Note Taking

[Kate]

I over kill in note taking so I always have to reread or rewatch something in order for me to write a shrine. I feel so lost without a plan and a notebook full of info heh. T__T What I usually do is, I go by chapter by chapter and as I find things that I want to include in my shrine, I write down the page number and chapter, and a little sentence for reference. :D Maybe I want to write about someone's growth as a person and I see a little part that stands out, so I write the page/chapter number and a "LOOK AT THIS GROWTH!!!" hahahha!

[Larissa]

Can you put words on it? Then I've taken notes there.

Yeah, uh. I've been really disorganized with my notes in the past. Here is an incomplete list of things I have used to take notes:
- Physical notebooks (mostly I write content in them though)
- .txt files (scattered notes, sometimes outlines, sometimes first drafts of pages)
- Receipt tape (thanks old job)
- Evernote (for 4am thoughts)
- Listography (for first draft outlines)
- Tumblr (for note-taking liveblogs/analysis braindump, usually first drafts of pages for sites)
- Scrivener (supposedly I organize everything here... supposedly)

My notes are usually a mess, to put it mildly. I tend to organize as I build the sites, though, so I don't tend to spend a lot of time organizing my notes -- that gives me less time to write. I generally only write enough notes to get me going on writing content, and I do whatever research I have to as I'm writing that particular page. I tend to add and delete sections a lot as I write a site, depending on what best fits the end result.

I actually went back and looked at a bunch of my old sites, and it's really interesting to see how my process has evolved over time! It seems like I mostly stuck to .txt files back in the day (because they were the most easily portable in the days before smartphones) and I know I handwrote a lot of content off of those notes, so that makes sense. These days I have a lot of different options and it does not help my disorganization.

[Robin]

I usually take notes for shrines--sometimes mentally, sometimes verbally, and sometimes in a text file. I like to talk out my ideas more than anything, though I end up talking with people who have no idea what my shrine subject is, LOL! My note-taking is done in fits and spurts and is not organized in any way... #adhdlife

I also like to take notes as I'm watching/playing through if I'm already seeing a favorite character or favorite concept emerge, because I don't want to have to rewatch everything to get notes later. (Example: right now I'm kicking myself for not taking notes during my first full watch-through of the British crime drama Foyle's War, because I'll have to watch basically through the whole series again to get notes on my favorite character. Fail! xD)

[Emrys]

If it's fresh in my mind, I just write down everything I remember about it. Then I will go back and re-read/re-watch it with my tribute in mind so that I don't miss out on any details!

My notes are always a mess of information, though, and I take forever just writing up a two minute scene. I always start off by writing the bare facts (like what happened, what was said) and then I will take a minute to analyze what that could mean in the context of my tribute (like for a character tribute, how that effects their growth, for a relationship tribute, how that fits in their dynamic, for a series tribute, how that effects the flow of the story etc etc.)

I don't mind note taking but it also depends what kind of site I am aiming for. Most of my OPS, I don't bother because they're more about character analysis or a big babbling of why I like them. However, if I want a more linear, logical site, notes are a must!

[Tara]

Once I decide on a shrine subject, I usually bust out a notepad (I have a certain one used only for shrines so I don't get unorganized!), and write down as much information as I can. If it's something I can or want to play and/or watch again, I'll keep it handy to jot things down as I go. For more organized shrines like Polka whom I knew I was going to make a tribute for before I played the game, I tend to jot down ideas for pages as I go, writing little tidbits in bullet points underneath the page name. Sometimes I add on to them as progress goes, sometimes I don't. I tend to use different colours to remind myself of different sections!

For less organized shrines, I tend to figure out subjects I want to tackle, and then organize them into sections and pages. Once I have the pages figured out, I do some brainstorming + internet research to figure out everything I want to write about. My less organized shrines look a lot neater, but don't be fooled -- they are not!

Most of time words just pour out as I start typing and I end up with really disorganized pages lol, so I tend to do a lot of organizing afterwords, despite all my efforts to take notes... I'm so scatterbrained most of the time and sometimes have to separate some ideas into a few different ones so I don't have several very long pages!!

[Laura]

Amagad! You should see the notes I took for my Fruits Basket sites. @_@ I was already familiar with the series so I took notes as I re-read the manga for every interaction between all relevant characters (for two sites at once no less). However, I have to admit, I kinda slacked off near the end because I just wanted to actually read the manga instead of pausing every page or two to write stuff down. I don't think I actually read the last volume or two before.

I wish I had taken at least some basic notes for those last few volumes though, because I've had to go back and try to remember certain things. >.< Would have been much handier if I did the work before. I guess that'll teach me to slack, huh?