This is a collaboratively edited set of guidelines and resources for contributors to the project. Useful if you are writing a single story on a topic that interests you or if you are an educator working with a group of students to develop an entire tour. This document includes an overview of the component parts of stories and tours, guidelines for composing and formatting stories and suggestions for how best to submit stories for publication.

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Writing Guidelines

What resources are available to help research a story or tour?

See our local history research guide for more information on local archives and materials for including in an Explore Baltimore Heritage story.

How do I compose a title?

Titles should be short, clearly descriptive and place-based

Stories about places best known by their historic name should use the historic name as a title, e.g. Hippodrome Theatre instead of the France Merrick Performing Arts Center
Stories about places best known by their contemporary name should use the contemporary name as a title, e.g. Clipper Mill instead of the Poole & Hunt Iron Foundry
Biographical stories about individuals connected to a specific place like a residence should include the individual name and a place name in the title, e.g. Ottmar Mergenthaler at 159 West Lanvale Street

How do I compose a description?

History isn’t about dates and names, it’s about people and their stories. Stories should be engaging and give readers a sense of, for instance, what it was like for Fitzgerald living in Baltimore, broke and unable to write a successful novel, or what it was like to be a Quaker in the 18th century while Baltimore was transforming into a major city. Great specific details can be hard to find, but they do bring stories to life and transform them from a simple timeline of events to an actual story.

Keep it clear and concise!

Use the first few sentences to highlight any themes, particular areas of significance or important events addressed in the story.
Most descriptions should be between 300 and 500 words in length.
Avoid quoting historic sources when the content is more appropriately paraphrased
When quoting historic sources is appropriate, try to include a reference in the narrative, e.g. In 1914, the Baltimore Sun reported, “….”
Do not use footnotes or endnotes. References should be integrated into the narrative or included as related sources.
Avoid the passive voice and use “to be” verbs sparingly: am, are, is was, were, be, become, became.
Remember that conciseness is not mere brevity: detail and originality should still remain intact. Singling out empty words helps enhance the clarity of writing. What are empty words? Consult this quick guide on writing concisely.

Make it special!

Before writing, ask yourself this question: What is my story about? Great stories go beyond the surface details. Many historical topics full of interesting stories and it’s up to you to decide which one to bring to life. An article that tells a specific story is far more interesting than an encyclopedic summary.
Opening the story with a “hook” - a compelling quote, surprising fact or any element that can grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to continue deeper into the piece.
Try to show rather than just say. Use examples that illustrate the importance or significance of a story, rather than simply stating “this is an important building”
When writing a biographical story about a person, try to keep the narrative focused on the title location and its importance to the individual. For instance, Wallis Simpson lived an extraordinary life living in many different places but the story on 212 E. Biddle Street highlights the rowhouse as a setting for an important time in her adolescence with an unexpected story of her father’s ruined wedding cake.

Write an engaging lead that identifies a strong theme.

The first one or two sentences are a good place to try to grab attention with a compelling claim to fame (e.g. tallest, oldest, most expensive), an interesting association, or an engaging quote. Beginning a story should feel like the beginning of a journey with a destination in mind. Beginning with a strong, specific detail is a good way to suck your reader in. Start your story on a pinpoint and spread out.

Example: Eben Dennis’ piece on the Hampden Reservoirgives a good background but focuses on the draining and infill of the reservoir in the 1960s so the first sentence begins: “Only long-time residents of Baltimore can remember the Hampden Reservoir, buried since 1960 under debris from the construction of the Jones Falls Expressway and used as Roosevelt Park.”
Example: Nathan Dennies piece on Ogden Nashhighlights Nash’s deep affection for Baltimore using an interesting quote in the first two sentences: “After a brief stint in New York, Ogden Nash returned to Baltimore in 1934 and wrote: ‘I could have loved New York had I not loved Balti-more.” Nash grew up in Rye, New York and first came to Baltimore for love.’”

Provide context but keep the story focused.

Extensive background on the history of a neighborhood, architect or developer may be interested but don’t forget to ask yourself: how does this help me tell the story I’m trying to write?

Revise, Revise, Revise!

Nothing breaks our hearts more than a good story that’s riddled with easily fixable mistakes. As Raymond Carver once said: “If the writing can’t be made as good as it is within us to make it, then why do it? In the end the satisfaction of having done our best, and the proof of that labor, is the one thing we can take into the grave.”

Never submit a first draft. Ninety-nine percent of first drafts can be improved. A good approach is to let your draft sit overnight and return to it the next day with fresh, critical eyes.
Make your story concise. Eliminate extra words and ask yourself what’s important to the story. Every word should be important.
Proofread. If you’re unsure about the structure of a sentence, rewrite it, or if you’re really stuck, consult a grammar resource such as the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Read the story out loud to yourself. Does it have a nice flow? Do the sentences make sense?

How do I format a description?

Plain text, not HTML is required. If you are composing the description in Microsoft Word or a similar application, you can copy and paste your story into Notepad or another plain text editor to clear formatting.
Italics, bold and other text decoration will not display.
Insert a hard return between paragraphs.
The following text and “smart” punctuation characters cause errors, particularly in the file captions, and should be avoided:
curly (or “smart”) quotes
curly (or “smart”) apostrophes
em dashes
en dashes
square brackets
Do not indent paragraphs.
Provide a single space between sentences.

While we can’t provide footnotes for the stories, specific references are helpful to confirm the details of a story before it is posted and we can link to anything interesting that might be available online from the website.

Format references following the Chicago style for citations
Organize references in the form of a bulleted list
Use major sources only, not incidental sources. If a source was only consulted to confirm a single date, do not include it in the list of related sources.
Sources that are available online should include links to those materials embedded within the title of the resource to avoid long, unattractive URLs.

How do I select tags?

Tags provide a useful alternative to Subjects for users interested in browsing through the Explore Baltimore Heritage website. Appropriate tags include:
neighborhood name
street name
architect or builder name
other proper names for related organizations, businesses, etc. e.g. Independent Order of Odd Fellows
a building or landscape type, e.g. Rowhouses, Churches, cemeteries
related themes, e.g. Literary heritage, War of 1812, Civil War
Example: Guilford and the A.S. Abell Estate includes the tags: Arunah S. Abell, Edmond Lind, Guilford, William McDonald, William T. Murdock.

See these Omeka resources on managing tags - http://omeka.org/codex/Managing_Tags

How do I select a subject heading?

Each story should have at least 1 but not more than 3 subjects. Subjects should reflect the most significant aspect of the story and place it within a category focused on a similar themes, e.g. the Basilica of the Assumption has “Architecture, Religion” as subjects.
We are working to develop a controlled list of approved subjects but at present we recommend selecting subjects from the list used on Cleveland Historical.

Next section:

Editing