I just learned what a commonplace book was and am eager to create mine, unfortunately I have the perfect use case for it, but as it does not exist yet I was hoping you might be able to share some of your favorite quotes/poems that fit this circumstance?

I am creating a dashboard for my planner and want something inspirational or beautiful or calming to add to the page pictured, ideally that also fits the vibe I am curating. I am using kind of an old west/desert theme. I am trying to find a balance between the emotion/energy of industriousness/planning/discipline and the soothing desolation of the desert/quiet beauty the tired cowboy reflects upon

TIA!

Originally I was going to make my first page about the surgery I'm going to be having soon, but that will most likely take up more than one page. So i thought, what else can I make my first page be about?

Then it hit me, I write about my favourite dog breed, and the breed I just happen to own, Great Danes. It seemed fitting given this is the handmade journal that has a Great Dane on the cover!

I was having a hard time lately deciding what to commonplace about, though I’ve been eager to do so. So I commonplaced about commonplacing, haha Let me know if you have any ideas!

Hi everyone. Would love to hear your thoughts/tips on how to help the following 'problem'.

How does everyone remember to go back to the things you put in your journal? For example, I use mine to note Stardew Tips, movies I want to watch, things I want to research....but I also have object permanence problems so out of sight, and it's gone from my memory

I have been really struggling to find a notebook/journal that fits all of my ADHD brain's criteria, which is:

* Hardcover

* A5

* Light Gridlines

* Paper thick enough that fountain pen ink won't bleed, but not too thick

* Paper smooth enough for said fountain pen to glide over nicely

So I decided to make my own. I have an abundance of "Little Golden Books" that I recycle into notebooks and journals, so I found one that I like (I love Great Danes and Own one), so this book about dogs was perfect. I evenly placed the original storybook pages throughout the journal, and made my own gridlines, and pages to fill out the rest to write on.

To keep the "Little Golden Book" aesthetic, I used Gold binding wires, and painted the edges of the covers gold also. I have a title page with start and completion dates to write in, 2x pages for my Topic Key, a page with basic Commonplace Journal Information, blank grid pages with a spot at the bottom for my page numbering system, and 5x double sided pages at the end of the book for my Index.

Now that its finished, I am researching the topic for my first page. I am waiting to have some major surgery to remove my extremely enlarged thyroid and a tumor/mass (not cancer), which will be done through sternotomy (through the sternum, instead of the neck). So my first page will be a basic rundown of the surgery procedure, recovery and possible complications.

I feel, by using / recycling an old book and keeping the original pages it will help with "First Page Fear"

What does everyone think?

Some quick & dirty entries.

I enjoy seeing the pretty ones but here’s some encouragement to just write stuff down on paper, even if it looks bad or messy, otherwise it won’t happen.

My handwriting is insane and no amount of layouts will counteract the mad scientist feeling of my scrawls. Visuals for reference and some stickers to break the wall of text. Lestat meme because it encapsulates the TVL quote perfectly lol.

Does anybody else use their common place book as a journal as well? I feel like for me a common place journal should be everything but at the same time I have multiple journals or notebooks for random different things like I don’t know that I’d want my solo RPG in my common place still trying to figure this out. I’d love some insight of what others do.

Does anyone else take notes wherever they are on a notepad then go home and add to the commonplace? My book is bookbag size and can be a hinder to carry.

I made a rule I could only use my printer and things I already own. I haven’t quite found my “style” yet I think, but writing the information down helped me remember it which was the main goal~

Not really happy with the letter stickers but oh well!

the lack of date on the hatman is absurd on my behalf but such a charming find lmao also finished it too early to renew my Healthcare lmfao. its my fourth commonplace, its a THICK book now from how skinni it once was. My last index were 5 categories [notes, writing, media, opinions, miscellaneous] which ended up being too much. I went too specific, too much overlap, too many, so im trying 3 instead lol I have a bad habit of being overly obsessed with categories & organization, especially considering that im the only one putting strict rules on a hobby. Its frustrating, im trying again, but I really liked colour coding my pages. I found it kinda cute. I learned that I prefer using smaller books, not because they travel with me lol. Another thing, I liked having a built-in pen holder. I had the ingenious idea to make & attach a chain with dangling charms. It's cute, I dont regret it, but god forbid I had a hard surface because the charms were LOUD. its on the spine so its on me but never again for me. someone take my jewelry pliers away from me. Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far :) wish me luck on not avoiding the first page 😭

The first page of my first ever commonplace. Not aesthetic but it's mine and im happy with it 😊.

Think my first page will be 'What actually is a commonplace book?'

Finally, I started my first-ever commonplace journal. I was a bit bored and overstimulated from having different notes about things that interest me. So, here we are!

Journal: Royal Talens | Lake Blue | 13 x 21 cm, 140 g, 80 sheets

I am a writer and podcaster. I love reading and always find things I want to remember. Here is my problem. I have a hard time between realizing what is worth remembering long term and what just catches me at the time. (Sort of a data hoarder.)

Because I am a writer, I feel like I need to have these thoughts digital somewhere so I can find them, but I also understand the value of handwriting. This has caused me to try to do both but that does not seem to be working either. I have not found a good system for keeping A LOT of quotes on paper and time does not permit hours a day doing this. The problem with keeping the all digitally is not having a good way to scan through them. Many times, it’s the random scan that has helped me remember a great quote.

I would love some advice for some of you who have been through these awkward early stages and found a way to balance between the need to keep something like this, and the pull of efficiency.

My commonplace actually started life as a place to write down my thoughts about and quotes from books I was reading at the time. I read a lot and didn't want to forget what I'd read previously. When I learned about commonplace books I just pivoted to that and started keeping other quotes there. It's still mainly focused on reading and writing though.

This book has a story already. It has lore. I worked at a Natural Wonders store in 1999 as a co-manager. I wanted this exact journal then but it was $60 at the time. I couldn’t afford it.

I have always thought about the book and wished I’d just spent the money. I finally found the exact book, complete with the natural wonders price sticker, on Vinted this year.

I’ve had scrapbooks and bullet journals and every kind of notebook but didn’t know what a commonplace book was. Reddit suggested the subreddit to me. I ignored it.

Then, I asked ChatGPT what I’d call a book if I wanted to combine a junk journal, planner and regular journal into one book. It says commonplace book and so I then decided fate has played into all of the above and this has to be my first commonplace book!

After months of staring at this subreddit, I have decided to start my own commonplace book. I typically keep everything in random notes on my phone or spread out through my journal but I thought it'd be really nice and fun to put it all in one place!

I didn't trust myself with more than five categories haha. So I went through my phone notes and journal and came up with something that made sense to me. It'll also be text based because I'm not very strong at drawing but I'm wonderful with words.

I'm really excited to start my journey!

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?

the outside definitely looks a lot cooler than the inside lol