Part of the hobby of tapesponding involves keeping notes. There are no hard and fast rules about how to take notes. I know some tapesponders simply use a scrap of paper to jot down a few ideas and after the tape is done the notes are destroyed. Doing it this way risks losing the piece of paper and the embarrassment of replying to a tape without an ‘aide memoire’.
The solution is probably to keep the notes inside the envelope with the tape until you are ready to record a reply. My own method is to buy a hardback notebook with ruled pages. It takes a while to fill them up and it’s not easy to lose an A5 size notebook!
I don’t keep the notebooks once they are full. I might hold onto them for a few months but eventually they too are discarded. I don’t often refer back to an old set of notes but I like to keep all my jottings in one place.
Over the years I have used a mixture of books. Some very cheap from ‘pound shops’ or similar. Some quite expensive leather notebooks have been given to me as gifts (thank you Wendy).
The art of note-taking, for tapesponding, is not to write down what you are going to say. Tapes should never be ‘scripted’ but natural and spontaneous. However, the notebook is an invaluable tool for prompting subjects that need to be discussed on tape.
So my method is to fill a fountain pen with ink, open a new page and start listening to my friends tape. I jot down each topic I hope to respond to while my friend is talking. If there’s time I’ll scribble my own thoughts on the matter. Quite often I’ll pause the tape to ‘catch up’ before moving on to the next topic.
I know some tapesponders listen to a tape twice. Once for pleasure and the second time to take notes. I tend to listen just the once, but often I’ll take a ‘tea break’ at the end of side 1 or halfway through a minidisc.
I would urge all tapesponders, new and old, to buy a notebook and a nice pen. You cannot possibly reply to a tape ‘from memory’. Taking notes can be a pleasurable part of the hobby. It certainly shows your tape friend that you did listen to his tape. It shows you took an interest in his contribution when you respond to each of his talking points.
Copyright © 2016. David Anderson. All Rights Reserved.
* the pictures show a few of my own personal notebooks.
Tapesponding 