What Is A Commonplace?

Odds are that if you are a notebook person, you have done some commonplacing even if you did not know the name for it. When you come across a quote in a book (or a shirt, or some graffiti) you really like and you write it down? That’s a Commonplace. Those screenshots you take? If you look back at them that’s a Commonplace.

They are more like a database than a diary. – balzerdesigns

How To Keep A Commonplace

I am not one to follow rules. I learn how things are done, then adapt them to work for me. So technically a Commonplace book would have a category designator, the quote or whatever, and then the source. Which, honestly is not that hard of a rule to follow.

Other than that, the setup is up to you. I’ve seen highlighters for category separation. Dot stickers. A simple note off to the side. The purpose of making categories is that you want your information to be easy to find when you go back to it. The information stuck out for a reason. The relevance is important to you. Don’t make it hard on yourself to find it when you go back looking.

How To Start

Get a notebook, piece of paper, or notecard. Get a pen. Worry about the categories and layout after a few entries.

Are you currently reading a book? Have you highlighted any passages? Write those down. Look at your saved social media posts. Do you have quotes in there or information you’ve been saving to get back to later? Obviously, that’s why you saved it. Write those down. Do we need to discuss all the open tabs on your computers? Why are they open? Because you were looking at something on that site? Okay write it down and close the tab.

You could spend time going through social media looking at other people’s set ups but as always, I encourage you to start on your own and look to other examples after you know what you need. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed in the “research” stage when you need to get to the action. You don’t need fancy highlighters and a new new notebook. You probably have all the tools you already need.

“We know how you relied upon your tools. But tools are the subtlest of traps. We become reliant upon them and in their absence we are vulnerable, weak, defenseless.” – Lucifer Morningstar. The Sandman S1, E4

Did you like that quote? Now you know where to write it.