Researching, Writing and Publishing Local History
Toni Risson - Navigating Your History - Seminar 3
Story
Consistency
"If you can't put it into a sentence you haven't got
a story" - Bryce Courtenay.
Consistency is so important - line spacing,
font size, indents, etc.
Can you distil your story to create:
Consider editors/potential publishers.
Ÿ A title.
Tools are provided for formatting your document,
including:
Ÿ A sub-title.
Ÿ Indented paragraphs.
Ÿ Chapter headings.
Ÿ Footnotes.
Ÿ Sub-headings.
Ÿ Centred headings.
Ÿ Epigraphs.
Ÿ Page numbers.
Sample Epigraph
Ÿ etc.
A Café in Mullumbimby
It's quicker to work this way. And it is foolproof.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it
living someone else's life. Don't... let
the noise of others' opinions drown
out your own inner voice. And most
important, have the courage to follow
your heart and intuition - Steve Jobs.
And DON'T use the TAB key.
Styles (in the Home facility)
Create styles for various items in your document:
Ÿ Paragraphs.
The Elite Café on the site of the Commonwealth
Bank in High Street Mullumbimby was owned and
operated by my family from the early 1930s to the
mid-1940s.
Ÿ First paragraphs.
Ÿ Headings.
Ÿ Sub-headings.
My father George Cassimatis, together with
brothers Jack, Anthony and Theo, purchased the
cafe in the early years and refurbished it.
It became the largest cafe in the district at that
time.
Ÿ Indented quotes.
Ÿ Epigraphs.
Ÿ Captions.
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Photographs and Images
These are hardly worth including if they are very
small or not of a high quality.
Scan images to at least 300 dpi (resolution).
Then they can be enlarged successfully.
Captions: description of the image (may include
time and place) and/or acknowledgement.
Table Tools
Figure 1
Margaret has largely been using the Home and
Page Layout facilities on the navigation bar. There
are others.
Ÿ Use the Insert Picture button (in the Insert
facility) rather than pasting images in.
Ÿ Use the Insert Captions button (in the
References facility) to write captions.
Ÿ Use Insert Footnote (in the References
facility) to add footnotes.
Photo of the main street in Longreach at the turn
of the century.
Text Boxes
(State Library of Queensland Image No. 145136)
A word about text boxes.
Figure 2
If these give you trouble, remember that there are
many ways to achieve the same end: when you
click on a picture a Format facility appears.
This is a useful way to add borders.
Designers
A professional designer, like an editor, is well
worth the money if you are self-publishing.
Photo of a bridge outside Charleville in the 1920s.
(Courtesy of the Charleville Historical Society)
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Styles and Insert Features
There are great benefits in using styles
and appropriate 'insert' features:
Ÿ It eliminates a lot of mistakes.
Ÿ It makes it easier to change things.
Ÿ It makes it easy to create tables of
contents and figures.
Ÿ Your document is even easier to navigate
(cf. scroll bar).
Library training in using Word - Norah’s sign-up
sheet is available today.
Verso Page
Signal of Intent
Verso means a left-hand page of an open book,
the back of a loose document, or the reverse of
something such as a coin or painting
(antonym: obverse or face).
In Poppy Drusilla Modjeska says that she intended
to stick to the facts, but found herself ‘irresistibly
drawn into dream, imagination and fiction’:
In publishing, the Verso Page is the back of
the title page, title page being always a
right-hand page.
It contains information such as the following: Title,
Author, Date of publication, Publisher, Place of
Publication, ISBN, Contact Details (for purchasing
in the case of self-published work), CIP
Information, Acknowledgements (including that of
any funding body), Disclaimer, Copyright warning.
This is where others find the information for
citations.
To stick only to the facts seemed to deny the
fictional paradox of truthfulness, and the life that
the book was demanding. The evidence I have
used, the diaries and letters, the conversation and
stories, come from memory, the papers I have
been given, and from the imagination I have
inherited. Nothing should be taken simply as
literal.
Modjeska placed this at the end of the book.
Blank Pages
Don't fear the blank (spare) page.
Remember to leave somewhere nice to inscribe
the book when you're rich and famous.
Sample Verso Page based on The Book Refinery
www.thebookrefinery.com
Celebrate (again); the job is done!
Separate Pages
Next time: Publishing (6 May)
Some elements may be better on a separate
page/s for example:
Your Homework: tell your story in one sentence
(voluntarily).
Ÿ Dedication
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