One
of these days…I am going to write a family history book. Sound familiar? For me, the hardest part is
figuring out which story I want to tell.
You might be stuck on which medium to use. No matter what the problem
may be this post will give you a few ideas on how to get started on that
project you have always wanted to complete.
For
the purposes of this post I will assume that you have gathered your
resources, organized them, and are ready to start. You just need to pick the outlet. Which, may be a harder choice than you
realized. Choosing the outlet for your
work really depends on who your audience will be and what you want to do with
it when you are done.
Genealogical
writing is in the vein of non-fiction essays or stories. There are many books and websites where you
can get guidance, templates, and advice on how to write in this vein. Before the writing begins it is important to
have a focus on what your end result is going to be. Is this going to family members? Will it be
published for the masses? Are you creating a scholarly article for a
journal? Each one has a specific voice
and way they tend to be written.
If
you are interested in publishing your family research in one of the
genealogical journals your first step is to read and research the publication.
Doing this will give a feel for what the publication wants for articles and how
they are structured. Each one has a
published writing guide for authors to use as their template, so make sure you
know it and understand what the requirements are.
Family
keepsakes and lineage books are great heirloom items to give as gifts. These publications can vary depending on what
you want your family to see. On the
simpler side you can do small biographical stories on your ancestors with
lineages scattered through. Or, you can
pick a family line and tell their story.
Some themes are: immigration, employment, military service, historic
events, and so forth.
Of
course, maybe you have your eyes set on a New York Times Best Seller. There are several examples of genealogical
and autobiographical non-fiction novels on the market right now. These stories blend research journey with
family storytelling and capture the readers in anticipation of what comes next
in the story.
Blogs
are one of the easiest ways to tell your family history, and most
addictive. Posts are usually 500-1000
words and tend to the anecdotal type stories or vignettes about family members.
These posts can then be linked together
to create a larger publication or book with little work. Many of the people who eventually write
family history books start out this way.
It is a great way to get your feet wet with your writing while keeping
your stories short, sweet, and to the point.
Larger
projects can be created and managed in several ways. Word processors are the easiest way to do
this. You can easily create folders on
your computer to hold various types of information to keep your documents and
writing organized. Also, new documents
can be created for each topic so that they stay separate and not jumbled
together.
Programs
like Scrivener can do this for you. It
is a program available on PC or Mac which allows the writer to create freely
and edit large projects with ease. Even
better you can download and try it for free for 30 days before you purchase it.
Resources:
Lynn
Palermo, Writing Your Family History http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com/p/ultimate-guide-to-writing-family.html
Lisa Alzo,
Write Your Family History Step by Step http://www.lisaalzo.com/articles/FEEFHS05-ALZO1.pdf
Hazel
Edwards, Writing a Non-Boring Family History http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul02/writing-a-non-boring-family-history-7024
Template to
Outline Your Non-Fiction Book http://fbkwrites.com/template-to-outline-your-nonfiction-book/
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