I've always said that "Stories Are The Key" to your family's heritage. Writing interesting stories, that capture the challenges and triumphs of your ancestors, may be your best gift you can give to your children and grandchildren. The hardest part is not uncovering the story in the first place, but rather writing it so that your family will talk about those events for years to come.
Now I don't want to mislead you by suggesting that you make up stories to write about – these are, after all, stories that you have uncovered about your ancestor's lives. So choose your words well and if you choose to embellish the story with fiction, include a note in the Acknowledgements that the story is loosely based on your family's saga and that some of the story is fiction. We’re not all professional writers like JR Rowling or Stephen King but there are a few tips that you can use to make people want to read their family history and even talk about it at future family reunions and dinner parties.
Here’s a few tips that you can use to make your stories memorable and fun to read:
- Start Strong:
- Grab their attention and motivate them to read more. You want to make them curious about the outcome. You want them to want to find out what happens next, not be confused and puzzled.
- Chronology Isn't Important:
- It isn't always necessary to start at the beginning. The story about Uncle Nick doesn't have to start with his birth in a small town in Vermont. Now if he was born in a horse drawn sleigh, at night, in a blizzard on the way to town it might be a way to start the story. However, if it was just a "regular birth" like most of us had, then it was probably not the most interesting way to start his story.
- Get To The Point:
- It's not necessary to provide all the background before your get to the real story. Think about the last movie that you saw, the opening scenes are usually fast moving, action packed scenes that create interest and excitement. You want to try to do the same thing with your stories.
- Build The Story One Scene At A Time:
- Think of the story as a sequence of scenes that you describe to your reader. Or, you might think of them as sign posts on the journey that you are documenting. Be sure to add enough detail that gives the reader the characters, the time and the place for each scene.
- Start With A Plan:
- Story writing, like research, should start with a plan of action. Decide on the opening, the middle and the ending before you actually start writing in detail. This outline should document the characters to include, the place and the time. You can also use this outline to help you decide what does not need to be included in the story – plots, actions and events that will distract the reader and do not contribute to the main story.
- Think Of Your Story As A Movie Not A Book – Be Detailed:
- Show the reader the story. Be sure to add detail about the time and place. The world our ancestor's knew was quite different from ours. But, technology aside, there were many similarities to our lives and times – family, friends, food, shelter, work, religion, even weather. Be sure to add details about these conditions to help your reader "see" the story. If your ancestor was a farmer – what kind of farmer was he – what kind of cattle did he own, what crops did he grow, what was the land like – dry scrub land or wet marshes – you get the idea.
- Use An Active Voice:
- Use active verbs not passive ones. Say "The dog bit the boy" instead of "The boy was bitten by the dog". Make certain that your active verbs drive the prose.
- Never Use Two Words When One Will Do:
- As many have said before me – "Less Is More". Choose your words carefully and don't be afraid of dropping words that don't help convey your story
I've just touched the surface of story writing. But with practice these tips can make the difference between a story that your family might just glance at to a story that your family will talk about for generations. Try the list out for yourself and be sure to let us know if we have missed anything at all.
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