23 Tips for Writing a Family History
August 28, 2006
As stated in previous posts, I learned a lot between the time I started researching my family history and the time I published Spring House: Book 1 in the Westward Sagas. Here is a list of tips I wish someone had given me before I started:
- Begin by determining your purpose. Is your goal to pass on the family heritage to your descendants? Or do you want to reach a wider audience? Do you want to write just the known facts, or would you prefer to write the story as fiction to fill in the gaps?
- Decide on your focus. Your family tree has many branches, and you’ll be most effective focusing on only one branch—or at least one branch at a time. As you gather information, you may change your focus based on what you learn, but you’ll accomplish more if you have a focus.
- Plan ahead for the publishing and marketing of your book. Be alert for contacts and opportunities for promotion as you research and write. Keep contact records of anyone who might be potential book buyers or who could help you publish and distribute your family history book. Even if you are publishing only for family members, include all the relatives you interview or come in contact with during your research.
- Develop a system that works for you to organize information: a notebook with a page for each ancestor, a file box, computer files—whatever is easy for you to use.
- Get a small tape recorder you can use for interviews so you can enjoy the conversation without worrying about taking good notes.
- Make copies of valuable documents as you research to preserve the originals.
- Begin your research close to home. Interview your parents, grandparents, and other relatives and ask to research any family records they have available.
- Take advantage of your public library and libraries in the areas where your ancestors lived. Many libraries have extensive genealogical departments with staff knowledgeable about the history and people of the region or state.
- Join genealogical societies and historical associations in the locales you are researching. Even if you live too far away to participate in local meetings, you can access valuable records and dedicated genealogists who are familiar with the history of the region.
- Use online resources: archives of source documents; places to search for ancestral information; discussion forums to share with other researchers; and blogs that offer advice, links to other resources, and opportunities to make contacts.
- Be as eager to share information as you are to obtain it. You may have a piece of information that fills a gap for someone else, and the more gaps that are filled in genealogical records, the more information is available to everyone.
- Gather enough information to work with before you start writing but expect to continue to research throughout the writing process.
- If you are not confident of your writing ability, join a local or online writers group to learn about the craft of writing or take a writing class at a community college.
- Start writing with the intent of getting some ideas down. Don’t think that the first draft has to be perfect—you’ll probably think it’s awful—but if you worry about writing a great first draft, you’ll never finish.
- Get a “second opinion” or several other opinions after you’ve written part of the story—from people you interviewed to be sure you understood their meaning, from people who don’t know anything about your family to see if they understand, from people who know something about writing.
- Decide whether you agree with the feedback you get from early readers; use the input you find helpful to improve the story as you continue writing.
- Only if you find you’ve veered far off-course should you revise what you’ve written before moving on. Otherwise, wait until the second draft to make changes in the first part of the book.
- When you’ve finished the book, start on revisions. In the first edit, concentrate on the organization and content. Is the story in the right order? Did you include all the characters and events you intended? Is it clear to readers who these people are and why they do what they do?
- In the second edit, flesh out the characters, descriptions, and dialogue (if you have included dialogue). In the next edit, work on grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and transitions to polish the story. Edit the story as many times as necessary to make it the best you can, but realize it will never be perfect. You have to stop editing and finish at some point.
- After you’ve edited the manuscript several times, ask one or more other people to read it. A professional editor can make a big difference; if you plan to publish for an audience larger than your family, professional editing is essential.
- Make any needed revisions, then, in the final edit, read the manuscript aloud, preferably with someone else. You’ll be amazed at how many problems show up when you’re reading aloud that you missed when reading silently.
- If you’re publishing a few copies of the book for your family only, you can lay the book out in a word processor and have it printed at a local printer or even print the pages on your computer printer and insert them in loose-leaf binders.
- If you’re publishing for a wider audience, you’ll need to hire professionals for the interior and cover design and printing. You can contract with individual vendors for the various services you need or hire someone to handle everything. Be wary of publishing companies that charge you large fees to “publish” your family history, then require you to purchase the copies of the book. Check the credentials and references of professionals you use and interview them to be sure you’re comfortable working with them.
Reminisces: Growing Up in the Days of Segregation
August 26, 2006
Last night, August 25th, I participated in a New Writers Panel at Barnes & Noble San Pedro Crossing in San Antonio, Texas. The event, the first of its kind, was the brainchild of Caren Creech Berlanga, the event coordinator for B&N. On the panel with me were Dr. Victor Rodriquez, author of The Bell Ringer, and Clyde W. Pulley, author of Brothers in Distant Worlds. We each had ample time to discuss our works and tell a bit about ourselves. I had known of Dr. Rodriquez as the long time Superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District who retired in 1994. I met Clyde W. Pulley for the first time last night. The two gentlemen told different, but similar stories – Pulley the story of growing up black in the Jim Crow area of the South and Rodriquez the story of growing up in South Texas where as a Mexican American he attended a segregated school until the fourth grade. I am somewhat younger than Mr. Pulley and Dr. Rodriquez, having started the first grade at Becker Elementary in Austin, Texas in the early 50s.
I still have a cherished picture of my second grade class of 1952 and remember my teacher, Mrs. Moore. After lying awake last night trying to remember where I had placed that picture and some searching this morning, I found it with some other old family pictures. I plan to make a place for it in my office, where I can look at it every day and remember where I came from.
There are 30 children in the class picture. Eighteen are Anglo and twelve are Mexican American, or as referred to in today’s world Hispanic. Not one black or other ethnicity that I could recognize. I remember there was a school for black children, Blackshear Elementary up the hill from where our house was at 1507 South First Street on the northeast corner where West Monroe intersects. In 1952 that part of South Austin was pretty rural; both South First and West Monroe were gravel roads.
The point of my reminisces is that Dr. Rodriquez and Mr. Pulley so eloquently stated last night that those of us who grew up before desegregation need to constantly remind our children of what it was like to live in those times. Dr. Rodriquez’s and Mr. Pulley’s books are very positive about the events and changes in attitudes towards the racial issue.
I must assume from the picture of the smiling faces of Mrs. Moore’s second grade class that the Austin Schools had integrated Hispanic children into the mainstream by 1952. It would be 10 years before I shared a class with a black student. I remember watching the riots and government officials blocking doorways of public schools in the 60s. Then one day I walked into my history class at William B. Travis High School and there sat a black student. At that moment the issue of desegregation was over for David Bowles – there were no television cameras, police, or any discussion that I can remember.
I never had the opportunity to get to know him as he dropped out of school within a few weeks. No one seemed to know what happened. Did he feel uncomfortable as the only black student at William B. Travis High School? Maybe so. He sure had my admiration and respect, and I suspect that he is successful in whatever he is doing today and that he paved the way for others to follow, as did Clyde Pulley and Victor Rodriquez.
Books We Love
August 15, 2006
If you love books, you’ll want to check out Books We Love. The Web site features about 130 authors and their books, in every genre of fiction and nonfiction you can imagine. You can browse by genre or author, check out new releases, read a newsletter about books and authors, and enter contests to win books and other prizes. To enter the current contest, the Sizzling Summer Sweeptstakes, all you have to do is sign authors’ guestbooks. My page has just been added, so why don’t you go on over and sign my guestbook to enter the contest?
Reader is Moved to Tears
August 12, 2006
Not long after Spring House was published, I spoke to a local organization. I shared a story from the book, and after the program, an elderly man approached me and said, “The people in that story you told are my family!”
Although the book is primarily about the Adam Mitchell family, many other people who lived in the area and participated in the historical events are included. The index, though unusual in a novel, makes it easy for readers to find information for their own research.
The elderly man at the meeting wanted to buy a book immediately. Can you believe I hadn’t taken any books with me? I learned that lesson – now I always have books with me wherever I go! But since I couldn’t sell him a book right then, I told him I could mail him a copy or he could attend the group booksigning with the Writer Friends of the Library, which happened to be that same evening.
He showed up at the booksigning and found the part about his ancestors. As he sat there in the bookstore reading, tears welled up in his eyes because he was so touched by reading about his own family’s heroic exploits during the Revolutionary War.
The bookstore representative saw a customer crying over my book and said, “Wow! Your book must really be good!”
My First Solo Booksigning
August 10, 2006
I did a group booksigning with the Writer Friends of the Public Library shortly after Spring House was released, and I’ve signed books when I’ve spoken to various groups. However, the signing at the Twig Bookshop earlier this week was my first solo signing in a bookstore. The Twig sponsors booksignings regularly, and the shop has a comfortable room for author events – convenient to the front door and a lovely refreshment table, with a table for the author and chairs for guests (something many stores don’t offer). If you haven’t attended a booksigning at the Twig, check out the schedule on the store’s Web site to support an author and enjoy yourself.
Several of my friends, neighbors, and business associates showed up, and I really appreciate their support. Meeting people I didn’t know who came to the signing out of interest in the subject was a special thrill. Everyone seemed to enjoy talking about the book and how I came to write it as well as about history. My editor was there and talked about some of the things that happened during the production of the book. Many of the guests had read Spring House and shared their reactions. One said reading about real people who had lived in the time and area of his ancestors gave him a new understanding of his own heritage.
We discussed why I wrote the book as fiction, and everyone agreed that the history was much more interesting told as a story. I even added an index and endnotes – strange as that may seem in a novel – because all the information about historical people and events is factual and based on meticulous research. The readers at the signing all agreed they found the index and endnotes a good idea and especially helpful for genealogical research.
One of my friends said if middle school and high school students read Spring House, their whole attitude toward history would change. Instead of just memorizing dates and names, they would come to identify with the people and understand the events in a much more real and interesting way. I certainly agree with his suggestion that my novel be required reading for students!
I answered a number of questions about The Westward Sagas, historical and family research, and writing. But the most common question was, “When will Adam’s Daughters be published?” The inevitable follow-on comment – “I can’t wait to read it!” – spurred me to action. I’m going to focus on writing so readers can follow the story of Adam, Elizabeth, their sons, and Adam’s Daughters.
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Logo Credit: From the Imagination and Graphic Artistry of K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman