I hope that you have been following this series of posts that have dealt with writing in books. In the first post, I explained my rationale for writing in books and interacted with some of the things Tony Reinke wrote about the topic in his book Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading. In the second post, I discussed and demonstrated the nitty-gritty details of how I actually perform marginalia. I hope that gave you some insight into practical issues around this habit of marking up a book. In this post, I'd like to deal with a special case of marginalia, that is; how do you write in a book that you do not own?
I am fortunate enough to live in a nice neighbourhood just minutes away from my alma mater, The University of Western Ontario. Along with a massive central library, UWO has 3 affiliated colleges that are either entirely or partially seminaries. And each of these seminaries has a library attached to them. So, that means, as an alumnus, I have access to thousands upon thousands of great Christian books that I can borrow for extended periods. You can be sure that the libraries involved in extending me this privilege do not want me writing in their books.
Perhaps you are not anywhere near a library where you could borrow your books from. Nevertheless, I imagine that, from time to time, you have friends and family lend you books to read. I doubt that they would be any less upset than the university libraries if their books were returned to them with your underlining, margin-hieroglyphs, and highlighting. Are we at an impasse? Do we need to part ways from our helpful habit of writing in a book and thereby remove the benefits of such a practice from our reading experience? Absolutely not! Here is a solution I offer to remedy this special case situation of marginalia and borrowed books.
Book Darts
Several Christmases ago I came across a handy and helpful little gift in my stocking. To be honest, I think I bought it for myself. Nevertheless, it was a great little gift that I have put to good use. What was this gift? Book Darts. And what are they you ask?
According to Book Darts website, Book Darts are precision-cut, paper-thin metal line markers. They are perfect for use as non-slipping bookmarks that can even be positioned to point to a specific line. Unobtrusive and indefinitely reusable, they eliminate the need for bent corners, paper clips, underlining, highlighting, sticky papers, etc. Book Darts were developed to enrich the reading experience by allowing readers to mark important lines and easily re-find them without harming the pages.
Now let me be clear. I am in favour of marking up and writing in my own books. As I have shared, I think it is essential to my reading practice. But for certain times when writing in a book is not an option, I think Book Darts are a great tool. These little line markers can keep track of great lines or stellar passages from borrowed books until you have archived, saved, or shared those excerpts according to your purposes.
When I am reading a book from one of the nearby seminaries, I will use dozens and dozens of Book Marks to mark tweetable lines and bloggable passages. I will leave all the placed bookmarks where they are until I am finished reading the book. Then, I enter all the demarked passages into a word document. I now have all the usable material transferred and can quickly and easily remove all my Book Darts.
Book Darts are a great tool for "writing" in a book when that book is not yours to write in. This gives you an option for continuing to perform marginalia even on books you have borrowed from a friend or a library. They're also useful on books you might want to re-gift. A simple search on the internet will help you find retailers to buy these useful tools. I have picked mine up at a fun retail outlet called Lee Valley.
I hope this is helpful in your quest to become an expert of writing in books!
To the best of my knowledge, there is no definitive method of writing in a book. There are some methods more popular than others perhaps, but I imagine the style and means and that one uses to mark a book is left up to the whim of the reader. In an attempt to encourage you to write in your own books, I'm going to share, with visual aids, how exactly I write in a book and why I use those methods.
My Technique
Let me begin with a visual showing what my marking up of a book looks like:
As you can tell, this picture requires an explanation. So, let me explain. My technique for writing in a book has evolved to meet my needs and purposes for doing so. As you can see in this post, my main reasons for writing in a book are threefold; reflection, refraction, and reference.The impetus for employing various symbols has to do with why I want to remember, and in the future reference, something from a book. Originally, I either highlighted or underlined sections or sentences for emphasis or future use. However, I made changes to how I would write in a book for pragmatic reasons. I should note that I no longer highlight or underline key excerpts. The main reason for avoiding these types of demarcation is because I think they result in too much of a visual distraction for future readers. Notes in the margins may distract, but they don't distract as much as markings in the body of the text. The easiest way for me to explain my marginalia is to deal with each type of marking.
Margin Blocks
I draw, by hand, various different rectangular blocks in the margin of books. Again, here is a picture of what they might look like:
This picture clearly shows various types of rectangular blocks in the margins. In my process of reading and writing in a book, rectangular blocks in the margin represent larger excerpts that I consider exceptional. They are noted for the purpose of future reference. When I come across excellent writing that is several sentences to several paragraphs in length, I indicate my appreciation by drawing blocks in the margin. The number of blocks side-by-each is an indication of the level of appreciation I have for the excerpt. One block equates to modest appreciation. Two blocks is indicative of significant admiration and my ultimate acknowledgement is three blocks. Basically, any block in the margin is noteworthy with more blocks pointing towards incrementally better excerpts.
Margin Circles
I use circles in the margins, as seen above, to designate what I term "tweetables". Tweetables, in my confusing literary-reflective world, is a memorable single sentence that I might wish to tweet in the future. In another post I will describe in detail how and why I tweet through a book. For now, all you need to know is circles in the margin are evidence of a superior sentence delivered by the author.
Margin Arrows
Margin arrows are another type of marginalia I subscribe to:
Any time I find sequential ideas or thoughts shared by the author that I want to relate to each other or earlier passages, I connect those thoughts and ideas by drawing an arrow in the margin between the two. These arrows may be short, connecting two ideas on the same page, or, they may be long arrows that connect concepts several pages apart.
Margin Writing
As seen in the top two pictures, if I deem it necessary, I will write in the margins. I generally do this in two circumstances. First, if I disagree with something the author has propounded, I write my disagreement in the margin. Second, if I think there is some reason I might not remember why I thought a passage was exceptional, I'll write in the margin an indication of why was significant about the section in question.
Margin Xs
I have recently the "X" as a symbol for my marginalia. I have the opportunity to review books on my blog and I'm doing more of that now than before. I have found it useful to mark portions that will help me review a book with an "X". The "X" is functional in that it can go inside of rectangular blocks or margin circles.
Suit Yourself
I think one of the keys to becoming a top-notch marginaliaist (I made that word up) is to develop your own system for writing in a book. Try out different ideas; see what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in order to find out what type of hieroglyphics or chicken-scratching you find effective. Then, fine-tune your approach so that, as I indicate in this post, you can become a better reader.
Writing in a Book
Tony Reinke, in his book Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading, presents the reader with a term that I cannot believe many would be familiar with; marginalia. Though I originally thought this was a made-up term, it does occur in the dictionary and is defined as marginal notes. Reinke is a proponent of marking up a book, in the margins and otherwise, and I must say that I concur with him on this point. I'd like to discuss why I mark up a book and how I do so with the hope that you will be helped in your reading. For this first post in this series, let's start with the "why" question.
Why?
In his chapter entitled Marginalia, Reinke lists ten reasons why he writes in his books. I think they are worth listing. Reinke writes in his books to,
- Claim them
- Acknowledge their temporary value
- Highlight what he appreciates
- Trace the skeleton of the book
- Mark what is initially disagreeable
- Weave them into his library
- Express emotion
- Capture thoughts
- Archive personal notes
- Have a conversation.
It would be well worth your while to get your hands on Reinke's book and read through his reasons for a better understanding of each point. I have focused in on a few reasons why I write in books that are mirrored in some of Reinke's.
The Three R's of Writing in a Book
Reflection – Reflection is the fixing of the thoughts on something and/or careful consideration. I find that I think and concentrate better with a pen in my hand. Pastor Garry Milley, lead pastor of Church in the Oaks, puts it succinctly, "I need ink to think!" I find that the simple act of holding a writing utensil in my hand is enough to cause me to be more engaged with the book I am reading. The act of writing in that book further solidifies the process. Reinke supports this idea stating "the markings in a book's margins are the evidence of a thinking reader" (148). This is important, if you believe as Reinke and I do, that we "don't read to read; we read to think" (148). The highlighting and denoting of important, memorable or even forgettable passages in a book are stimuli for thoughtful reflection that otherwise wouldn't occur. John Piper has said, "I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the one percent of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don't begrudge the 99%." I probably remember less than that. But having a pen in hand and writing in the margins of a book helps me fight the forgetfulness and hopefully remember more of the life-changing insights.
Refraction – Light is refracted when it changes direction due to passing through one medium to another. In the case of reading, I want the light that comes to me through reading to pass from me to others. This exchange of light, or in this case the exchange of knowledge from things I read, occurs most efficiently when I mark up a book. If I am to share what I read with others-others being friends family, small group participants, work colleagues, etc.-I need to be able to access the information I have read. Highlighting, underlining, circling, and generally marking up a book will help you disperse some of the gold you have mined in the pages of a book to those around you. It will help you share the wealth. Writing in a book allows you to access that significant information and share it with others. Two of the main ways I do this are tweeting through a book and blogging through a book. Those will be topics I will deal with separately in other posts. Interestingly, as the definition suggests, light changes direction when it is refracted. Your viewpoint and interpretation will have an effect on the knowledge you share and I think that is a good thing. Limiting what you receive from the writing of others to yourself would be an unfortunate end to that information.
Reference – As well as reflecting on what I have read, and beyond refracting the light from books to others, I want to be able to access and re-access the information from good books indefinitely. For books that I own and am going to keep in my library, the simplest way of being able to store and reach that book's instruction, illumination, and ideas is to mark in the book where those things can be found. One can go to extensive lengths or archiving info in a book, but I can usually find tidbits I'm looking for by flipping through a book and skimming the excerpts I have emphasized through writing in the margins.
Writing in a book, or performing marginalia if you will, offers me the opportunity to reflect on what I'm reading by causing me to interact with written material as I read it. It helps me to refract the light I receive from books to those around me. And finally, it helps me to reference significant material in the future when it is desired or necessary. For these reasons, and many others, I encourage you to mark up your books.
