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Commonplacing

Posted by clioandme • 6/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: commonplace books, commonplacing, Quotations, tumblelogs, tumblr

According to Lucia Knowles, "Commonplacing is the act of selecting important phrases, lines, and/or passages from texts and writing them down …" www.assumption.edu/users/lknoles/commonplacebook.html

Do any of you do it?

I've started doing it on a tumblelog devoted to quotations. It's called "Commonplacing" and can be found at commonplacing.tumblr.com

User Comments

6/01/08

Arcticulates

I am a bit confused, would that be the same as "me" taking a part of someone's thoughts, copying them, giving them credit, and using them to make a point or highlight the point I'm making? A quote?

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1. 6/01/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Its just a way of collecting quotes for future reference and to stimulate thinking now. Commonplace books used to be more private affairs, but I think the tumblr platform lends itself well to such an undertaking on a blog.
  
  Have a look at the first link above, which offers further details on the history of commonplace books in the United States.
2. 6/01/08
  
  Arcticulates
  
  Ahhh...thanks, somehow I missed that first link. Tho the George Eliot page wouldn't open for me. I have dona a similiar thing as kevin and always have taken quotes and wrote them on paper and put them here and there..
  
  For instance right now I have a sticky note on my laptop that says:
  
  There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm
  -Willa Cather
  
  I also have a place in my computer notes, that I keep quotes and sayings, so if the need should ever arise I have one handy...
3. 6/01/08
  
  clioandme
  
  So you were commonplacing without even knowing it. Seems to be a common need for many of us.
6/01/08

kevingoodman

I love quotes and phrases I used to print my favorites and pin them on my home-office wall. I would update every month or two but haven’t done this for a while. Mainly because I have a new house and it’s in a state of renovation. But does that count ?

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1. 6/01/08
  
  clioandme
  
  A commonplace wall then. Sure, why not?
6/01/08

timethief

I have begun similar quotation blog as well but I haven't had much time to devote to it. I have many mind, body, spirit quotes set aside that I have yet to post. My blog includes inspirational personal development writings as well as quotes. brightfeather.tumblr.com/

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1. 6/01/08
  
  clioandme
  
  So now I'm following you.
  
  For the rest of you, tumblr is a simplified blogging platform that can function as a social network too. I am following timethief and other tumblr users in my tumblr dashboard.
  
  And if you're wondering what the heck a tumblelog is, try looking at this group here on BC: www.blogcatalog.com/group/tumblelogs
6/01/08

Theresa111

I have a sticky note and on it reads: "Little Red Dog!" Ha, got you!

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1. 6/01/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Uh oh.
2. 6/02/08
  
  Theresa111
  
  Really though, I have a note that reads:
  "For things to change, you must get a picture of what you want them to change to."
  Joe Syverson
6/02/08

carlgalloway

I hardly ever look for quotes, and I generally hate blogs that use quotes too much. As far as I'm concerned if the writer doesn't have an original thought I can't be bothered reading them. I detest affirmation websites for the same reason.

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1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  I don't detest quotes, but I really couldn't see integrating them into one of my regular blogs. That's why I started this thing.
  
  The act of choosing quotes can be pretty individual though. The total effect can be the creation of a narrative unlike no other.
  
  And for the record, there are no personal affirmation quotes on Commonplacing. Any personal affirming I might do is private.
6/02/08

DrowseyMonkey

I've never heard of this before. I'm not too sure of its purpose.

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1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  The purpose behind commonplacing could be as varied as the purpose different people have behind keeping a journal. The first link in my original post gives a few ideas. In my own case, I just wanted a place to collect some interesting quotes worth thinking about.
  
  Part of the problem might also be the electronic genre I've chosen, a tumblelog, which is perhaps complicated by the template, which runs things across the page too, not just from bottom to top. Tumblelogs are like mini blog posts. They don't have to be restricted to quotes, but can also include a kind of stream of consciousness flow of text, chat transcripts, images, videos, sounds, and so on. I started a tumblelog group at BC some months ago in order to have a place to talk about this subset of blogging. At the time I had a tumblelog of this and that. Now I'm just collecting quotes, thinking it will have more value to me that way.
  
  Edited to add: By the way, the template I've chosen forces me to choose short quotes and keep my commentary brief. I think that's a good thing.
2. 6/02/08
  
  timethief
  
  @drowsey
  Tumblr blogs are free and I do encourage you to get one. Plainly and simply stated Tumblr is a breeze to use. You can customize template colors easily and you can post all kinds of things in a matter of moments. I blogged about the Tumblr features here onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/twelve-tumblr-blog-features/
3. 6/02/08
  
  timethief
  
  I agree. However your template is a b*itch for people like me to read. Black background and low contrast gold font.
  P.S. I'm not following you.
  P.P.S. Are you following Daniel? (I don't mean the Tiger).
6/02/08

ThriftShopRomantic

I should do this, but I have a hard enough time remembering to jot my own story and post ideas down!

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6/02/08

hellboi

I come across so many lines in books that capture me and I just don't get down to writing them!

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6/02/08

clioandme

I've tried commonplacing before with a little notebook, but my handwriting is awful, and I'm more likely to remember my computer than I am the notebook. Still, for some a little notebook is just the thing. Choose one that's easy to carry and pleasing to your eyes and sense of touch.

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6/02/08

Manictastic

I have a dream that someday we all shall commonplace together in harmony. It's a small effort for man, but a huge leap for commonplacing.

Does that count?

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1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Pretty cool verb, isn't it?
6/02/08

clioandme

I've got a lot of history-related quotes on here right now, but the most recent one captures my state of mind best at the moment. Probably not foreign to some of you either:

"My friend, confusion is not an ignoble condition."

--- Brain Friel, Translations (This is a play. Here Hugh is speaking to Jimmy.)

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6/02/08

crpitt

I love this idea Mark, its something I need to do, but I have become accustomed to my random scribblings located all over the place

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1. 6/02/08
  
  timethief
  
  @Claire
  Do it. Get a Tumblr blog. It would be peerfect as a doodle scrapbook blog. Tumblr blogs are free and a breeze to use. You can customize template colors easily and you can post all kinds of things in a matter of moments. I blogged about the Tumblr features here onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/twelve-tumblr-blog-features/
  
  There are several themes to choose from when you get a blog that you can customize. And, there are other cool themes that you can use too. Here's one scrapbooktheme.tumblr.com/ and here are some others too freethemes.tumblr.com/
2. 6/02/08
  
  crpitt
  
  Hey your not meant to tempt me into spending more time on the net!
  
  (I shall have a nosy)
3. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Actually, I too could see a tumblr working really well for your doodling. And you can give yourself a tad bit of link juice by linking to relevant posts on your Blogger blog.
6/02/08

jan4insight

I've entered quotes into my handwritten journals as long as I can remember. A while back, I started keeping a box of 3x5 index cards near my reading chair, so I can jot down excerpts from the books I read. But I had no idea that this practice has a history, or even a name. Thanks, Mark, for posting this. Now I feel like at least one of my "weird" habits is shared by others - maybe it's normal, after all.

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1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Indeed. Learning this history makes me able to collect tidbits that I wouldn't in the course of my normal history note-taking.
6/02/08

bnsullivan

I have a spiral-bound, narrow-ruled notebook that is by now a few decades old. When I first got it, I wrote "Reading Notes" on the first page, as a title. I used it at first to record thoughts I had while reading this or that, along with a quotation here and there. Later I also added interesting words or phrases I wanted to learn how to use, and short excerpts from things I was reading that struck me as well-phrased, and so on.

I didn't know the word "commonplacing" until last year, but when I learned the term, I knew instantly that it was the correct title for the contents of that old spiral-bound notebook. I did consider starting a blog/tumbleblog for that sort of thing, but to be honest, I think I'm maxed out with blogs for now. So -- I'll probably stick with my notebook for now.

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1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  That has got to be one heck of an interesting notebook.
6/02/08

DaneMorgan

I always just called it note taking, but I have a private wordpress installation where I collect what I view to be critical ideas from books.

[reply]
1. 6/02/08
  
  clioandme
  
  The difference, Dane, is that I'm not taking extensive notes so much as just collecting quotes I like. Have a look at the first link in the original post. I think it can make the difference clearer.
6/02/08

lordiwanttobewhole

I incorporate relevant quotes into my blog posts. i've also included a quote of the day on the top of my blog, which i sometimes forget to update for a day or two.
I love quotes because when i was in the darkest of my depression wise words from a quote would lift me up. Quotes had an amazing effect on me.

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6/03/08

Norski

Pretty good stuff.

I hope you keep "Commonplacing" up. It's been a benefit in two ways: I've been exposed to more quotations; and got closer to quota on "Apathetic Lemming of the North."

Quotations have been criticized (no source-sorry) for being a sort of 'gargling at the fountain of knowledge' - a quickie exposure to ideas, and a cheap way to appear learned.

I don't agree. Thanks for "commonplacing."

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6/03/08

Shiley

I just keep my handy, dandy quote book.

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