A Copywork Journal for Sources, Copied Words, and Corrections

Start with a location that leads back to the source

Alongside the book title and author, record the edition and page you confirmed so you can find the passage again. For an ebook, use a chapter or a location available in that service. A printed page and an ebook location are not interchangeable values. Preserve the reference in the form you checked rather than converting one into another from memory.

Keep your notebook page or photo identifier separate from the source location. “My notebook, page 4” finds your handwriting; it does not mean you copied page 4 of the book. If you began with a screenshot whose source is unknown, mark that uncertainty. Do not attach a guessed author before checking it simply to give the copied line an apparently complete reference.

Label exact copying and rewritten wording differently

Here is a sentence created by the editorial team solely for this example: “Afternoon sunlight rested on the empty chair by the window.” It is not quoted from an actual book. Copying it exactly and rewriting it as “The afternoon light filled an empty chair” are different exercises. Give them different labels so a changed expression does not appear to reproduce the example word for word.

For a real book too, distinguish the scope you copied exactly from wording you changed yourself. Mark an omission or rearrangement when it matters to the record. Do not present your rewritten line as the original author's exact words. Put a personal response outside the copied passage, on a separate line, so later readers can recognize both the source text and your contribution.

Connect a copywork photo with its source and corrections

1. 1

   Check the source title, author, edition, and a location you can return to.

2. 2

   Record the date and scope of your handwritten work, identifying the words copied exactly.

3. 3

   Compare directly with the source and add any verified transcription correction as a separate note.

4. 4

   Label rewritten sentences and personal reflections separately, then connect them with later photos where relevant.

Record what direct comparison shows when correcting a slip

In the invented exercise, you might copy “by the door” instead of “by the window.” A note below the photo can say “Wrote door; the editorial practice sentence says window.” The handwriting in the photograph does not change itself. Keep the relationship between the original image and correction visible. Without a direct source check, leave the wording as something to verify rather than a confirmed error.

If a translation or another edition uses different wording, that difference alone does not prove you transcribed incorrectly. Establish which edition you compared first. When the checking date differs from the copying date, record both meanings. A later correction does not turn the earlier image into the result of a new copying session, nor show that every other word has been checked.

Explain how several photos cover one handwritten passage

If two pictures show the upper and lower parts of one page, label those roles so the overlap does not suggest you copied the same sentence twice. For several pages, check the actual notebook sequence and source range. Photo count does not establish the number of transcribed sentences or pages read. The images need enough context to be read as parts of the work you actually did.

On a later copying day, refer to earlier corrections without claiming they appear in the new handwriting until you check. When sharing, choose the scope needed to explain your record rather than displaying the whole book or notebook. Naming a source does not automatically settle how much to show. Keep your selection of public images distinct from the references retained in a personal note.

Leave written clues for finding the source again

In Pogaem, date your copywork photos and write the source name and notebook location in the title or note. Those words give you clues for reopening the right passage. On a day without pictures, you can note a source to check or the next passage you plan to copy. Keep that future plan separate from the part already written, even when both concern the same book.

This does not mean Pogaem reads handwriting, extracts the copied text, compares it with a source, or identifies the author automatically. No learning or therapeutic outcome is promised from copying sentences. The method preserves a smaller set of things you established yourself: the source location, the words you wrote, and any checked correction, connected through photos and your own notes.