The Family History Writing Challenge is an opportunity for all genealogists, to set some valuable time aside for the next 29 days and commit to writing their family history stories. No more excuses. There are so many benefits to writing your family history.
- First for yourself, assembling your years of research into a readable and sharable format is very rewarding.
- Secondly, genealogy has never just been about the research, behind all those facts and documents there hides a story. If you have done your job well, then that story will reveal itself through your research, now it’s time to write and record those stories an engaging format.
- Thirdly, it is the most concise way of educating your family about their history.
Stop procrastinating, the research will never be done, take what you know, today, now, and begin to assemble your stories. Dedicate the month of February to sitting down and putting your fingers to the keyboard and write your family history.
In an effort to give many of you a gentle push, The Armchair Genealogist is declaring February, Family History Writing Month and I am inviting you to join our challenge.
I am calling on all my fellow genealogist, family historians, beginners and advanced alike, to pledge to begin to write your family history during the month of February.
Here’s the details.
A 29-Day Commitment to Writing Your Family History
The What, When, Where and How of it All
Why should I sign up?
To actively participate in an opportunity to write your family history, without having to worry about quality. The key to writing is to write. Stop procrastinating; finally commit pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Assemble those family facts into a format someone will want to read.
Whom Do I Write About?
A single ancestor, a surname, a branch of your tree, you pick.
You select the ancestor or ancestors, the timeframe, just keep in mind who you feel most prepared to write about in terms of research and interest, and who are you most motivated to write about.
How Much Do I Need to Write?
You pick the amount 250, 500, 1000 words a day whatever you can work into your schedule.
Do the math.
250 words x 28 days = 7000 words, you would be well on your way!
500 words x 28 days = 14,000 words, this would be an incredible start!
1000 words x 28 days = 28,000 words, you would be a hero!
Where Do I Write?
Write on your computer, ipad, typewriter, longhand (tough to do word count). Write in your office, at the kitchen table, the local coffee shop, the lawn chair (if your someplace sunny- lucky you), or beside a roaring fire (that would be me).
What If It’s Not Good Enough?
This exercise is not about quality. Very few of us can sit down and shoot out a masterpiece on the first draft. Newsbreak..... most of us take a half dozen passes at it before it is worthy of anyone else’s eyes. This is about making a start. There will be plenty of time to edit your masterpiece later, committing to the word count is a huge step to making it happen.
When Does it Begin?
The Family History Writing Challenge begins Feb 1st to February 29th. I am asking you to commit 29 days to writing your family history, in the hopes that you will get a running start and you will never look back.
Where Do I Sign Up?
Right here, leave your pledge in comments or link to your own blog post, no goal is official until you have written it down and shared it. Once you verbalize, you become more committed. If you prefer to keep it to yourself that's ok too.
Be sure to sign up for the Family History Writing Challenge Daily Reminder. Each day you’ll receive a small motivational message from me. There will be instructional and motivational posts throughout the month, and hopefully we can share and ask advice. By signing for the daily reminders you’ll be sure not to miss a thing. At the end of the month, if you would like, you can share how you did here in comments or on your own blog.
What is stopping you from starting your writing? Let me know, and I will try to help you overcome those obstacles. Meanwhile, you have the next 14 days to get yourself organized to start writing.
Write your family history in 29 days, are you ready to take the challenge? Sign up here.