5 Tips for Taking Notes via Electronic Documents as You Read

Today, I want to talk specifically about taking notes via electronic documents as you read.

As the title of today's post says, I'll be discussing 5 tips for note taking as you read via taking notes via electronic documents as you read.

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: Have a folder for all of your documents.

Whether you're taking your reading notes on a note taking website like Notion, or if you use Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or note taking apps like Goodnotes, have a specific folder (or page if you're using Notion) for all of your reading notes. Similarly with keeping your notebooks together in yesterday's post, you can access your notes quicker this way.

Tip 2: Give each book a separate document for notes.

I advice doing this for electronic notes for a very specific notes. If you have multiple pages of notes in a single electronic document, you don't want to be endlessly scrolling for the notes on one specific book. With notebooks, it's easier to have notes for 2+ books in one notebook. But endlessly scrolling can get tiresome, so I strongly advise that you give each book a separate document for notes.

Tip 3: Color code your notes.

Color coding can really help you distinguish between what you liked, didn't like, were confused on, etc. Whether you're changing the text's color or using the highlighter, don't be afraid of color coding your documents, and it's easy to change colors if you want.

Tip 4: Keep the text size and font simple and the same throughout your notes.

While it's fun to have different fonts and text sizes, doing so can make your notes disjointed. Having a simple font (Times, Times New Roman, or Calibri) and the same text size (11, 12) throughout your reading notes will make your notes flow. The only time I'd recommend changing the text size and/or font is when you really liked a specific quote.

Tip 5: Have a certain structure to your notes.

Yes, you should have your notes being on whatever strikes you in your reading, But having a certain structure to your notes - bullet points, outline, etc. - can help your notes stay organized, making certain points easier to find.

5 Tips and for Taking Notes via Notebooks as You Read

Today, I want to talk specifically about notebooks.

As the title of today's post says, I'll be discussing 5 tips for note taking as you read via notebooks.

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: Decide if you want to have one notebook per book, or if you're okay with 2+ books in one notebook.

This may seem like a weird tip, but I promise you one thing: this tip will help out to some degree. Whichever way you decide to go, just decide beforehand.

    If you want to have notes for each book in a separate notebook, then stick with that. Just be aware that,

        depending on the length of the book, you may have large chunks of empty pages in your notebooks.

    If you decide to have notes for multiple books in one notebook, then stick with that route. Again, you

        just need to be aware that there's a possibility that your notes for one book may be split between the

        end of one notebook and the beginning of another.

Tip 2: Label the notebook with the book(s) that the notebook has notes on.

No matter which way you decide to go in Tip 1, your notebooks should always have an easy way to see what book(s) that notebook contains notes on. Why? This way, it's easier to find your notes when you need them for something like a review, or a book club, etc. If you have notes on multiple books in one notebook, list all the books. And if a notebook has the beginning or ending notes of a book, make sure to clarify this.

Tip 3: Avoid small notebooks.

Small notebooks are definitely useful, but I don't think that reading notes are one pf the uses for notebooks on the smaller side (especially if your handwriting's on the bigger side). Choose notebooks that are medium sized or bigger so that you have more space and pages for your notes.

Tip 4: Don't be afraid to write in-depth notes.

Yes, if you're handwriting your notes, you may want to avoid writing too much. But that doesn't mean you should avoid in-depth notes or analyses. The more in-depth you get with your notes, especially with parts you did or didn't like, you can work out how exactly you feel and why you feel that way.

Tip 5: Have your notes all together.

This is another tip that'll help you out a lot in the long run. Yes, you may have your different notebooks for notes on different books, but keep those notebooks together. This way, you know exactly where all of your notes are instead of searching around your room/house for your notes.

4 Tips and for Taking Notes via Post-It Notes as You Read

Today, I want to talk specifically about post-it notes. Taking notes on post-it notes as you read, which you then stick in your book, is similar to marginalia. It's a good note-taking method to use if you don't like having writing directly in your book but you still want to do something similar to marginalia.

As the title of today's post says, I'll be discussing 4 tips for note taking as you read via post-it notes.

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: Color code.

It can be as simple as using one color for parts/quotes you liked, and using a second color for parts/quotes you didn't like. But color coding like this can help you specify what you did and didn't like in the book. You can also get specific, like using one color for what you liked, a second color for what you didn't like, a third color for confusing parts, and a final color for important scenes.

Tip 2: Make sure you have an ample supply of post-it notes.

It can be hard to take notes via post-it notes if you don't have enough to get through the entire book. Even if you have to switch the color of the post-it notes part-way through. As long as you can get through the book with enough post-it notes, you should be good.

Tip 3: Go for the smaller post-it notes rather than the larger ones.

Yes, you may need to use more small post-its depending on how much you're writing on the post-it notes. However, using big ones takes up a lot of page space and hide a lot of text, which can be a bit awkward. It's also easier to color code (Tip 1) if you use the smaller post-it notes.

Tip 4: Have a writing utensil and post-it notes handy wherever you have your book.

Whether you're at home or at a place where you'll have a chance to read, have the book, utensil and post-it notes handy. This way, you can continue taking notes throughout the book you're reading instead of only having notes in certain parts of the book.

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.

4 Note Taking Methods for Reading

Back in April, I made the following two posts on this subject - Why Note Taking While You Read is a Good Habit and 6 Tips for Taking Notes While Reading. These two posts were fun to write, so I thought I'd add on to them with a few more posts this month.

In the two posts I linked above, I talked about why note taking is a good habit to have while reading. I also gave 6 general tips for taking notes while reading. Over the next couple of days, I want to go into a bit more detail about the different methods for note taking while reading a book. (Yes, this is similar to the series I did on bookshelf organization at the end of last month.)

So without further ado, let's get into the different note taking methods for reading.

Marginalia: Marginalia essentially means "marginal notes," and these are notes that are taken within the margins of the book. Have you seen a book with writing in the margins? That's marginalia. Marginalia also includes highlighting and/or underlining passages in a book. And no, this is not a bad thing. Yes, it's "controversial" in the bookish community, but I'll talk about that in another post.

Post-It Notes: We all know what post-its are and look like. It's similar to marginalia where you can write on the post-it notes and stick those notes in the book, but you're not writing directly on you book. Post-it notes are convenient, because most of us have easy access to them.

Notebooks: Journaling has become a big thing lately, which is great. And if you're a big reader, you could use one of your notebooks and/or journals as a reading journal/notebook. Just remember: try to come up with an effective way to take notes while reading, since you will be hand writing the notes in a completely separate place from the book.

Electronic Documents: This can be a safe bet if you want to take notes in a different place from your book but don't want to hand write everything down. You can name the document using the title of the book, and it's easier to organize, add, and delete notes when and where you deem necessary. However, I'd recommend having a specific organization method for taking your notes this way.

Buddy and/or Group Reads over Zoom

This is something that my family and I started back in March. We're all huge fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, and one of my uncles had the idea to meet monthly over Zoom to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. That's what inspired today's post.

I think this was one of the best ideas my family has had. Many readers already buddy or group read, but in today's world, it can be hard and unsettling to meet up in person to discuss the book. Using Zoom allowed my family to read The Hobbit together. It also allowed for my younger cousins to hear how such a text is read. It gives my entire family more time with each other, connecting over a piece of literature that we all love.

Even if you're only buddy reading with friends, and even if it's just one other person, I highly recommend using Zoom at least once during your buddy read. You don't have to read the text aloud as my family does. However, reading the same book together at the same time means you have more opportunity to share ideas, look deeper into possibilities, and get fresh perspectives. Even if you're not reading at the same pace, setting aside time - maybe 1 hour - to read the book together over Zoom can be so fun during the pandemic.

Yes, if you only have two people, it can be easier to use different communication tools - text, FaceTime, voice call, etc. However, I do recommend trying out Zoom once or twice, and here are six reasons why:

1. It allows you to have direct communication with no delays.
2. It's just friends or family, so having your camera on isn't a huge issue (even when you aren't feeling 100%).
3. It's easier to manage buddy/group reads of 3+ people.
4. You have the chat feature as well as your microphone just in case you're in a situation where you can't speak.
5. With the camera on, you can see people's immediate - and I mean immediate - reactions to specific scenes in the book.
6. Zoom has a breakout room feature. If you're in a group read of 4 people, and 2 people are in one spot while the other 2 are in a different spot, you can create two breakout rooms for those two spots in the book so that spoilers won't be a huge issue.

Even if you're not using Zoom for meetings to actually read, Zoom is still a great way to meet up and have a live discussion about the book. You can set a date to have the book finished by, and then meet over Zoom on that date to discuss the book. (That way, you avoid the issue of spoilers.)

My Use of Unsplash

Let's just say that I love Unsplash HD Photos. It has plenty of beautiful images, and the photos in my blog posts are from Unsplash. I have some Unsplash links to the right of my blog, but just in case, here are two you can access if you'd like: Unsplash HD Photos - Books and Unsplash HD Photos - History.

Unsplash is a great resource of photos, and they're all free! The photos are beautiful, and you can find any kind of photo through the search bar.

I use a lot of photos from Unsplash for both my posts here and for the backdrops of my Bookstagram posts. I definitely enjoy using Unsplash and seeing the photos that people have posted there.