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Do You Want to Shape Your Genealogy into Shareable Stories?




At some point you may find yourself asking the question, what do I do with all my research? You might recognize that no one else in the family is interested. They don’t want your books and binders filled with a lifetime of research. As genealogists, this makes us a little sad. But it doesn’t have to, the problem is not that they aren’t interested, the problem is in how the information is being presented to them.

We need to be realistic about our research.  Your family doesn't want your research notes. They want stories. They want your research shaped into to something that is a little easier for them to digest. A story, a collection of stories, a family history book, anything but the raw data saved in a binder. They want it linked together, they want to understand the meaning behind it. They want to connect with their ancestor.

So how do you shape your research into shareable stories?

Learns the skills


Now I get it. You’re not a writer. You’re a researcher. So how do you do you write these shareable stories? Well, just like you've learned genealogy and how to uncover the information of your ancestors you can learn to write. It’s not a natural gift reserved for a few. While it’s true some are born with the gift of prose, the rest of us must learn the craft. You can learn to take the facts and shape them into shareable stories. Don’t dismiss writing your ancestor’s stories because you lack this knowledge. Invest some time and learn how to write stories.

Create a Regular Writing Practice


When you begin to incorporate writing into your life on a regular basis, it will become a part of your routine just like your research. It should be another tool in your genealogy toolbox that you will be using on a regular basis to transform your research into consumable stories. If you wait until you finished 20 or 30 years of research before you begin writing, you’ll find yourself completely overwhelmed. Incorporate a regular writing practice, right from the beginning, and you won’t find yourself overwhelmed with shaping a lifetime of research into stories.

Focus on One Ancestor, One Story

Often we are overwhelmed about where to start, or we think that writing our family history means we have to write it all, every ancestor, from the earliest we can place our ancestors to present. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our family history is a collection of lives that intersect and collide. But we don’t have to have all the research before we begin to write. We only need to start with one ancestor and one story. Don’t overwhelm your readers or yourself. Star with one individual story, improve your writing skills with each story.  Give them a single story they can enjoy and connect with and leave them wanting more.






The Family History Writing Challenge


The place to start your family history writing journey is with The Family History Writing Challenge. Choose one ancestor, one story and join us beginning February 1st. We help you to learn the craft of writing family history stories, and throughout the 28 days, we will show you how to establish a regular practice of writing your ancestors stories.

The Family History Writing Challenge provides you with 28 daily emails we call the Daily Dose.  In our Daily Dose emails, you are presented with information on how to write exciting and entertaining stories in the form of narrative nonfiction. You are offered inspiration and the motivation to stay committed for the 28 days.

You’re not going to write all your ancestor’s stories in 28 days. Even if you only write one story about one ancestor, the act of committing to writing that one narrative over 28 days will be your catalyst and window into a new world. A world where you can see how writing your family history stories can be a new stage in your genealogy journey. It’s also the link, that missing piece required to connect your family with their ancestors. It can be the start of assembling your genealogy legacy.


It's Free

The Family History Writing Challenge is free. The only cost is an investment of your time and commitment. When you sign up for The Challenge, we will start by sending you some emails on how to get started. Free articles to read.  For those of you who require a more structured system for organizing yourself for writing, we offer tools such as The Challenge Prep course or our workbooks.

Daily Dose Emails 

On February 1st, we will begin to send you our Daily Dose emails. These emails are meant to offer you insights into writing narrative nonfiction, hopefully helping you to develop your writing as you write each day. We will also motivate you to stick with a daily schedule so that you can create good writing habits and continue to write after the Challenge is over, make writing a regular part of your genealogy life.

Private Facebook Group 

Also, if you want to interact with myself and other Challenge members during these 28 days, you can join us on our Private Facebook group. Members can ask questions, share some their writing and get some feedback if they desire.

Are you ready to shape your genealogy into shareable family history stories? If not now then when?
Join The Family History Writing Challenge, we'll help you get started today.