When to Start Writing
Quick reminder: you are going to die.
I forget that fact myself sometimes, thinking I have all the time in the world to do what I want to do. But I don’t. That bleak reminder has a follow-up truth for every genealogist: if we don’t record our work in some presentable format that can be distributed to others, all of our research is moot, nothing more than a temporary pastime.
Some of us depend entirely on websites like Ancestry to record our family trees, sometimes accompanied by a few vital records and censuses. Posting online is surely a form of publication, but the data presented there is more abstract than meaningful family history.
NGS members are generally a bit more sophisticated. We recognize that family trees are a far cry from family history. We recognize the value of adding details, context, and color to give us a sense of who our ancestors actually were. We recognize the need to coalesce disjointed points of data into a cohesive narrative. We recognize the need to actually write.
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About Author
Aaron Goodwin
Aaron is a genealogist and house historian specializing in New York City research across all time periods, from the Dutch colonial era to the 20th century. His book, New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians, won the National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources. He is also editor of NGS Monthly, former contributing editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and former editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. In 2011, he received the American Society of Genealogists’ Scholar Award.
Thank you, Aaron. I’m old enough to fret every day about dying soon … and how to find the time now for this work. Yours was a good and gentle nudge.
Arlene Jennings
Bravo, Aaron!
Your “quick reminder” made my day. I will bookmark and go back to this when I am slogging through the weeds of an elusive ancestor. What I have found helpful is keeping a formatted template in my word-processing program with headings, sections, etc. It avoids the dreaded “blank page” syndrome and gives me a starting point to begin writing. Jean Andrews
I retired a week after I turned 65, even though I enjoyed my work and was in good health. My goal was to write my family histories. In the 15 years since I have completed and self-published books on all four of my grandparents’ ancestral lines, including allied families. I’m now working on the second book on my wife’s ancestry. As the ad says, Just do it.
As my family’s “official” historian, I have been given all kinds of memorabilia and photos that my sisters and other relatives have never seen. I am currently creating a family story/history/scrapbook on my computer that can be either printed (probably color copier) or saved as a .pdf file. If you aren’t interested in a published book, maybe this is an option to consider.
Thank you, Aaron!
Dear Mr. Goodwin,
Isn’t it the truth? I have had relatives that I wanted to ask so many questions of pass away before I could do so. Plus, a lot of family tales have been proven incorrect by finally finding factual records. Even though I am considered the “family historian” for my husband’s family, nobody wants to give me vital information. Over the years I have discovered quite a few “skeletons,” which would make writing a book extremely difficult. How does one address family secrets?
Thank you.
It’s a good question, Patricia. I’ll think about addressing this in an upcoming article.