How (and Why) to Write in Books

The idea of writing in books might make you cringe.

Or, you may find making notes, highlighting, and underlining is your preferred way of interacting with a text.

I was firmly in the anti-annotation crowd until a few years ago when I read an article much like this one elevating the role a reader takes on when annotating. A passive reader simply takes in what is on the page, but an annotator is communing with the text; their notes, asterisks, and underlines are a way of conversing with the author.

Once I started to think of it this way, the idea of annotating a book felt much less blasphemous and much more delightful. And I’ve been happily writing in my books ever since.

What Is Annotation?

The act of annotation is simply any type of note, comment, or writing added to a text. You are annotating if you use a highlighter or if you scribble entire paragraphs into margins, or anything in between!

It can be hard to overcome the mental hurdles to annotation if you’ve never done it before, since it can feel scary to ink your thoughts permanently on the page. How will you know what’s important enough to note? What if your comments end up looking ridiculous on re-read? But never fear; it’s easier than you’d think to ease your way into the practice of annotation, even without having a Ph.D. in literary criticism.

1. Start Simple: Use a Highlighter

If you’re worried you won’t have anything smart to say, then don’t worry about saying anything at all.

Find a highlighter color you like (make sure it won’t bleed through the pages), or get even more straightforward and just underline with a pen or pencil. Make it your goal to highlight phrases or passages that stand out to you, for any reason.

You don’t have to be tracking high-minded motifs or finding the very best poetic prose; just highlight what makes you stop and pause.

Start by highlighting phrases or passages that are particularly moving or beautiful. Then, you can start highlighting things that seem essential to the author’s main idea, or even patterns that you’re noticing.

2. Talk to the Book

Once you’re feeling confident in highlighting passages you like, try branching out by making little comments here and there in the margins. It doesn’t have to be anything in-depth or long-winded.

Feel free to track patterns, note commonalities, and identify character traits in the margins. Anything that might help you understand the book better is perfectly fine to write down. You can even use a code system, with asterisks, exclamation points, smiley faces, etc.

Think of annotating as having a conversation with the book (or its author). You’re communicating whatever the passage is making you think at the time, and it’s okay if that changes by the time you get to the end of the book. You’ll probably enjoy looking back over what you were thinking on first reading.

3. Use Sticky Notes or Tabs

If you’re not like me and you don’t waste all your money on buying books (I can’t even comprehend this, but hypothetically speaking), don’t fear! Even if you’re mostly reading library or borrowed books, you can get in on the annotation action, too. Colorful tabs can be your new best friend!

Use a tab to mark important passages, or use medium-sized sticky notes to insert a comment in the margin. If you want to get extra organized, I’ve seen some people make comments in a separate notebook and mark the book with a numbered sticky tab for reference.

Using tabs can help you find your notes quickly, too! Even if you like to write on the pages themselves, it doesn’t hurt to have tabs on hand for the really important passages you want to come back to later.

4. Take a Picture

A final, and extremely useful, hack is to take photos with your phone. Feel free to mark up the passage, then snap a pic for useful reference later. That way, you don’t have to flip through the book to find all of your notes.

Or, if you don’t like to write in books, use the photo as a way around that. You can highlight or comment on the passage in the photo instead of on the page.

Taking pictures of important pages is an easy way to have an accessible collection of favorite or meaningful quotes – just keep them in a special album on your device.

Final Thoughts

Writing in books can be a controversial topic, but if you can get past the instinct not to mar the pages, you can find a lot of benefits from having a conversation with a book as you read through it.

Annotating can help you understand difficult passages more deeply, track patterns and motifs, and keep a collection of your favorite or most memorable quotes.

What about you? What’s your stance on writing in books – and what is your preferred method? Let me know in the comments!