This week's webinar is the second one in the series, "Your Life Story Assets." In this webinar, we talk about your pictures and documents - how to gather, organize, and begin to use them to trigger memories and assist in the storytelling process.
Read moreUse Evernote to Write a Memoir
Over the weekend, as I was in the organizing mode (specifically, organizing better my genealogy files), I ran across this article on Evernote's blog. It had some great ideas for using the Evernote app to capture and organize genealogy information, but it also gave me an idea:
I could use Evernote as an electronic timeline and capture device for a life story project! Many writers use Evernote to write novels, so why couldn't I use it to write a memoir?
Read moreHow to Organize Your Digitized Genealogy Photos
Organize your scanned genealogy photos and documents on your computer based on a four-color file system.
Now that you've scanned all your old family photos and genealogical documents, here's a simple way to keep them organized in folders on your computer or in cloud storage. When your stuff is well-organized, it will be so much easier to make a genealogy book or upload to a website.
I use a color-coded filing method (developed by Mary Hill) for all my genealogical paper. I've been happily using this simple, logical method for years, so I have transferred the same method to my computer system. Here's how I did it.
Read moreLife Story Webinars - #1 Defining Your Purpose and Creating a Timeline
This week's webinar is the first one in the series, "Defining Your Purpose and Creating a Life Timeline." Enjoy! We'd love to know what you think (be kind, because we were still kind of figuring out the how-to-do-a-webinar stuff.")
Read moreWhat Tense and Point of View Should I Use in My Memoir?
Decisions, decisions....
"What tense and point of view should I use in my memoir?" This was a question posed to us last Saturday after one of our personal history seminars. "What a great topic for a blog post," I thought. So here it is!
Read moreOur Top Ten Favorite Quotes about Writing a Personal History
Our top ten favorite quotes to help you write about your life.
After teaching last Saturday we had several patrons approach us, wanting some of the great quotes we used in our presentations. So here they are--a little inspiration for your Monday morning!
Read moreAre You a Precrastinator?
"I know the sun is shining, but I spent two days looking for this umbrella on ebay!"
This article (which I was reading at 9:00 this morning when I really should have been writing this blog post) got me thinking. I'm generally not a procrastinator, but am I a precrastinator? This distinction probably applies to more of us than we might think.
Read moreThe 100 Most Influential People - In Your Life
Our lives are not our own; we are interconnected in a web of influence and inspiration. Who are the people who have influenced you? (This beautiful necklace, entitled "I Am Who They Were," is by Ashley Gilreath.)
As I scanned the list of 100 names who have influenced the world, I thought, “besides those who have influenced the world at large, who are the people who have influenced my life more directly?”
Read more3 Tips for a Better Book Cover
One of our latest covers, for client Jimmie Hughes. It incorporates a title and subtitle, three different fonts, a photo, and decorative elements. It manages to convey a lighthearted, western mood without being too busy.
We've all heard the adage, "you can't judge a book by its cover." That's a great philosophy, metaphorically speaking, but when it comes to actual, literal books -- we do judge, to a great degree, the worthiness of what's inside by the cover design.
Rewarding though it surely is, writing your life stories takes a lot of time and effort. You want your stories to be read and enjoyed after all that work. So it's important to put some thought into what you want the cover of your book to look like. It should be immediately interesting and not too complicated, inviting the reader to open the cover and discover more.
Read moreLink of the Week: How They Made Books in 1947
Here's a great article on Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter that reminds us how tough it was to make a book back then.
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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!