The joy of highlighting

 

Photo by César Abner Martínez Aguilar on Unsplash

Kindle or book?

A debate that's been going on ever since Kindle became a thing - November 2007. 

I was quite late coming to the Kindle party, 2016 was when I joined, via an app on my mobile. 

Now I'm not planning to restart the book vs kindle debate as their are pros and cons on each side, what I want to talk about is highlighting . That, along with downloading samples is one of the things that I love about using a kindle. 

Many of us wouldn't dream of highlighting a paper book, maybe a small pencil underline in a well loved copy, I believe that some of you would have me burn at the stake for even that! Though I'll admit that I do make notes and highlights in my Bible.

 Yet on a kindle, you can highlight and comment to your hearts delight, and there's more!

I discovered the other day though reading this blog post that by going to this Amazon page you can not only see all the highlights you've ever made, but you can copy and paste them too! 

Okay, maybe it's not that exciting but it made my heart beat a little faster. Let me explain.

If I see a line or paragraph that makes me smile, wince, gasp or be in awe of this writer's talent, then I want to make a note of that. I want to learn from it, I don't want to just let it go. And if it's an author I know, like Deborah Jenkins , Ruth Leigh or Liv Matthews then I'd love to sit with them and share how there work made me feel. I mentioned this to Ruth after I'd read her delightful The Diary of Isabella M Smugge, and she replied 'Oh gosh yes please! I love the idea that you highlighted and commented. What a compliment'. 

In this world of social media, I love how you can contact an author so easily. I have no fear of that, which may make me sound weird, but don't worry, I'm not like Annie Wilkes in Stephen King's Misery. I read that as a teenager and loved it. Well worth reading.  

I must warn you though that if I ever read one of your books then I may find it hard not to resist contacting you, letting you know the bits that have stood out to me. After reading Liv Matthew's The Prank, I made quite a few highlights and notes, and I sent a message saying that I must resist commenting too much as I don't want to be a pest, to which she replied 'Haha! I love the commentary - it's something you never get as a writer!' 

That got me thinking, and this is a question for those of you who are authors. When you've writing a book and you've edited and checked and gone over it countless amounts of times. Do you get to a point when you are tired of seeing it or are you desperately waiting to see it afresh through a readers eyes? 

The book that I've highlighted the most - 59 times and 45 notes -  was 1984 by George Orwell - a terrifying book, which I'd be fascinated to hear what teenagers think to it as I believe it's on the school syllabus. Frankenstein was another popular one, with 48 highlights and 30 notes, showing I enjoyed, or was a lot more challenged by it then I thought I would be.

Anyway, that's enough of my rabbiting. over to you. Are you a kindle lover and highlighting/note making fiend, or am I one of a rare species? Have you ever dared to highlight or make notes in a paper book? And do you also love to share your favourite bits with the author? I'd love to hear! 

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here.