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Do you have a fascinating family story to tell? Skeletons rattling the closet door trying to get out? Maybe, like me, you’ve heard family stories all your life that you’d like to record before they’re forgotten. Or there’s a character or two in your background whose adventures would make a great read. More and more people are discovering the joy of writing family history. Beyond the dry dates and names of “who begat whom,” every family has a rich history of people, events and impacts that carry significance for not only the past, but also present and future generations. But how and where do you start? What resources are available? And what if you aren’t “a writer”? These are the questions I’m most frequently asked – and here’s what I’ve learned:
How and Where Do You Start? - Write down what you already know about your family members: names, significant dates, relationships. This can form the first step towards a genealogy chart. It also tells you where the gaps in your information are and indicates who you most need to talk to, to fill those gaps. - Find the family storyteller(s) and interview them. Prepare a list of questions in advance, schedule a convenient time (and time period – don’t wear out your welcome in the first visit!) Record the interview for later transcription – this allows you to focus on the discussion, not on writing down the information. The recordings themselves can become the oral history of your family: you can compile and index the recordings, add some narrative to tie the stories together and make some CDs to share with family members. Or you can transcribe the recordings with minimal editing to keep the “voice” of the storyteller and give the reader the sense of being told the stories directly. - Send out questionnaires: to faraway relatives, or even those close by. Encourage them to jot their answers down in point form and return the forms to you, or to use the questionnaire to prepare for an interview with you. - Hunt down family photos, diaries, cookbooks, bibles, passports and heirlooms: these items are the beginnings of the recorded history of your family. They give you valuable, hard data, and will also provide you with many questions for your interviewees!
What Resources are Available? - You have many resources at your disposal, and many of them are free. Begin with the public library and the Internet, under the subject heading “Family History.” You’ll find information on everything from how to conduct interviews and research, to how to organize your material, to printing and publishing a family history. Libraries and the Internet are both invaluable sources for social history, background on places, and specific details – like the weather, which really adds to the immediacy of the story. - The local Family History Centre. A service of the Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints) available in most cities in North America and online at www.familysearch.org. Here you will find civil and church records going back many centuries, for most places around the world. For example, though the FHC in Ottawa I was able to obtain microfilm birth, death and marriage records for my ancestors from rural villages in 19th century Hungary. This service is inexpensive and the local and online sites offer many “how to” resources as well. - Cemeteries; city and county vital records departments. These sources also provide key information: births, deaths, causes of death, marriage, divorce, property deeds etc. Costs and availability vary depending on the place you are searching. If at all possible, visit the location and do the searching yourself – you’ll save money and will often dig deeper than a clerk would.
What if I’m not a writer? - Write it anyway! Your passion for the story will come through and you can always solicit the help of an editor, or get feedback from a friend who has some skill in writing. There are also local writers’ groups you can tap into, and many books for beginning writers as well. - Think like a writer anyway, and consider from the outset: what is the size and scope of your family history? Is this to be an essay, containing the details of one family member’s life? Or a full-size book with photos and genealogy charts to supplement the narrative? Maybe you want to compile a scrapbook with photos and pages from diaries and recipes. Who is the audience? Are you writing just for the family, or do you intend this for a more general readership? The answer will determine the amount of supplemental research you need to do, and what stories you include. - Use a writer’s techniques: end a chapter on an exciting note – keeping the reader reading. Think in terms of “scenes” (like in a movie) and write the story in a series of action-based scenes, each one moving the story along or revealing something more about a character. You can do this even when you’re not writing fiction; it’s called narrative non-fiction. Be creative! Add poetry if you are so inspired (either your own or, with permission, someone else’s) to add depth to the story. I had my ancestors’ handwriting analysed, as a way of trying to learn something about the personalities of people long dead. - Work like a writer: set a schedule for yourself, measured either in number of hours per day or number of pages per day. This will keep your project moving towards completion and keep you energized, because you will be able to measure consistent progress.
For more in-depth instruction, you might be interested in my series of workshops, “How to Write Family History - Even if You’re Not a Writer.” Click on “Events” for more information and to see where these workshops are being offered
As the family historian, your gift to your family in terms of recorded stories and memories is priceless. And for a broader audience, family history is a timeless genre, along with biography and memoir. When we can relate to, sympathize with, or learn from them, we love to read other people’s stories.
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