Do you annotate your books?
As I’m reading, I tend to annotate passages that I find funny, thought provoking, perplexing, things I may have questions about, quotes I like, themes I recognize, in short, anything that personally stands out to me. I may write a few words in the margins to help me remember why I highlighted that passage, or any thoughts I may have about that passage.
Most of the time, I’m just using symbols to mark passages:
- A quote I really love: 🖤.
- Something I find funny: “LOL”.
- Something I find thought provoking: “!!”
- Something I don’t understand: “?”.
Often times, I don’t have additional thoughts at the moment, and just keep reading. If I have elaborate thoughts that will not fit in the margins, I write them on a sticky note and then put it at the end of that chapter, with a reference to which page I’m referring to.
I always put a page flag on any annotations I make so I can find them easier. I used to not do this, but when I wanted to refer back to a passage, I had a hard time finding it, especially when it comes to writing my reviews. I don’t color coordinate my page markers to mean different things; I just pick which flag is nearest at hand. My symbols and notes help me to decipher what was going through my head.
I used to only use a pencil to underline a passage. However, that began to get on my nerves because I find that it’s too light for me to see. Now, I like to use the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner marker pens. The tip is fine enough that I can produce a precise line, that is still bold enough to stick out to me on the page. I still use a pencil to draw a bracket around the passage I’m highlighting/annotating, and to write any symbols or thoughts in the margins.
At one point, I was using a ruler to draw really precise lines as I was underlined the text, but I stopped because I personally don’t really care if my lines are that perfect. Yes, it produces a very aesthetically pleasing, perfect line, but it’s not that deep to me.
And that’s it! I like to keep it simple. Any more complicated that this and I wouldn’t be able to keep it up and I feel that the process would become more about how I’m annotating than what I'm actually reading.
How do you annotate your books?
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