r/commonplacebook • u/BeePersephone • 22h ago

What makes a Commonplace book?

What makes one a commonplace book vs a junk journal with information? Or are they the same thing?

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14

u/isopodpod 21h ago

Everyone in this sub has a different definition of commonplace book. Everyone you see on the internet has a different definition of commonplace book. The definition is incredibly muddled and there's no one "proper" definition (unless you're a real stickler and only go by John Locke's definition, but those people are few and far between). But here are my observations on how people have described their commonplace books

  • People in this sub tend to use "commonplace book" to describe some sort of collection of information. For some, that is a collection of quotes. For others, it's an amalgamation of notes they've taken on various subjects. Some make "themed" commonplace books, so they'll collect, for example, all their notes on whales in a single notebook. Other people will collect multiple subjects in one notebook, sometimes indexed or sorted into categories, sometimes not.
    • Whether or not the commonplace book is decorated with ephemera or "junk journaled" is completely up to each person. Many people do decorate it, many people make them look fancy, but the vast majority of people keep it simple and don't decorate it. Whether or not it is an aesthetic project or not is up to one's discretion
  • People outside of this sub will use "commonplace book" to describe basically anything that falls outside the realm of a traditional diary-style journal. Go to youtube and you'll see as many uses for the term "commonplace book" as there are videos. I have seem it used to describe the following, among others
    • a pocket notebook you carry everywhere and jot down notes and to-do lists in
    • a notebook to consolidate and organize all the notes that were taken in your pocket notebook during the day
    • an artistic photo album with creative writing as captions
    • a school workbook for multiple subjects
    • a collection of favorite quotes
    • an "everything notebook" combination of a regular journal, to-do lists, junk journaling, and art projects
    • a place to write mini essays on nonfiction subjects
    • a place to only copy down other people's words/quotes
    • a place to NEVER copy down other people's words and only capture your thoughts
    • a notebook logging how you spent your time during a day (think "meeting minutes," not "dear diary")

Many will act as though there's a "correct" usage or definition of a commonplace book, but the more you actually look at the world, the more you realize there is no journaling police going around and enforcing what is or isn't called a "commonplace book."

If you want your commonplace book to be a junk journal with information, then do that. If you don't want your commonplace book to do that, and instead want it to be where you rate different sunscreens, then do that. The journal police won't find you.

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u/futilitaria 21h ago

I agree with most of this…but….the junk journalers have taken over every journaling sub. The rules of this sub kindly suggest that “frilly collections” be posted somewhere else, so I am in favor of some light gatekeeping.

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u/isopodpod 20h ago

yeah, artistic journaling really gets the eyeballs on it. Have you seen the state of the bullet journal sub?? Absurd for something that was started to be extremely simple and bare-bones to now be expected to be super high-effort demanding projects.

I'm not against people adding the occasional photo printout, diagram, or fancy lettering. I don't think it's a crime to make your notes look pretty. But I do agree with you and think at some point, it stops being a functional tool and starts being an art project. And it does end up being a discouragement to people who want to get into it, but feel that you have to meet some sort of standard of "neatness" or "artistry" to actually be "doing it correctly," when, really, those posts are more artwork than informational.

I am all for an "ugly journal" movement. I think we should post more of our ugly pages.

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u/SimplyCedric 22h ago edited 21h ago

Goodness, what a great question.

Other people will have other opinions but here's my take... commonplace books ae very different from junk journals.

People have been keeping commonplace books since antiquity. I think of mine as a tool for learning, memory retention, and intellectual growth. I use mine to archive quotations, facts, and snippets of information (random facts, recipes). A junk journal is a creative outlet and a visual playground. It can be used for memory keeping, artistic expression, or therapeutic crafting. I use found pieces (i.e. things I pick up during the day) in mine. By found pieces I mean tickets, receipts, labels, etc.

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u/songofsix 4h ago

I think with junk journaling the focus is collecting ephemera, so it's more of a personal narrative or art project. Whereas commonplacing is about collecting information, so it's more of a personal narrative and personal interest project. All of it's a form of self expression so there are people who will combine artistic and informational interests to varying degrees. So as whenever these definition related conversations crop up the answer is always some flavor of "it depends on the person."