What to Highlight in the AA Big Book: A Sponsor's Guide

1 day ago

5 min read

Ask ten sponsors what to highlight in the AA Big Book and you will get ten slightly different answers. There is no official highlighting system, and Alcoholics Anonymous does not tell anyone how to mark their book. What sponsors share is a purpose: highlighting should help a person find, remember and use the directions the book gives. This guide offers a practical starting point, organized by section, that you can adapt for yourself or use with a sponsee.

AA Big Book, tabbed and color-highlighted, by AAmazingtabs

AA Big Book, Highlighted & AAmazingtabbed

Laminated, pre-labeled tabs and color-highlighted passages, ready to use. Ships in 2–3 days.

Shop now

Read First, Highlight Second

The most common mistake is highlighting on the first pass. When everything seems important, everything gets marked, and a page covered in color is as hard to use as a blank one.

A better approach:

Read a section through once without marking anything.
On the second reading, highlight only what you would want to find again quickly.
Keep it to a phrase or a sentence, not whole paragraphs.
Write the date in the margin when you finish a section. Years later, those dates tell a story.

Tabbed AA Big Book on a bedside table with reading glasses and a lamp

Choose a Few Colors With a Meaning

A simple color system makes a highlighted Big Book far easier to use. Many people use three to five colors, each for one kind of passage. For example:

One color for directions: the instructions the book gives for taking each Step.
One color for prayers: the prayers that appear in the text.
One color for the Promises and other descriptions of what recovery looks like.
One color for the problem: passages that describe the alcoholic's condition, physical and mental.
One color for your own "that's me" moments, if you want a personal layer.

Write your color key inside the front cover so you, or a sponsee, can read the book the same way later. Before you start, test your highlighters on a back page to make sure they do not bleed through.

What to Highlight, Section by Section

These are the places sponsors most often mark. Use them as a guide, not a rule.

The Doctor's Opinion

Highlight the description of the physical side of alcoholism: the idea of an allergy and the craving that follows the first drink. This is the foundation for understanding Step One.

Bill's Story

Mark the moments where Bill describes his hopelessness, the visit from his friend, and the spiritual experience that changed his life. Newer members often see themselves here.

There Is a Solution and More About Alcoholism

Highlight the descriptions of the real alcoholic and of the mental obsession, the strange thinking that leads back to the first drink. The stories of Jim and Fred are worth marking because they show the obsession at work in ordinary people.

We Agnostics

Mark the passages about willingness to believe and about finding a Power greater than ourselves. This chapter matters for anyone who struggles with Step Two.

How It Works

This is the chapter most sponsors mark most heavily. Highlight the Twelve Steps themselves, the Third Step prayer, and the instructions for the Fourth Step inventory of resentments, fears and sex conduct.

Into Action

Mark the instructions for the Fifth Step, the Seventh Step prayer, the guidance on making amends, the Promises, and the directions for the Tenth and Eleventh Steps. Many people use their Promises color here more than anywhere else.

Working With Others and A Vision for You

Highlight the practical guidance on carrying the message. These chapters become especially important once someone begins to sponsor.

Highlighting With a Sponsee

Highlighting together can be one of the most valuable parts of early sponsorship. A few suggestions:

Have your sponsee read aloud while you both follow along.
Stop at a passage and ask what it means to them before anyone reaches for a highlighter.
Let them choose what to mark. A passage they chose will stay with them longer than one you chose for them.
Keep a dictionary nearby. Some words in the Big Book had different shades of meaning in the 1930s, and AABlueBook's 1930s word dictionary explains many of them.

If you prefer to start with the tabs already in place and do the highlighting together, a tabbed and unhighlighted AA Big Book gives you 144 laminated, pre-labeled tabs with clean pages. It is made to order and ships in 4–6 weeks.

AAmazingtabs Tabs Kit

144 laminated, pre-labeled tabs to put in your own Big Book. Ships in 2–3 days.

Shop now

Common Highlighting Mistakes

Marking everything. If more than a few lines per page are highlighted, nothing stands out.
Using too many colors. Without a key, a rainbow of colors becomes hard to read.
Skipping the test. Some highlighters bleed through thin paper. Test first.
Never revisiting. Your book should grow with you. Many people add a new layer each time they work the Steps again.

Three Ways to Get Started

Highlight it yourself: start with any Big Book and a few highlighters, or use a DIY AA Big Book Kit, which includes a step-by-step highlighting guide, 144 laminated, pre-labeled tabs, and highlighters and a ruler.
Tabs in place, you highlight: the tabbed and unhighlighted Big Book.
Ready on Day 1: the tabbed and highlighted AA Big Book, with the Steps, prayers and Promises already color-highlighted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to highlight the AA Big Book?

Yes. Many members highlight, underline and write in their Big Book. It is your copy, and marking it is a common way to study and remember what it says.

What colors should I use to highlight the Big Book?

Any colors work as long as each one means something consistent. A common approach uses one color each for directions, prayers, the Promises and descriptions of the problem. Write your key inside the front cover.

Should a sponsor highlight a sponsee's Big Book?

Many sponsors prefer to read with a sponsee and let the sponsee choose what to highlight. Some sponsors suggest a color system to follow. Talk it through together and do what works for your relationship.

What part of the Big Book is most important to highlight?

Most sponsors start with How It Works and Into Action, where the directions for the Steps, the prayers and the Promises appear. The Doctor's Opinion and More About Alcoholism are also commonly marked for Step One.

From Our Family to Yours

We are a family with 30+ years of sobriety, and we have hand-crafted tabbed Big Books for 10+ years. If you want a book that is ready for you and a sponsee to highlight together, see the tabbed and unhighlighted AA Big Book.