amazon carding Ebook
Do you have a book that makes you cringe? Do you feel that there was some kind of editing fail there? Do you cringe when you look at certain passages in a book because you read them at some point? Maybe, just maybe, you are guilty of “carding.” If you’re not sure what this means, you are indeed one of the many people who has no clue what carding is! In a nutshell, it’s when you skim a book and read all the parts that are pertinent to your current personal interest and discard the rest.
It makes sense if you think about it. When you’re on a plane, you only read the flier’s handbook and flight instruction manual. We all have those sections of a book in our hands that we read. If they’re relevant to our own interests, why not read them?
You know how you have to tear pages out of a book when you’re done reading so that you don’t waste paper? We call that carding! It’s the same thing, only instead of ending up throwing your book in the trash, you put it in a folder for later use. I definitely fall into the carding category myself.
My way of processing a book
Even though I’m guilty of carding, I don’t necessarily go crazy, and I usually just read the relevant parts of a book. If I’m in the market for a new book or just looking for a good re-read, I’ll go through each and every page and highlight all the important passages, or if there’s a particular part that I want to remember, I’ll make a note on my Evernote to remember it.
Then, if I feel like I’m getting a lot out of the book, I’ll go through and pick out certain passages that are pertinent to my writing, education, etc. and I’ll jot them down in my own notebook or email them to myself.
If I’m taking notes on something during a TV show or movie, I’ll copy a relevant quote down to my Evernote to remember it later, and then go through and highlight the other relevant parts of the show and save those in my own notebook.
The reason I do this is because it helps me process a book and keep all my important passages and ideas front and center in my head when I’m writing or reading. Without carding, I’d just be skimming my way through the book, which is easy, but not helpful to my own writing.
If you’ve ever wondered how writers do it? It’s through intense processing! When I’m a little bit stuck and need to bounce an idea off somebody else, I go through my entire book, highlight all the parts that are relevant to my current situation, and then email them off to my best friend for feedback. That’s it. That’s my processing!
It might not be the best way to do things for you, but if you want to find the information that you want, you might as well try it my way.
Confession: I also realize that it’s a bad habit. My organizational system is definitely not perfect, and I do sometimes open a random book and skim through it randomly (usually when I’m trying to decide if I want to purchase it or not) without realizing it. I just tell myself that I’m getting extra reading in to make up for it, but it really takes me out of the flow of the book. I do a quick skim and move on.
For other book-related confessionals, be sure to follow the #bookconfessional hashtag on Twitter.
Do you have a book that makes you cringe? Do you feel that there was some kind of editing fail there? Do you cringe when you look at certain passages in a book because you read them at some point? Maybe, just maybe, you are guilty of “carding.” If you’re not sure what this means, you are indeed one of the many people who has no clue what carding is! In a nutshell, it’s when you skim a book and read all the parts that are pertinent to your current personal interest and discard the rest.
It makes sense if you think about it. When you’re on a plane, you only read the flier’s handbook and flight instruction manual. We all have those sections of a book in our hands that we read. If they’re relevant to our own interests, why not read them?
You know how you have to tear pages out of a book when you’re done reading so that you don’t waste paper? We call that carding! It’s the same thing, only instead of ending up throwing your book in the trash, you put it in a folder for later use. I definitely fall into the carding category myself.
My way of processing a book
Even though I’m guilty of carding, I don’t necessarily go crazy, and I usually just read the relevant parts of a book. If I’m in the market for a new book or just looking for a good re-read, I’ll go through each and every page and highlight all the important passages, or if there’s a particular part that I want to remember, I’ll make a note on my Evernote to remember it.
Then, if I feel like I’m getting a lot out of the book, I’ll go through and pick out certain passages that are pertinent to my writing, education, etc. and I’ll jot them down in my own notebook or email them to myself.
If I’m taking notes on something during a TV show or movie, I’ll copy a relevant quote down to my Evernote to remember it later, and then go through and highlight the other relevant parts of the show and save those in my own notebook.
The reason I do this is because it helps me process a book and keep all my important passages and ideas front and center in my head when I’m writing or reading. Without carding, I’d just be skimming my way through the book, which is easy, but not helpful to my own writing.
If you’ve ever wondered how writers do it? It’s through intense processing! When I’m a little bit stuck and need to bounce an idea off somebody else, I go through my entire book, highlight all the parts that are relevant to my current situation, and then email them off to my best friend for feedback. That’s it. That’s my processing!
It might not be the best way to do things for you, but if you want to find the information that you want, you might as well try it my way.
Confession: I also realize that it’s a bad habit. My organizational system is definitely not perfect, and I do sometimes open a random book and skim through it randomly (usually when I’m trying to decide if I want to purchase it or not) without realizing it. I just tell myself that I’m getting extra reading in to make up for it, but it really takes me out of the flow of the book. I do a quick skim and move on.
For other book-related confessionals, be sure to follow the #bookconfessional hashtag on Twitter.
