Writing in the Margins
Do you write notes in your books? A guide to making notes, marginalia and a post-it note system.
Self-portrait. Photo: Tanya Clarke 1984
Welcome, everyone to 2022!
Yup that wonderful picture above is my self-portrait taken when I was about 15.
I’ve no idea where I am. Maybe in a car. Note the way the flash has bleached out my face and probably blinded me temporarily. I’m quite impressed I managed to get most of my face in shot. With my Halina 35mm Instamatic camera, it was all a bit of a guess. This was how we made selfies in the 1980s. What a decade.
I thought I’d start the year with a post about reading and annotating. I’ve always thought reading is important when you want to improve your writing. My technique has always been one of osmosis, hoping that some of the wonderful stories I read will somehow seep into my brain, exhale out of my hands, through my pen, into the words I then write which will become my own magnificent work.
You won’t be surprised to learn it hasn’t been quite like that.
I tend to read at night before I go to sleep. Often I have to go back a couple of pages because I’ve forgotten what’s happening. I get to the end of the book and have a sense of whether I enjoyed it or not but I’m never able to really say why. I think this needs to change.
How Do You Read?
Do you speed read or take your time? Do you read books on an e-reader or paper? Do you keep a to-read list or do you belong to a book club? Are you like me, reading at night before you sleep or do you have a book with you at all times of the day? Do you write notes in the margins? Are they thoughtful meanderings or pithy comments on character, theme and plot?
Long, long ago, when I was a young teen studying for exams, we were encouraged to write notes in our textbooks. I remember not being particularly good at this. I would randomly underline passages of exposition or dialogue, doodle eyeballs in biro in the margins and scribble the odd comment which I thought made sense until I read it again, puzzled, a week later.
Beyond this, I have never continued the habit of writing in books. Growing up in my family, books were to be treasured, not written in. And you always used a slip of paper to mark your place, you never folded down the corner of the page. I've never thought about whether writing in books might be helpful for my own writing. Or my reading.
What is Marginalia?
Who knew that the scribbles in my school books had a wonderful word: marginalia. There are countless articles online about the wonders of annotated books. My favourite is The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books. My teenage doodles of eyeballs are nothing compared to the doodling in the margins of these ancient texts. You can check out the examples for yourself: a two-headed man slinging a rope over a dog, a disembodied penis, a unicorn, a portrait of King Edward III looking slightly cross-eyed. And there's more.
But how does all of this help?
I believe it's a process of active thought. If you read a page, underline a sentence, write some words about the dialogue/character/plot or whatever else that captures you, you're engaging with the words on an intimate level. You're highlighting what resonates for you. Or what doesn't; the sentence that reads uncomfortably or a character that doesn't ring quite true or a poorly constructed plot with more holes in than my socks.
So starting now in 2022, I'm going to try to be a more active reader. However, I need to find another way to write in my books. I don't mind writing in the margins of my non-fiction books. But writing notes on the pages of novels feels very different to me. You may well think otherwise and you'd be in very good company. I promise not to judge if you choose to write notes on the pages of every book you own. If this practice helps your reading and your writing then it is a good thing. Many people enjoy finding a book marked with scribbles and comments and underlining as a treasure in itself. A connection, a conversation if you like with the previous owner.
Make Some Notes
Both my daughters love to read. And both of them for different reasons use small sticky post-it notes to mark pages of interest. My eldest marks pages of the fantasy novels she reads where the writing inspires a drawing she'd like to make. My youngest has a book on fashion icons which has a colourful fringe of tabs marking all the pages of her favourites.
After doing a little research ie. google, I've discovered some more ways you can annotate your books which you may find helpful for both your reading and your writing.
Use Post-it Notes
Use any size you want. The ones I find the most useful are the small narrow ones you can buy in a variety of colours. Little Book Owl has an extensive system where she uses different colours for each type of note. For example, yellow for characters, green for world-building, pink for relationships etc. As she flicks through her books there’s a lovely wave of colour indicating all her thoughts and impressions all easy to see and find.
Use Index Cards
Little Book Owl also suggests slipping a few blank index cards through a book you’re about to read, using them to write notes as you go along. Ryan Holiday uses index cards as a physical memory system, writing quotes, things to remember, notes from books he's reading, ideas and concepts that come to mind, everything. Each card earns its place in a unified filing system called 'a commonplace book'.
Basically, you have a choice: you can either keep your notes small and intimate within the book you're reading or you can go large with a unique system suited to your habits.
Write in Your Books
Lastly, the simplest way, just write in your books. Use a pencil, sharpened is probably best, or if you're brave, a pen, preferably one that doesn't have ink that bleeds through to the next page.
Do you annotate your books already? Are you inspired to try? Any other ways you’ve found that work better for you? I’m going to go with the post-it note system first with the odd index card. I love names and beautiful sentences and dialogue that bristles with character. I think that’s where I will start. How about you?
Until next time.
