Family History Month Writing Challenge Wrap-Up
How did you do this month on writing your family history? I (Jennifer Holik) personally did not hit my daily goal of 500 words for my family history. I did get some client family history written and other things written though. What did I learn through this process of trying to write daily?
- I’m busy. This means I must schedule at least 30-60 minutes a day to focus on writing.
- The more I write the more I realize I am missing information OR it was input into my family tree years ago before I knew to cite my sources. But this is a good thing! That realization pushes me to get back to the records to locate the source to input into the fact in the family tree. Citing my sources produces a better family history.
- There are some days I am just not inspired to write. Some will say to push through it and others say just walk away. Personally, I’ve found that when I am inspired, the words flow and it isn’t a struggle, therefore it is enjoyable. On days when the words don’t come, it is ok for me to walk away from it until another time.
What did you learn through this process? Did you hit your goals? Do you have any tips to share with those of us writing our histories? Please share in the comments.
© 2013 Lorel Kapke, Sort Your Story
Follow Friday – Family History Writing
In keeping with the February theme of writing your family history, here are several blogs posts worth reading to help inspire you to begin or continue writing.
Lynn Palermo’s Write Your Family History Using the Tools of Creative Nonfiction
Stories to Tell Writing a Book: Plan Your Writing Time
Julie Cahill Tarr’s Family History Writing Challenge Week 2
And this is a fun one – Julie Cahill Tarr’s Family History Through the Alphabet – Find A Grave
Have you read other interesting blog posts or articles about writing your family history? Has something recently inspired you to start writing yours? Please share with us in the comments.
© 2013, Lorel Kapke, Sort Your Story
Wisdom Wednesday – Writing Your Story #2
As a follow-up to last week’s post about Lorel’s photograph and sketch of her grandfather, I was thinking of other ways photos and sketches could be used by kids to illustrate their family histories.
In most schools kids around 4th or 5th grade have to do some sort of family history project. Often these are oral reports that must be turned in as a written report, PowerPoint presentations, or tri-fold board presentations. Regardless of which medium is used, students have the opportunity to illustrate their presentation. We all know a picture is worth a thousand words.
Photographs can be added to a Word document that must be submitted to the teacher. Photographs, clip art or scanned sketches can be added to a PowerPoint presentation to add life to the words on the screen and the presentation given. Tri-fold boards can also include blocks of text and photos or scanned sketches or the student may draw directly on the board.
If a student uses Sort Your Story and has not included these photos or sketches into their ancestors’ profiles, they can do so when the project is in progress or complete. Adding text used in the project to an ancestors file allows students the opportunity to continue growing that individuals story over time.
Kids love to draw and use photographs, so why not encourage them to do so in conjunction with their family history writing?
How do your kids use photos or sketches in their research?
© 2013, Lorel Kapke, Sort Your Story
Saying Goodbye to 2012
It won’t be long now before 2012 comes to a close. It’s been a great year at Sort Your Story. We have reached out to more family historians who are now using our software to save their histories. We collaborated with Jennifer Holik at Generations and created Companion Guides for the Mac and Windows versions of our software. Then we joined forces when we sent a newsletter this fall. We are reaching out to schools and children with more intensity that last year.
2013 will bring many changes and we’ll be sharing more information on research tips and resources. We’d love to hear from you! Do you have a story to share regarding your family history or using Sort Your Story? Please share with us.
We wish you a fabulous 2013! Happy New Year!!!
© 2012 Lorel Kapke, 19201 Sonoma Hwy. #341, Sonoma, CA 95476-5413
