Field Manual

Library

Keep field notes you can use a year later

A field note is useful when a stranger could follow it. Four lines to write on the spot, and one to add at home.

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A wooden desk laid out with containers, twine, scissors, a phone, a mug, a notebook and small plants.

In this guide

  1. Say where, exactly
  2. Say when
  3. Say what you saw
  4. Say why you stopped
  5. Add one line at home

You will need

  • A pocket notebook that fits in one hand
  • A pencil, which still writes in rain and cold
  • Two minutes per note

Notes written for yourself tend to assume you will remember. A year later you will not. Write every note as if it were for someone who has never been there.

Say where, exactly

Name the place and your position. If something has a name, use it: the junction, the shed, the second shelf of the cabinet. Writing it down saves a search later.

Say when

Date and time, always. Add the weather in three words or fewer: “clear, still, cold”.

Say what you saw

One sentence, using the three notes from the drawing journal: outline, light and one detail.

Say why you stopped

This is the line most people skip, and the one that matters most later. What made you look? A shape, a color, a sound, a memory. Write it plainly.

Add one line at home

The same evening, write the file names of any photographs next to the note. That single line connects your notebook to your reference library.