Back to the on-screen lesson ·
Writing notes and messages that still make sense later: the four questions, the next step, and pointing words replaced with names, places and dated days.
Paper packet. Every task here also exists on screen, where it is checked automatically; answers written on paper are not assessed by Nydus. When you are back at a device, enter your answers there.
You will rewrite a note so that it answers who, what, when and where, replace the pointing words that lose their meaning overnight, and turn words like tomorrow into a weekday and a date.
You have found a note in your own handwriting and not known what it meant. Call about Tuesday. Which Tuesday? Call whom? When you wrote it, the rest was in your head, so the note felt complete. The last lesson put a routine on a card; this one makes sure the words on it, and on every note and message, still work a day or a week later. The names and messages are invented. This is optional practice alongside your own care, not treatment and not a measure of recovery. If anything about your memory, speech, energy or thinking is new or changing, tell your own clinicians.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pointing word | A word such as him, it, there or tomorrow that only makes sense beside the moment it was written. |
| The four questions | Who, what, when and where: what a note must answer to be acted on later. |
| Next step | The action the note asks for, written after the four questions. |
| Weekday and date | A date written with its day of the week, such as Wed, Oct 7, so each checks the other. |
| Plain language | Short sentences and everyday words that a reader understands the first time. |
The support is one page in a notebook, or one note on a phone, kept for messages, with five prompts written across the top: WHO · WHAT · WHEN · WHERE · NEXT STEP. Filling a box is easier than remembering to include something.
Memory notebooks with fixed sections have long been used in rehabilitation. Sohlberg and Mateer (1989) described training people to use one in stages: first learning what each section is for, then practicing using it, then using it in daily life. The same logic holds for one page of messages: a fixed layout means the page asks the questions for you.
Every note has two people in it: the one who writes it and the one who reads it later. Even when they are the same person, the reader has lost the moment the note came from. A note that works answers four questions: who (a name, and where they are from), what (the thing or the task, named), when (a weekday and a date, and a clock time if it matters) and where (a named place). After them comes the next step: what to do about it.
The words that fail overnight are pointing words. Him, her, it, that, there, the usual, tomorrow, next week all point back at something the writer could see. The reader cannot. Replace each with what it pointed at: him with Marcus at Lang's Hardware, it with the ladder, tomorrow with Wed, Oct 7.
Dates need the most care. Tomorrow changes meaning every night, and next Friday means different days to different people. A weekday with a date, such as Wed, Oct 7, is checkable: if the two do not match on the calendar, you know something is wrong.
Another way: story
Sam wrote Call him back about it tomorrow on a Tuesday. On Thursday he found it under the fruit bowl. Was tomorrow already gone? Who was him? He had to ring three people before he found out it was the hardware store, holding a ladder for him until Wednesday.
Another way: steps
| Pointing word | The question it leaves open | Write instead |
|---|---|---|
| him, her, they | who? | the name, and where they are from |
| it, that, the thing | what? | the object or task, named |
| tomorrow, next week | which day? | the weekday and date |
| there, the usual place | where? | the named place |
| soon, later | by when? | a date or a clock time |
You do not need to write long sentences. Marcus, Lang's Hardware · ladder on hold · call by Wed, Oct 7, 5 PM is a short note with nothing left to guess.
The U.S. government's Federal Plain Language Guidelines, published at plainlanguage.gov, give advice that suits a note to yourself as well as a letter from an agency: short sentences, common everyday words, the active voice (Luis will bring the dish, not the dish will be brought), and the most important information first.
For a note, most important first means the action and its deadline near the top. Abbreviations you invent on the spot, like LH re: ldr, save a few seconds now and can cost the whole note later. Use the ones everyone knows, such as days of the week and AM and PM.
Clear writing became a legal duty for the U.S. federal government with the Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires agencies to write documents the public can understand and use. The guidelines that grew around it keep returning to the questions in this lesson: who must act, what they must do, and by when.
At home the stakes are smaller and the same questions apply. Take June, a fictional retiree, on Thursday, April 2. Her neighbor Luis says at the door that he will bring her casserole dish back tomorrow around ten and leave it on the bench there. June's first note reads Luis — dish — tmrw 10. By Monday it would tell her nothing about which day was meant. Her rewritten note answers the four questions: Luis (next door) · casserole dish · Fri, April 3, about 10 AM · porch bench · leave porch light on. Anyone in the house can act on it, on any day.
I will remember what I meant. You remember the meaning while the moment is fresh. The note is for the day it is not.
A longer note is a clearer note. A paragraph with it in it is still unclear. Five short labeled pieces beat five sentences.
*Everyone knows what next Friday means.* Some people mean the Friday of this week and some the Friday after. A date settles it.
Circle the pointing words in the draft.
Call him back about it tomorrow. → three pointing words
Each depends on a phone call the reader will not remember.
Replace him and it with what they meant.
him → Marcus at Lang's Hardware · it → the ladder he is holding
A name and a named thing can be acted on by anyone.
Replace tomorrow with a weekday and date.
Written Tue, Oct 6 → tomorrow = Wed, Oct 7
The date is counted from the day of writing, and the weekday checks it.
Write the finished note, action and deadline first.
Call Marcus, Lang's Hardware, by Wed, Oct 7, 5 PM · ladder on hold
The most important information goes first, as plain-language advice suggests.
Read the draft as the person who will find it.
Pick up the thing from the place on Saturday.
Maya, Ellen's daughter, was not there when the plan was made.
Answer what and where.
the thing → the birthday cake order · the place → Rosen's Bakery, 4th St.
Maya needs the item and the shop by name to find them.
Answer when and who.
Saturday → Sat, June 13, after 11 AM · order under the name Ellen Park
The pickup time and the name on the order are what the counter will ask for.
Add the next step.
Next: it is paid; just show this note.
The next step saves Maya a phone call when she gets there.
Find the pointing words.
there · the usual time
Both depend on a habit the reader may not share.
Replace there with a place.
there → Oak Park, the bench by the fountain
A named place with a landmark cannot be mistaken.
Replace the usual time with a date and time.
On Monday, March 9, Grace takes a phone message. Which note will still make sense if she finds it the following Friday?
On Tuesday, October 6, Sam writes: *Call him back about it tomorrow.* The caller was Marcus at Lang's Hardware, about the ladder he is holding, and the store closes at five in the afternoon. Complete the rewrite.
Count the pointing words in the draft.
him · it · tomorrow → a pointing words
Each one depends on a phone call Sam will have forgotten by Thursday.
Replace him and it with names.
him → Marcus at Lang's Hardware · it → the ladder he is holding
A name and a thing can be acted on by anyone who reads the note.
Turn tomorrow into a weekday and date.
Tuesday, October 6, plus one day → Wednesday, October b
The date is counted from the day the note was written.
Add the deadline as a clock time.
Call before closing → call before c PM
Before closing only helps a reader who knows the store's hours.
Mark every word or phrase in this fictional note that will not make sense to someone reading it next week.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
A finished note: *Anita Shah, Eastside Library · book on hold: The Overstory · pick up by Sat, Nov 14, 6 PM · front desk · take library card.* Say which question each piece answers.
| Question it answers | |
|---|---|
| Anita Shah, Eastside Library | |
| The Overstory | |
| Sat, Nov 14, 6 PM | |
| front desk | |
| take library card |
A note written on Monday, March 9, says: *Bring the forms the day after tomorrow* and *Book the return visit in ten days.* Rewrite both as March dates, and give the weekday of the first as a number of days after Monday.
Bring the forms on March a; book the return visit for March b. March 11 is c days after Monday.
Each fictional note leaves out one of the four questions. Choose the one it does not answer.
| Question it leaves out | |
|---|---|
| Dana Lee to return the cooler to the garage. | |
| Pick up the photo prints at Main St. Pharmacy, Thu, Oct 8. | |
| Mr. Kim bringing the spare key, Sat, Oct 10, 10 AM. | |
| Beth at the bank on Fri, Oct 9, 2 PM, with something to sign. |
A fictional voicemail: *Hi, this is Gloria at Eastside Library. The book you asked for came in, the one about the trees. We'll hold it at the front desk through Saturday, November 14. Bring your card.* Fill in the note.
| Entry in the note | |
|---|---|
| Who | |
| What | |
| When | |
| Where | |
| Next step |
Lesson test: one question per skill, one attempt each, no hints. Your answers are checked when you submit.
On Thursday, April 2, June's neighbor Luis says at the door: *I'll bring your casserole dish back tomorrow around ten. Leave the porch light on and I'll put it on the bench there.* Complete June's note so it still makes sense next week.
| Entry in the note | |
|---|---|
| Who | |
| What | |
| When | |
| Where | |
| Next step |
Write the five prompts — who, what, when, where, next step — at the top of one page or phone note, and use it for the next message you take. Next: what to do when the word itself will not come. This is optional practice alongside your own care, not treatment and not a measure of recovery. If anything about your memory, speech, energy or thinking is new or changing, tell your own clinicians. You can stop at any point: close the page, and it reopens where you left it.
12. Your turn: *See you there at the usual time*, step 3
the usual time → Wed, May 6, 9:30 AM
A weekday, date and clock time answer when completely.