A notebook for borrowed ideas

How to keep a commonplace book that still sounds like you.

Keep the source beside the thought

When you copy a line, record the author and the work beside it. If a page number or a link is available, keep that too. A quotation becomes more useful when you can return to the conversation it came from.

Add your own sentence

After an extract, write why it caught your attention. You might disagree, recognise an experience, or find a question you cannot yet answer. That sentence turns a collection of other people’s words into a record of your own thinking.

Revisit without reorganising everything

Every so often, read a few old pages. Add a note if your view has changed. You do not need a perfect index or a complete system before the notebook can be useful; a date and a simple subject are often enough.