10 Feelings a Family History Writer Experiences When They Start Writing
It's not grammar or citations that stop genealogists from writing - it's the emotions they have as soon as they sit down to the keyboard to type.
Every genealogist desires to save their ancestors’ histories.
The ideal way to do this is through writing, but there are many feelings that come up each time they sit down to write. These feelings often stop genealogists in their tracks. It’s not the actual act of writing, such as knowing how to construct a sentence, its the underlying concerns behind the sentences that make them stop (or not even start).
These are 10 concerns and feelings every first time family history writer has when they start.
1. Overwhelm
The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming. Genealogists often want to write about an entire family line at once, meaning 5 or more generations of ancestors, making it challenging to start.
2. Disorganization
It’s common to have gigabytes of records on a hard drive collected over several years. Finding what is needed or even remembering what is there is a struggle.
3. Procrastination
The habit of procrastinating can be a significant barrier. Genealogists might continually put off the task of compiling and writing their findings, waiting for a 'right time' that never comes.
4. Fear of criticism
A fear of potential criticism or scrutiny from others in the genealogical community deters many from sharing anything. They also worry about being publicly humiliated on social media.
5. Changing focus
The ease of access to genealogical records online can lead genealogists to continuously chase new leads. It becomes easy to be like Alice chasing the White Rabbit, never stopping to write about what had already been found.
6. Privacy concerns
Many writers hesitate to share their genealogical findings due to privacy concerns. They worry about revealing sensitive family information or respecting the privacy of living relatives who may not want their details publicly known.
7. Unsure of an audience
Uncertainty about who would be interested in their family history can lead to hesitation. Genealogists might feel that their work is too niche or personal to appeal to anyone.
8. Emotional attachment
Deep emotional connections to ancestors and the revelations of past trauma can make it hard for some to share their work. It feels too personal or intimate to make public.
9. Lack of technical know-how
Some writers might lack the technical skills or resources to publish their findings. Knowing how to create a website or blog posts, or using software to write and format a book is a huge hurdle.
10. Waiting until finished researching
Some genealogists strive for perfect accuracy and completeness in research, leading them to continuously hunt for new records without ever feeling ready to publish. This pursuit of perfection creates a never-ending cycle.
These concerns and feelings are real. Any genealogy writer can point to evidence where a situation occurred in the past that validates one of these ten feelings.
But despite all these very valid concerns, their family history still needs to be preserved through writing.
So what should family history writers do?
The answer is to start small and start in a community of other writers, such as writing chronicles the first 10 days of each month in the Chronicles Writing Challenge or joining the Chronicles Club community.
For Chronicle Makers the focus is on capturing small moments-in-time in an ancestors life, and sharing those with family and friends. Those chronicles are then used as building blocks for longer writing pieces too.
The next Chronicles Writing Challenge starts the 1st of the month and you can join here: