Keeping a commonplace book

Commonplace books or commonplaces are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Journals are for taking notes on our personal experiences, our longings, and frustrations. On rewiring my reading by keeping a commonplace book. A commonplace book is a system for writing down and sorting all manner of tidbits. Sep 22, 20 why you need to start keeping a commonplace. The idea, though, is to have a journal where you write down life lessons that you experience, as they happen perhaps as a daily reflection in the evening. In a previous blog post, i wrote about why my commonplace book matters to me. A commonplace book is a dedicated place be it a physical notebook or a digital space like evernote to record and keep quotes, ideas, aspirations, thoughts, and anything else that might be meaningful for future reflection. Enjoyment is the ultimate motivation for keeping a commonplace book. Ive been carrying one since 2011, when my good friend jimmy convinced me of the practice.

Sparkly gel pens, a webinar, and other commonplace book necessities this is a great post by brandy. Commonplace books or commonplaces are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing. They are a place to record thoughts and ideas you dont quite comprehend. To read more about keeping a commonplace book or reading notebook, might i recommend the following. Thomas jefferson kept two commonplace books for literary matters and another for.

Keep a commonplace book for inspiration the writing. Lovecraft kept a commonplace book filled with ideas, images. Oct 08, 2015 the commonplace book has been around for centuries, being utilized by some of the greatest minds in history including marcus aurelius, thomas jefferson, ralph waldo emerson, john locke, bill gates, and many more. You are more likely to be able to recall something if you have written it down. He subdivided his book into categories of virtues and vices, like piety and. Author nicholson baker writes of keeping a commonplace book that it makes me a happier person. Its a lovely passage, and i couldnt help entering it into my own commonplace book. Anything i read that causes me to pause and read again to stop and savor the words or ponder the message it all belongs in my book. One popular method utilizes notecards filed in a small box using dividers that can be labeled according to topic. The practice of keeping a commonplace book goes as far back as the 15th century with luminaries like leonardo da vinci, mark twain, charles darwin, ralph waldo emerson, marie curie, and even george lucas and larry david. Jan 24, 2018 how to back up ones mind and to explore topics more holistically.

Often people write ideas and quotes inline with their. Not only did the article make the front page of reddit and blow up on facebook and twitter, but many people emailed in their. My own bristling brainurchins of worry melt in the strong solvent of other peoples grammar. You are right that there is great importance in the process. How and why to keep a commonplace notebookand when. Not only do such collections help you remember thoughts, they create juxtapositions that stimulate creativity. How and why to keep a commonplace book thrive global. What i keep in my commonplace book readaloud revival. Do what works best for you, and do what yields results. The children and teens choose what they want to include in their commonplace book which eventually becomes a resource filled with noble thoughts of others. A commonplace book is a way to keep our learning priorities in order. Keep a commonplace book for inspiration the writing cooperative.

The lost art of commonplacing the writing cooperative. Feb 22, 2016 to read more about keeping a commonplace book or reading notebook, might i recommend the following. Jan 24, 2014 a commonplace book is a way to keep our learning priorities in order. A brief guide to keeping a commonplace book posted on february 25, 2018 april 16, 2019 by notebookofghosts i had the opportunity to write for dirge magazine while it was still online rest in peace. I am writing a series of articles about commonplace books and this is the first in the series, which starts by explaining what a commonplace book is. My commonplace book, however, has always remained my foundation, the one notebook thats always near, a collection of lifes fragments, and a place to keep whats yet to make sense to me, but urging me to pay closer attention. Commonplace books are like scrapbooks for the books you read. Keeping a commonplace book the basics, the history, ideas to get started keeping a commonplace book. Creating and keeping a common place book in your charlotte.

The commonplace book can be a leatherbound art journal or a cheap, collegeruled composition book. Well, the commonplace book is a thread that runs through all those ideas. The notebooks themselves have taken so many different forms over the. May 18, 2016 there are many benefits to keeping one, here are some of the reasons you might want to consider keeping some sort of written notebook, reading journal, or commonplace book. Nov 22, 2017 and one great method of increasing your enlightenment is the practice of keeping a commonplace book. Reading inspires writing which inspires more reading.

People have been keeping commonplace books, in one form or another, practically since people have been reading. However, i believe that putting in the time to make the collection a pleasure to peruse is by far the more effective of these options. Whenever i talk about this concept, people ask me for commonplace book examples or commonplace book ideas. The tradition of keeping a commonplace book is one that goes back for a number of centuries. The commonplace book was a sort of outboard memory, a way to keep and revisit our most insightful insights. Without a commonplace book that you control youre gambling your ability to learn and grow from your current actions. The beauty of the commonplace book is that it makes the act of reading and writing inseparable. You, too, can begin keeping a commonplace book and record those bits of conversations, quotes, and interesting passages that could become the origins of your next novel. Often people write ideas and quotes inline with their daily notes, grocery lists, and other daily marginalia. You can use it to record anything,from that deep, inspirational quote. I have to be honest my practice often falls short of my principles, and yet i can say that even our imperfect implementation of commonplace book keeping has. It is where they copy great passages, quotes and poems from literature. Ryan holiday may be the person who has brought the idea to our collective consciousness with his almost 4yearold article how and why to keep a commonplace book. The commonplace book more resembles a reference book, except that it is completely unique to your interests and curiosities.

I need to add this to the recommended posts to read on keeping a commonplace book that i listed in my blog post today. I also keep a digital commonplace book on evernote, but i find the best stuff goes into my notebook. With some basic organizational methods, your commonplace can become useful later. This concept has had a bit of a resurgence of late. They can be words from a novel, from a poem, from a picture book, from the side of a cereal box. I consistently keep a commonplace book with bullet journal elements personal calendar, to do lists, habit trackers, moon cycles, etc. Maybe you like a small journal with tiny entries, small sentences, small nuggets of joy and guidance you can reread over and over. Scholars, amateur scientists, aspiring men of letters just about anyone with intellectual ambition in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was likely to keep a commonplace book. We use the charlotte mason method in our homeschool. Keeping a commonplace book is an essential tool for learning, memorizing, and storing information. Almost the inverse of a journal, a commonplace book is a place to record knowledge, rather. A brief guide to keeping a commonplace book notebook of. The benefits of keeping a commonplace book accidental creative.

A commonplace book is a journal of ideas, but in a way, its the opposite of a journal. It can be a work of art in itself or merely a collection of scribbled quotations. Simply put, its the beginning of what hopefully will become a lifelong pleasure. Its very scalable and cumulative adds up if you do it every day.

They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the renaissance and in the nineteenth century. I keep a moleskine on me at all times that serves as my commonplace book although it often gets mistaken as my passport. I no longer choose the passages for copywork but give them the freedom to choose. How to back up ones mind and to explore topics more holistically. Why and how you should be keeping a commonplace book.

I certainly keep a commonplace journal of my own even now. In lemony snickets a series of unfortunate events a number of characters including klaus baudelaire and the quagmire triplets keep commonplace books. If im honest, there arent too many things in this world that i enjoy more than a good book. After you finish the book, put it down for a week or so. Such books are essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind. In its most customary form, commonplacing, as it was called, involved transcribing interesting or inspirational passages from ones reading, assembling a personalized encyclopedia of quotations. Why you should be keeping a commonplace book twin cities. A commonplace book is a notebook or other resource that is used to record ideas, facts, quotes, and personal responses to information encountered while reading, studying, or just going about your daily life. Reasons to keep a commonplace book professional writers still carry notebooks that resemble commonplace books. Commonplace books are a tradition spanning from the middle ages to today. How to keep a digital commonplace startgainingmomentum. Essentially a scrapbook that is used to organize and keep memorabilia that is devoted to a particular subject, a commonplace book often served as a means of family members passing on valuable information from one generation to another. Today, they take forms that would probably not even be recognizable to. I love the idea of keeping a commonplace book for writing.

I read a blog post this morning at crossing the brandywine, about a shared habit among many who follow the ambleside online charlotte mason practice of keeping a commonplace book, or whats lately being called keeping in short, the wisdom of miss mason, an early 20 th century educator, once again proves to be timeless classical, relevant useful, and enriching formative for those. Some of the things she shares about in this post are her favorite types of notebooks and pens to use for a commonplace book. And one great method of increasing your enlightenment is the practice of keeping a commonplace book. The concept originated from commonplaces in ancient greece and. There is no one right way to keep and use a commonplace book.

The commonplace notebook replaces copywork and becomes a place for the owner to record poems, thoughts, quotes, and passages that they find meaningful. Teaching kids to keep a commonplace simply convivial. It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or readingdiary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or. Apr 16, 2019 a brief guide to keeping a commonplace book posted on february 25, 2018 april 16, 2019 by notebookofghosts i had the opportunity to write for dirge magazine while it was still online rest in peace. Nov 15, 2012 a commonplace book tends to be both less impulsive and less practical than a writers notebook. It what ties those efforts together and makes you better at each one of.

Many famous thinkers and leaders kept commonplace books, including the following. It is critical to find a style and system that feels comfortable to you so that keeping up with commonplacing doesnt become a chore. In keeping with this practice, we suggest that aspiring rhetors carry a notebook with them so that they can write down ideas that occur to. Here are a few tips for keeping a useful commonplace book. Rather than something ordinary, a commonplace book is a journal or notebook in which a student, reader, or writer compiles quotations, poems, letters, and information, along with the compilers notes and reactions. A commonplace book, if youre unfamiliar, is a notebook, digital or otherwise, that you fill with information like ideas from books, notes from. Here are a few characteristics of a commonplace book. But i am very encouraged to see that other people have their. See more ideas about commonplace book, books and book journal. Katzev goes into the tradition and practice of keeping a commonplace book, gives many examples from many types, and reports the results of an informal survey on purpose and methodology that he conducted by mail hes a psychologist by profession so that was almost inevitable. My running commonplace book is a small, unlined insert i the back of my midori travelers notebook, but i also transfer ideas and insights regularly into evernote so that i have a digital archive for potential use in my writing, consulting, or podcasts. Holidays commonplace book, comprising thousands of handwritten note cards, inspired me to get creative and.

Jan 28, 2018 sometimes digital works better, but on the whole i find keeping a notebook fulfilling and better suited for the job. I keep a commonplace book because i want to keep track of the best articles and books i read. Jan 19, 2016 within a charlotte mason education, a commonplace book is a place to record great quotes, poems, and passages from literature. This space is a participation in the art of keeping commonplace as a means of recording, remembering and being transformed by the power of words. Students from the 1600s through the 1800s were required to keep commonplace books as learning tools.

What i keep in my commonplace book readaloud revival with. In my commonplace book, i jot down snippets, quotes, stanzas. A commonplace book is like a thinkers journal that serves as a focused act of selfreflection and way to learn. Though less widely known, keeping commonplace, defined as. How and why to keep a commonplace book thought catalog. Below are a couple links of how others use a commonplace book. Well, the idea of keeping a commonplace book has clearly struck a nerve. The benefits of keeping a commonplace book accidental. Learn how to keep a commonplace book a personal wikipedialike journal to store all your insights, notes, and creative ideas. Unlike a personal journal, this is not a place to write their own thoughts, but the great and noble thoughts of others. It motivates us to look for and keep only the things we can use. I keep a commonplace book at home, which is the repository for the bestof scribble book entries and other bits of wisdom or information or life eventslessons. A brief guide to keeping a commonplace book notebook of ghosts.

Entries into a commonplace book are usually made with some forethoughta particular pen, an attention to neatnessunlike a writers notebook in which fleeting thoughts are scribbled, often illegibly. Some focussed more on the more traditional use of a commonplace book which is seen to be a place for writers and poets to collect quotes and fragments of story ideas to be. A commonplace book is a way to capture the thoughts and words of those who can inspire us to new ideas, a seed of a new novel, an understanding of mans place on earth. There is no rulebook or instructional tutorial for keeping a commonplace book. How to keep a commonplace book with notion sam thomas. Jan 02, 2019 im fascinated by the idea of a commonplace book which is basically a collection of learned things. The process of writing it out can help solidify it in our minds. At the back of my commonplace books is a tagbased index. In the article, he gives a succinct definition of this object. A few years ago, i read an article by author ryan holiday about how and why to keep a commonplace book. By starting the habit of keeping a commonplace you will also improve your creativity. If you read books at all and i mean even if you read just a little you should consider keeping a commonplace book. If keeping a commonplace book is new to you, i hope the some of the principles and practical ideas culled from my own homeschool and coop experience will help you get a good start.

Both ralph waldo emerson and henry david thoreau were taught to keep commonplace books at harvard university their commonplace books. Now that she is on level five, the copyworkread more. Since i earnestly began keeping a commonplace book, ive been astonished to find that i read differently. In the 18th and 19th centuries, these collections of wisdom were so popular that commonplacing was an actual term for the act of writing in your commonplace book. Not only did the article make the front page of reddit and blow up on facebook and twitter, but many people emailed in their own methods for keeping a commonplace book i understand my method is a little unique it was taught to me by a rather unique person. I not only delight in reading them but also talking about them late into the night with friends, copying out favorite passages into my little commonplace book or on any scrap of paper i can find. They keep their commonplace book beside them while reading from their literature selections. But you can do what works for you, and thats the beauty of keeping a commonplace book. The thomas jefferson papers at the library of congress. Mar 28, 2019 marcus aurelius 121180 ad kept a commonplace book that was effectively turned into the book meditations, a core text of stoic philosophy. May 08, 2018 without my commonplace book i might have completely forgotten these two quotes and, along with them, my growing concept of characters and a plot for a new novel. I created mine to have a repository of things i wanted to save and learn, but not necessarily journal about.

A commonplace book is the name for a notebook that houses quotes, musings, personal notes, learnings, anecdotes, drawings, reflections and more. Two years ago, while attending a conference, i learned about an ancient tradition that has now become a regular practice for my students and me. The commonplace book project the every day novelist medium. On keeping a commonplace book february 21, 2015 by karen mcarthur 6 comments i read a blog post this morning at crossing the brandywine, about a shared habit among many who follow the ambleside online charlotte mason practice of keeping a commonplace book, or whats lately being called keeping. I am writing a series of articles about commonplace books and this is the second article in the series, which talks about why someone would want to keep a commonplace book.