The Family History Writing Challenge

Motivates Members to Write Their Stories

For Immediate Release                                                   

Contact : Lynn Palermo

The Armchair Genealogist

lynn@thearmchairgenealogist.com

The Family History Writing Challenge

The Family History Writing Challenge returns for the third year of motivating family historians dedicating daily time for writing their family history stories.

Family historians wishing to take up the torch of writing their stories are encouraged to put down the microfilm and pick up the pen for the month of February, and start writing their family history stories.

Upon signing up for The Family History Writing Challenge, participating members are invited to declare a goal in the form of a word count and to commit to completing that word count during the 28 days in February. In exchange for the commitment, Lynn Palermo (The Armchair Genealogist) host of the month long challenge will send out daily newsletters that include motivational messages, writing lessons, along with instructional guest posts by leading genealogists, published authors and editors. 

Lynn Palermo states, “by committing to a daily word count my hope is for all participants to make substantial headway in their family history writing goals and to create long lasting writing habits that will carry them forward throughout 2013.”

Lynn encourages members to sign up early to take advantage of the January newsletters that will help participants organize themselves to begin writing on February 1^st. A forum for the event is available to participants who want to exchange ideas, struggles and successes in a more intimate atmosphere.

Special guest authors include certified genealogist, author and writing instructor Sharon DeBartolo Carmack from www.NonfictionHelp.com  and author, speaker, genealogist and writing instructor Lisa Alzo from The Accidental Genealogist. Guest posts also include  writer, educator, historian Biff Barnes Editor at Stories to Tell Books, author and writing coach Tami Koeing  from Your Story Coach and Mariann S. Regan, author of the family memoir Into The Briar and Patch and blog. Lynn Palermo suggests participants should watch for future developments in coming weeks, as this list was not complete at press time.

Family historians who wish to participate in the challenge can sign up or learn more about the challenge at The Family History Writing Challenge website. The event will run from February 1^st-February 28^th. 

The Grand Unexpected

Today, I received a great surprise from fellow geneablogger, Jana Last, author of Jana’s Genealogy and Family History Blog. I have learned to appreciate Jana’s blog a great deal, and enjoy reading it on a regular basis.

On 9 January 2013, she posted an article entitled, “Three Blog Awards, Kindly Given,” in which she stated that she had been nominated for three different awards at the close of 2012, and my only thought was that this was so well deserved.

As I continued to read, I was humbled and honored to see that she had chosen my blog, Ancestral Breezes, as one of her nominations for the “Blog of the Year 2012” Award.





It may seem like a simple gesture, but truly, I consider it great praise when another blogger and genealogist compliments my work. As a “transitioning” genealogist professional, I have spent countless hours in the past twelve months trying to find ways in which to turn my passion into a career path; I am truly astounded at the pride such an action invokes.

Part of this process is selecting my own nominations for ‘Blog of the Year 2012’. Thankfully, I am not limited in any way, so here are a couple of my favorites. These are people from whom I have learned, who have had an influence or impact on my professional world, or simply those that have conveyed true emotion and the spirit of collaboration in their blogs.

• Dan Curtis, “Professional Personal Historian”
• Lynn Palermo, “The Armchair Genealogist”
• The In-Depth Genealogist Blog (full disclosure, I am a contributor to this blog. The other authors, and the editors, have taught me a great deal, so this nomination goes to the collaboration effort as a whole.)
• Stephanie Pitcher Fishman “Corn & Cotton Genealogy Blog”
• Mariann Regan "Into the Briar Patch"

My thanks go out to all geneabloggers. What an incredible year it has been! I have learned much, laughed a great deal, and even cried some at the stories you tell, the personalities you bring forth in your writing. 

Raise a glass, friends, 2013 is going to be amazing. We will make it that way together.

Here’s the skinny on this Award:
1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award
2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them
5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience
6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

Create Your Own Genealogy Blog Stock Images

Read just about any article on "how to blog", and one of the first suggestions is always related to having images in each article. It's good advice, and it's a proven method of generating - and keeping - readers. In our technology laden society, we are being inundated with more and more information, you need something flashy and attractive to keep those that are interested in your stories coming back.

If you Google "stock photos", you can literally find millions of results. Some of them are free, some are not. Some are very high quality, some are not.

There is an easier way, however, and if you have a decent digital camera or a smartphone, it becomes relatively simple. Here is the warning: once you start taking pictures on your own for your genealogy or family history related blog, you may not stop. You've been told.

Inspiration comes easily, just look at the myriad of other bloggers out there, focusing of course on similar topics to yours. If your blog discusses a memory of your grandmother, take a photo of your heirloom tea cup that was passed down to you. Is the objective of the post a book review or include mention of a article or magazine? Use the cover of the text, a notepad and pen to create an image of studying or reading. Have a new research idea, that you want to write about? Fantastic! Even a stack of unidentified books in front of a computer screen makes a compelling image.

I've been doing this, consistently, now for a couple of months, and truly love it. The ideas that come to mind are really endless, and your imagination is all you really need!

Here's a few of mine:

My husband's toy wooden truck, placed on top of a map
from the general area where we grew up.

My own childhood toy! Mounted on a track and using
the same map. I used the macro setting on all of these
images to get the blurred corners.

My grandmother's tea cup and saucer, one of
a small collection. Placed on top of a family tree chart,
next to her name. 

Same tea cup and saucer, with a larger view of the chart.

To display continuing education...
classic texts with a genealogy conference
website in the background. Combining classic
"education" with new formats.

Use your community. Talk a walk around your neighborhood and look for interesting architectural details on local homes, flora and fauna that catches your eye, cloud formations above buildings that create an interesting scene. Use your creativity and have some fun with it! If your ancestors were farmers, get up close and personal with a grain of wheat or a leaf, if there are in a location with limited access to farms. Take pictures of gears, bike spokes, lunch boxes... anything that you can use to tell the story, behind the story.

The Rotary Snow Plow Park in Breckenridge, CO.
They have a fantastic engine, but the box car is
photographed very rarely.

Rotary Snow Plow Park, Breckenridge, CO.
A unique perspective on rail history, perhaps. 

My back deck, with the addition of my daughter's art work.
A good color / neutral tone combo.

Two suggestions, however. Find a way to have and label your images with copyright text, unless of course, you do not mind if anybody and everybody uses your ideas. Secondly, use your "macro" setting on your camera (it's up to you to research that, if you don't know what it is, there are far too many options to be discussed here), or Instagram on your smart phone to create unique, visually stimulating images.

A few moments of self-teaching on your equipment will go a long way, here. Take advantage of the tools you have at home to create unique, creative images for your blog. Your readers will appreciate it, and your stories will become more personal.

Finding Your Power in Writing

Protected by Copyright.

We hear many pieces of advice every day, and the information is coming to us faster than ever. Writer's and "writing experts" talk about "finding your voice", and using impressive post titles to intrigue, and then capture, an audience. One article recently read indicated using "power words" to engage your readers. I have heard these bullet points listed for months, as recently as within this last week from comments left on my post, "SEO: Why It's Important For Your Blog", so I finally decided to put down my thoughts on the topic.


Personally, I believe that only time and practice will evolve you into the kind of writer you want to be. It is the only way to "find your voice". For me, this meant I needed to practice on eliminating the extra, filler words. The unnecessary. After reading through several of my posts over the past month's, (almost a year!), I can see the changes in my style, I can 'hear' my more direct nature coming across. In life, I am not a "beat around the bush" type of gal, and I see that reflected in my writing here.

The "power words": I had to delve into that a bit, as its been a while since my last Creative Writing class, and it was easy to find. Strong, emotional words that create an immediate connection with your audience. Use those in your title, use them in your Twitter and Facebook posts to direct traffic, use them every which way you can. Because when we read, we want to connect. We are looking to find something in what the writer is expressing the induces... anything. Whether its dread, sadness, anticipation, adrenaline, fear, anger or overwhelming awe.

And those are the words. Sensational. Lavish. Sly. (When was the last time you used 'sly' in a genealogy blog post?)

There are more than a few websites on the topic, so I will challenge you: find a great one, and share it here. I found "57 Power Words For Writing Brilliant Headlines" by Tiffany Monhollon, posted 1 Jul 2010 on Personal PR. I also found a series by Tonia Kendrick from Tonia's Roots, entitled "31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog", which I will absolutely be following from now on. She's already completed several posts, so I have some catching up to do. (How did I miss this?)

Let's be savvy bloggers, shall we? Find a great resource and let me know. Or not. I suppose you could keep it to yourself. But where's the fun in that?

The Debate in My Head

I'm currently arguing with myself over a topic that I think (hope) many of you will have an opinion on. Should I have one blog or two?

Here's what it would look like:

One Blog: this one. It combines my personal research goals, finds, artifacts and general journey with that of my professional life; mostly methodology, western U.S. research and a focus on Summit County, Colorado.

Two Blogs: this one, changing to just a personal research blog and a new one, launched from my website for Ancestral Journeys, focusing on the methodology, western U.S. research and Summit County, Colorado.

Here's the thing. I have several writing commitments already in place: this blog, Examiner.com, In-Depth Genealogist and two counties with the Trails to the Past free genealogy organization, Summit and Colfax County, Nebraska. I also have my ongoing research, client work and the tasks related to running a small business: marketing, speaking engagements, social media, networking... etc. I get approximately three hours each day to do all of this, with a "bonus day" once a week that provides an extra three hours.

This is me. Stretched.

I also work with the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance and volunteer at one of the local churches at least twice a month.

Oh, and I'm a stay at home Mom of a three year old.

All of this seems to be reasonable for me at this time, albeit I'm stretched.


Really stretched. 



So my concern is this: will I have the time, energy, and motivation to provide quality content on two blogs, versus just one?

In the past month, I have developed some new organizational methods for myself, and that seems to be working well. I've been reading - a lot - about blog content, tips and tricks to write better, faster, more often.

Bottom line, here, folks, is that I'm simply not confident enough in myself to think that I can pull this off right now. I do think, ultimately, its a good idea. I believe the smart decision would be to separate my business writing from that of my personal. But, I want to do it right.


Indecision 2012. That's where I'm at. 


I cannot tell you when this decision will be made, but rest assured, you'll hear it here first. I'm leaning towards going for it, simply because I believe you have to work at your dreams. No one hands them to you. It does help to write it all down, though.

Using Mind Mapping

Recently, I stumbled upon the Google Chorme app "mindmeister." Always looking for new systems and programs to explore, especially when it comes to advancing my research and organization, I decided to give it a go.

mindmeister (no capital letters in their logo) is a mind mapping program that allows the traditional technique to transfer from pen and paper to computer screen. It appears to be easy to use, and has several available options, even in the free edition, that are appealing.

[Here's the fine print. I am in no way affiliated with mindmeister. They did not communicate with me in any way, and I am writing this review of my own will and of my own opinions.]

mindmesiter allows the use of several templates to use for your mind maps... anything from to-do lists to event planning to writing a good blog post. The app is available on Android and iPad formats as well.

Example of the Writing a Blog template in mindmeister. 

Here's what I like, especially, about mindmeister:

1. The free version still has enough features to satisfy someone with the tool they've just downloaded. If you need more, you have that option. 
2. Templates allow you to be as independent or guided through the mind mapping process as you want. 
3. The ability to move around the page, adjusting as your brain processes through the project, appears to have more flexibility than other apps I have tried. 

I really do enjoy being organized. I have lists of my lists. So, to have a writing project laid out for me like this is really ideal. I anticipate using mindmeister for blog posts, articles, family histories, and much more. I find it helpful to sit down and really examine the various elements of a project; no matter the size. What is the objective? Is there a need? What do I need to be successful in this endeavor? This app really does help me get through all of that... I can always move around the document to add, detract, or adjust accordingly as the project outline comes together. 

Bottom line: I'm giving mindmeister a 4 out of 5 on my personal scale of apps/tools I love. I would give it a 5 if I could get all the features free. But, hey, I get that; everyone has to make a living. 

So. Do you use the mind mapping technique? If so, how? Pen & paper; software; white board?  I'd be interested to see what everyone else is doing. If not... why not? 

Writing for The In-Depth Genealogist

Hello All!

I want to thank you for reading my blog over the past months. I have enjoyed the challenge it presents me and look forward to many more years of writing about my family history.

I would also like to share that I have taken on a new role, writing for the digi-mag, The In-Depth Genealogist. I am very excited about this project, and I hope you will be too! IDG has a simple mission statement, but one that every genealogist, on any level, can understand: "contribute to the advancement of all genealogists."

My contributions will be on state resources from across the country. If you have something wonderful you would like me to look at, please feel free to contact me. I am proud to join a group of respected professionals from all corners of this country.

You can read about IDG and my role on their website: http://www.theindepthgenealogist.com/.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,

Jen