collecting good words
This is where commonplace books start (and often end)!
Through the rest of this “content” section, you will find journaling prompts and ideas for additional entry types to include in your commonplace book.
But it is 100% acceptable to start and end with this: be a collector of good words!
The first steps in collecting good words will include noting them and holding onto them so you can later add them to your book. Let’s talk about these two things…
finding the good words
Words are all around us. We read and hear words in almost every waking hour. Often the good ones are hiding in plain sight.
But there is a difference between hearing (or reading) something and noticing it.
Noticing is being alert to the emotional and physiological reaction triggered by reading (or hearing) a certain phrase or quote.
It might be a pause or a catch of your breath. It might be a quickened heartbeat or a smile. It could be a heightened sense of recognition - when someone else’s words express something you’ve deeply felt.
This is a skill that might take time to develop.
If this is a new-to-you idea, you can challenge yourself to look for the good words in the things you consume (books, podcasts, social media, devotions, TED talks, television, or something else). Before you start watching, scrolling, reading, or listening, remind yourself to notice. Challenge yourself to find one good thing.
I’m confident that once you get started it will be hard to stop - and after a while it will come naturally.
keeping the words
So you’ve noticed some good words, but:
they’ve come through your AirPods while your arms are elbow-deep in dishwater.
they’re in the midst of a paragraph in your novel and you’re snuggled under a blanket and don’t want to leave your little nest on the couch.
they’re in the comments of a social media post and you’re in the school pickup line.
This is not convenient.
Where (and how?) do you “keep” your words when you don’t have time to stop and make a pretty page in your commonplace book?
It’s a good question with an even better answer. The answer is - there are SO many ways to “keep” the good words you see or hear.
I suggest trying several of the methods listed below and eventually narrowing your focus to the two or three methods that work best for you.
Analog storage:
keep a small notebook in your bag or purse as your holding place for the words until you get to sit down to your commonplace book
add words to something that you already carry with you - perhaps your planner or calendar
bookmark or dog-ear pages
keep a paper and pen handy when reading or just use a piece of blank notebook paper as your bookmark so you can tear it and mark all the pages you want to return to
Digital storage:
take a photo of the words (add to a separate album, if desired)
take a screenshot (add to a separate album, if desired)
digitally bookmark your ebook or audiobook
screenshot a timestamp of a good quote from a podcast or audiobook to go back and listen again later
type it into your “notes” app
speak it into your “voice memo” app
email yourself
text yourself
download a special note-keeping app on your phone (some exist that can hold both text and images)
utilize the “save” folders available on most social media platforms
Whether you have a single line of text in your notes app that makes your heart beat a bit faster than normal or an entire collection of paper scraps with quotes that make you feel seen, once you have some words, a notebook, and a pen, you are SET.
This is the starting point. Get those words into a book and start your journey as a keeper of good words!