Fair warning: I’m new to the idea of zettelkasten, and don’t have the same degree of philosophical understanding of this process that many here do. With that said, I’m very much not new to reading and processing books, and note-taking (and am actually kinda “known for” being able to remember a lot of information, so I assume it’s working for me). My sticking spot is figuring out how the actual logistics of transferring paper notes to digital.
As I think about my own established process, and the processes people are describing, I think what I actually have is two kinds of notes on most books.
-
While I’m reading, I’m interacting with the book by underlining things and making notes in the margins. I see this as being like a conversation with the author. Whole Novels for the Whole Class is a book for teachers teaching literature that relies on a process very much like what I intuitively do.
-
After I read, I write about the book in my own words – more of a “book review” type of note. My general impressions, perhaps who the ideal audience seems to be, what stood out to me, etc.
But I don’t think either of these replaces the other. They’re both valuable, for different reasons.