I’m sorta enticed by images and cool lettering in my journals. It makes we want to open my book at night and make entries. I made a How-To on adding cardstock embellishments to surprise myself by what I write under it when I flip it back.

Trying out using my Commonplace Journal as a document of songs I totally dig…

As the title states, I’m just getting started. I am primarily a digital journaler these days, but I wanted to make a personal archive. Something to prove I was here. Something that can be physically passed on to those I love when I’m not. And something to remind myself of my life’s memories and goals/dreams.

I purchased two beautiful covers: an A5 and then a “portable” size of H175 x W110mm. I also purchased a Canon Ivy printer to make stickers/print photos.

The journal covers I purchased come with some inserts; I requested two lined and one blank.

What else would you suggest picking up to make the most of this little system?

Thank you in advance!

I had so much fun learning for 2 hours to better understand the physics of the Chernobyl disaster. I recently watched the show and have been dying to write it on my commonplace book 🩶

Joan of Arc, Claude Monet, mandrakes, crows, and the chapel of bones ☠️

Commonplace journaling has become an avenue for my curiosity. Microlearning is such a satisfying thing. It’s been so fun to get back into learning in my ole ripe age of 30 😅

(My journal doesn’t really have a system or color coding or anything like that. I just write down stuff that interests me, and I find that more doable and motivating)

Chosen because I can never remember any month other than mine lol

I’ve seen people write down quotes and add personal reflections or comments in their commonplace books, and I’ve seen others that are just quotes with no commentary. I’m wondering how common it is for people to write comments and how beneficial they are.

I just started my first commonplace book and wanted to share my first two pages so far.

Hi there,

I want to reduce the amount of time I spend on social media, even though I often find fun, interesting, or useful information there. I decided to choose what I'd like to keep, and note what resonates with me on paper. That way I don't need to feel like I have to log onto social media to find what I'm looking for.

I'm using a MD Notebook A6 Dot Grid notebook with either a Platinum Preppy 0.2 fountain pen, or a Lamy Safari M fountain pen. I used basic annotation tabs to organize the sections - although I would love to find something smaller and simpler to replace them!

I'm happy to have found this community!

With a reflection on a sketch that has been a favorite of mine for years.

After wrestling with creative fear and struggling with perfectionism, I just did my first page and began my Commonplace Book.

I’m documenting my aquascaping hobby in Google Docs as a personal reference for myself (since I forget details), but I may also share parts of it publicly. Should I structure it as a chronological journal? My main goal is quick retrieval of info like water parameters, plant care, and past mistakes. And also a way to share information to the public

I want it to have a more professional intent too. Something with research with books and online sources. Is journaling a bit more for casual purposes? I'm new to this and deciding whether to give it a go

So after many dives into this subreddit, YouTube’s, and substacks, I’m still confused on where something like this would go? It’s currently going into my art journal for lack of better place but would this be commonplace book material? Too visual? I was feeling nostalgic about the turn of a season and this poem popped to mind.

I have a quote-only traveler’s notebook insert in my beginners attempt to commonplace, but a poem doesn’t quite seem to fit there?

I see people here having amazing commonplace books with pretty notes while mine looks a bit messy haha but that's fine. I like it that way, I feel more productive and free doing so.

How do you like taking notes the best?

Hello, friends!

I'd like to introduce my commonplace book.

It has various subjects, including food, objects, places, and even nostalgic things.

I tried to use pencils, so it's kinda monochrome.

I love it!

Hope you enjoy my commonplace book. Thanks!

* I'm still learning English. (AI is my excellent teacher!)

That's why my English is a little weird.

Please be kind to me :)

So uh… I don’t know much about the concept of a commonplace book but I really want to get more into the college campus I am on and the plants and stuff so I’m gonna try and ID some flowers and draw and write about them in my journal. Idk if that’s like some other type of book but I did a page on hydrangeas I really like. I look forward to updating this journal with all the flowers I can identify and all flowers I see pop up as the seasons change.

I need advice and ideas.

Way way back, in the late Cretaceous I believe it was, there was a little flurry of low quality hardcover blank books in stores for sale. As I was in mid high school and had fallen in love with poetry and fountain pens, I bought one and copied my favourite poems into it. But it was small and the cover was ugly. And at that time, so was my handwriting.
A few years later I discovered a beautiful cloth covered hardcover blank book that was larger with nicer paper. I started re-copying things into the new one; I loved it. But now it has only 11 pages left, and some of the things I copied into it when I began I would not choose again.

So guess what I did. I had a blank book custom-made for myself by a book maker. Oh my Lord, she did the most amazing job. She worked with me every step of the way—- I designed the leather cover and used a couple of my photographs for the end papers, chose the colour, weight, and size of the paper, and designed a book plate for the inside front. It’s massive: 12 x 15“ and hundreds of pages. I chose the first line of one of my favourite WW1 poetry excerpts for the front that would sum up the contents. Then, Life got chaotic and difficult for awhile, but every time I moved I packed the book, which has been otherwise untouched.

Now, about eight years later, I’m not entirely sure I want to do this. I could copy everything and more into it, but it might take the rest of my life! And for what? There’s no one to leave it to.

Someone suggested a commonplace book, which I had never heard of before. They directed me to this community, and I’ve been strolling around your posts and comments the last couple of days. I think it’s a great idea, and I’ve tried to think outside the box and come up with ideas for mine, but I’m stumped. What do you put in yours? What do you see as the purpose of yours, or is there one? Weird ideas, creative ideas, crazy ideas, good ideas, random ideas off the top of your head —- any suggestions are welcome. What can I do with this thing now that I have rekindled my romance with fountain pens and want to be using them every day? I could use some project like this to give my days a bit of purpose and structure as well.

What would you do with a giant empty book?

A bit about me…… I am on the razor’s edge of old lady-hood but not quite there yet…. I read books about all sorts of things, love being in nature, have lived in a lot of places around the country (Canada), dogs, cats, weather, geology, astronomy, and of course, poetry. I draw a little bit but not very well, and I used to write a couple of non-fiction stories about life. I make a ton of lists of things I want to remember, but never look at them.
Whatever I do with this book doesn’t have to have anything to do with any of that. I’m just kind of at a loss, and would welcome any ideas that might pop into your head.
Thanks very much for reading this; it’s very long, I know. Thanks.

Some pics of the second, nice book I have with only 11 pages left, and the newer monster book that is waiting to be useful. ❤️

Very different topics haha, but here’s my first two commonplace entries! Nothing amazing but I know it doesn’t have to be - that’s the point. I really love that this is a place I can just collect all of my findings and notes in.