I decided I wanted to become a writer
back in high school. I always have these ideas popping in my head, and knowing
myself, I needed to write them down before the ideas leave me. This is where my
collection of idea notebooks was born.
Little did I know, they're actually
called a Commonplace Book.
Defined by
Wikipedia, Commonplace books are a way to compile knowledge,
usually by writing information into books. This actually started in the 19th
century, particularly during the Renaissance.
Numerous well-known
people have one like Leonardo Da Vinci, J.K. Rowling, Sigmund Freud, and Ryan
Holiday.
I got the
encouragement and idea from J.K. Rowling when I started as a writer. Having a
notebook with you at all times is ideal when inspiration and ideas strike. Back
then, I would keep it to myself and later on, forget that I had a possibly good
idea.
Ryan Holiday, the
best-selling author of Ego is the Enemy and The Daily Stoic, says:
A commonplace book is a central resource or
depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come
across during your life and didactic pursuits. The purpose of the book is to
record and organize these gems for later use in your life, in your business, in
your writing, speaking or whatever it is that you do.
It's not only for
writers but for every creator like a graphic designer, architect, etc. Even a
businessman needs a commonplace book. It is your database of inspiration and
knowledge that you come across every day.
3 Benefits of Having a Commonplace
Book:
1. It's a Flexible Library
There are different ways to build your
commonplace book. There's the notecard system where you usually write the note
on the front then the source and category either on the corners or on the back.
There's also the trusty notebook and digital platforms. It's all up to you on
what you're comfortable with.
When writing the notes on your book, it
is not limited from things you read from books, but anything, anything that
strikes you: experiences, conversations, ideas that pop in your head, a quote
from an article, a line from a song, a scene in a movie, and more. You don't
even have to limit into writing. You can draw or paste a photo or whatever. The
potential is endless as long as it enlightens you.
You can create a general commonplace
book where you store all the ideas you stumble upon, but you can also create
one for a specific project.
For example, Ryan Holiday has shared in
his Youtube channel how he wrote his best-selling books by creating a
commonplace book for each of them. His commonplace book is an organized set of
notecards in a photo box organizer. He would label certain sections depending
on the topics he's tackling in his book.
2. You won't run out of inspiration
Do you want to beat Writer's Block? If
you've read my previous post about Writer's Block, then this is another
solution to get out of it. Just stick your nose into your commonplace
book.
Like I said, it is your go-to knowledge
database catered to yourself. Imagine the combination of ideas you can get from
old commonplace books that you've collected.
3. You'll discover fresh ideas
In relation to the previous benefit, at
times where you feel like you're creating the same kind of thing again and
again and you want to create something different, you can turn to your--yes,
that's right--your commonplace book.
When you have a list of ideas, it's
best to look back on them and find unique ideas and inspiration that you've
never thought of before. Imagine when you have a collection of commonplace
books on your shelf and you decide to look into one. In that book, you discover
a quote and a piece of thought that both enlightens you. Putting two together,
you create a different kind of idea.
Ah, the beauty of commonplace books.
Make yourself one now.
I don't know how else you can be
convinced that you need to grab a notebook, or a deck of notecards, or an app
to start your commonplace book. This is the ultimate tool to help you as a
creative, in your business, and in your everyday life. Building your own flexible
database of knowledge will help you in the long run.
Share your commonplace books with me in
Instagram. If you want more information and sources in making your commonplace
books, comment down below.
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