My Thoughts on Taking Notes via Marginalia as You Read

Given my recent posts, I figured I'd give my thoughts on each of the note taking methods for reading. While I wanted to share my thoughts with you on each method, I didn't want to go back and add more to the posts, So here we are.

I'll be going in the same order as I did with my posts on the tips for each note-taking method: marginalia, post-it notes, notebooks, and electronic documents. How you personally feel about each note taking method - and about taking notes while reading - is wholly up to you. If you don't take notes while you read, that's fine. If you do, hopefully my posts on taking notes while reading help you.

Here are the positives of marginalia:

1. All you need is your book and a pen or pencil. If you're going out, you don't need to worry about bringing any other accessories like a notebook, post-it notes, or another electronic device.
2. You don't have to figure out where to put your notes. They're in your book, so wherever the book is placed is where your notes are.
3. You don't have to go hunting for your notes. This similar with point two, since your notes are in your book. You don't have to look through notebooks or documents on your computer to find your notes.

Here are the negatives of marginalia:

1. It's easier to use pencil over pen. While in point 1 of the positives, I say "pen or pencil," it's honestly the safest bet to use pencil. If you make a mistake, there's not a lot of room to cross it out and write next to it. With a pencil, you can erase your mistake.
2. It works best with physical books. While you can have a form of "marginalia" with ebooks (i.e. highlighting the text and then making a "comment"), you don't see your thoughts directly next to the text - you have to tap a few times to get to your notes. And with audiobooks, you can "bookmark" certain places, but you need another accessory to take actual notes.
3. There's not a lot of space. While it is a convenient spot for notes, the margins in books are small. If you have a lot of thoughts on a scene, phrase, or character, then it's not the best note taking method. And if you write big, then there's even less space.

6 Tips and for Taking Notes via Marginalia as You Read

Today, I want to talk specifically about marginalia, or marginal notes. Marginalia can look exactly like it's definition - as notes in the pages' margins - or as highlighted/underlined text. It can also be seen in notes on post-it notes within the book, but I'll talk about post-it notes specifically in tomorrow's post.

As the title of today's post says, I'll be discussing 6 tips and for note taking as you read via marginalia.

As with any post including tips that I post here to my blog, there is no "right" or "wrong" way to take notes as you read. Additionally, you can use a combination of 2+ note taking methods. Be consistent.

If you're inconsistent in your note taking - i.e. how you take notes, when you take notes - it can be difficult to remember what your thoughts were on a specific part or chapter. If you want to take notes on your reading, do so through the entire book. You don't have to take notes on every book you read, but when you do decide to take notes on a book, do so until you finish it.

Tip 1: Use pencil rather than pen.

Unless you're using post-it notes, using pen for your marginalia can make this note-taking method a bit tough. With pencil, you can erase spelling or grammar mistakes that you'd have to cross out if you wrote in pen.

Tip 2: Always have a writing utensil easily accessible and on hand.

No matter where you are - at home, or out doing something where reading is a possibility - having a writing utensil on hand can really help. Even if it's a pen, although I recommend using a pencil in Tip 1, having something on hand will help you out in the end.

Tip 3: If you're writing on a specific quote, mark that quote somehow.

Whether you underline or highlight, marking a quote you're commenting on will help you make a connection between the actual text and your own commentary. And you're also not reading through trying to figure out what you were commenting on.

Tip 4: Write small.

If you're writing in the margins of your book, I highly recommend writing small. This way, you can fit more into what is already a small space.

Tip 5: Keep your notes short and sweet.

As mentioned in Tip 4, the margins of your book are relatively small. So keeping your notes short and sweet will help preserve space for more notes for different points on the same page.

Tip 6: If your notes are on the side of the page (rather than the top or bottom), write your notes perpendicular to the page's text.

Doing this can help you write more notes on the page without having to write one word under another under another.