As you climb your family tree, at some point you?re going to want to put together a family tree book. But before you even get started, a voice inside your head is probably going to set off alarms, with thoughts like ?that?s too hard,? ?it?ll take too long,? or ?I?m not a good writer.?
I?m happy to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth!
Writing a family tree book can be much easier than you think ? in fact you don?t even have to write a word if you don?t want. Follow these four steps and you?ll quickly put together a book your family will treasure forever.
1. Small Tasks, Big Results
It?s a proven fact. If you tackle a big project with small steps you will succeed. For example, if you?re dieting, this means making one small (and consistent) change to your diet at a time.
The same is true with a family history book. If you face a huge stack of papers that you want to become a book, it?s likely you?re going to get into overwhelm so fast you?ll never do the book. Instead, take one-inch of that 3-foot-high pile and work on it. Or pencil in one hour a week. Small steps lead to big results ? I guarantee it.
2. Make an outline and stick to it
Remember back in school when you had to write outlines? Fortunately, for a genealogy book you don?t have to remember all of the I.A. format. All it takes is a simple list of what you want to include in the book and the order in which you want it to appear.
An outline serves an important function ? - it keeps you from getting distracted and going in ten different directions. As you put together the book you?re going to be tempted to start doing new research or adding new family lines. Don?t. You can always do another book. The goal here is to make an outline and JUST DO IT.
3. Gather the pieces
Once you have an outline, gather all of the pieces you want to include. Maybe you want a family tree book that?s a collection of favorite family recipes. Maybe your book is a collection of cemetery photos with captions. Or maybe your book is a compilation of each family members? remembrances of grandma.
As you go down your outline, you?ll easily see what pieces you want to include, whether it be a photograph, a memory, a document like a marriage license, or maybe an old Valentine. Whatever it is, gather the pieces before starting on the book.
4. Know when to stop
Again, this is where the outline comes in handy. If the outline says you?re done, then you?re done! Don?t keep adding new things. For genealogists, the temptation is always there to find another ancestor, another photo, another record, or another story. And that temptation is hard to ignore!
But if you?ve made an outline you?re happy with, gathered everything that goes in the outline, and put then put it together, your book is done. Now it?s just a matter of getting it off to a local print shop or an online site like Lulu.com.
Oh yes, I mentioned doing a book without having to be a writer. Here are a few ideas for the non-writers out there:
1. Recipe collection
2. Photo vacation collection
3. Book of vintage photos
4. Book of documents (marriages, birth certificates, newspaper articles)
5. Family letters
6. Family remembrances
Good luck and looking forward to hearing about your book!
Nancy Hendrickson is a professional genealogy researcher, author and instructor. She specializes in helping people trace their ancestors using Internet tools and techniques. Considered an expert in Internet genealogy, Hendrickson has been interviewed by national publications including the New York Times and Better Homes and Gardens.
Nancy invites you to download her Family Tree Idea Book and learn more about researching your genealogy at http://www.ancestornews.com/. If you?ve ever wondered about your family?s past, join her in a voyage that may take you where you never expected and show you things you never imagined would happen in your own family.
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