Taking Notes

How to take notes for good storytelling:

Have fun taking notes!

Writing notes is a great way to keep track of details you might forget or take for granted later. You can take notes using something as simple as a pencil and paper, or as complex as a computer or digital tablet. Notes can be made to record the story being told by your grandmother, but it can also help you remember details that may not seem important at the time, but will help people later on understand the details of the story and the storyteller.  Does grandmother gesture with her hands when she tells of coyote juggling?  And what about grandmother’s kitchen table where you interviewed her?  Were there decorations on her wall, or particular food shared during the interview?

Field notes also help make photographs understandable. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when you are recording personal stories, you want to provide those words, rather than making people guess.  If you are photographing a basket made by your auntie, it would be good to know what it was used for: carrying food, or simply for decoration? If you are photographing the traditional birthday dessert on the center of the family table, take notes about the flavor: Is it sweet or tart? And who made it, anyway?  Ask yourself what you know about the picture you’re taking that’s not obvious just by looking at it. Bring your photographs to life with smells, sounds.

While some of your notes will provide details about the storytelling moment, it can also be helpful to record our own expectations, feelings and interactions with the story and its teller. It is best to take a moment after recording a story to write down some of your own reactions. “I felt like an outsider at the birthday party until everyone sang the Birthday Song.  I knew all the words and finally felt like I belonged.”  Notes like this capture a moment that wouldn’t be understood by someone looking at a picture.

Want to get technical?

See principles of fieldwork and archiving from Folklore Fellows.

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