Dork About Art

We will bring more of the existing internet into our federation. This will be a bit like a list of links except that we will write a whole page for every external link.

# Form

We'll write pages in a form pioneered by Mike Caulfield for writing shared notes about what he was reading. Mike keeps a wiki with notes about material he will likely eventually use in his well-read blog.

The page has an evocative title. This might be a condensed version of an actual title or personally unique and possibly metaphorical hint as your judgement.

The page has a synopsis that mentions the actual title when there is one and the author if known. This can be drawn word-for-word from the site when sites provide useful text in, say, their about pages.

The page has a Link Word that will direct readers to the site should they find your subsequent description insufficient. Often this concludes the synopsis.

The page has quotations from the work that suggest the best of the material to be found there. Quotations can be called out with a PageFold "quote" and terminated with the PageFold ".".

The page often ends with a paragraph or two of personal analysis including references to related pages that may need to be forked into the site for completeness.

# Technique

Read a few samples. I've been note taking this way since Mike introduced it to me in November. See Recent Reads

Choose something you've read recently that impressed you with its artistic merit. We'll accept a loose definition of art. If you like it, its art.

Check that you have the best page on the subject. This could be a review of a work if that is the best entry into the work. Stick with the one best page.

Read the site again so as to sharpen your sense of what needs to be said. Think now of a smart title for your notes and add that as a link to a chronological list you keep.

Write the synopsis, first draft, and add the link-word to the site. If you quit now you at least have something.

Skim the site for the best quotations. These don't have to stand alone. Your reader (our later you) will go to the site for more. Copy and paste. Edit for brevity. Remove citations and parentheticals. There still on the site.

Close with a note to your future self. You'll be looking for this site someday and remember that you wrote this note. Explain why it was important to you today.

Images and videos are good additions if you know the tricks for adding them without bloating up your page. If you add them last you can always remove them by forking an earlier version from Journal history.

Write one or two and then browse the neighborhood to see what interests them. Fork the notes you like. Add to them if you can. Link to related works you've noted.