Q and A.
Best choice when subject is very verbal or there are two or more people being interviewed or taped at the same time. All repetitive statements, umms, ahhs and blatant incorrect grammar are edited out. Natural patterns of speech, coloquolisms and favorite sayings are left in.
JHW. When you started your business in 1934, how did you finance it?
BT. Well, remember my uncle Horace? He was my Mother's brother.
HT. Half brother.
BT.. OK, so half brother, her father remarried after Sybil, my grandmother, died and my mother was a little girl about nine or ten. His second wife, what was her name?
HT.Alice May Jones, her family had moved west to build the dam.
BT.. So anyway, Horace was killed in a train wreck when he was visiting in California and as he had never married, the insurance settlement went to his next of kin, which turned out to be my mother. She wanted to invest the money and came to us and asked our advice. I told her that I had been thinking of opening this repair shop and I thought I could make a go of it. She thought about it long and hard and came back the next day and said she would rather invest in us than any old bank.
HT. But we paid her back with interest. We were able to put the business in the black in only three years.
BT. Of course, we worked our butts off, didn't we?
First person: Best choice when the tapes will need significant editing to make a flowing narrative. It is written as if the speaker were doing the writing. The interviewer simply ghost writes the life story.
I loved being a mother. It seemed as if that was the role God had created just for me. Other women would complain about their children being messy or noisy, and I honestly didn't even care. I just loved to be there when they came home from school. About two o'clock I would start to get antsy, just couldn't wait for them to come in the door, throw down their jackets and books and sit at the kitchen table and talk. I even loved cleaning up after them when they were sick. I know that is hard to believe for some people, but I used to say to myself "well, I would rather have it out here smelling bad than inside of them making them feel bad."
Third Person: Best choice if the subject is having difficulty remembering or if the interviewer has to gain the majority of the facts from records, other family members or others who can add insight and information. Jennie was a fun loving little girl and definitely the apple of Tom B. Bradshaw, her loving father's eye as well as the object of his generosity. But one time, when she was about six years old that generous and loving spirit was put to a test. Active in the first Methodist church, their entire family enjoyed the Sunday school picnics held every summer in the park east of town. On this particular day, the family had no sooner arrived and began eating when a group of little girls came to the table demanding to see the elephant Mr. Bradshaw brought.
Methods of telling the story:
It is best to think of a life as a long strand of pearls with each year or significant event as one pearl.
? An autobiography tells the jest of the whole necklace, usually in a chronological order. Chapters, special events, decades, houses or any other natural division can separate the sections.
? A memoir takes an important section of the pearls and makes a short necklace. You can refer to the other beads, but you don't go into detail describing them but concentrate on the significant period of time you are describing.
? An anthology is a collection of short unrelated stories, essays, anecdotes, incidences etc. that are gathered together in one book The stories may build upon one another or they may be able to stand on their own.
? A photoscribe is a more in depth scrapbook. The stories revolve around a photo or two.
Each page has a beginning, middle and end.
Including photos, graphics and memorabilia
These additions to the narrative greatly enhance the readability and value of the project. However, they also greatly enhance the time needed to do layout, scanning, sizing etc. that will be reflected in the cost of the finished project. One method of saving money is to group all photos in the center of the book.
If you are interested in taking a tele-class on memoir writing please send us an e-mail at Judywright@artichokepress.com and we will set one up. It is a fun way to learn and share from the comfort of your own home.
Keep Writing!!! You are doing an important work.
?Judy H. Wright, Personal and Oral Historian - www.artichokepress.com
shuttle to Midway Beardstown .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareWhat is a prologue? When should you use one? Should... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
Quite a few years ago, I enrolled in a Degree... Read More
I call it cheap therapy. That gushing, near-religious, poured-from-the-body stress... Read More
As an International language, English has been used widely in... Read More
Names are important. Names give clues about us, where we... Read More
Everyone has a unique story to tell. From explaining business... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?Our plotting stage is our testing area.Everything... Read More
You can turn your $200 fee to write a press... Read More
This article is to help identify which style, technique or... Read More
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing. First, there's so... Read More
There is an image most people carry of the artist... Read More
I started writing as a way of keeping safe memories... Read More
How many times have you checked out a job board... Read More
The principle for writing good screenplays begins with good idea... Read More
Connectors -- conjunctions, punctuation, and transitional phrases -- allow readers... Read More
It's the funniest thing. When someone asks me what I... Read More
Almost everyone could profit from enhancing their writing skills. From... Read More
Is it possible to improve your writing instantly? The answer,... Read More
My bookcase take up one whole wall in the family... Read More
Remember the days when we wrote with pen and paper?... Read More
The biggest mistake authors make when trying to get free... Read More
Les Edgerton writes in his book, Finding Your Voice, that... Read More
Agents and publishing houses have their best interests at heart,... Read More
The big question. Do you submit directly to the publishers,... Read More
Green Bay Hummer H2 SUV rentals ..There is an image most people carry of the artist... Read More
Rudolf Flesch, a specialist in writing skills, ran classes... Read More
In the current job market, many editorial freelancers have turned... Read More
1. SECRETS TO SUCCESS2. MAKING A POWERFUL FIRST IMPRESSION3. AVOID... Read More
What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding... Read More
Q. I'm staring at a blank screen with an equally... Read More
1. Use Logic: Check for External PressuresAre you under physical... Read More
Griselda spent hours polishing up her resume. No detail was... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?How we usually begin the preparation stage... Read More
We've all seen those ads that grab our attention and... Read More
Today it begins.I have always known I was a freelancer.... Read More
Style manuals are all well and good, and in fact,... Read More
Beginning writers often tend to think of a book as... Read More
Not long ago, I went to an Internet Marketing Seminar.... Read More
And a dreadful thing from the cliff did spring, and... Read More
Have you ever wondered why some people can make millions... Read More
Every writer eventually develops her own unique style of writing.... Read More
The Big IdeaOkay. So youve figured out that you would... Read More
Every morning I excitedly get out of bed. Just a... Read More
One of the nice things about being an author is... Read More
Have you ever had a student write to tell you... Read More
If you are reading this article then you probably have... Read More
Writing technical articles is a challenge. There you sit, surrounded... Read More
At some point along the way, most of us have... Read More
As a professional copywriter, not only do I do a... Read More
Writing |