Taking Notes

I have been reading a lot, a love that goes back to my childhood. The increase in my reading in the past 9 months or so is because of the ease of enlarging the font on my Kindle to a readable size and then the addition of no line bifocals to my face. Thank you Amazon and Dr. Wittpenn for bringing my love of reading back to a place of prominence in my life.

I am finding that now that I am back into reading for hours upon hours that I spend a lot more time thinking about what I am reading. I find myself fascinated by descriptions of people and places and feelings. I am in awe of some of the authors that I have read. I also have read some things that make me wonder how the author was able to get past editors and publishers and to the audience of readers anxious to pull up a good read.

So many thoughts go through my mind as I read. Word usage, introduction to places I have never been in mind or body, characters unlike any people I have ever met. I find myself scribbling quotes, concepts and really interesting words on varying writing surfaces (see post on lists for more on that). It suddenly occurred to me that I am taking notes on the texts that I am reading. I was never a great note taker in college. I found that if I took notes during lectures I got distracted by what I am was writing and missed the next words of wisdom that were being spoken by the lecturer. When reading a textbook I would whip out my trusty yellow highlighter; we did not have multi-colored highlighters back then, and focus on those concepts that I felt were important within the realm of class discussions to come, or papers yet to write. No book was immune to my highlighter. When it became time to study for my classes, I pulled out my books and looked for those ever present highlighted areas. The only time I remember really taking notes was when I was writing my thesis. They weren't really notes per se they were concepts or arguments for and against the point I was trying to make. They were all written on index cards, ready to be shuffled around for when I was ready to write my thesis.

Modern day Marcy, meaning 2010 forward, takes notes on books. Every book I read, that are all now choices that I make and are for enjoyment, leads me to grab a pen. Sometimes there is a fabulous quote that I must write down before I forget it. Other times it is a word that I either don't know or have never used. I even find that in my reading I am pulling ideas for future blog posts.

I decided this morning that I need to organize some of what I am writing down. Step one, to be done this morning, is that I have an empty journal and that is going to be where I write down all the words that fascinate me. I am sure in time there will be no room in the now empty journal but for now the blank pages beckon me. A bound book of words will be the outcome but the adventure of finding words to fill it still lies ahead.