How Scrivener Can Help You Complete ‘The Challenge’How Scrivener Can Help You Complete ‘The Challenge’

January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 0 Comments

If you haven’t heard of Scrivener before or maybe you have, but you’re not sure how it works or what all the fuss is about, then I would like to take this opportunity to give you a brief explanation. Scrivener is a writing management software program that has amazing capabilities. It’s a fantastic app for writing long text such as family history stories but offers you many features that make it much more effective and efficient then let’s say Word.

Scrivener is built on four core ideas.

  1. Write your story in sections as small or as large as you like and easily rearrange them.
  2. Add synopses to sections, so that it is easy to work with an overview of your manuscript.
  3. View research and other parts of your writing side-by-side with your writing.
  4. Export your work using different formatting for different requirements.

 

 

Of course, this is stating the program very simply. While I’m confident, you can see how this program can benefit you in writing your family history stories. Let’s take it one step further and get a little more specific with a few tips on how it can help you in our upcoming Challenge.

Set Your Targets.

You can set a goal of how many words you want to write each day. Scrivener will keep track of your targets for you. Knowing you’ve met your target for today will make it that much easier to write tomorrow. You’ll find Targets under ‘Project’ the menu.

Incorporating Your Storyboard into Scrivener.

In our Challenge Prep Course, you learned how to create a storyboard, a story plan so that you know exactly what you are going to write each day during these four weeks. Create your storyboard in the Research section of your Draft. This will allow you to reference the storyboard as you go but will also enable you to have the freedom of keeping the storyboard as a separate entity from your draft.

Jump Between Sections.

It’s so easy in Scrivener to jump around and write different chapters or scenes as you see fit. You don’t have to write in chronological order. If you followed our Challenge Prep Course and created a storyboard then you can pull anyone of your scene cards and write.

Create Some Target Points.

If you don’t have a storyboard ready you can still create an outline to help guide you.
In the Draft folder in Outliner mode, create some blank documents with titles and short synopses for each of the critical scenes you identified for your storyline. This will help to tell you where you are going. Not as detailed as a storyboard but it can still be very helpful in keeping you focused. However, you can work towards filling in the spaces in between. They’ll sit in the binder and make sure you know where you’re going. If your story changes direction, you can change them or delete them as needed. Having a destination can help you to keep moving forward even if you decide to change course later.

Import Your Inspiration.

In Scrivener, you can split the editor, so that half of your screen is your story and the other half allows you to view your research. This can also be a great help when you are in need of inspiration. For example, when it comes to describing the setting of your story, take some time to search the Internet for some setting pictures of the location of your story. Upload them to your research files and then when it’s time to write that setting you’ll have inspiration at your fingertips.

Make a Research List in Document Notes.

This is probably one of my favourite tips. When you are writing the last thing you want to do is stop writing and get pulled on the Internet doing research. Keep your writing and research times separately. I like to use Project Notes to keep me on track. In the Inspector, under Project Notes, I create a new note that I’ll title Research List. As I’m writing and I come across something that I need a little more information on, rather than leaving my writing, I will make a small note in my manuscript where I want the information and then add the item to my Research List. When I’m not writing and I have some time, I can pull up my research list do some research.

Scrivener Special

This year during the Family History Writing Challenge, I am going to offer some small tips in our Daily Dose emails on using Scrivener and helping you to improve your use and knowledge of Scrivener. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about using Scrivener then this is the year you may want to give it a try.

 A Discount From Scrivener

Scrivener has been kind enough to create a coupon code that will give you a 20% discount on the purchase of a standard licence for either Scrivener for macOS or Scrivener for Windows. For your discount use coupon code: FAMILYHISTORY
If you don’t yet own Scrivener, you can download the 30-day free trial. Click Here.

 A Discount From Us

In addition to your Scrivener discount, we are offering a 30% discount off our eBook Scrivener for The Family Historian. It regularly sells for $9.99 we are offering it for $6.99. This price is in effect for the next 72 hours.

Extended to Monday Jan 22, 2018.

Use coupon code: challenge2018
If you’re still not sure about Scrivener, check out our Scrivener Video Page where you’ll find videos that will give you a look inside Scrivener.

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

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 0 Comments

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

Creating a Family History Book: An Action Plan with TemplateCreating a Family History Book: An Action Plan with Template

January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 2 Comments

Now that you completed the Milestone Goal Planner that we provided for in Part 2 our series on Planning a Family History Book in 2018. You should feel much more comfortable about having a solid direction and plan for your family history book. You certainly have a lot of work ahead of you, but now with your Milestone Goals identified your vision for your book is clearer.

Now, we move on to step 3 – The Family History Book Project Planner.

Sometimes a project can go rather smoothly, and sometimes it can be a complete nightmare that wakes you up at 2 am every night.  A Family History Book Project Planner is the best defense against chaos and sleepless nights.  The project planner is a timeline planning tool that will help you to organize all your milestone steps and actionable tasks in a consistent and readable manner. This tool will help to make jobs, milestones and dates crystal clear. The more straightforward and more uncomplicated it is to read – the better. Don’t worry I have a simple template all ready for you. You just have to plug-in your tasks and dates.

Now, most of the information like milestones and tasks we completed in Part 2. So we just need to plug them into our spreadsheet. However, on our Family History Book Project Planner, we are going to add a few more items.

 

Add resources to each task. Some of your jobs may require specific resources to We want to add these resources to our planner.

 

Show duration of tasks. Each task should have a start and an end date. You can fall off schedule quite quickly if we don’t give ourselves hard stops along the way for our tasks. It’s not enough just to have dates for the Milestone Goals, but our tasks need clear timelines as well.

 

Add notes to your tasks.  Add notes to the responsibilities that might seem confusing or need explanation. It never hurts to add detail. The more specific the timeline, the easier it will be in referring to and keeping you and your project on target.

 

Ask someone to review your Project Planner. You know the saying ‘can’t see the forest for the trees.’ Well, it never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at your Project Timeline to make sure it all makes sense. Before you finalize your timeline, have someone you trust be your second set of eyes. Have them check it to make sure it all makes sense. Even without knowing your project, the Project Planner should be clear for them to read and follow along.

We set up the Family History Book Project Planner in tow easy to use Excel and PDF formats.  Download below.

 

Family History Book Project Planner (Excel)

Family History Book Project Planner (PDF) 

 

Your family history book project can change, and all good plans should be flexible. But don’t let all your preparation be hijacked by family members demanding certain things be put in or left out of your family history book. The first version of your plan is your baseline, and it outlines every step you need to take to get from the beginning to the end of your project. Sure, strategies can change. New scopes can quickly creep in. But remember changes can cost you time and money. Let your planner help you to argue the case for or against these changes. Let your Family History Book Project Timeline be your project’s roadmap.

Now that your plan is complete and in place, it’s time to start doing. Don’t let the planning stage take over your life. The point of the plan is to get you to the starting line so that you can run the race and cross the finish line. Don’t just train for the race, run it. Too many family historians, talk and plan their family history book but never bring the project to the finish line. Let our Family History Project Planner be the tool to help you bring your family history book across that finish line.

 

Coming up Next: How to incorporate daily habits into your life that will support your family history book project.

 

Creating Your Family History Book: Fleshing out 8 Milestone GoalsCreating Your Family History Book: Fleshing out 8 Milestone Goals

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 0 Comments

 

In part one of our series Creating a Family History Book, we looked at identifying our dream of creating a family history book in 2018 along with recognizing our motivations behind the dream. I hope you took the time to identify your vision in specifics and to write it down using our template.

Now it’s time to move forward and to flesh out the eight milestone goals that will help you move closer to accomplishing that dream.

In my work of writing a family history book, I realized there are eight key goals that I had to meet along the way. I also realized it was essential to think and plan out each of those goals in advance before I began to write.

Let’s identify these 8 milestone goals. They will be your guide to creating a family history book. You won’t necessarily complete these goals in this order, but for the sake of planning your project, I recommend working through them in this order.

 

  1. Distribution of the Book – The first thing is to start at the end. How do you plan on selling and distributing the book? Who are you selling or giving the book to? What is your deadline for distribution? Do you wish to release the book at a specific event or in time for a milestone birthday or anniversary? Even if you don’t have an event to use as a deadline, it is best not to leave the publishing date open-ended. Always have a deadline to keep you on task.

 

  1. Printing the Book – Acquire quotes for printing of the book. You can have your book published online with any number of book publishers. My favourite is Createspace. You can check out my final product here. You can also take it to your local printer, or even your local office supply store can print it for you. But do your homework. Decide on a number of pages? Each page will cost more money. Will your book be colour or black and white? How will it be bound? Who will design the cover? How many copies do you need? How much time does the printer need? In what format does the printer require the manuscript? Set a deadline to get the manuscript to the printer, so it is back to you in time for your distribution deadline.

 

  1. Final Editing – Who will edit your book for you? It’s essential to have an outside editor. While you can rely on family and friends, you must be appreciative of their time and not expect a quick turn around. How much time will they need? Consider that several edits might be required. Set a deadline for each edit.

 

  1. Formatting – Scan pictures, documents, etc. for inclusion in the book. Choose font, spacing, cover design. Who will format the book? This could be the printer, yourself or someone familiar will book formatting like an editor. You may format your book in an online program such as Createspace or even in the writing software Scrivener. Once again, set a deadline for completion.

 

  1. Identify the Ancestors and their Stories – Identify the ancestors that you will write about. Create a list and gather and organize the research you require for each. Complete an ancestor profile which will help you to identify any missing gaps in your research and help you to get to know your ancestor better, before writing about them.  Do you have enough research to tell a proper story? Organize all your research for this project into one place so that it is easily accessible. Some options include a computer file, Evernote, OneNote or Dropbox. Getting Ready to write. It important to establish a good workflow before beginning.

 

  1. Outline the Stories – Outline each of the stories for the ancestors you have identified. If your book is one story, then create a storyline and storyboard so that you have a plan for your writing. If you are writing several stories than you will want to create a storyline and storyboard for each story you plan to write.

 

  1. Schedule the Writing – Plan when, where and how you will write and complete the stories for your book. How much time will each story take? Identify how many words you can write in a given timeframe. How many words and can you write in an hour. How many hours to write first the first draft. How much time is required for revisions? Find the time to write and schedule it on your calendar. Create a deadline for a first draft and for completing revisions in time for the editor.

 

  1. Finalize the end Product – Now that you have worked through milestone goals 1 to 7 your vision for your book may have changed or altered a bit or drastically. That’s ok.  Identify and rewrite your new vision for your product if it has changed.     

What is A SMART Goal?

For each of these milestone goals, we want to make sure they are A SMART Goal. All goals should have the same common elements. They should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and have a target and we are going to add one more element, accountable making them A SMART Goal.

 

Let’s define each of these elements.

A- Accountable.

Who is going to keep you on task? Find an accountability buddy, or join a writing group. Somebody or some who will keep you focused on a regular basis for each of these milestone goals. They can be different people for each of these goals.

S – Specific.

Be as detailed as possible about what this goal is and what it will include. Write out the goal in specifics.

M- Measurable.

How will you measure your progress? Create a way of checking off or measuring your progress.

A-Actionable.

Each of these goals should be easily broken down into actionable tasks.

R-Realistic

Don’t take on more than you can chew. If you have never written a story before don’t start out by thinking you’re going to write an epic novel. Start out with short stories or ancestor profiles. Be realistic about your time and skills. If you’ve never written a story before taking a writing class might be a task you need to add to your project timeline.

T-Target.

Every goal should have a deadline, not just one overall deadline. These dates will keep you motivated and on task along the way.

 

Download our Milestone Goal Planner sheet to help you flesh out each of these milestone goals.

Milestone Goal Planner

 

In Part 3, we will organize our Milestone Goals into an action plan to keep you focused and on task.

 

Creating a Family History Book in 2018

Part 1: Identifying Your Dream

Part 2: Fleshing out the 8 Milestone Goals

Part 3: Creating an Action Plan

Part 4: Establishing Daily Habits

 

4 Steps to Creating a Family History Book in 20184 Steps to Creating a Family History Book in 2018

December 5, 2017December 5, 2017 3 Comments

Do you dream of creating a family history book?

Has your book been just that, a dream?

I’m a big believer that to accomplish your dreams you need goals and a plan.

For those of you who are dreaming about creating a family history book in 2018, our next four posts are designed with you in mind. We are going to close out 2017 and begin 2018 with developing a plan to turn your family history book dream into a reality.

Over December and January, we will cover the following in a 4-part series.

Step One.  Identify your dream and the purpose behind the dream

Step Two.  Identify and set your goals needed to make your family history book a reality

Step Three.  Make an action plan and timeline for accomplishing these goals.

Step Four. Set up the daily habits required to accomplish your goals.

Each part will come with a downloadable template to help you flesh out your plan on paper.

Today, we start with Part 1 – The Dream, and its Purpose.

Part 1 – The Dream and What Drives Your Dream

Your dream is to write a family history book. But why do you want to write a family history book? It’s not enough to just have the idea. You must also identify the purpose and passion behind your vision, any vision including creating a family history book.

When you have a clear sense of the purpose of your project it enables you to focus your efforts. It compels you to stay on task and push forward when the work might become difficult or overwhelming.

Knowing why you want to create a family history book is an essential first step in figuring out how to achieve this dream.

Only when you know the why will you find the courage to take risks needed to make it happened, to stay motivated when the road becomes tough and to take on a challenging yet very rewarding trajectory.

 

Why I write family history stories and books?

To help you identify your own purpose behind wanting to create a family history book I thought I would share some of the reasons that got me started in writing family history but also why I continue to make it a significant part of my life.

  1. I believe that stories can close the gap between our ancestors and our families. We’ve all tried to share our family history with our loved ones. We’ve all been met with the eye rolls. I believe that in creating a family history book that is entertaining and compelling, I could overcome their resistance and close this gap.

 

  1. I was worried about spending years researching my family history, acquiring boxes and files full of information only to have it lost or be packed away when I left this world. I wanted to create a book that was going to be a representation of my work. It would not be just a legacy of my ancestors but my legacy of years of research and dedication to my passion for genealogy.

 

  1. I wanted to create something that had longevity, a book that was going to sit proudly on all my relative’s bookshelves. It wanted a book that they would be proud to have displayed on their coffee table. I wanted a book that they would reference from time to time over the years and a book that would be passed on for generations to come.

These were the three significant purposes that fed my dream to create a family history book. You may have other reasons for wanting to create a book. The point here is to acknowledge those motives. These larger purposes will feed you throughout your writing journey. When you have a drive and desire for your project, you’re more likely to stick with it.

 

The Power of Writing Down Your Dreams and Goals

An essential component in making your dreams a reality is to write them down.  There is considerable evidence to support the fact if you write down your thoughts and goals you are more likely to transform those desires into reality. It also suggests that if you share your written goals with a friend who believes in your ability to succeed it will aid you in meeting with success.

Therefore, each step along the way in this 4-part series, I will provide you with a template you can download and print off and fill in so that you have your dream, purposes, goals and action steps all written down. Not only will this help you take your ideas from the thinking stage to putting them on paper and making them concrete you’ll also have a written plan to help you proceed.

Let’s start by identifying your dream to create a family history book and the purpose behind your vision. Download the Dream and Purpose Template and fill it in.

Your Dream and Purpose Template

Watch for our next installment as we take your dream and begin to identify the goals needed to make it a reality.

 

  Identifying Your Goals

 Making an Action Plan and Project Timeline

Jan 17, 2018 –  Creating Daily Habits that Support Your Goal

Finding Story Seeds: A Mini-WorkshopFinding Story Seeds: A Mini-Workshop

November 17, 2017November 17, 2017 0 Comments

 

All too often when we think about writing our family history stories, we contemplate writing about those big story ideas. We want to write an ancestor’s life story from birth to death. We think about writing our family history from as far back as we have researched to present day. These are pumpkins. Gigantic pumpkins.

Your family history might very well be an inspiring and insightful story. But when writing your family history, you don’t always have to go big. Sometimes there are little seeds of stories buried within your research. I love those stories because they zoom in and show our ancestors in their most personal moments. These intimate moments will resonate with your readers.

Often, we have these pumpkin size ideas. Pumpkin ideas are cumbersome and hard to carry. They tend to wear us down. They are overwhelming. When you write about huge topics, you can tire out and lose interest. Huge topics can also be challenging to write, with so many aspects to consider. It’s more fun to dig out the seeds than carrying around a big awkward pumpkin.

LET’S CARVE UP OUR PUMPKIN IDEA AND FIND THE SEEDS

 

For example, my mother’s life story is a pumpkin size idea. It’s a huge pumpkin with over 85 years of life to write about. Even if I break her life story down into subtopics, they can still be significant. Watch me do this with my mother. I jot down pumpkin-sized ideas in my notebook.

They might look something like this:

  • Growing up in Northern Ontario
  • Working on the Tobacco Farms in Southern Ontario
  • Married life and raising children

 

In my notebook, I have carved up my pumpkin and listed all sorts of things that were interesting about my mother’s life, as you can see above.

Now that I’ve carved up my pumpkin, I begin to see the seeds and start to pull out those seeds.

  • Her first job cooking and cleaning for a family
  • The day she left home
  • Blueberry picking trips
  • Giving her baby sister her first bath
  • Cooking meals at the Poorhouse

 

Ohhhh, see that!? Now, these moments are starting to sound more like stories, and less like topics. You saw how I did that, right? Finding my seed ideas inside that big pumpkin of a life story.

Now, you may already have ideas that are somewhat specific. Maybe you’ve carved your pumpkin already instead of leaving it whole. But I challenge you to zoom in and pull out those small seeds.

 

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO FIND SEED IDEAS

Grab your writing notebook, and identify an ancestor you want to write about. This is your pumpkin idea.

Next, create subtopics, carve up that pumpkin, usually around time periods or significant events in your ancestor’s life. They may look like this:

  • marriage
  • immigration
  • buying land
  • going to school
  • career

Next, take that carved pumpkin and pull out the seeds, those little ideas within those topics.

For example,

Immigration

  • Buying the ticket
  • Seeing North America from the ship for the first time.

Job

  • First day on the job
  • Receiving an award
  • Last day on the job

Marriage

  • A funny event at the ceremony.
  • First date
  • Marriage proposal

Seed ideas are usually memorable moments in a person’s life, but they also can trigger random specific moments in their life that can hold significant meaning.

If you’ve been struggling to get your family history stories out, I’d suggest it could be that you’re carrying too large of an idea. Every time you write, remember to zoom into your ideas, carve up the pumpkin and start to pull out those small seeds. A seed idea is quite fun and manageable to write about!

Go on, dig out those seeds and start writing.

 

 

Identify the Best Stories Hidden in Your Family History ResearchIdentify the Best Stories Hidden in Your Family History Research

November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 0 Comments

 

 

Everybody has a story. That’s true. But no question some stories are better than others. Why? Because they are built around great conflict. The bigger the battle, the bigger the story. When it comes to writing stories that will entertain and engage your family you want to seek out stories that provide conflict to the reader. Give your readers a story filled with struggle, and they will want to learn more.

Sometimes, as writers, we struggle to identify this conflict in our ancestor’s life. On the surface, our ancestor’s life seems boring and mundane. However, if you take a few minutes before you begin to write you might be surprized at what you will find.  Once you find a little conflict your job of writing an engaging and entertaining family history just got easier.

Here are some tips on how to help you find the conflict in your ancestor’s life that you can in turn structure your story around.

 

  1. Look for Major Change

When human beings go through change, there is generally conflict. That conflict might come in the way of people who don’t want to change or refuse to change. Others might change reluctantly and find it very stressful. What kinds of change can we see in our family history research? Look for ancestors who are forced to change jobs, or must leave their country, or are sent away to school or forced into a marriage. Perhaps a woman who has had a father or husband to lean on all her life, only to lose them and must provide for herself and children. Where there is change, there is generally both inner and outer conflict as our ancestors attempt to deal with the change.

 

  1. Look for Major Accomplishments

Another excellent method of looking for conflict in an ancestor’s life is to seek out any significant accomplishments your ancestor had in their life. For example, purchasing land particularly if they were locked in a social status that prevented it. Another example may be acquiring an education, or having children, or building a successful business. Once you’ve identified the accomplishment look at the obstacles that an ancestor faced in achieving that accomplishment. A woman who wants a family may find herself struggling with finding an appropriate husband and then only to have multiple miscarriages before finally having a child. Few of us achieve great things without having to jump through some hoops and overcome a few obstacles. Shape your story around those challenges on the path to finally acquiring their goal and you have an entertaining family history story.

 

  1. Seek out Motivations

Everything we do in our life is generally motivated by something in our past. We may realise it, we may not.  We rarely do anything, make any change, or seek out any goal in our life without it being driven by something in our past. For example, if your ancestor emigrated, why? What motivated this emigration? Perhaps it was poverty, maybe it was the fear of war, maybe it was certain conscription into the army. Seek out the motivations behind your ancestor’s actions, and you will often find a conflict they have grappled with and that has eventually driven the choices in their life. Shape your story around these motivations and your readers will be glued to your story to the very end.

 

  1. Look for Actions that Took Place Around or Because of Historical Events

Was your ancestor’s life affected by local, regional or world events? These events may have presented them with conflict. For instance, did a World War present conflict for an ancestor? We’re they a conscientious objector, or perhaps troops marched through their town changing their lives forever? We’re they conscripted? Sometimes conflict is thrust upon our ancestors by outside events they had no control over. Look for how a historical event propelled great conflict into your ancestor’s life and altered its projection forever.

 

  1. Look for ‘What If’s’

What would have happened if…? If my ancestor had not emigrated? If my ancestor had been conscripted into the army? If we look at our ancestor’s life from the perspective of a ‘what if’ then it can often show some struggles and conflicts that our ancestors faced in their life. When looking for conflict in our ancestor’s life, it might be buried in what they managed to avoid. Sometimes I hear family historians say, nothing significant happened in my ancestor’s life. There is no conflict. It may appear as if there was no conflict because your ancestor managed to avoid being caught up in such struggles. Look at the choices they made and the ‘what ifs.’ What if they hadn’t made this decision or taken that option, you might be surprised at what you find. It’s not that the conflict didn’t exist, your ancestor may have been one step ahead of the conflict.

 

Take a look at your family history research using the 5 tips above and you might just discover some amazing family history stories waiting to be written.

 

Are You Considering Your Reader When You Write?Are You Considering Your Reader When You Write?

October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 0 Comments

I’ve heard it preached many times, write for yourself. While this is a lovely thought, it can be very misleading advice. While it is important for you to be emotionally invested in your story, it is unrealistic to only write for yourself, especially if your goal is to get your family to read your ancestor’s stories. You can’t write your family history stories without considering your audience.

 

You want your stories read after all isn’t that the point of writing them. Therefore, when you choose your subject, how to structure the story and what you include in the story it must all come back to your reader. Will your choices encourage your family to read your stories?

 

Today, I’ve got five writing tips that demonstrate why you always need to consider your readers when writing your family history stories.

 

Tip 1. Focus the story on the struggles of one ancestor

Don’t make your story too broad including a lot of ancestors and covering a lifetime of events. The more you focus your narrative on one ancestor and a specific accomplishment in your ancestor’s life the more likely your readers will connect with that ancestor. Concentrate your story on one ancestor and zero in on the struggles that one ancestor faced in his or her life. When you concentrate your story in this manner, you give your reader an opportunity to connect with that ancestor. When the reader connects, the story gets read.

 

Tip 2. Show the risk involved if your ancestor failed to overcome his struggles.

Think about the choices your ancestor made. What would have happened if your ancestor had made a different decision? What if your ancestor had chosen a different path? What kind of devastation would they have encountered? How would their life have changed? How would your life had been different? When you reveal the risks that your ancestor faced in their lives and convey that in your story, you create tension. Tension is a critical ingredient in any story to keeping the reader engaged. For instance, let’s speculate what risks were involved if your an ancestor hadn’t immigrated? Perhaps, your ancestor would have ended up in the poorhouse, or fighting in the war or remained poor with no opportunities for improving their financial or societal status. Maybe your ancestor would have died in a war or from disease? When you reveal the alternatives, you increase the tension for your readers and make your stories far more appealing. Your readers are likely to stay committed to the end of the story because they want to read how their ancestors succeeded.

 

Tip 3. Structure your story to show rising tension

When you take the time to arrange your story in such a way that it increases the tension, then you keep your reader tuned in. Often, family historians fall into the pattern of writing a birth to death story about their ancestor.  Don’t fall into this trap. Instead, structure the story around a significant accomplishment that your ancestor achieved. In your story, show how your ancestor overcame obstacles to reach this achievement. This will create what we call rising tension.  Structuring a story with increasing tension will keep your readers interested and turning the pages.

 

Tip 4. Keep it short and add pictures

We live in the days of immediacy. We want everything fast. The same can be said for reading your family history. Give your readers quick easily digestible and shareable stories. Today’s generation isn’t interested in a 500-page family history. Write short stories about a variety of ancestors to draw in your reader and keep them engaged. Don’t discount what your family likes to read, and how they want to read. What will it take to get them interested? It might mean writing a blog post or short story instead of an epic novel or a dry genealogy. You must be willing to adjust accordingly. Keep it short and throw in a few pictures and you’re more likely to attract them into reading your story.

 

Tip 5. Keep the content relevant and relatable

The more you can help your readers relate to their ancestors the more likely they are to connect with them and take a further interest in their family history. Keep the content relevant to the times but also try to show how your ancestor’s lives might parallel your readers’ lives today. Consider how your reader can see themselves in your ancestor. How will they relate to them? The more relatable and likeable the ancestor the more engaged the reader.

You can’t dismiss your reader’s likes and needs when it comes to reading their family history stories. When you take the time to learn and write family history stories that entertain and engage your reader you are more likely to find your readers taking a more in-depth interest. If you would like your family to read your family history stories, then you need to keep them top of mind when you write.

Let’s create stories that give you the greatest chance of having them read and enjoyed by your readers.

 

Are You Suffering From “As Soon As” Syndrome?Are You Suffering From “As Soon As” Syndrome?

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 0 Comments

There are many benefits from writing our family history stories. First, the opportunity to share our research in a format that our family will read.  Watching out families be moved by the stories of their ancestors and realising the significant impact you can have on others as a writer is a strong draw. The ability to learn the new skills of writing and realising how they can help you grow as a person. The capacity to enrich your own life is a significant benefit writing offers. Finally leaving a lasting legacy of our research in a sharable format for generations to come is at the heart of wanting to write our family history stories.

Unfortunately, many suffer from the ‘As Soon As’ syndrome without even knowing it, preventing ourselves from ever writing. Could you be one of them? Let’s look at some of the symptoms.

I will write my family history stories as soon as I finish researching.

I will write my family history stories as soon as I retire and have more time.

I will write my family history stories as soon as the kids start school or as soon as the kids finish school.

I will write my family history stories as soon as I get my research organised.

I will write my family history stories as soon as I learn to write.

I’ll write my family history stories as soon as my family shows an interest in them.

I’m not sure I’ve listed all the excuses I’ve heard from others when questioned if they are writing the stories for their family.  I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

Do these symptoms sound familiar? Are you suffering from  “As Soon As” syndrome

Yes, they are all excuses for putting off the task of writing your family history stories. But why? Why do we make excuses for something that is rewarding to both our family and ourselves?

Why do we procrastinate when it comes to writing our family history stories?

Let’s look at the root causes for the “As Soon As” Syndrome.

 

Overcomplicating Where to Start

You may not know how to do all the steps in writing and publishing a family history book, so you avoid doing the first logical step. You tend to overcomplicate where to start your family history book, so you don’t start at all. Do you like to work through a new task mentally before you start? It might be working against you. Maybe you’ve been reading a lot of books on writing, you might even have purchased all our workbooks Write Your Family History for guidance, but you have yet to write a story. The more you read, the more it becomes overwhelming. The solution: You need to dive into writing. Often we spend all our time investigating the how-to and not just doing it. Force yourself into a situation where you must write and get feedback like taking a course.  You can get your feet wet writing and learn the craft of writing, but you don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to start.

 

Lack of Structure

Procrastination often occurs when we haven’t set up an environment that allows us to engage in our goal of writing our family history stories.  If our environment doesn’t support our desire to write, then it makes it easy to avoid writing. We need to create a writing space to make our writing possible. We need to plan for writing in our daily routine, and we need to let those close to us know what we are doing, so they support our time and efforts. Writing doesn’t happen without a structured environment that supports the task at hand.

 

Completing Unpleasant Tasks

Some of us might consider writing our family history stories to be an unpleasant task and procrastinate for that reason, it’s not researching which they really love.  We often look at the goal as this big mountain to climb and that it is just overwhelming and therefore unpleasant.  Instead, we prefer to stick to what is more comfortable to us, researching. The best strategy to conquering unpleasant tasks is to divide and conquer. Shift your focus away from the goal of writing a large family history book over to a series of easy to complete goals. For instance, a couple of paragraphs, a small ancestor profile, a short story, a blog post. Focus on tasks that are quickly completed. Another strategy is to form a plan that you will work on your project for the first hour of every day before you fire up email or Facebook or before you turn on the TV in the evening. Complete the unpleasant tasks before the pleasant tasks. Make a rule that you can’t research today until you’ve written at least 500 words.

 

Fear of Failure

We often avoid writing family history stories because we fear failure. Our family won’t like our writing or how we present our ancestors in the story. Writing is very personal, and writers suffer lots of anxiety when it comes to sharing their writing. Consider three possible outcomes. What is the worst that could happen? What is the best that could happen?  What is most likely to occur? Write out an answer for each. Just like noises are scarier in a dark room than with the light on, feared thoughts are generally more frightening when they remain vague and not when you specify what you are afraid of.

 

When people experience negative emotions, they tend to only think of possible adverse outcomes. Shifting your perspective can help you feel better. Reflect on the best and realistic results can sometimes get you thinking about things you could do to make those outcomes more likely, such as learning the craft of writing stories, getting feedback on your stories and practising your writing. All of these tasks can all help you to reduce these negative fears of failure. Sharing your writing will always make you a little anxious, but knowing you have done your due diligence in learning the craft, practising and getting feedback before sharing goes a long way to reducing those jitters.

 

Lack of Cognitive Skills

Some people have trouble with cognitive skills around initiating, planning or sequencing a project. In simple terms, they struggle to think out the process. Some people although very smart and successful can experience difficulty in stringing together steps of a project in a logical order to complete a complex task like writing a family history story or book.  These problems are not noticeable for everyday tasks but when you take on a new and unfamiliar work like writing they can elevate. They can also manifest if you feel anxious or fearful of writing.

Our workbooks, Getting Ready to Write and Finding the Story help you deal directly with initiating, planning and sequencing the process of writing your family history stories. If you feel like the planning and sequencing of your stories are particularly challenging give yourself the help that you need. Recognize that you may find it difficult on a cognitive level to plan a family history story or book not because you are lazy or lack motivation but because your cognitive ability is being depleted. Recognize that this task is new and somewhat fearful for yourself.  Don’t procrastinate but get the help you need to overcome this obstacle.

 

Lack of Self-Confidence

When we believe writing as difficult, we often develop doubts about our ability to carry out the task at hand.  Often low self-esteem causes writers to avoid activities that could help increase their level of confidence. Activities like taking a course to improve or learn the craft of writing. A course can definitely help you to acquire the knowledge and skills to write your family history stories. But self-confidence can also hold you back from joining these classes. We often have writers in our course who lack confidence but leave us beaming with knowledge and self-confidence. The decision not to enrol in a course deprives you of the opportunity to develop valuable skills. In contrast, if you do take a  writing class your newfound knowledge helps you to overcome that lack of self-confidence which results in you setting even more challenging goals.

 

All-or-Nothing Thinking

All-or-nothing thinking is a hallmark of anxiety. Some of us have pretty lofty goals of writing a large, all-encompassing family history book. The size of this project is stressful. Consider alleviating the stress and procrastination by doing the task more moderately. For example, you want to write a family history book that covers 2 lines of surnames and covers 200 years of history, but you are procrastinating because you don’t have the time to complete this vast project

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. It is just too overwhelming for your skill level, so you avoid it all together.  Perhaps you set yourself a goal of writing four stories about your four immigrant ancestors. Would you still feel the need to avoid this more modest goal? Would you procrastinate less if you identified writing a book about one ancestor versus 2 lines of ancestors covering 200 years? Instead of taking the all-or-nothing attitude, find one task that you would be less likely to avoid, like writing one story about one ancestor and start there.

 

There is no magic pill to cure your  “As Soon As” Syndrome.  The best way to move forward is becoming self-aware of your procrastination and the reasons behind it. Once you’ve identified the cause take the necessary steps to help you deal with your anxieties. We can’t eliminate our fears and anxieties about writing. However, we can positively address them and keep them from holding us back in writing our family history stories.

 

How to Show Instead of Tell: A Writing LessonHow to Show Instead of Tell: A Writing Lesson

September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 0 Comments

 

 

“Writing in scenes represents the difference between showing and telling. The lazy, uninspired writer will tell the reader about a subject, place or personality, but the creative non-fiction writer will show that subject, place or personality, vividly, memorably-and in action, in scenes.

                                                              Lee Gutkind, You Can’t Make Stuff Up

 

 

Writers are told all the time to show not tell. What does that exactly mean? How does that apply to narrative nonfiction and specifically family history stories?

Narrative nonfiction is comprised of summary and scenes. Simply put, summary is telling, and scenes are showing. To show in nonfiction, we must include scenes and not just summary. Your family history stories are likely boring because you are only using summary, you are only telling.  To make your stories entertaining and compelling, so that they read like a good book you must embrace scenes. Scenes are the half of the nonfiction equation that brings a family history story to life.

 

What is a family history scene?

In the case of family history, a scene recreates an event or an experience for the reader from your ancestor’s life. For example, getting on a ship to America, voting for the first time, giving birth, getting married, proposing to a future spouse or signing documents to own their first land.

These scenes are recreated from details pulled from a document, a picture, a diary, a letter. Maybe details are derived from a newspaper article, or an interview or a recalled conversation. These scenes might rely on social, local, regional or world history to help recreate them on the page. You’ll likely require a combination of these sources to bring a scene to the page.

A scene shows the action in real time.  The reader is placed immediately in the event as if it is playing out before our eyes.  A scene is filled with description, detail and dialogue, necessary to bring the scene to life. The more specific you can be the more real it becomes for the reader.

Jumping into writing scenes can be overwhelming for new writers. The best place to start is by learning to show, one sentence at a time.

Examples

Telling

Tom walked every Sunday to church.

Showing

Tom strolled along the dusty road to church, adorned in his freshly pressed Sunday shirt, the starch collar scratching at his neck.

 

Telling

Grandma baked a pie.

Showing

The cinnamon apple pie cooled on the kitchen window sill, the golden crust glistened, and the sweet smell surrounded Grandma’s house as we ran through the front door.

See the difference. In the showing examples, above we get a vivid picture that we can imagine in our mind’s eye the setting and action.  It gives us the feeling of being there and experiencing it for ourselves.

 

3 Steps to Start Showing in Your Ancestor’s Stories

 

  1. Use strong active verbs. I could have used “Tom walked” but the verb ‘stroll’ conjures up a more specific image.  I could have used hustled, or ambled or skipped, all would have provided a clear picture of Tom and his actions.

 

  1. Use specific nouns and precise adjectives in descriptions that paint a picture for the reader. For example, Grandma’s pie on the windowsill paints a very clear picture. It’s not just a pie but a cinnamon apple pie. Be specific in your details and descriptions.

 

  1. Use Sensory Details. – Don’t just tell us how something looked, show us how it looked, smelled, sounded, tasted and felt. Use all your senses, of course not all in the same sentence. We not only see Tom in his freshly pressed shirt, but we feel it scratching. And of course, we smell Grandma’s pie as we approached the house.

 

Start practising showing in your family history stories by using these three steps to start transforming your sentences into showing sentence instead of telling sentences.

Want to learn how to build a scene and connect them into a story, consider workbook #4 in the Write Your Family History series. Crafting a Scene, Showing Your Ancestors in Action walks you through building scenes and connecting those scenes into a complete story. Or consider our upcoming course Writing a Family History Scene and get hands on practise building and writing scenes. This course will transform your writing.