The Tools of a Family History Writer

March 8, 2015| Lynn| 0 Comments|

One thing about writing, you don’t need a lot of tools to write, a pen and paper if you really think about it. However, we’ve come a long way from pen and paper, there are all kinds of tools to make writing a litter easier. Of course, I mean in terms of the act of writing, nothing I share below will do the job for you but they can organize you and make it easier to plot and rewrite and edit. Saving you time and frustration and those are all good things with today’s busy schedule. There is no point going old school when you really don’t have to. Here’s my list. It is hand-picked for the family history writer.

Organizational Software

Before you begin writing I strongly suggest you put in to place a program or programs to help you manage your research and create a workflow for yourself. My recommendations for assembling the necessary research for a particular story would be Onenote or Evernote. They are both exceptional tools. Pull all your research together for a particular story in to a binder in either tool. Makes for easy reference and keeps you from being distract by all your other research. Keeping your research organized keeps the brain focused. Also choose a citation manager such as Zotero or Refworks . Zotero is free, while Refworks has a price. It’s hard for me to suggest one, as they all work a little differently and it will depend on the scope of your project and your own personal preference. Choose one, and assemble your sources along the way. I cover creating a workflow in further detail Getting Ready to Write Guide. Thinking ahead and creating a workflow with organizational software goes a long away from you feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of research.

Writing Software

When it comes to writing your family history stories, Microsoft Word will be the go to for most of you, and Pages if you’re on a Mac. However, several years ago I started using Scrivener for writing all my articles, stories, and ebooks and I’ve never turned back. I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing it’s merits here. I’ve written many articles on the subject and created some videos on my You Tube Channel showing the family history writer how it can serve them in their writing endeavours. I will just add that it is the best $40 I have ever spent on a piece of software, not just writing software, any software.

Visual Aids

I love all visual aids, I use two mindmapping programs, imindmap, which is a little more formal lots of bells and whistles and as well as Scapple. Scapple is from Literature and Latte, same developers as Scrivener. I use it for those quick mindmaps of random I ideas I want to quickly see quickly. I also love a white board and cork boards for mapping out my stories and then there is also the Pinterest board for creating an Ancestor Collage. We discuss this in detail in Authentic Ancestors.

Grammar and Style Guides

I will be the first to admit that grammar is not my strong suit and feel like it might take my entire life to master. When I write I see the creative side of the craft and the rules of grammar get in the way. However, you can’t be a writer without developing your grammar skills or at the very least implementing a few tools to help you out. There are three tools I will suggest.

1.Grammarly

My first line of defence is Grammarly. Grammarly is a software program you download to your computer, works much like spell check, but is much more sophisticated. You can check out my review of Grammarly today on The Armchair Genealogist, and enter for a chance to win a one month subscription.

2. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by Strunk and White
This old-school standard nevers goes out of style and has prominent place on my desk. Every writer should own a copy.

3. Dictionary.com App

The Dictionary.com App is an all in one tool for today’s writer. It offers a dictionary, thesaurus, word of the day, example sentences, pronounces the word for you, and so much more. Invest the $4.59 and get the upgraded version of the app.

Notebooks

You should have an abundance of notebooks both paper and digital to help capture your ideas. Don’t forget that all important writer’s notebook we discussed earlier. Pretty or plain, your choice, just make sure you got notebooks in place to capture your ideas and to practice your writing.

Study of the Craft

There are many books that can help you to understand the craft of writing. I read 3-4 books a year. In my opinion, here are some of the best books you should have in your writer’s toolbox. Some apply to all writers, while a few are specific to creative nonfiction. In my opinion they all have something to offer the family history writer.

On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Writing Creative Nonfiction by Philip Gerard

You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction–from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between by Lee Gutkind

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser

Writing Groups and Classes

Seek out writing groups online or in your community. Writing groups offer moral support from like-minded individuals. The critiques from fellow writers is invaluable in your growth as a writer. The same goes for classes. There is always something to learn, I take at least one class every year. It keeps me motivated and pushing my knowledge of the craft. Look to your local University, or through the many online resources available today. I find writing groups not only offer that invaluable feedback they offer motivation and accountability.

10 Tips to Score Big with the Family History Writing Challenge10 Tips to Score Big with the Family History Writing Challenge

January 9, 2018| Lynn| 0 Comment| 11:12 pm

Create a daily target goal. It’s important to understand how much time you can dedicate to writing each day and how many words you can write in that timeframe. Do those targets coincide with your goal? You have to do the math and set realistic and expectations for yourself.

Choose an Ancestor to write about. You can’t possibly write your entire family history in 28 days. However, you can choose one ancestor and one story that you can write about during these 28 days. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Start with one story, one ancestor.

Take some time to get organized. Gather your research together and create a workflow. It’s important to get organized before you begin to write so that you actually spend your time writing and not looking for your research. You’ll be a much more productive writer and find the process that much more enjoyable.

Complete an ancestor profile. Dig deep and learn as much as you can about your ancestor. The more you know, the more confident you will be about writing their story. A profile is a vital tool to fleshing out your ancestor and getting to know him or her in-depth. You’ll find an excellent ancestor profile in our workbook, The Authentic Ancestor.

Create a timeline of your ancestor’s life. Timelines are fabulous tools to help you understand what you know, what you don’t and to help you find your story. Don’t miss this step.

Identify your ancestor’s story? We don’t just want to tell a chronological tale of an ancestor’s life from beginning to end, that would be boring. Instead take the time to find your ancestor’s goals, motivations and the risks they took to meet their dreams.

Understand scene and summary. Family history stories are written using the genre of narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction uses scene and summary like building blocks to create a story. Make sure you understand this concept as it is at the core of writing your family history stories. It will also help you in creating your storyboard for your writing. Our workbook, Crafting a Scene is an excellent resource for learning scene and summary.

Create a storyline. A storyline is like a timeline but different. It is the timeline for your story. Identify the key scenes that will carry the story and organize them into a storyline. A storyline will help you to create an entertaining and suspenseful tale that will pull your readers along. You can learn to create a storyline in our workbook, Finding the Story.

Create a 4-week storyboard. A storyboard is your map for writing. Using index cards, you can outline your storyboard using scenes. Once you create your storyboard, it will serve as a great visual reminder of your writing plan, day by day. A storyboard will keep you focused and on track. Want to learn more about storyboards consult Crafting a Scene.

Create a daily schedule and your writing place. Make sure you plan your writing and make it a priority, at least, for the next 28 days. Also, you need to identify a place for writing, a desk or table, you can claim as your writing space. These are essential steps to completing the Challenge with success and making it a priority for the next 28 days.

If you want to meet with success this year, you need to make writing your family history stories a priority, and you need to come with a plan. We cover all 10 of these steps in detail with worksheets in our Family History Writing Challenge Prep Course.

This year, score big in the Family History Writing Challenge. Be ready to write.

20 Reasons You Should Blog Your Family History Book20 Reasons You Should Blog Your Family History Book

June 22, 2015| Lynn| 2 Comments| 11:00 pm

I believe in the paper book especially when it comes to leaving a lasting legacy of our family history. Don’t get me wrong, I own an e-reader, and I love technology, but paper books remain for me the best choices to record our family history stories. Paper has proven to stand the test of time, and it remains the best option for leaving a legacy for future descendants.

Who knows where technology will lead us in the years to come. I do know that printed books have been around for thousands of years, and despite our advancements in technology they continue to hold on. You do not have to worry about whether your stories will be found in the vast world of internet or whether your information saved on your computer or CDs can be opened and accessed by your descendants. Books don’t require any special technology to read them.

However, I also believe that we need to consider today’s technology for reaching out to our living relatives. I hear it over and again. Family historians tell me how their family is not interested. But we need to consider how and where we are delivering these stories.

E-books, blogs, e-newsletters, and Facebook are just a few ways we can convey our stories to our living relatives.

To reach out to our children and grandchildren, we need to deliver our stories to their laptops, tablets, and smartphones. We need to address our family, particularly the younger generation where they live – online. We need to distribute our family history, in short, digestible stories, that fit today’s fast-paced lifestyle.

Enter blogging, an excellent tool for providing your family history stories in small, easily digestible snippets for today’s generation.

However, blogging has an added advantage. Not only can you use it as a tool to entertain and educate your living family, but you can also curate those blog posts into a paper book to leave for your descendants. Family history blogs give you the advantage of addressing today’s generation but also leaving your stories in a printed format for tomorrow’s generation. We need to focus on both so that our descendants will find our stories.

Family history blogging offers a variety of benefits for family historians and should be taken seriously as a means of bringing your family history to the online world and in a printed book.

Here are 20 benefits you can gain from blogging your family history book.

Simplify an overwhelming project–breaking down the task of writing a book into small blog posts.
Organization – short blog posts help you to organize your book into chapters, isolate themes, and ancestors to focus on.
Establish a writing routine – learn to write on a regular schedule compiling a collection of narratives.
Develop your writing skills –with each post your writing will improve. (I promise)
Find an audience for your book – introduce yourself as a writer to not only your family but a worldwide
It’s free – write a blog for free. Work out your stories before you invest in printing costs.
Get feedback from readers on your stories.
Create an email list of readers who may want to buy your future book
Draw out distant cousins and find new leads on brick walls.
Promote your genealogy skills and or business.
Develop your social media skills.
Produce material to share with your social media networks.
Test book ideas before you invest a great deal of time in writing them.
Build your authority as an expert in your field.
Reach a younger generation where they live – online.
Leave a legacy online for future generations to find.
Increase your income.
Attract an agent or publisher.
Attract media to your business.
Accountability and deadlines – hold yourself accountable to an audience to produce content in a timely and consistent manner.

Do you want to learn how to write a family history blog? Join our Family History Blog Writing Course, our first online course in The Family History Writing Studio. Learn to write and publish your family history one post at a time!

Family History Blog Writing Course

This intimate, hands-on workshop will assist you in outlining and writing content for your family history blog for the purposes of curating your stories into a family history book.

Begins Jan 3rd. 2017, Registration now open.