Raven's Beginners Guide to Annotating Books

If there was one thing I hated about English classes in grade school, it was annotating. Despite English being my favorite subject most school years, I hated being forced to read boring texts and I hated being told to annotate. This was mostly because of the assignments they had us do to prove we were not just randomly highlighting things.

I remember being told every sentence we highlighted had to have a complete sentence response to justify why the passage was important. It could not be about liking a passage. It was always about analysis, often leading to me just needlessly looking for what they would consider important rather than enjoying a book.

However, there was a value in it that I wish I had picked up more on. Being in college as an English major and being so adverse to annotating certainly made it a challenge to keep notes together for group discussions and any work I had to do. Now I have begun to annotate more, just for any book I want to. It doesn't look the same in each book. And I don't do it for every single book. But overall I have come to enjoy it more and will be sharing the benefits and some tips about it here for today's post.

Benefits:

1. Better Focus- I am a person who is very easily distracted. Even if I'm really into a book I am one to put it down and talk to someone about it. When I first started to pick back up reading I found myself switching back to Instagram every few minutes to share something I just read. If I was sitting with my partner I would put the book down and talk to them about it, sometimes abandoning the book just a few minutes in to discuss things instead. However, when I annotate I tend to stay engaged a little bit longer. Rather than jumping on sharing those thoughts immediately I can record them to come back to and really refine what it is I am taking away from the text. I stay with a text longer and feel like I take more away from the texts when I annotate. Something as simple as underlining passages can make me stay with a text longer or reach more short-term reading goals.

2. Better Understanding- Unfortunately our teachers are right. When we purposefully annotate a text we take more away from it and tend to have a clearer understanding of it. Now if you're not trying to dissect a text (some of us read for fun and don't worry too much about grand takeaways, and that is completely fine). For those of us that are still involved in some level or type of academia a better understanding of the text is what we all want. As much as we as students may dislike it, annotating will help us in the long run with our academic work.

3. A Fun Thing To Look Back On- When you take notes, leave comments, and mark things just for you you manage to leave behind a nice record of who you are reading that for the first time. I remember looking back on a book I was forced to annotate in High School. I ended up feeling pretty nostalgic finding a little time capsule of myself within a book I remembered. I didn't exactly agree with myself in each of these notes, but that was a big part of the fun. Consider this at least for a book you think you will go back to or one from an author you know you love. While this part takes a while for the pay off it can feel really special for that reason alone.
   

So we have talked a little about some benefits and identified more of who this might be for. The question arises for some of us as to how do we do this. I want to make it clear there is no one right way, it's more about what works for you and what you like doing. After all most of us aren't going to do this if we don't at least find our strategies for it comfortable.

Methods:

1. Simple Notes Method- The Simple Notes Method only requires a pen or pencil. I tend to use this method for a book in which I am learning a new subject that I do not currently know much about. To use this method you simply go through and underline any important passages or anything you find interesting. Then you can write in any commentary you like on the margins or at the end of chapters/sections. This method is meant to be as easy as can be for beginners. However, that is not meant to be disparaging if this is your preferred method, or if it is not what feels right to you.

2. Highlights Method- For this method, you can pair it with the Simple Notes Method, but it can also function on its own. As the name implies you need a highlighter for this method and it's a good idea to have multiple colors to indicate different notes. In the front inside cover use the space to mark what each color will represent (ex: yellow for quotes, blue for character moments, pink for post ideas, etc.).Then just go with the way you have set it up. Now you may need to be careful since a regular highlight may bleed through. However, they make "gel highlighters" which doesn't bleed through but they can smear if it isn't dry yet. They also sell "Bible Highlighters" that function similarly to prevent them from staining the next page. Of course, you can follow the Simple Method still and include notes wherever you feel like. Almost all of these methods pair well with other methods.

3. Page Tab Method- We see this method more frequently with those annotating for academic reasons. Sticky notes can be used as page tabs to stick out and mark a page as important. Like the Highlighter Method, you can use different colors to indicate different things. A lot of people use this for more academic settings so they can mark certain pages to study in a textbook for certain units. However, this way is often considered a very aesthetic way of annotating and is popular for pictures. I see on Bookstagram all the time people who color match the tabs they will use to the cover art and it makes for a very fun yet practical way to decorate your books. This method much like our final one can be great for borrowed books. This method can easily be cleaned up once you have finished reading by just taking the tabs out. Of course, then you may want to keep your notes somewhere.

4. Journal Method- Now this final one will work for those of us who are hesitant to mark up our books, but it can also benefit us who are using other methods. Simply get a notebook for you to use while reading this book. Decide if you want to do a diary entry, a bullet journal, or something else entirely, and then start decorating. Your journal can be used as a reading log made to keep track of your reading and what you are thinking as you are going through the book. You can also try a scrapbook style or junk journal method with this style of annotating. It certainly is a more aesthetic option for annotations.
   

Of course, you can always find your own method that works for you. Again there is no wrong way to do it and you can do it for any reason. The honest goal of this post is to inspire more people to read more and enjoy reading things thoroughly. Whatever method you like or for whatever reason I hope this post will give you a little more inspiration for annotating your next major read.

-Sincerely Raven