Until just a few years ago I would never write or make markings in any book that I was reading. I could not bring myself to highlight, underline, or put my thoughts in the margins. It just seemed “wrong” to write in a book, even a book that I owned. Today, however, I write or make markings in almost every book I read, including my copies of the Holy Bible. Writing, highlighting, and making notes in books that I have read has been highly beneficial, though getting past the initial mental block was hard (making the first mark in a new book still gives me some trouble sometimes). I will present some of my thoughts on why you should write in your books.
Form a Proper Relationship with Belongings
One often ignored cause of unwillingness to make marks in a book is an improper relationship with the “stuff” that we own. Elements of our lives, books in particular, can be elevated beyond their intended usage. They are status symbols, they’re meant to be more representative of us than being tools for conveying information. This issue can be best seen in the prevalence of putting photographs of highly curated book shelves in the background of photos or video recordings. These items are used to puff ourselves up rather than serve their actual purpose.
Marking in books helps reestablish a proper relationship: books are tools for holding and conveying information, adding our own thoughts or emphasis only serves to better utilize them. These devices ought to be made use of, not elevated onto a level where they cannot be expounded upon. Some people are concerned that their current thoughts won’t be interesting or relevant in the future, I think this draws from an insecurity which can be cured by committing to write and then return to our past thoughts and reevaluate.
Ask Questions of the Text
Another reason to write in a book is that it helps us think critically, ask questions, of an author. Oftentimes when reading I will notice something that does not make sense, something that doesn’t add up. Sometimes I still agree with a conclusion drawn, other times I am critical of a work more generally. Writing questions, and perhaps answering them or writing references to other works, helps make these questions more concrete. They also allow us to look back at a book in the future for reference and not forget that certain arguments may be lacking. Of course it is possible to think of questions without writing them down, but I have found that writing down an issue or concern helps me remember it in relation to the larger point and gives me a way of returning to address it.
Emphasis and Remembrance
Highlighting, underlining, or otherwise emphasizing elements of a text is extremely useful for finding what you read when you recall a detail. Time and time again I have found myself speaking with someone, whether in person or on the internet, where I know something I read would be useful to bring up. Using an index is also useful for the same reason, but oftentimes it will still take much longer to find what you are looking for without a visual indicator. Furthermore, highlighting helps us spacially recall where some information is in a book which makes quick access much easier.
I was recently waiting somewhere for a long period of time. This was expected, so I brought my new ESV Reader’s Gospels along. While reading I underlined John 3:18 & 5:23, though the chapter and verse numbers were not known to me since a Reader’s Edition removes most of the non-original added text. A couple days later I was in a class where something was brought up pertaining to salvation and condemnation which were the subject matter of the verses in question. In less than a minute I was able to pull out my Bible and find these references without needing chapters, verses, or searching software. Almost instantly I was able to locate what I needed, this is because the text was underlined for easy access and due to spacial memory caused by the initial underlining.
Cross References
Writing in a book allows you to create useful cross references. It is common to find something that you don’t understand and seek out resources which provide more background knowledge, only to be forgotten when the text is needed again. Writing where you can find more information in the margins of a book helps create powerful associations and give quick access to what you found most useful in the past. The next time you open up your book you will have easy access to the resources that helped you in the past, building a web of knowledge which will help you learn and solidify what you already know.
Introspection
I already wrote about this above, but it is worth repeating. Writing down our thoughts on a text allows us to later return and reconsider what we were thinking. Perhaps I have changed my mind, or maybe I have additional thoughts. Looking back on ourselves in the past allows for growth. It is not good to be fearful of our future selves looking back on what we think presently, instead it should be a tool for growth. With good notes we can ask ourselves: why did I think that? What have I learned since making this note? How can I add on to my past thoughts? Do I still agree with what I said? This is also why I suggest writing a journal.
Conclusion
These have been some of my scattered, quickly written, thoughts on why you should write in your books. There are more reasons which should be considered in the future. When I have time I hope to produce a more organized treatment of the matter, either through writing or perhaps a video.