Category Archives: Tips & Resources

Title: A Recipe for Writing Family History By: Devon Noel Lee Format: Kindle Published: 2018 My Rating: Devon Noel Lee has put together a wonderful, practical guide outlining a simple seven-step process to get people over the hump of writing their family history. Using the recipe analogy, she likens the writing process to preparing a dish—“you will gather your ingredients and mix them together and have something worth sharing at the end (location 145). Written in an upbeat, conversational tone, Lee guides you through her writing process, which is actually […]

Last summer I attended the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. I was in Thomas Jones’s class Writing and Publishing for Genealogists. The class was well worth the money and I learned a lot about all things writing and editing in the world of genealogy. One of the best tips I got was simple—use a dictionary! For a moment I thought, “well isn’t that obvious?” Sure, I use it regularly to look up correct spellings and definitions. But as Dr. Jones went on, I realized just how useful a dictionary […]

Title:  Guide to Genealogical Writing Authors:  Penelope L. Stratton and Henry B. Hoff Format:  Paperback Published:  2014 Synopsis:  (from NEHGS website)  Whether you are new to genealogy or have been researching for years, this improved edition of our bestselling “writing guide” will help you present your findings in writing.  Using examples from NEHGS’s award-winning publications, our experts show you how to write your family history clearly and accurately—from building a genealogical sketch to adding images to indexing.  An appendix on genealogical style covers alternate spellings of names, when and how […]

All I can say is, wow!  Kim Weitkamp gave a fantastic presentation today at the RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The presentation, Tell It Again, was streamed live via the internet and had a lot of buzz on Twitter.

There’s always reminiscing at Christmas time, especially during family gatherings.  Why not start a more “formal” tradition and collect these stories to preserve your family’s history.

It’s time to stop whining and start writing!  Head over to Sharon DeBartolo Carmack’s article Write You Family History:  Get Motivated to see the top five excuses we use to put off writing our family stories and advice on how to defeat those excuses.

Denis Barrett Olson put together a digital book that offers up advice and ideas for digitally publishing your family stories.  The Future of Memories “introduces you to these new technologies and shows you how to take advantage of the opportunities they offer to produce quality histories at a reasonable price.” Currently, you can purchase the book for $2.99 in PDF format through Scribd or as an Kindle eBook through Amazon.  eBook versions for iBook and Nook will be available soon.

Valerie, author of the Family Cherished blog, shares what she learned from Eleanor Jensen’s family history writing class at the UGA Family History Conference in her post The Easiest Way to Write Family History Stories Revealed! Some good advice!