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Keep what catches your attention

A commonplace book for a mind at work.

Keep a passage. Notice something ordinary. Put the two beside each other. Here is how a collection becomes a source of ideas you can actually use.

Open the notebook
From the notebook

At the end of the meeting, every chair points toward the empty chair where the last speaker sat.

Example by Inkwell
  1. 2

    Respond

    A room can keep the shape of a conversation. What could an empty room tell us about who held power?

  2. 3

    Connect

    At home, nobody takes Dad’s chair, even when he is away. The objects have learned a rule the family never says aloud.

An entry worth keeping

The useful part happens after you collect it.

Saving a sentence gives you something to return to. Writing a response gives you a reason. The example below follows an observation through a connection and into the opening of a scene.

From a noticed detail to a scene

Attention / places

  1. 1Notice

    At the end of the meeting, every chair points toward the empty chair where the last speaker sat.

    Example by Inkwell

  2. 2Respond

    A room can keep the shape of a conversation. What could an empty room tell us about who held power?

  3. 3Connect

    At home, nobody takes Dad’s chair, even when he is away. The objects have learned a rule the family never says aloud.

  4. 4Make something

    Mara puts her coat on the chair at the head of the table. Eli moves it to the hook by the door. Neither of them sits down.

The scene does not repeat the observation. It borrows the question underneath it: who is allowed to occupy the room? That question turns a collected detail into a choice between characters.

Start your own collection

My commonplace book

Index

  • Attention

  • Places

  • Questions

Entry: A room after everyone leaves

Source: Example by Inkwell Topic: Attention; places

Observation: At the end of the meeting, every chair points toward the empty chair where the last speaker sat.

My response: A room can keep the shape of a conversation. What could an empty room tell us about who held power?

Connection: At home, nobody takes Dad’s chair, even when he is away. The objects have learned a rule the family never says aloud.

An opening for a scene: Mara puts her coat on the chair at the head of the table. Eli moves it to the hook by the door. Neither of them sits down.

Next entry

Source and location: [author, title, page or link; date for your own observation] Topic: [one or two useful headings] Quotation or observation: [keep copied words distinct from your own] My response: [why I kept it; what I question] Connection or next use: [another entry, a conversation, a piece of writing]

Weekly return

  • Which entry still interests me?

  • What do two entries have in common?

  • What can I make, ask or read next?

Make it yours in Plot

Keep the source beside the words. Keep your response in your own voice.

Opens as a new Plot project once you sign in or create a free account. Inkwell keeps this copy for 24 hours.

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Field notes

Build a collection you use

  • Choose a place, then make one entry

    Use a notebook if writing by hand helps you notice. Use a document if searching, rearranging or carrying material into a draft matters more. Start with something you already want to keep. Choosing an elaborate system before collecting anything can become its own distraction.

  • Separate the source from your response

    Record the author, title and page or link beside a quotation. Mark your own observations as your own. Beneath each item, write why you kept it, what you disagree with, or what it reminds you of. That short response is what makes a collection useful later and keeps borrowed wording distinct from your work.

  • Use a small index that can change

    Begin with three headings that match what you actually collect. For a paper book, number the pages and add them to an index at the front. In a document, use headings and search. An entry can belong to two topics. Rename topics when the collection shows you a better connection; do not classify every possible future interest.

  • Commonplace book, journal or reading log?

    A journal often follows your days and experiences. A reading log records what you read. A commonplace book follows ideas across sources and time. You can combine them: keep a reading record, then pull a passage and your response into a topic you want to explore.

  • Return once a week

    Read a handful of entries. Connect two that did not seem related when you saved them. Turn one connection into a question for a friend, a paragraph, a scene, or your next reading choice. The goal is a collection you use, not a perfect archive.

  • An example from an ordinary room

    The worked entry begins with an original observation about chairs after a meeting. Its response asks how a room can reveal who held power. Its next use is concrete: a scene set in a childhood home. Nothing had to be profound at the moment of collection; the connection made it useful.

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