"A commonplace book is what a provident poet cannot subsist without, for this proverbial reason, that 'great wits have short memories:' and whereas, on the other hand, poets, being liars by profession, ought to have good memories; to reconcile these, a book of this sort, is in the nature of a supplemental memory, or a record of what occurs remarkable in every day's reading or conversation. There you enter not only your own original thoughts, (which, a hundred to one, are few and insignificant) but such of other men as you think fit to make your own, by entering them there."
—from "A Letter of Advice to a Young Poet" by Jonathan Swift
Think of it as a notebook filled with quotes, poems, song lyrics, ideas, or tidbits of conversations that have stuck with you. Over time you will find that this book becomes your central resource for inspiration, enjoyment, and introspection as you flip back through the years.
Traditionally, they have been used and continue to be used by many influential people including John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, even H.P. Lovecraft and Bill Gates!
Tips!
A good tip for starting one of your own is to not just record facts or images, but to also quickly add a line or two of your own thoughts and impressions of what you’re collecting. Also, be sure to READ! Read everything and all that you can, books, reviews, articles, stories and poems online, the more, the merrier!
The great thing about NaPo is that we can all read and write simultaneously together as a group, so you can bet that a lot of lines from these NaPo poems make the perfect resource for any commonplace book ^_^
Examples!
Nowadays, with the internet and social media, we have new tools for creating common place books. You can start a blog on Tumblr, for example! Or you can sign up with Pinterest, or you can start a common place blog right here on YWS! Some advantages to choosing digital books is that it allows you to save images, videos, and audio clips and it can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection!
However you choose to go about it, use this thread to share your common place books, or share your experiences with them. Or, if you’re just starting out, send us the link to it anyway to share your progress!
Discuss with us!
- Code: Select all
[b]Where is your common place book? Share it with us or take a picture![/b]
[b]If you already have one, what’s on the first page? What’s on the last page?[/b]
[b]Do you prefer digital (tumblr/Evernote) or analog (pen and paper, notecards, etc?)[/b]
[b]Is there a method to your madness, or is it all random? Do you tend to go for quotes, photographs or video clips, or passages/anything else in particular? [/b]
[b]If you’re starting one for the first time, where will you look to fill it? [/b]
[b]Any other tips/experiences you want to share?[/b]
- brought to you by NaPo Mini-Events, join us tomorrow for a brand *new* event!
Gender:
Points: 5533
Reviews: 696