Hi, I’m James and I love to sketchnote. That’s a fancy way of saying I like to embellish my notes with doodles that help tell the story of what I’m recording. This eBook-turned-website is all about how you can sketchnote too.
What are sketchnotes?
A visual note-taking process where the note-taker applies common shapes, simple figures, borders or decorative doodling that support and add imagery to what would otherwise be just a bunch of text on a page.
Some Examples (click on the images to enlarge):
While almost any note-taking opportunity is a great place to sketchnote, I have found a regular opportunity to use sketchnoting in my study of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve put together this site with that focus. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon Faith) I value the Bible, Book of Mormon and the teachings of our Church leaders as revelation from God, and you’ll see that reflected in my sketchnotes.
Regardless of any religious differences you and I might have, I hope we can find common ground in how sketchnotes can help infuse our respective study of the gospel of Jesus Christ with more energy and creativity.
Sketchnoting and Gospel Study
LDS Apostle Elder Richard G. Scott taught, “Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in a time of need,” (“Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Ensign, Nov. 1993). As a visual person, I find that sketchnoting helps me better capture both concepts and feelings in my notes. That creative effort makes it stick a little more in my brain, and also helps me recall where in my notes I recorded those thoughts (which, frankly, also increases the likelihood that I look at my notes more than once or twice).
Additionally, I feel the energy and creativity that I put into my notes helps me demonstrate to the Lord how important His word is to me. I also find that my sketchnotes become a natural way to share what inspires me with others.
Richard G. Scott
This visual note taking process isn’t meant to be the end-all be-all way of taking notes. Most importantly, sketchnotes is intended to be an addition to your study tool belt. A new talent that you can use to enrich your own study experience and perhaps that of others. As we’ll discuss, there’s a lot of different ways you might the ideas behind sketchnoting to a variety of settings, not the least of all is personal gospel study.
About This Site
This site has two sections: A starter’s guide to sketchnoting organized in quick, easy-to-read chapters and a blog with ideas and inspiration. As you start to sketchnote, you can submit your sketchnotes and we’ll feature them on the blog.