When you have found the books and articles you are going to reference, you will need to read
them. Here are the golden rules:
- Always carry a notebook
- Always read interactively
- File and rewrite the notes so you can find them again
- Make a bibliography
We will explain. The key is: you are in the business of making a collection of your ideas about
literary texts. These can come to you at any time. If you don't write them down, you will most
likely forget them. If you do write them down, you will probably think of some more ideas while
you are writing. Write down any additional ideas too, because it may help you. It does not
matter if they do not seem very good: just write them down. Carry one of those spiral-bound
shorthand notebooks at all times, and if an idea comes to you, however intimate or urgent the
accompanying moment, write it down. No one but you will ever see this notebook, so there is
no need to feel self-consciousness about what you write in it.
This is perhaps the most useful attribute of the shorthand notebook: it beats the censor. The
censor is the cause of writer's block: the small voice inside your head that tells you that what
you're writing is rubbish or not usable. In your notebook you can ignore that voice, and as a
result you will accumulate ideas. Some will be good, some bad; when you re-read the notes you
can sort out one from the other more rationally than while under the stress of creative writing.
Thus the censor has been by-passed. Your main objective is to compile as many ideas as you
can, then sort through the mass to find a coherent thought that will make your assignment
complete.
1. Making notes
The best time to have ideas is when you are reading the sources. This is where note-taking
comes in. Don't make notes in the form of summaries, unless you need it to help you remember
a plot (lecture notes are an exception to this): it's normally best to read the thing again (and get
more ideas the second time round). But always, always, read with a pen and notebook to hand:
read interactively. Always think about what you're reading and write down your thoughts. When
a thought occurs under these circumstances it will be in reaction to a piece of the text at hand:
a quotation. Copy out the quote, and a page reference so you can find it again to check it if necessary,
and then put your idea underneath it. If you tie the idea in with the quote in this way, then
your ideas will always be text-based and close to the concrete life of the text, as Leavis might
possibly have said.
Always write one idea and one idea only per page of the shorthand notebook. Why should you
follow this structure you ask? Do this so that you can properly file them with some order. Once
a week you will want to review all of the notes that you have accumulated during the week. Take
them out of the shorthand notebook (tear them out, or remove the spiral). You put headings on
each note, throwing away the what you will not use (the obvious dross, that is: dross can turn
to gold if left to itself for a bit). Rewrite if necessary; make more notes if more ideas occur. Then
file them in a way that you can find them again. Make sure you write down where all the quotes
came from: editions, page numbers, and so on. Referencing where your information came form
is very important.
them. Here are the golden rules:
- Always carry a notebook
- Always read interactively
- File and rewrite the notes so you can find them again
- Make a bibliography
We will explain. The key is: you are in the business of making a collection of your ideas about
literary texts. These can come to you at any time. If you don't write them down, you will most
likely forget them. If you do write them down, you will probably think of some more ideas while
you are writing. Write down any additional ideas too, because it may help you. It does not
matter if they do not seem very good: just write them down. Carry one of those spiral-bound
shorthand notebooks at all times, and if an idea comes to you, however intimate or urgent the
accompanying moment, write it down. No one but you will ever see this notebook, so there is
no need to feel self-consciousness about what you write in it.
This is perhaps the most useful attribute of the shorthand notebook: it beats the censor. The
censor is the cause of writer's block: the small voice inside your head that tells you that what
you're writing is rubbish or not usable. In your notebook you can ignore that voice, and as a
result you will accumulate ideas. Some will be good, some bad; when you re-read the notes you
can sort out one from the other more rationally than while under the stress of creative writing.
Thus the censor has been by-passed. Your main objective is to compile as many ideas as you
can, then sort through the mass to find a coherent thought that will make your assignment
complete.
1. Making notes
The best time to have ideas is when you are reading the sources. This is where note-taking
comes in. Don't make notes in the form of summaries, unless you need it to help you remember
a plot (lecture notes are an exception to this): it's normally best to read the thing again (and get
more ideas the second time round). But always, always, read with a pen and notebook to hand:
read interactively. Always think about what you're reading and write down your thoughts. When
a thought occurs under these circumstances it will be in reaction to a piece of the text at hand:
a quotation. Copy out the quote, and a page reference so you can find it again to check it if necessary,
and then put your idea underneath it. If you tie the idea in with the quote in this way, then
your ideas will always be text-based and close to the concrete life of the text, as Leavis might
possibly have said.
Always write one idea and one idea only per page of the shorthand notebook. Why should you
follow this structure you ask? Do this so that you can properly file them with some order. Once
a week you will want to review all of the notes that you have accumulated during the week. Take
them out of the shorthand notebook (tear them out, or remove the spiral). You put headings on
each note, throwing away the what you will not use (the obvious dross, that is: dross can turn
to gold if left to itself for a bit). Rewrite if necessary; make more notes if more ideas occur. Then
file them in a way that you can find them again. Make sure you write down where all the quotes
came from: editions, page numbers, and so on. Referencing where your information came form
is very important.
