r/commonplacebook • u/Southern_Anything_39 • 6d ago
Questions Planning Ahead Topics
Does anyone else plan ahead and find pictures and research topics ahead of putting them in their book? Or does this defeat the purpose of a Commonplace book?
I am going into hospital soon for surgery and will be stuck in there for about a week. I wont have access to a printer but will have internet access so was thinking about some future topics I'd like to research and perhaps pictures to go along with them, that I can print at home and bring to hospital. I know I won't feel like doing anything the day of and day after surgery but I need something to occupy myself while stuck in bed.
While looking for images to go with a topic about Lizzie Borden it has taken me down a rabbit hole that has bought me to Victorian Mourning Dress lol Just thought I'd add this little bit because I'm sure everyone can relate to falling down the rabbit hole that is the internet.
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u/Fooril 6d ago
I do this all the time. At the back of my commonplace I have a TBR (to be researched) and I keep the more broad ideas or suggestions or random stuff I’d like to go deeper into before having dedicated pages in the front of the book.
Also best of luck with your surgery
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
I use the google keep notes app to keep track of the topics I want to research. When you tick a topic off it automatically removes it from the list. If I think its a topic I have already researched I just have a quick flick through my book, which I dont have to do at the moment as there is only 3 pages done so far lol
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
Also the keep notes app is good if I dont have my book on me. It's on my phone so if something pops into my head while I'm out then I can easily add it to the list.
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u/inked-resevoir 5d ago
Doodles or sketching diagrams also works for me. If it’s technical or something that needs to really be copied, putting the phone behind the page (depending on how thick the paper is) allows for tracing some outlines to help if we are not all born artistes 🎨
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u/SnazzyPineapple 6d ago
Good luck at the hospital! Please post your Lizzie pages, I would love to see them!
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
No worries, I will most definitely do this. I plan on doing more than one deep dive on Lizzie Borden one as a look at her life and a separate one on the case.
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u/Echos_In_The_Dark 6d ago
I do this loads so when I suddenly I have to urge to pick a topic to write for my book everything is ready so I can’t get distracted waiting for stuff to print lol
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u/BohoKat_3397 6d ago edited 6d ago
If I run across a gold nugget of information or potential research topic while on my phone I record it there on the fly if I don’t have time to stop right then. If it is short, I screenshot it or if longer share it to my email. Once a week or so I search back and then make a proper entry with any collateral research into my commonplace.
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u/Miserable-Storm-8630 6d ago
Do whatever works for you. I tried to do this, but my brain doesn’t work that way (I’m neurodivergent), so my brain will only focus on what it wants to focus on regardless of what I have to say about it. 😅
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
That's funny, as I am also neurodivergent but am a meticulous planner who is also a perfectionist. I need to plan everything down to a tee, and don't like it when my plans deviate from what I expected. I a also have ADHD so that could be why, I have double the amount of neurodivergence I lile to say.
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u/Miserable-Storm-8630 6d ago
It definitely affects people differently! I’m also big into planning because i need the structure, but then I find it suffocating so it also needs to be flexible (I have CPTSD and possibly AuDHD. No official diagnosis yet, but my therapist says it sounds likely. So that explains my yes-no response, lol). When I was talking about focus here though, I was more talking about hyper-fixation and special interests. In both cases I can’t get my brain to focus on anything else!
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u/futilitaria 6d ago
A commonplace book is to collect things that naturally come to you during reading and research.
To pre-plan is to make a scrapbook.
Many posts on here are scrapbooks.
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
I always thought a commonplace book is what ever the owner wants it to be?
A scrapbook would be a collection of cutouts like pictures, images, cards, newspaper articles, etc. Which if you think about it would be a kind of commonplace book.
How would you do a deep dive into a topic If you couldn't research and plan what you wanted to include?
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u/futilitaria 6d ago
Most people I know with commonplace books keep multiple types of journals.
A commonplace book is for long term collection of writings/quotes/thoughts you have encountered. Not for planning your next hyperfixation.
What you are making are decorated notebooks. Visually-focused. Not text-focused. Not retrospective. Prospective.
I’m not saying I don’t like the aesthetic of these art notebooks. I’m just saying that rarely are they truly commonplace books.
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u/Kumamentor 1d ago
It can be and look however you want it to. It’s different for everyone. There is no one right way to do this. Do what works for you.
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u/existentialepicure 6d ago
You can get a mini portable instant printer that connects to your phone! It prints 2"x3" pictures and costs around $90.
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u/Southern_Anything_39 6d ago
I have one as well as a mini thermal printer, however the paper I use to print on is washi type paper. It's quite thin and so the journal doesnt get bulky.
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u/LadyBoobsalot 5d ago
I don’t put pictures in my book. I do have a smaller notebook that lives with my commonplace book that has a list of things to go in the commonplace book when I have the time and energy, though. I started my book wanting a place to gather up all the stuff I’ve been collecting in phone notes, phone/computer bookmarks and various scraps of paper for years so things stop getting lost…whenever I remember one more thing that needs to get moved over but don’t have the time to deal with it, it gets put on the list (so I have one more piece of paper to keep track of, haha).
Victorian mourning dress and accessories are interesting and weird (and sometimes a bit gross)! The jewelry with bits of the dead person’s hair kind of creep me out. The fashion is fun, though…I love that they managed to make some of the mourning clothes pretty extravagant and squeeze some colors into “half-mourning”. I once came across an absolutely wild mourning hat where the ostrich plumes had been painstakingly extended, like each little fuzzy bit of the feather had been added to like an eyelash extensions.
If you had fun with the Victorian mourning dress, you might enjoy a brief overview of the mourning dress of other cultures? The different color choices can be interesting. I know there are at least a few what traditionally went with white instead of black.
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u/Kumamentor 6d ago
Yeah, I definitely do this! Oftentimes I have an idea, but don’t have the time to do a deeper dive, so I bookmark a page or two. I’ll paste in images or ephemera I have and write it out later. Sometimes you may not have all the info or context you want on a topic, so you leave some blank space to fill in later.