Literature Notes
Table of Contents
After reading a source, write what stuck in your own words - not a pile of copied highlights.
Key Concept
- A highlight dump is not thinking - the author's idea has to pass through my words first.
- Source notes stay tied to the book or talk - your atoms link out, not the other way around.
- Atomic Notes are your claims; literature notes hold the source.
Level 1 - Recognize
Literature notes capture your take on a source in your own words - what it argued and what you think, not pasted highlights.
Level 2 - Explain
Like telling a friend the story in your voice instead of reading every yellow mark back to them, the author's idea passes through you first.
Level 3 - Use
After you read, write one page in your words - if it reads like the highlight reel, you captured the book, not your thinking.
Level 4 - Connect
Literature notes sit between reading and evergreen writing - skip the translation step and you link quotes you never owned.
Level 5 - Create
Grow Atomic Notes from literature notes when one claim earns its own page - Layered Reading feeds the stack without a highlight dump.
Examples
- Glad I wrote one paragraph on the coach's chapter about zone defense, not yellow highlights on every page.
- The PTA recap was what I actually remembered from the meeting, not a transcript of every speaker.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | The Collector's Fallacy | when the opposite frame fits better |
| extends | Atomic Notes | Literature notes distill into atomic claims you can link |
| extends | Intellectual Sourcing | Source notes start where you track what you read |
| extends | Layered Reading | Each pass shrinks the source into your words |
| extends | Take Smart Notes | Ahrens step two before Evergreen Notes enter the slip-box |
