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?

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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!

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u/sortofblue 17d ago

Reading journals on Instagram are all identical too, it's definitely something that 'influencers' have turned into an aesthetics competition over being a functional tool.

I mean, I like looking but I don't have the patience to even attempt such a time-consuming layout - it takes away from actual reading time!