How I Actually Use My Commonplace Books

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[bettethehuman]

I’ve never heard of commonplace books before, but apparently I’ve been doing my own version for years! I’ll find my own “wise sayings”, type them up on my typewriter, paste the quote into my sketchbook, and make an illustration or collage related to it.

[pandaguan]

Flipping through a notebook and having glimpse of your old notes is much more satisfying than scrolling through digital pages which would sometimes lag.

[jacknsaav]

Back in the mid to late 80's (yes, I'm an old man) I started collecting interesting and inspiring (to me) quotes in a notebook. I maintained this process into the early 2000's and have since let it go to the wayside, using digital tools instead. Your video has encouraged me to find my old notebook and update it with the content from my various digital stores. It's also finally given me a name for the practice. Thanks.

On a side note, I used to get a lot of comments/compliments on the book (as it used to live on my coffee table, free for all to peruse) -- looking forward to resurrecting the practice and leaving it as a legacy for my grand children

[csilla]

I started this new botany hobby lately. I use a commonplace book to write down the facts about plants and tea recipes, I even draw sometimes. Using a physical notebook, and not a digital, makes me feel more connected to the nature, myself and to reality as well.

[beatea]

I have been keeping journals almost like commonplace books since I was a kid of 13 or 14, but they were never purposeful or organised in any way. They were often riddled with music lyrics, quotations, poems, friends' notes, recipes, doodles, Pokémon stats, stickers, lists of books I was reading/wanting. Very chaotic... I miss those books.

I only learned about the commonplace book back in 2023 or 2022, and nowadays I keep a topic-specific manuscript about Sir John Franklin and his crew since 2019, their search for the Northwest Passage, and all the explorers who went in search of them when they disappeared. I also keep a general treasury (with the occasional thought sprinkled in). I am thinking about starting a topic-specific treasury of dinosaur facts.

Th is a very cool video, thank you! I appreciate the differentiation between commonplace styles, it makes a lot of sense and has inspired me to be more intentional with my passage collecting.📓

[heathersmith]

When I type I feel like I’m on autopilot. When I physically write something down, whether it’s in my journal, my commonplace book or in my fictional work, I feel much more connected to the words I’m writing.

📓📓📓

[laurenbernstein]

The distinction between commonplace book and journaling for fiction writing was really useful - it's helping me think through how to organise fiction writing projects

[elise_.y]

i love your division into four types cause it made me realise i’ve been doing a general manuscript (reading journal w reflections), topic manuscript (author focused journal w reflections) and general treasury (favourite quotes) commonplace book! i tried obsidian and notion for a bit, but this video encouraged me to keep doing analog notetaking. I’ve also found that I remember so much more when i physically write it down vs. in a digital database… having something succinct committed to memory makes more sense to me than having elaborate digital notes that i have to search through each time 😅

[thereadingmama]

So, there is a whole slew of homeschool mamas who have been doing this for decades and have their children do it too. Charlotte Mason an early 20th century educational philosopher recommends it for teachers, parents, and students. Great break down of different ways you can commonplace. Love your examples in actual books. Tabs definitely help find them later on. I started out with just a random notebook of everything, and now a few years in am starting to break mine into categories. As homeschooler I will have one on education specifically, one for health focus, one for inspiration as mama/homemaker, and one general. Love the idea of manuscripting along with common placing. Oh, reading through Lewis and Dune series this next year so that actually piqued my interest.

[MarthaAnderson-jvph]

I've been using commonplace books since 1966. Senior here. And I still use commonplace books. Great vlog.😊

[Riurelia]

As a language lover, I like the idea of keeping a commonplace book exclusively for foreign languages. That way I can remember wise sayings and a new language at the same time.

[carlee]

I've just found commonplace books and started one of my own, but I've been in the journaling/planning community for a few years now. I think another reason that it's gotten popular, especially with people who have had journals before or like that as a hobby, is because it's ONE journal...that you keep EVERYTHING in. That's it's purpose. So, rather than having a reading journal, a recipe journal, a study journal, a budget journal and a planner...just put it all together. It works. And for people like me, I don't do enough to warrant a journal for every category in my life, but I still like writing things down. So, if I need to do a budget this week, maybe trying a new format from another budgeter, commonplace book. I might not need to do that all the time. I need to map out my Christmas list? Commonplace book. My reading journal is for my thoughts, but I can put in excerpts in the commonplace book. Smash it all together. It doesn't have to be purely academic or organized even.

[crisfehr]

Just found your channel yesterday, and so glad I did! Keep up the amazing work!

[Ghostykitten]

I've unknowingly done commonplace books for years but I've recently been focusing more on my common place notebooks. I have one that is more general one that I use for quotations and poems I find and I add stickers and magazine cut outs to it. And I recently started another one to specifically study Christianity and ancient Rome for a novel I'm working on where I collect all my research. It's such a therapeutic practice and has helped to keep my mind sharp as I'm in recovery from a stroke I had last year. I love seeing all the different methods people use for these journals.

[spacecowboy]

Parker, I’m a current MFA candidate (set for graduation in December!!) and your channel has helped me IMMENSELY! Not just with good habits and living more thoughtfully, but as an antidote for the panic that sets in via scrolling. You really have changed my life! Thanks for the videos :)

[TheWordySeagull]

📔My first commonplace book I kept in high school, a collection of quotes from movies, novels and my own poetical writings all mixed in. This was over 30 years ago! ;)

[simonebernhard]

You’ve inspired me to make several new notebooks and to restart my hand written morning pages/journal. So far I have a general treasury commonplace book, a catch all, a summary of books as I read them and I’m going to start a study journal for my geeky interest of choral diction. My decade goal is to transcribe my old journals from high school on, bet I will cull some of my own good pensees in the process! Thanks for your deep interest and engaging style of presenting this information! 📓

[cindyedwards]

I am learning to make all kinds of journals and this channel popped up. Subscribed. One of the first journals I will make for myself is a commonplace book. I'll be a radical, because it won't be completely blank. Truth. Following you because your office looks like mine. Bonded. First target. Second Coming.

[jseymour]

I’m a full blown notebook addict. I have commonplace books for trading options since I aspire to be a YouTuber teaching novice investors how to invest with options, for Bible study since my wife and I lead marriage focused Bible studies, a traveler’s notebook as a mobile catch all, a pocket notebook for an even more mobile catch all, a journal for tracking YouTube related activities such as keeping track of video ideas and todo items.

That’s not even all of it - I also maintain a physical Zettelkasten as a more structured commonplace book.

I might have a problem…

[mshinkle]

Theres a great memoir by a guy named Daniel Klein called "Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It, " where he goes through his commonplace book he called "Pithies" and recounts where he was in life at the time and gave good background on the quotes. Short, great read