A commonplace book is a place to collect material you want to return to: excerpts, observations, questions and ideas. You can start with a notebook or a plain digital document. Record the source, capture the interesting part and add a sentence about why you kept it. The last step makes the collection yours.
You know the experience. Something in a book makes you stop. A phrase in a conversation opens a little window. You think, “I will remember that.” Your brain agrees enthusiastically and immediately moves on to what is for dinner.
An old practice, a very current problem
Historical commonplace books were used to preserve extracts and notes. The Library of Congress describes Thomas Jefferson’s legal commonplace book as containing material on cases and precedents collected while he studied law. It is an example of the practice, not a requirement to imitate its owner or his system. [1]
Your version does not need leather covers, elaborate categories or a desk that looks like a museum exhibit. It needs to be easy enough to use when something catches your attention.
Try a three-part entry
First, the source: author, title, page or link, and a date where useful. Second, the thing you noticed. If you copy exact words, mark them as a quotation; if you paraphrase, say so. Third, your response: “This reminds me of…” or “I wonder whether…” or simply “That is a beautiful way to put it.”
The response matters because two people can save the same sentence for entirely different reasons. One notices a story idea. Another recognizes a question they have been avoiding. The saved words are only half the entry.
Keep quotations short, and remember that saving something for personal reference does not give you permission to republish it. A source note also helps you find the full context later, before a striking fragment becomes a misleading claim.
Let the notebook have a return trip
Once in a while, read a few old entries. Choose one to follow: look up the original, ask a better question, sketch an idea or write a paragraph in your own words. This is an editorial suggestion, not a scientifically tested productivity system.
You can also discover that an idea no longer interests you. That is useful information. The notebook is allowed to contain temporary fascinations, abandoned possibilities and a sentence about a remarkably good sandwich.
There is no need to turn everything you notice into content. Sometimes you are simply making a place where the interesting parts of your life are easier to find again.
Keep exploring
Explore starting something new →
Explore the Curiosity Room →
Research references & image credit
Photograph by Jessica Lewis / Pexels, used under the Pexels license.
