The Making of a Kramer paper

Making a Kramer Paper

     The Kramer Paper has been around for over twenty years in one form or another, not counting a few hiatuses. Overall the process of making newsletters has remained the same: recall relevant events (though what counts as relevant to a 10 year old and an adult are very different) then type it up. 

    Since then I have modified my process a bit. Being a creative writer, I wanted to better reflect this in my work for this publication. 

    This page documents the steps that go towards crafting an issue of the Kramer Paper, and later, the articles posted on this blog:

When visiting a site--or simply anywhere I think might result in a story to tell--I go armed with a camera, an observant eye, and a journal (or a phone). Research and prior experience are considered when writing articles, but I go in with an open mind. 

An essential step to writing detailed articles, I find, is taking notes on the event or destination involving sights, sounds, and fine details that might otherwise be forgotten. Recalling them after the fact is possible, but these ideas are best captured at the time. I'm a writer: words come to me while out walking, and capturing these yield best results. These are gathered together in a journal or in my phone.

Photos are taken by all three of us, with cameras of varying complexity, ranging from smartphones to digital cameras with multiple settings. The Kramer Paper is given access to the collections, and photos that best represent the articles are selected, generally one or two per article.

When I have down time, I take the notes I wrote and weave them together in a document on my computer. I use the wording in the notes and form an informative, yet personal article.I write first for my family and friends, but I use a style that could grab anyone's attention. I try to write these articles in a way that will speak to anyone. 

On my home computer, I combine the articles into a single document, add photos where relevant, and then proof and print the newsletters. I take a screenshot of the first page, and add that to the blog with a table of contents for relevant articles. The process of organizing and editing a newsletter takes a few hours, but is often spread over a few days.
After about a week, to give readers of the Newsletter a chance to read it first, the articles are transferred to the blog where you are reading them now.