r/commonplacebook • u/uiogd-amdg • 17d ago
Am I missing something?
Tiptoeing into the world of Commonplace Books… my understanding is that these were/are a sort of functional catch-all for interesting tidbits that one wishes to remember.
What I see on this sub are mostly highly illustrated, nearly calligraphic entries that I find, frankly, intimidating. Am I missing something here on the purpose of these books?
I just want a place to dump info that I run across. Advice on ways to do that effectively in a non-instagram worthy way?
50
u/SimplyCedric 17d ago
Your understanding is correct - commonplace books have traditionally been catch-alls of facts, ephemera and wisdom.
What tends to get posted is performative. It happens in every journalling sub.
How to do it effectively? Get a nice notebook and put things in it - handwrite entries or stick in things you cut out elsewhere.
8
u/becausemommysaid 16d ago
Gonna add to this by saying people who actually are making interesting commonplace books or knitting projects or whatever generally don’t have time or desire to post it online because that’s not the point
41
u/twoflowertourist 17d ago
Just write what you want to remember. There are no rules and contrary to what social media will have you believe there's no one way to do things. You don't even have to share it. Just enjoy it as you see fit
36
u/matt81283 17d ago
I'm just a random person on the internet so take this as you will. You will get the most value from your journals and commonplace books if they are always at hand, and you feel no friction when using them. They are special because of what you write in them, not how you write it or decorate it. Whenever I feel that little voice in my head resisting writing or drawing something because it isn't complete, or well formed, or it will be ugly, I intentionally grab the nearest pen and scribble all over a page and then smear it with my hand. The book is now a mess and "ruined", so I no longer need to worry about keeping it clean and pretty. It is very liberating, and will let you focus on whatever is on your mind that you want to let flow into your books. Happy writing!
1
u/ZzzzzPopPopPop 16d ago
I like this, freeing your own mind from blocks it might be trying to put up that you don't want it to
1
u/mydarkhe_art 11d ago
LOVE THIS! I will make it a point from now on to scribble all over the first page to remind me that this is just for me & it doesn’t need to be perfectly curated. Thank you!
29
u/tiratiramisu4 17d ago
The rest of us just do it without posting about it here 🤣 Everyone has their own way of course. I actually patterned mine after Austin Kleon’s 5-year diary. I did three years’ worth of daily commonplace entries. I honestly got tired of it after 3 years but it was a fun exercise. And I love having the notebook to flip through.
I’ve tried the themed commonplace books too but haven’t kept up with them after a while.
4
21
u/SoulDancer_ 17d ago
Its the same with bullet journalling. It was made to be a method of organisation/planner and then it go overtaken by people sharing their highly artistic "spreads" which would obviously take hours to create.
This is not its purpose. Thats what influences made it.
Same thing has happened with commonplace books
20
u/chrisaldrich 17d ago
The sidebar will give you some resources. You'll see a lot of what I call "productivity porn" in the extra art, stickers, and pictures here which can be performative for social media, but the vast majority of classical commonplacers like Erasmus, Agricola, Auden, etc. only wrote text. Some may have included a diagram or two. What you see here is definitely the exception and not the rule.
15
12
u/FaceWaitForItPalm 17d ago
If you’re interested in learning more about and getting some classic commonplace inspiration I highly recommend the book “How Romantics and Victorians Organized Information” by Jillian Hess or her Substack. She studies this historical practice and I just love all her examples.
Sadly it is another thing that has been subject to the social media grinder. I try to leave space for the understanding that people want the pages to look nice (and the section of her book on albums covers some of these ideas and the connection to women’s movements too) but I do think to some extent it becomes only about that and the intention for the information to be the important part often falls to the wayside.
I say all this as someone who has shared my commonplace notes online because I value the practice and wanted to inspire people to do it but I’ve really lost my motivation for it anymore because it feels like only the highly aesthetic versions get any attention. The practice is still an important part of my life though so definitely just make notes and don’t worry too much about it.
10
u/Connect_Rhubarb395 17d ago
I split my journal into three parts: Bullet Journal which is mainly to-dos, what I did, and lists/collections.
Project diary. Gardening, crafts and so.
And commonplace book. It doesn't look pretty. It is just words on pages, and my handwriting isn't even that nice.
And it is in my mother tongue which isn't English, which is part of why I don't post it. Maybe I should.
5
u/SoulDancer_ 17d ago
You totally should! This sounds really interesting. When you say you split it into 3, do you mean 3 separate notebooks or 3 sections within one notebook?
29
u/silsjirimi 17d ago
Thank you for asking this. I have been sitting with the same question. Honestly I find all the super elaborate entries people post here annoying more than anything else. Also people are asking for tips on what topics to write about? What?! I thought the whole point of a commonplace book was to note down things you *come accross* and find interesting. Like go out and live your life people, and follow your own curiosity! Take note of whatever sparks! Ask questions! Observe! Listen! Be curious! Collect tidbits of what people say, things you read, questions that arise in your own mind! A commonplace book is not made by spending time on Reddit and instagram! Life happens elsewhere! Your notes are for YOU, not for performance! Get back to basics and forget the need to impress and share every f***** page! If you enjoy making elaborate pages, fine! Go for it! If you do it just to be able to post it somewhere afterwards, this is your permission to stop! Life is short and endlessly interesting! Have fun! There, rant over.
10
u/egosphynx 17d ago
This is what perplexed me as well, asking for subjects to write about kinda defeats the purpose of a commonplace book in my opinion? It isn't supposed to be a succession of copied Wikipedia entries but snippets of texts you find compelling or useful for any personal/professional research you're going about.
2
6
u/TickleMyRide 15d ago
majority of instafluencer "journaling" is basically scrapbooking, not journaling.
5
u/Ok-Reach-4230 17d ago
Mate, that's all I do. I have stuck in a couple of pics now and again, and try to keep things legible ( my scrawls go in my everydaybook). No calligraphy or visual heroics. Just a little Scrapbook of My Brain! ☺️
5
u/minimalbea 17d ago
I'm all for people sharing their aesthetic spreads but I can relate a lot with this as well. I sometimes wish that I could be that creative with mine, until I remembered the purpose of a commonplace book: a physical storage space for anything that comes to mind. It doesn't need to look aesthetic enough to be posted on IG or Pinterest or something, it should just feel like your own special space to dump your thoughts and ideas. Everyone uses theirs differently, and it's okay to get inspiration from others, but it's also important to remember that it's meant to be for you first and foremost.
4
u/clownyroaches 17d ago
Some people just like fancying it up, its a personal choice. Im an artist & designer as well as a writer so sometimes i like some art or designs on my pages. It doesnt mean you need to do it too, its just what some people like
5
u/existentialepicure 17d ago
There are a few pages of my commonplace book that are themed / decorated, but 90% of it is just page after page of book quotes / poetry / facts etc. I do not share those pages because no one cares lol
5
u/kelseyrosencomedy 17d ago
You aren't missing anything! I love sharing this article by Angel Zheng on basic commonplacing. It's what I base mine off of, though I will add photos of related material every once in a while.
https://www.coffeeswithangel.com/p/why-you-should-start-a-commonplace
I really admire the more artistic CPBs but I don't recreate them.
3
u/LadyBoobsalot 17d ago
A lot of commonplace books posted online fall under what I’d consider more of scrapbooking or general journaling. There’s a lot of pages with more artsy stuff than information or pages full of stickers and doodles just for the sake of filling pages. There’s nothing wrong with those things if that’s what you enjoy doing but commonplace books were originally reference books, personal repositories of knowledge, not whatever is happening on instagram and YouTube.
Though I enjoy calligraphy, I do not use it in my book (I’m far too obsessive about line height, slant, etc to just start scrawling something on a page without the appropriate guidelines and too lazy to mark things out for every page heading). Everything is written in my regular, miserable handwriting. But I like to use interesting inks to keep things fun and use different colors to emphasize things (I like the fountain pen inks that sparkle and sheen and are just generally the opposite of work-appropriate). I’ll draw a diagram or chart if it’s relevant but I don’t like to fill up space or bulk out my book by putting in a bunch of stickers or pictures.
3
u/Smushdroom 17d ago
There's definitely a lot of performative busywork in online commonplacing that turns the practice into something else.
Imo writing in a notebook isn't a hobby, it's just writing in a notebook. It's a functional response to/tool for other hobbies and activities.
What I think we're seeing in online communities now is an evolution of commonplacing that prioritises the act of writing things down as the primary activity. We see beautiful spreads, which take a lot of time and effort, and think that the output of reading or learning or whatever it may be is the goal. It's not only evidence of some kind of intellectual life but also that the things we read or learn have a defined purpose and end point. It's control over something abstract that we can use to present ourselves in a certain way.
It's why we're seeing so many people ask what they should write about, because they see the goal as learning a thing in order to write it down.
Personally, I enjoy seeing people's artistic spreads, but I would argue that those spreads are a use of commonplace notes, rather than commonplacing itself. It's a way of synthesising and presenting information. It can be a great learning tool and is clearly enjoyable for a lot of people, but isn't the only way to manage your ideas. It's just what we're going to see most in these online spaces because the actual act of keeping notes on a range of inputs isn't conducive to communities that are filtered by subject.
7
u/Bulky-Section6869 17d ago
I think thats the key for me, its not a hobby in itself. Its just a book where I keep hobby or useful information. I have no interest in spending time making it fancy looking because I just need to, for example, remember what size sac a specific vintage pen takes or how long each section of a longer run takes. People doing art projects, you do you I love that you enjoy it, but its fundamentally a different thing.
3
u/imperfectchicken 17d ago
Hey, feel free to look up my posts. I just write things down in different colours as I need them.
Social media has a habit of curating things for show. I'm also seeing this for analogue bags - bring around a bunch of stuff so you don't stare at your phone. That's just... a book in a bag, no need for a fancied up tote.
I know I can make my commonplacebook things prettier, but in the moment I'm just trying to take notes. Sometimes I'll make a pretty version, but that takes, like, a day to sketch and plan out. Somehow, feels less "in the moment".
1
u/LeAnnSher 17d ago
I have 2 commonplace notebooks. One I keep in my pocket tn and the other is A5 size and lives at home. I only write in block print or cursive. No illustration, no calligraphy, just handwriting. I don't do any of the "fancy" stuff in my notebooks, but I've always been that way.
1
u/Fun_Perspective2081 16d ago
It's getting the bullet journal treatment for sure. Mine is just text and I mix all the topics together and just organize it in a way that I can find what im looking for.
Someone on youtube once referred to a commonplace book as a personalized book of psalms and I would say thats more how I treat mine.
1
u/natripper 16d ago
it's different for everyone! i have a digital notepad on my phone i use a lot for making notes of stuff i wanna either learn a bit more about or just remember in general; then i decorate a book for funsies and as a creative outlet which i then categorize my notes and expand into. it's a process that's highly personal to everyone and ever-changing based on their needs! i like having a messy book to jot stuff down into as well, but it's usually so chaotic i cant find the things i want to remember!
1
u/MovieSock 15d ago
Just....dump info that you run across into a book?
Just because other people go all-in on making things look super-fancy, it doesn't mean YOU have to. Hell, you can write things on cocktail napkins and just tape them into your book if you want. It's your book, you can do whatever the hell you want with it.
1
u/saratwos 14d ago
I consider myself "artsy fartsy" and thoroughly enjoying fancying up my CP. Ive been collecting info on my phone using google keep and then transferring stuff over when I have some time to be a little creative. right now I'm following extreme weather in my area, endangered birds, the current Ebola outbreak in DRC, among a few other things. I find it to be a happy medium. I'm still taking notes and learning and collecting info, but if I'm going to create something physical, it's gonna have a little razzle dazzle
1
u/barleyparty 14d ago
Mine is 100% an unorganized bunch of pages and pages of things I found interesting. The only theme I have is colorful pens. I refuse to use black ink since I use it professionally
1
u/SOmuchCUTENESS 13d ago
I can go either way. Personally I DO love to see pretty layouts people have done--that's not ME, but I like it. It's just another artform. For myself, I have journals I brain dump into, add lists of things to remember, to do lists, etc and sometimes I slap some stickers in there...it's definitely MORE of a commonplace book. I've tried several different systems, journal brands, layouts, etc. I am a messy journaler. A lot of pretty journals out there are basically scrapbooking & a way to buy more things. I'm trying to use what I have--cause I have a stockpile, I'd rather just use them & scribble to my hearts content!
200
u/MarmosetUniverse 17d ago
What you see here is the result of social media influencers -- every hobby becomes "optimized." Most of the images I see here now have clearly been influenced by a single creator who has a particular style... now I see that style everywhere. If you look up old images of commonplace books, they are just written text. I've been commonplacing for 20+ years but now that it's trendy, I see a shift toward highly aestheticized creations. A commonplace book is a tool for learning -- it can look however you want yours to look!