Is it narcissistic to write a memoir?
"I don't want to brag about myself." It's a refrain Tom and I hear often, especially from those of a certain generation. Taught to be polite, self-sacrificing, not to toot one's own horn, these good folks have trouble with the idea of preserving their life experiences, even when their children or grandchildren are clamoring for stories.
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Here's a low-stress way to organize your digital photos. No special software required.
I know, I know, I need to get those hundreds (thousands?) of digital photos on my computer (and smartphones and flash drives and discs and....)! But it's just so overwhelming, when am I going to find the time?
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Cosmic Runner by Peter Max, my favorite artist at the time. © Peter Max 2013
Tom and I talk and teach about this all the time: the importance of story. In our classes and presentations, in webinars, and with our clients, we encourage people to think deeper when writing life stories. Find the point of the story! Get to the emotional core! Avoid boring irrelevant detail! Stories are so much more interesting when they are meaningful and have a plot of some sort, an arc! Go for the story, not just an anecdote!
Except that sometimes, that's just too much work.
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You are conscientious about writing on the back of a photo print. But what do you do with your digital photos?
What is metadata anyway, and why do I need it? Well, I'm gonna tell ya. It's simpler than it may seem, and very useful.
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We will be presenting at next week's UGA South Davis Family History Fair. Hope to see you there!
We will be teaching three classes here, along with a terrific lineup of instruction and keynote speakers. Hope to see you there! (Stop by our Pictures and Stories booth to say hello and to get some great personal and family history book ideas.)
Here are the classes we'll be teaching on Saturday:
9:15 - "How to Choose and Use Photos in a Personal/Family History Book" (Alison)
10:30 - "How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History" (Tom)
3:30 - "Your Photos - from Chaos to C.A.L.M." (Alison)
Click here for more info. From the UGA:
"There are over 100 classes organized into five sessions ranging from beginner to advanced and covering the globe. An electronic syllabus with all handouts for the conference is included in the $20 registration fee ($15 for UGA members) and options for a printed syllabus and lunches are also available.
"Friday night is a free session for families. The keynote address will be by Darroll Young, a youth motivational speaker for 10 years received a Bachelor’s Degree from USU and a Master’s degree in public administration from BYU. He has served as an officer in the military through deployments in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Saturday’s program will start with a keynote address by DIANE C. LOOSLE, AG, CG, currently the Director of the Family History Library and FamilySearch Centers worldwide.
"To find out more about the fair and to register to attend, please go tohttp://ugagenealogy.org"
Here I am at Rootstech 2014, spreading the gospel of storytelling.
We were thrilled to get a call from Deseret News reporter Trent Toone last month, who had seen us speak at Rootstech and wanted to interview us for an article on the "thriving business of family history." (You can see the resulting article here on the Deseret News site.)
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Here's the scoop on emailing a photo from your computer, smart phone, or tablet at its original resolution.
What is the point of having a camera (or digital device) with ginormous giga-megapixels if you're only going to put it on Facebook, anyway?
Because someday you might actually want to print something, that's why.
Read more“People who need to possess the physical copy of a book, not merely an electronic version, believe that the objects themselves are sacred. Some people may find this attitude baffling, arguing that books are merely objects that take up space. This is true, but so are Prague and your kids and the Sistine Chapel.”
Wondering if you should publish your family history as an e-book or a real book? Why not both? Here's a great article that talks about our never-ending love affair with the printed book.
Do you view some books as sacred objects? I do.
A compelling book design will draw your reader in to the story.
I'm feeling generous today, so I'm going to give away three professional book design secrets that anyone can use to improve the readability of any book.
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Your first date -- you remember the crepe de chine; he remembers the Chevy.
Ask any couple to tell the story of how they met, and you'll usually hear two very different versions of the same story. She remembers what she wore, he remembers what car he was driving. (It may sound like gender stereotyping, but it is a common anecdotal refrain among our clients!)
Read moreHow do you get from dry genealogy facts to a compelling story? This presentation from RootsTech 2020 will hopefully inspire you as well as give you tools to write your ancestors’ stories. (Audio with slides) Join me on a fascinating journey as I find one of my ancestors and write her story.
We are so excited to be back at RootsTech live this year! Come by and see the Pictures and Stories booth (#1609) and see some of the many new books we’ve helped our clients create. Alison is giving two in-person classes: The Seven Deadly Sins of Building a Digital Archive, and Making a Genealogy Story Book. Hope to see you there!