October is Family History Month: Tell Your Stories

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Best Reason to Throw a Party

The best excuse to clean your house, I once read, is to ready it for a party. While cleaning house, I thought, is the same true about "writing it up"? Writing the stories of our ancestors and relatives is the culmination of our work. When we know that our place is welcoming to guests, we feel free to celebrate; telling stories of the past unlocks the lives of our families to all who hear them. Writing the stories is the best excuse to research.

Write while researching so that that your thoughts have somewhere to go‒directly into the notes, before they evaporate. Writing soothes the itch in the brain instead of sending us down rabbit holes. Now is a great time to get started writing, in preparation for Family History Month in October.


Courtesy of the National Genealogical Society


Writing tests our research and thinking

It is while writing that holes in the story are exposed, inconsistencies glare, and leaps of logic fall flat. If our analysis and citations are precise and detailed, sometimes it becomes obvious that we're following two same-named people! Or that we have overlooked important life transitions.


Writing Tools: Timelines and Tables

I usually write timelines in Google Docs as a narrative list, because that helps me notice each detail, and share citations between items without copy/pasting them. In Google Docs, I write comments to myself to draw attention to questions, gaps, etc., and often invite others to comment as well.

However, using spreadsheets or tables for timelines is often the best way to notice details that point to the answer to research questions and more easily show gaps and errors. Identity, migration, FAN club members (Family, Friends, Associates, Neighbors), occupations, relationships, and biographical details of interest can all be easily compared in a table. Focus on evidence which can answer your research question. The table may be presented as part of the story; or simply used as a tool for analysis.

Help for Hesitant Writers

One of the greatest obstacles to writing is staring at an empty page. Where to start? With notes and comments to guide you, the story is already in process.

Besides notes and comments written during research, there are helps for writers ranging from study groups and willing reviewers, to classes, videos, webinars and articles. SKCGS offers the first two, and the internet is full of all the rest, and they can all be useful.For reviewers, see our Family History Writing group and our on-going Members-only Study Group among others. Devon Noel Lee of Family History Fanatics has a great series about writing on Youtube. Even AI chatbots can be useful. I find both Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude to give the best feedback and suggestions for improved posts and stories.

Send Us Your Stories

We would love to publish your family history stories, short or long. There are many other places to put those stories too; all the genealogy websites offer a way to post stories about individual ancestors, relatives, and families. Wikitree in particular is centered on biographies and proper sourcing. See our new Wikitree User Group for help getting started, if you like. The more widely our stories are shared, the more likely we are to connect with living relatives, and read their stories too!


Send your stories to m.strickland@skcgs.org





Valorie Zimmerman

Thanks to Claude & Bob for their suggestions.

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