Up Close and (un)Conventional – Keeping Track of Ideas

Posted 29 April, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Discussion Posts / 33 Comments

Up Close and (un)Conventional - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Up Close and (un)Conventional  – Keeping Track

Welcome to this week’s Up Close and (un)Conventional. This is where I discuss both things that have to do with reading and blogging, and things that just have to do with life in general. This week, I’m going to chat about how I keep track of my ideas  – both when it comes to my reviews and other posts I do here. I have this strange thing, where if I think about blogging, or a book, or a review just before I go to bed, I dream about it. And I come up with fantastic ideas when my brain isn’t consciously trying to figure something out! Isn’t that amazing? It can also be really bad, because if I don’t write it down, it’s as if it never happened. So, I have notebooks everywhere 😀 My pink notebooks are for the blog – I have one in my night-stand, so that if I wake up and still remember my idea, I can jot it down and go back to sleep.

I have also one notebook in my library next to my computer in the living-room, so that I can write down ideas as they come to me while I’m blogging about something else. This one is quite big, and I bought it from Moleskine – personalized and really pretty! And of course, I also have a pink notebook in my bag, so that if I get a brilliant idea while I’m taking the bus, or having a break at work (or in class when my professor isn’t watching) I can quickly make a few notes and then work from that once I have the time to actually write my discussion post.

Notebooks - (un)Conventional Bookviews - Keeping Track

Here, you can see my very own book journal that I made with Lulu.com, I am just obsessed enough to want to have one that’s exactly the way I want it, and with the colors of my blog to boot! Then, the big pink one where I’ve put a sticker, plus it’s got my name on it, too, the black one is the Moleskine bookjournal, and I absolutely love it! The format is really nice, and it’s got almost everything I need – of course, I had to personalize it a little. The purple journal is the one I always keep in my bag for emergencies.

Inside my Bookjournal - (un)Conventional Bookviews - Keeping track

This one is the one I made myself, with my blog colors and all, as you can see below, it has a couple of extra things the Moleksine one doesn’t have. For example, for my ARCs, I like to keep track of the source – whether I got it from Netgalley, Edelweiss or directly from Tantor Audio. I also like to have a little more space to write my opinion and feelings down as soon as I finish reading.

Inside Moleskine bookjournal - (un)Conventional Bookviews - keeping track

I use notebooks for everything, and I love beautiful stationary, I have a very big soft spot for everything Moleskine, even their book journals are brilliant, and I use those for some quotes and a few lines about what I’ll include in my review if I finish a book when I’m not near the computer. How do you keep track of your ideas? Are you all high-tech and keep notes or voice memos on your phone? Do you have loads of pieces of paper you keep somewhere safe? Or do you go a little crazy with different notebooks like I do?

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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33 responses to “Up Close and (un)Conventional – Keeping Track of Ideas

  1. LOL you guys with your reading journals crack me up. I guess with all the writing I’m doing for college I can’t get on board with these. They are a neat idea. I think if I wasn’t blogging I would keep one but I feel like my reviews on the blog are my reading journal.

    One of the classes I’m taking in the Fall we will read 13 novels and we will have to write something on each of them. I plan on getting a head start over the summer on a few of the novels, so I think I’ll keep a “journal” but just in a plain notebook.

    • I actually use journals for Uni as well, Jennifer. I just work much better if I write stuff down by hand before I type out my final paper. And it’s the same thing for me with reviews. I don’t always use the notebooks, because if I’m next to my computer when I finish a book, I’ll just write my full review straight away.
      I absolutely love notebooks, though 🙂 And I can’t seem to get enough of them.

  2. I wish I were half as organized as you. I don’t have any kind of journal and I never take any kind of notes while reading. I might write a paragraph on Goodreads after I read a book to help me start writing my review but that is really all that I do. I did start planning posts a little with my Google calendar but I am always moving stuff around because I really am not a planner.

    I do love your notebooks. The personalized one is awesome. Great post!

  3. I have a notebook for thoughts when I am done with a book, but I go through spurts of using it and not using it. The irony is, it DOES help me, so I don’t know why I don’t keep up with it more. As for other ideas, if I am SUPER lucky and there is a paper and pen nearby, great. If I have the foresight to email it to myself on my phone, also great. 99% of the time though, I will repeat it in my head over and over and hope it sticks by the time I need a post ?

    Love this, and I love how organized you are!!

    • I don’t use mine all the time, Shannon, but I like to have them handy, in case I can’t go straight on my laptop and write out my full review. Especially because I read a lot, I need some notes so that I don’t forget important things about a book before my review is ready to go.
      E-mailing yourself sounds great! And my memory isn’t good enough to actually make ideas stick until I can do a post – just not possible.
      Thanks for stopping by, Shannon.

  4. Can you guess how I keep track of all my ideas?? Can you guess?!? LOL I’m thinking you already know my answer since you were kind enough to gift me a beautiful Moleskine book journal. I have notebooks everywhere as well – and quite the collection growing on my bookshelf of those that are are filled up! I don’t know if it’s my age or what but I prefer writing everything down to using a computer. So yes, it seems I not only hoard paper in the form of books to read but also in the form of ‘books’ to write in! 😉
    Happy Friday, my friend!! <3 *BIG HUGS*

    • LOL Brandee 🙂 I’m glad you enjoy the Moleskine book journal! I love mine, too 🙂 And I just prefer writing some things by hand before I write on the computer – I type very fast, and sometimes, my fingers go faster than my brain. Much easier to keep track of things for me when I write by hand first.
      Happy Friday to you, too! *BIG HUGS* (ps… ten more days!!)

  5. I don’t write much stuff down. When I read on my kindle, I highlight a lot. When I listen, I will keep track of certain points in the audio to go back and listen when I write my review. Sometimes, I will listen through something again really fast until I find what I’m looking for. 2x is hard to pay attention even after I’ve listened to the book, but I’ve used it to find character’s full name or something like that, a detail that I missed and want to include in my review or to confirm something I wasn’t 100% sure about. Then I slow it down when I find what I’m looking for. I’ve never been a good note taker, even in school.

    Glad you enjoy it and you found a system that works well for you.

    Melanie Simmons @mlsimmons recently posted: Python’s Embrace Audiobook by Eve Langlais (REVIEW)
  6. Lexxie, looking at all your pretty journals makes me want to go out and get some made with my blog logo and colours too 😀 I write my notes down in my mobile because I always have that with me. As I’m reading I’ll jot down thoughts and the like. Blog posts ideas usually end up on a word document on my laptop, unless I’m out in which case it defaults to my mobile. I love writing by hand though with pretty coloured pens so I’ve been wanting to get journals and now I know to check Lulus.com and customize some up!!

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews recently posted: Review: The Blood of Olympus
    • I am so slow typing on my mobile – my fingers are way too big for the tiny letters there, so that doesn’t really work for me. I’m glad you’re able to keep notes that way.
      I was so happy when I was able to make one with my blog logo with lulu, it’s really MY notebook for reviews, and keeping track of ARCs I have – with release dates and all.
      Please share a pic when you get your personalized one, Micheline 😀

  7. Oh my goodness! I love your notebooks!! I love how you keep everything so organized, but the best part is how it’s so personalized. This would be such a HUGE convenience. I may have to steal your idea for that as it’s amazing 😀 I hope you are well!!

  8. I use notebooks for all kinds of things, too, but yours are much prettier! I keep mine in a basket next to my laptop table…but having one on the nightstand sounds like a great idea. I, too, dream about all kinds of things I’m thinking about…books I’m reading, shows or movies I’m watching, etc. It’s kind of great…except for the forgetting part the next day.

    Thanks for the great post!

    Laurel-Rain Snow recently posted: AUTHOR’S HOME PAGE
  9. You know what I’ve been doing? I’ve been taking notes in the ebooks themselves. I can’t even tell you how frustrated I get when I have to read a book in another app besides Kindle and I can’t take notes in the book! Forget about it if it’s a physical book!!! YIKES!

    I do have ONE super notebook that all my notes go in. That way, whenever I need something, I know where it’s at – in the super notebook. Design colors, book notes, you name it, it’s in there. I’ve tried the notebook for this and notebook for that, but it just gets too cumbersome for me.

    If I’m on the go or falling asleep and an idea comes to me, I use OneNote (it’s part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite I pay $10/mo for). Being half asleep and grabbing my phone to “voice memo” is the about all I can do manage at 11pm (ha!).

    Great discussion, girl!!

    • Oh yes, if I read on my kindle, I use the highlight and take notes there directly. It’s when I read a paper book everything gets screwed up! I don’t like taking notes inside my books, I want them to look just as beautiful after I read them as they were before I started 😀
      I use my review notes and the pink notebooks more than the others, but I have to make sure I have other, smaller notebooks near my bed and in my purse so I never miss anything. I guess a voice memo on my phone would work, too, but I don’t take my phone with me to the bedroom, and if I have an idea when I’m in class, it’s less obvious if I take notes in a notebook 😉
      Thanks for commenting, Kristin!

      • The only reason why my phone is right by my bed is because I charge it there every night (or else it would never get charged) and my hubs works at night and I sleep alone (booo!) so I need the security of the phone by me 🙂 We have an alarm on the house so I’m not as scared as I used to be (phew!!)

        Hey, I wish I could comment more 🙁

  10. I tried the pen and paper method of tracking ideas, but I got too disorganized too quickly. I could never keep a journal specifically for my blog, so the next thing I knew, there were snippits of writing projects, grocery lists, book review notes… Plus, I would write the idea down and then I would NEVER do anything with it.

    Now, I use a website called Asana. I type my notes in it, and then later I can assign due dates for the topics. I don’t meet those deadlines 100% of the time, but I can always shift the task over a day. And, if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night with a blog idea, which doesn’t happen then often (sadly), I just send an e-mail reminder to myself from my phone (my iPhone is pretty old, so the OS doesn’t support the Asana app.).

    • Oh, that sounds really neat, Jackie. I need to check that website out for sure. I am so bad at typing on my phone – sausage fingers – so that doesn’t work for me at all, sadly. It’s very interesting to see how other bloggers make sure they keep organized, thanks for sharing your method!

  11. I am nowhere near this organized. This is why I think of great ideas while I’m doing something else, and when I sit down to write about it I’m like, “OK, and now to write that post about….What was my idea? I was doing XYZ when I thought of it…uhhhhmmm…” and it never comes back to me. I need to at least implement a journal system.

  12. I love your book journal, it’s fab! I keep track of ideas in notebooks and I always make an effort to buy notebooks that I’m excited about using. It helps me feel inspired if the notebook is pretty, well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it! I do sometimes make notes on my phone if I don’t have a pen and paper to hand but I prefer making lists on paper.

  13. That is so awesome that you get ideas while you sleep! I think I’m a little jealous lol.

    I guess you could say I’m high-tech with my organization and ideas. I just know that with journals, number one, I’d end up losing them or they’d get ruined, and number two, I wouldn’t be able to change or edit or add more space, etc. By keeping all my notes and organization on my phone and computer, I can keep certain things with me wherever I am (like if I use a note app), and I can backspace, go back up to add something I forgot, change things around, etc. I’ve actually been considering making a post about how I’ve become a spreadsheet junkie lol and how I use it for my blog schedule and review copies. Buuuut your journals are very pretty 🙂 Actual paper is nice, it’s just more difficult for me.

    • I think it only happens if I’m thinking of something just before I fall asleep, Kristen. And it has really helped me with papers sometimes, I’ve had some really good ideas come to me, when I was stuck somewhere.
      I don’t write full posts in my notebooks, I would get frustrated with editing or adding lines, too. However, keywords and a sentence here and there works really good for me.
      Spreadsheets are so good! I have one for my ARCs, too, with the date I received it, the release date, when I read it etc. You should definitely do a post about your proficient spreadsheets, I’d love to read it!

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