I'm doing a hub on my dads World War 2 battleship - need advice

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   Dorsiposted 14 years ago

   I'm doing the coolest hub ever - I will consider this one the best of my best because it's a first hand account of my dads battleship, the USS North Carolina, getting torpedoed during Word War 2(It was during the Pacific campaign - Guadalcanal). I wrote this out word for word for my dad before he died. It is my total honor to be able to honor his memory this way (my dad was my best friend)
   Now I need some advice, I could publish it in one hub, but it's long enough to be broken down into 2 maybe even 3 hubs. Since it's a special hub I don't want to dilute the story by breaking it up but maybe it will be a better read if I do? Give people a chance to come back to it if they want?
   What do you all think?
   I am so excited about this one. Incredibly, when my dad heard there was a torpedo headed for his ship he ran up on deck to watch it hit!! Lol, that was my dad, God bless him!!

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2. 66

   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   How exactly long is it, Dorsi? In your shoes, my first priority would have been a readability. Some lead in and intriguing conclusion for every hub (if you break it up) seems to be a must to keep reader's attention

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      Dorsiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Misha. Nice to see you! My dad was a great story teller so his account is actually very interesting. It reads well. His account of the incident was actually considered by the navy because there was some discrepancy about how many subs were out there and which one actually hit the Carolina, so my dads account has some interesting historical implications. On my dad, well geez the man could have a whole book written about his experiences on this ship. I thought I'd start with a brief intro and go from there. He had some VERY interesting stories that I would love to write hubs about. This one is the only first hand one that I wrote for him though. Maybe 3,000 words or so? (I haven't counted)

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Dorsi,
         
         If it matters, I wrote a hub on my dad. It is 3428 words long. It is in one hub.

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            Dorsiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Wow Cagsil What a wonderful hub you wrote about your dad. I guess tonight is the night for tears for me. You and Rebekah's hubs so moved me. I don't think your hub was too long either Cagsil. I think I will write my dads account in one hub. The hub I am working on is specifically about the day the North Carolina was torpedoed.

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               Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               That could turn into a very long hub depending on how much detail you put into it. My hub about my Dad, has a lot missing, because it doesn't deal in all the aspects of my life during that time, just some of them.
               
               I probably could have written several hubs, if I wanted to include more details, but when I was done writing it, I felt it was good enough to get across my message.
               
               I'm very honored you read it. I'm very grateful. I'm also glad you enjoyed it.

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   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   Dorsi, how beautiful of you to honor your father in this way. My father also served in the South Pacific theatre during WWll. He spent time on Guadalcanal also, in the Army.
   Their stories need to be told.
   If I were writing it, I would probably break it into two hubs of 1500 words. You can bring the first hub to a peak, highlighting some of the hub's content then have a capsule leading into the next hub. People will want to read it and will probably bookmark it. There are many people who are very interested in these personal accounts of WWll.
   I paid tribute to my father in a father's day hub and wrote a section about his service in Guadalcanal, but have not written an entire hub about it. I wish now we would have recorded his words when he spoke about his accounts.
   
   I look forward to reading his account!

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      Dorsiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      OMG Rebekah) That was a powerful hub you wrote about your dad. Lovely and you made me cry. Our dads would love that we are writing about them. Thanks and I'll let you know when the hub is published.

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         Druid Dudeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hope you aren't literally writing on it. If you are, I hope you aren't in a time vortex. It could be WWII  and you might be in Pearl Harbor at the wrong time!

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         rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         thanks Dorsi! yes, please let all of us know when you have it published. they are a generation of men and women that soon will be gone.. but their stories and courage and strength will continue.

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   raisingmeposted 14 years ago

   # 1 Good on you for doing this.  I completely understand your excitement, I wrote up my father's family experiences through WWI and WWII and gained a very deep appreciation about those who have gone before us.  As my story spanned generations I made it into several hubs but I think that the advice you have been given so far is good - if your reader's are interested, they will read it through.  And they will probably also follow links for the same reason.  I agree that if you do chose to break it into more than one hub that you preface each one so that the reader knows there is more.
   
   Good luck! I believe what you are about to do is very important, not only for yourself and your departed father but for mankind as a whole given that it seems we have indeed forgotten.  My family has just unearthed 75 letters that my grandfather wrote to my grandmother throughout World War 1.  So far I have read one and I am looking forward to reading and studying the rest of them.
   
   J

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   RedElfposted 14 years ago

   Dorsi, you can go either way - breaking it up or not, I mean. If it can be easily shaped into three hubs, it could be a powerful series. You would need an intro for each section, but it could be well worth the effort.
   
   As was mentioned, you could leave it as one long hub, but my instinct would be to split i into two (at least) if there is a natural break in the story...
   
   
   
   Sounds awesome, whatever you decide!

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   Dorsiposted 14 years ago

   Druid) Lol!!
   Raisingme) Thanks and wow those letters sound fascinating!!! Good for you keeping the legacy alive!
   Redelf) Thanks, I think it will be one hub.
   
   BTW everyone, it's not as long as I thought but now I have to decide how to present it because it's dealing with a "whodunnit" part of history concerning how many subs actually did the damage. Interesting stuff.

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   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   Good luck with it. I look forward to reading it.

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      Dorsiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks I'm learning alot while I'm writing it....well I'm really just relaying what my dad told me! Now I just have to figure out how to present the whodunnit stuff. Theres apparently nothing on the web about it- just old clippings my dad left me!

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I'm sure you'll do a great job. I have faith in you and have read your other stuff. So, I'm comfortable saying it will be great.

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   Pearldiverposted 14 years ago

   Hi Dorsi
   If you haven't already and want a layout to follow then have a look at my hub on WW1 Anzac Flying Aces.  This gets a lot of traffic and is 3300 words. It has a 6 star readership retention.
   
   Good Luck.. don't break it up - research the Japanese side and find out who the Val pilot was who was credited with the event. The records are there.. but you have to spend the time looking.

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   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   Dorsi (my father was in WWII too).  I like the idea of one, big, long, Hub.  The subject is a weighty one.  Why shouldn't the Hub be as well...     There's so many things you could potentially add to it later (if you wanted) later too.  To me, all-in-one-place, seems good.
   
   My father was like so many vets who didn't talk about his experience there.  That's why so many stories have been lost.  You know what my father shared about his experience with us?  That he drank beer because there wasn't enough clean drinking water, that a lot of the guys smoked cigarettes even if they weren't cigarette-smokers, and that they slept in fox holes hearing bombs going off.  (A - what - 2 and 3/4-line "story"    )  Doing what my father did (as far as not talking about it went) is pretty common among WWII veterans.  (Which is I guess why I lean toward the "one-giant Hub" approach.   

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