of digital dictation to speed up writing. Talk about synchronicity!

According to the author, writing well occurs if one has a high level of metacognition. To understand the thinking process in all it’s nuances. Realizing that thinking is a skill and not related to the person is the first step. It goes beyond one’s ego though this is the first hurdle. One can say I did not understand topic A or topic B so I need to learn more about it, maybe by experiencing instead of just reading about it. Perhaps undertaking experiential learning activities like Toastmasters for public speaking and writing workshops for writing may be a step in developing a high level of metacognition. Understanding cognitive therapy was an avenue to reducing stress and I guess another step towards improving metacognition.

Is the urge towards blogging or journal writing an innate urge towards improving one’s metacognition? Is this really the urge for learning instead of the urge for writing? The point of the Poets & Writer’s article is to say that the processes are linked. One becomes a better writer when one achieves the ability for metacognition. I guess this means that one is truly divorced from the writing process – away from the ego identifying itself with the written work. Writing then become a journey of cognition, a series of events that improves one’s cognitive ability. In fact, some authors even say that the act of writing is already a step towards metacognition. Metacognition is like achieving a detachment on one’s thinking – by observing one’s thinking process similar to meditation.

The writer’s journey is in fact a journey of cognition or, to be exact, towards metacognition. It is not a lonely journey and one needs to have collaboration and help in achieving growth. The Toastmaster and writing workshop are collaborative experiences and a supportive way to learn. One tires of the lonely genius and it’s a road that one does not even need to make. There were a lot of good sentences in the article that I like. There was one from Saul Bellow which said ‘a writer is a reader who tries emulating’. So being a writer is being a reader and synthesizing both streams requires a thinking ability which includes metacognition. So being a writer does not mean having the raw reading and writing skill but having achieved an advanced thinking level that reflects on his developed self.

Paying Insurance

My two teenage kids recently passed their drivers test. They are now eligible to drive a car on their own. At first I thought it was a good thing as their parents don’t need to drive them to school. I added both my sons to the car insurance. But when I saw the bill, I had second thoughts. Insurance is play on your fears and the way you would assess the possible risks. As my kids are of legal age and have passed the exam, one is reasonably assured that they have a normal chance of having no accident than the next person. But the problem is that one should account for the other drivers in road. The other drivers are likely to cause the accident as well. So naturally a parent would opt for insurance.



This is the point reached in a parent’s life when he or she should start pushing the kids to start working. At least to get a part time job to help pay the bills. All sort of expenses seem to be raining down like insurance premiums, taxes, anti-identity theft protection and so on. Taxes one cannot escape but insurance entails a choice. This involves one’s skills in probability and risk assessment. Previously I would have risked it with my usual recklessness but now one is more cautious in old age. So the key is to increase one’s income. Hence, all the more reason to increase one’s financial literacy.


Last night I checked the investment and financial books I have read so far. I checked my online book catalog and found I have read about 32 books on this subject. This would make it about 10 percent of the total books I have read so far since I started cataloging the books that I read. I also counted the number of books related to writing which reached a total of 15 books or about 5 percent of the total books I have read so far. My thinking is that writing would provide another source of income in the future once I have attained the skill and confidence. This is the twin strategies for me: investing and writing. Of course, I can also look for a part time job on weekends for the short to medium term.

As of today, roughly the topics of the books I read so far follows below. Literature, popular entertainment or fiction books account for about 40%. This covers American (North and South), Asian and European writers in every conceivable genre.

• Literature :................. 132 = 40%
• History/Biography :....... 104 = 32%
• Investment/ Finance :..... 32 = 10%
• Business :..................... 23 = 7%
• Self Help :..................... 21 = 6%
• Writing:......................... 15 = 5%

• Total :....................... 327 = 100%

Non-fiction covers topics from history, biography, business, investment, finance, writing and self-help books account for the majority at 60%. The biggest bulk is history and biography. So I guess I can say that I have not been feeding my head with mindless mush in the recent years. I wonder what this says about me. Hopefully not an out of touch bookish nerd or a snobbish pretentious academic but maybe more of a practical person who likes to read a lot and hopefully make a career out of it. The reading knowledge I pray should help me assess risk more realistically in investment or in insurance or in life. Reading I guess is a form of insurance against ignorance.

The Writing Plan

The main problem in writing a book is that I lose focus and I am not organized. But I somehow am able to journalize or write daily by blogging. So I realize that blogging may serve as a way to write a book. I have tried many tools and there are a lot of interesting stuff out there like mind mapping, new novelist, various Internet options like Google Sites (to organize data) or even Google Docs to contain the actual writing. But none of these tools could provide a comprehensive environment to write although new novelist comes close. I think the main challenge is to have all the sources of one’s research in one location especially a portal or link to various Internet sites which have this information.



So I realize that the best writing environment is in fact a blog. I could write every day in a mix of actual writing or thoughts about the specific book. I could store all my writing online and I could have access to them using any computer. Hence I could work anywhere because my writing is stored in the Internet ‘cloud’. I could also post pictures, videos or links to Internet sites to help me in my research. So blogging seems to be the best environment to write a book. To make sure I have no distractions, perhaps I will keep the book private or to a limited audience. But I guess the blog will be the first draft of the novel. In other words, a tool to get my ideas out in a rush to complete my self-expression. I even think this concept would be interesting to monthly writing events like NanoWrimo.


Of course, this would not mean that other tools will not be used. I think new novelist is good for guidance, initial brainstorming and organizing thoughts. So will other software like Novel Writer. Mind mapping is also a good tool for brainstorming by making associations to other ideas that would come up intuitively during the process. I mean following the principles of the book ‘Writing in the Right Side of the Brain.’ These tools would supplement the act of completing the first draft. I guess I would know if the first draft is completed with the feeling that I get once I have said all that I could say. Once the 1st draft is made, I guess the next step is to copy the draft into a writing tool like MS Word or Google Doc to clean and organized it.

Blogs have often morphed into a book but I intend to use it as a writing platform. There would be links on writing as well as to sites that have research or subject matter needed in the book. The question then is whether I would have a blog for each book or do I have a blog for all my writings. The links to other sites would change depending on the subject of the book. Perhaps this platform works for me because it combines both anonymity as well as public access. If purely a restricted personal site with out the ‘idea’ of public access or criticism, the blog may result in a neurotic self-indulgent rant. Public access provides self-control and self-censoring. So I guess a public blog would be good because it may provide the public as an editor for one’s work.

Perhaps a further use can be made by using the site to advertise my work to publishers. It would be an ideal venue to promote and sell the book. Now that would be an interesting subject. Other Internet sites do exist already to allow publishers to review work but the act of writing is solely outside the intended site. Hence, these sites do not help in the act of creation or writing. It means that the writing has been done and the completed work is posted on these sites like Scribd for publishers to review. I guess one can go to this additional step but one needs to make sure that a copy write or patent is completed so one's ideas are not stolen. But perhaps not a good idea with the recent trends on public collaboration and sharing and so on.