Organizing and Writing your Family History – Start Small

One of the continuing issues in our genealogy club meetings is how to organize research material. Once material is organized, then it becomes easier to write up a family history, something many people are afraid to do.

We are having our annual round table discussion this evening, so I will use my three minutes to show the different ways I have used to keep my research organized, which becomes a natural springboard to writing. I will also volunteer to work one-on-one with anyone needing help writing their family history.

This blog came to mind this morning after I received Penny Stratton’s NEHGS blog, “Writing Family History: Start Small.” From an article she read, one quote by John Bond caught her eye, and I think it is worth repeating here: “You are doing a service by leaving a legacy, no matter how small or large.”

Every genealogy conference we attend there is a session on the importance of writing your family history. Genealogy research is never complete, but it is important for segments of your research to be made available for other researchers. Therein is the value of monographs.

Write up what you have. Tell the story of your ancestors. The process will become easier the more you do it. And writing provides another benefit. Through that process you will immediately know the holes in your research.