The art of photo scribing should not be ignored. Your photos need words. You and your family need a more whole story of your photos.
Of course, photos are the driving force behind the story told in most albums or in a computer app, but the larger story is not told when that is all you do!
There’s a better, more sure way to preserve stories using photos as your core to tell a more whole story of your photos.
Photo scribing brings us to the story behind your photos.
Many of your photos need a descriptive paragraph. It is not hard to write such a paragraph. We call these mini-stories “cameo narratives.” They are not hard to create, and they make your album so much more faithful to the lived experience.
Your photos are obviously important to scrapbooking. They are a terrific visual record—but the photos do not pinpoint the story. They don’t tell the date, don’t tell who was there, don’t tell what happened before or after the photo was taken. You need to write lifestories in your photo albums or computer doc to complete the ‘picture’.
Use your pictures to jog your memory. Then using this information, write captivating cameo narratives and captions to go with the photos to make an improved memoir scrapbook or computer document.
Commit to preserving a more whole story of your photos.
Read through the posts below to begin your journey of photo scribing. If you really want to get serious, visit the photo scribing section on our bookstore
Photos in Your Memoir Layout
While it may seem obvious, it bears repeating that where you place photos in your memoir book layout will influence how readers appreciate your story. The only way I can see that makes sense is chronologically.
About the making of the Photo Scribe: A Writing Guide / How to Write Stories into Photo Albums
One day in 1996, I read an article in a local newspaper about a scrapbook workshop called Creative Memories that was about to be presented. The article mentioned both designing photo albums and writing stories for photos—actually the article said “photo captions” but I immediately thought of stories. There was something about the tone of […]
Get More Info From Your Photos–The small details for your memoir are in your photos
Look with new eyes to get more info from your photos “Where do I find more details for my memoir?” you ask. “I remember a lot and I’ve done my Memory List, but where are the small stuff I need to ground my memoir—and possibly provide new insights?”
Write Your Lifestories into Your Photo Albums
Photos are the driving force behind the story told in most albums–no photo, no story. It shouldn’t be that way! Your photos are obviously important. They are a terrific visual record—but the photos do not pinpoint the story. They don’t tell the date, don’t tell who was there, don’t tell what happened before or after […]
When You Must Have The Photos You Don’t Have/How To Journal Without The Photos, Part II
The Memory List will suggest topics to write about, but what follows is additional tips you can use when you don’t have the photos.
Write The Stories Behind Your Photos
Your photos tell stories. Did you store away a slew of photos in shoe boxes over the years–and more recently created huge photo files in your computer? (These are perhaps even worse than shoe boxes. At least, photos in shoe boxes are easy to look at vs photos as thumbnails!) Your photos tell stories.
The Photos You Don’t Have / How to Journal Without The Photos
As you organize your photos for your albums, you notice gaps in what you photographed. You remember events that you didn’t even photograph at all– perhaps you weren’t there or perhaps you were too busy to take photos.
Creative Memories and the Memoir Network
“My photos tell only a part of my family story. How can I include more of it in my albums?” scrapbook consultants asked when I presented writing workshops at two national Creative Memories™(CM) conventions in 1996 and 1997.