Family Story Writing
Family history and genealogy is all about going back to your roots. Ancestry research can be onerous, but there are a number of resources and tools available today that make things easier than ever before. You’ll still have a lot of detective work to do. The further back you go on your family tree, the more difficult it becomes to track down things like birth and death records, marriage announcements, occupation and land ownership status, familial relationships...you get the idea.
The internet is an invaluable tool, and of course there are several family history-focused websites to tap for information. Social media is also helpful for connecting extended family and facilitating the sharing of stories, photos and other information. Even with these things, a serious researcher may still have to travel to other geographic locations to visit the area’s archives, cemeteries, and churches to find or verify records.
For me, the drawback to genealogical research is that the information is often so...well, factual. Being a storyteller, and coming from a proud lineage of storytellers, it’s the stories I crave. But tracking down old stories can sometimes feel like chasing ghosts. As older generations pass away, they take with them the precious stories, memories, and details that help fill in the many ancestral blanks. And it’s the stories that bring the research to life.
For example, suppose your great uncle served in World War II and was awarded a medal for bravery when he was nineteen. That’s interesting, but what if you know that same great uncle was allergic to bees and after the war he became a fabulous gardener who developed his own strain of tomatoes? Being a kind and generous man, he donated half his tomato crop to a local soup kitchen and that’s where he met his wife, who volunteered there. Ironically, not only was his soon-to-be wife allergic to tomatoes, but her father had a successful bee keeping business. Although an unlikely pairing, your great aunt and uncle lived in wedded bliss for forty-six years and had six children together: three of whom were allergic to bees, the other three being allergic to tomatoes. A far-fetched tale? Sure. But it could’ve happened. This level of detail doesn’t often make it into the genealogical records, but it certainly brings your great uncle’s story to life.
Book Mouse Writing & Editing Services recognizes that stories serve as a legacy not just for us, but for those we care about as well. We help bring family histories to life. Sometimes it involves taking a little creative liberty, and other times it’s a matter of interviewing the memory keepers of the family and capturing their stories on paper. If you know something of your own family tree and you’d like to create a heartfelt, compelling story about it, why not contact us to see how we can help?
