A Narrative is driven by context. It is your job as the author to choose and drive that context all the way through your book.

You will make a series of decisions in-camera and on the computer that will affect the narrative direction of your creation. For this, you may consider making a ‘Mission Statement’ that will help you with the larger story that will ultimately become your book.

A Narrative direction will keep you centered, allowing you to honor your narrative goal. Watch this quick video tips to choose a Narrative direction.

Choosing a Narrative Direction

Force yourself to choose a series of images that will be built on a context. Choosing a context is a great approach to take when it comes to shooting pictures and organizing them and editing them quickly.

It is a way to plan stories and group common occurrences. I do this all the time when I shoot pictures because it gives me an assignment while shooting. I also use the technique when I am staring at about 100 pictures and I need to put them into a cohesive sequence.

A context can be just about anything…

< Pet smells, Abstract shapes, Buildings I like, Cloud shapes, Close-up on shoes, vacation breakfasts, car-trips - scenes from my window, Dad’s favorite chair, Chalk drawings, Yellow outfits, Great flowers, scenes in Mirrors, Pets in my neighborhood, Shadows in my backyard, birds-eye views, baseball jerseys, Worm’s-eye views, The hands of our family, Chloe’s favorite toys, The video box collection, Bike (details), bedspread patterns, The kid’s sippy cups, our Morning rituals, A walk in the Park, A really fun slide, Grandpa’s chores, Favorite documents >

No matter what you choose your narrative direction to be, enjoy the process of gathering a body of work aligned with something that gives you the freedom and creativity to author something you will enjoy for years to come.

Excerpt taken from the book The Future of Memories