The Yearbook Blog

Pop Quiz! Can you name the 5 W’s? Do you know how to use them in copy and captions?

• Who is it about? Include first and last names and grade.
• What took place? For Captions, include what they were doing before, during and after the photo.
• When did this take place? Don’t include the year–we already know that!
• Where did it happen? Was it on campus/off campus? Although, you never have to say at “HJ High….” We know that, too!
• hoW did the events come about?

Remember that you use some, but not all, in the opening sentence of your copy and captions. Then, cover the rest in the remaining copy or in other captions on the spread.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “W” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

What can we say? If you misspell a name in the yearbook people get upset. If you give them an entirely new name, they aren’t happy about that either. But hey, at least they’re in the book right? Well, maybe there are some things we should keep in mind when it comes to names.

• Obviously we need to make sure names are spelled right - use a list from the office to compare against so you can double check the spelling.
• Correctly ID the grade level (i.e. Joan Smith (12)) and be consistent with it through the whole book.
• All captions have names, so identify people by their first and last names. Yes, we do need both!

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “N” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Remember that rule about always placing a caption near the photo it describes, and never placing more than 2 captions next to each other? Well, forget it! The latest trend is grouping your captions together. Why?

• It allows you to group photos together in one, tight package, which is more visually interesting
• You simply number your photos, then create a caption block nearby with the corresponding captions numbered as well
• This also creates the illusion of another copy block, without having to actually write a long article (added plus)

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “G” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Yes, you CAN . . . write compelling captions: complete, captivating, and clearly informative:

• First sentence describes the action of the photo using the present tense. Name all visible students and what they are DOING
• Second sentence is a quotation from a person in the photo or another key person (teacher, coach, co-captain, etc.)
• Third sentence gives the results of the action and includes details that are meaningful, like the final score or the total attendance at a dance.
• Example: Jennifer Garner (10) and Ben Affleck (11) lather up another car at the Key Club car wash. “The week before the car wash, we had huge rainstorms and so the cars came in extra muddy,” said Key Club president, Jennifer Aniston (11). At the end of the two days, the club made over $300 which they donated to the Alameda Special Olympics.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook” project. If you’d like to download the “C” card, go to the “Adviser Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…