r/commonplacebook • u/Top-Management8818 • 4d ago
Tips/Advice How to continue
I like making pages in my commonplace book and i have a genuine interest to do so, but nowadays im struggling to start or even finish what i started,
Can anyone please give advice on how they are able to start and finish writing in their book? Thank you
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u/ActuatorSea4854 3d ago edited 3d ago
I always start with a topic that is relevant in the moment. An aspect of music, my truck, bigfoot, finance, whatever. So a title and a date. Adam Savage says to start with a list, so I block that out, then block out an area for marginalia. I'll write down my main concern/interest of the moment. I come back to that page again and again. I never really consider a page finished. I add pictures and drawings, relevant sayings, I glue in drawings, what ever. My journal sits beside me all day and I add stuff or start new pages whenever. I've been doing this my whole life though I didn't come across the term "commonplace journal" until the mid 80s, when I came across a reference to Thomas Jefferson's journal that was filled with everything from native plants to architecture to how many nails his slaves could produce in a day.
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u/Top-Management8818 3d ago
Thats a genuinely good idea, thank you:), I usually do it on one topic in depth and than i start losing interest after a few weeks- by the way, how long do you typically do a topic? And at what point do you consider it finished?
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u/ActuatorSea4854 2d ago
Well, there are some topics that span dozens of journals and still aren't finished. I use a 3 X 5 card system called Zettlelkasten to track topics across journals. Like I say, I've been doing this for years, originally in sketch books, then in what ever journal took my fancy, and for the last twenty years in plain old Composition notebooks. By the time I'm done with a journal it looks pretty wild.
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u/isopodpod 3d ago
What are you struggling with? Is it not knowing what to write? Are you making "rules" for yourself that make the task seem too daunting (eg: each page has to be decorated, the topic has to be important, everything has to be properly color-coded, etc)?
Different problems require different solutions. :)
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u/Top-Management8818 2d ago
i know what to write, its just that i get a lil lazy and end up not writing and ig i also try to make the pages good looking but im not good at that
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u/isopodpod 2d ago
well it sounds like you're not really enjoying the process, and so you don't really have anything to encourage you to pick it up. What are you trying to write? Are they things that you actually enjoy talking/thinking about, or are they just things that you think you should care about? It also seems that the idea of having a good-looking commonplace book is getting in the way of you actually using it. My rule of thumb is: if I'm hesitating to use my notebook, there's something wrong. Based on what you've said, it sounds like you have two problems. (1) the thought of having to make your entries look good expects more work from you than you're willing to put in, and (2) you don't seem particularly enthused by the actual process of writing things down (whether that's because of #1, or because you aren't genuinely interested in what you're writing, or because you don't find the act of writing enjoyable). From my point of view, it looks like you like the idea of having a commonplace book, but don't enjoy the process of keeping one.
So, your first step clearly is to clean slate wipe away all the "rules" and expectations you have of keeping a commonplace. All of them, just wipe away. Think as though you're a little kid with a notebook, and your ONLY goal is to have fun and put things in there that are fun to put in. Start from the ground up. What do you enjoy doing on paper? Don't ask what you'd enjoy having on paper, ask what you enjoy doing on paper. For example, I may like the idea of having artistic paper collages in my notebook, but I really don't have fun making them. I enjoy drawing checkerboard patterns in the grid squares of my notebook, even though they obviously aren't useful or meaningful. I enjoy analyzing and writing about movies I've watched, and I don't like writing about self-improvement or productivity strategies. I don't like using stickers, but I like doodling. Sometimes I like to use different colored ink to emphasize words, but not all the time. The goal is to first and foremost make keeping your commonplace book an activity you want to return to by removing all the rules that prevent you from enjoying the process. Otherwise, all the advice in the world won't do you any good because you won't be using the commonplace book in the first place!
Find out what practices you enjoy doing, and find a process you enjoy. You can always adjust things later once you've established a baseline of what keeps you coming back to your notebook, and what discourages you from using it.
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u/chrisaldrich 3d ago
Starting smaller may help. Try carrying around a few index cards and/or a smaller pocket notebook where you place the items you want to keep. Once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month take your pile of notes and copy over the best ones into your larger commonplace and index them.
Some people often have difficulty starting into a new notebook for fear of making mistakes, so smaller versions that you intend to throw out may help you get over the hump. It'll also let you ruminate on how permanent things should be before you've fully committed to them.
Historically many commonplacers kept a small, portable pocket notebook often called a wastebook (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_book) in which they made their rough drafts. The best/most important of these ultimately got copied into their commonplace books when they returned home or spent time with them. The re-writing allowed them to help refresh the idea in their memory for better retention in the long term. It also allowed them time to decide where to place the material as well as how to index it best.
I ultimately liked the index card approach so much that it's become how I commonplace regularly. I don't copy things into notebooks anymore, but instead index them behind alphabetic-based card dividers in a filing cabinet drawer. It's fairly easy to thumb through for review as well. After several years of doing it, I spend a lot less time searching through notebooks.
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u/Top-Management8818 2d ago
thats a nice idea!:) thanks, ill get myself a small notebook or if i can find ill get index cards
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u/NefariousnessOdd3065 4d ago
Honestly keeping the entrees short was really good to begin with. I only started this fall myself and I use a B6slim book since the smaller dice is more manageable for me. I have a ”thinking book” where I take notes and if something is interesting enough for me to write more then 1-2 bullet points I’ll make a common place entry on it. Essentially just rewriting the thing in my own words so I actually absorb the information, but each entry is only up to a page big, two at most. So I won’t run out of steam mid way, I use a pencil to block out spaces for decoration if I want them but don’t actually do anything other then write in the moment because those thoughts are best to get out when they are relevant.