So if you’re reading a book and the characters kiss for the first time, you can highlight it with pink, place a pink tab, and even write your thoughts with a pink pen. Make sure to buy fineliner type pens that don’t bleed through the pages. My advice is to have a few different kinds of pens, as books sometimes have different types of pages. I started annotating just using the same sticky tabs that I used in university (you know the ones!), but something about that made reading feel too academic.
The book looking like it has a painted fore edge, a design often seen in older works of literature. You can use a colorful sharpie to highlight the relevant text, which will make it pop on the page and be more visible for you the next time you go through the book. 90% of the time, I use the same meaning for each color, but when I’m running low on a color or reading different genres, I’ll occasionally mix things up. I have tried a ton of different tabs from different brands and have only found one that I truly love. In the margin, underline the main thesis , and then write it in your own words.
It is a creative way to fully immerse yourself in the text and understand what the Author is trying to symbolize. Sign up for our Book Deals newsletter and get up to 80% off books you actually want to read. Simply put, annotation refers to adding your own thoughts or insights into a book or text. Now I feel so comfortable in my writing, my stories now have permission to dress up in adjectives I thought were once too many.” Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 796,784 times.
Finally, a notebook or a piece of paper can be used to jot down thoughts or questions that you have while reading. Worry not if you are not familiar with the term. Because we are here to clear all your confusions about annotations. Therefore, dive with us into the world of annotations and uncover the ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ of it. Today, we at Daastan are giving you a crash course on annotating books. Ariel’s video also inspired me to start annotating in my books.
I always dog-ear pages when I find a word I love. I love finding new words and my books are starting to grow fat with folded corners. Helps you get more engaged in the novel –If you write down your thoughts as you go, it pushes you to think more deeply about what you’re reading.
Looking back at your annotations, you will be able to remember exactly how a book impacted you at that moment in your life. You can throw in other styles of annotations if you’d like – this method is all about interacting with annotating books for fun the book on a personal level. Finally, as you read, write your thoughts, comments, and reactions in the margin as if you were responding to the story or author. Trying to learn how to annotate a book without writing in it?
Alternatively, if you’re about to write longer annotations, such as a summary or the main ideas from a chapter, you can do so at the end of the chapter. There is usually plenty of room there for your thoughts. Here’s a couple of the most common things readers like you annotate in books.
Put them at the top of the page upside-down so they hang out of the top. This allows you to quickly flip through them without having to open the book. I like to look back on these to see what kind of things work for my own novel. For example, if a character is overly sexual, for example, I’ll take note of that to remind myself that balancing such qualities is super important.
Well, it gives the reader something to look back on if they read the book again. Your pages may end up looking like a rainbow, but perhaps it’s worth it to remember the bit you love. While some avoid annotating their books in order to not ruin them, annotations are oftentimes essential, especially if you’re reading actively. Alternatively, if highlighting doesn’t do it for you for whatever reason, you can use a pen or a pencil for underlining. The effect is quite similar, the main difference being the use of color and the general aspect of the book once you’re done reading it.
