I literally can’t do it. I just don’t know how. I have to do the broader reading & note-taking to process that material before I can even start to think what to write & how to write it. On the one hand that process is what made it possible to write excellent essays & to perform well in exams, not that we had many history exams. But I couldn’t throw something together at the last minute if my life depended on it.
It’s not just about being nerds with high standards etc. it’s that we simply can’t do it any other way.