Time to Write It Up

The DGS 2021 Summer Seminar with Tom Jones is a fantastic opportunity to improve our genealogical writing skills! Writing has been a part of our lives since elementary school. Now, Dr. Jones will show us how to build upon our skills to create a genealogical work that we will be proud to share!

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Whether we are working on our own family’s history or someone else’s, there are many reasons to write about our results.

• Leave a record. In the future, a grandchild, great-niece, or some other descendant may catch the genealogy bug. Wouldn’t it be better if they researched new branches of the family tree instead of the same ones you had done? Attaching an understandable and well-documented article to your family tree will keep them from repeating what you have already accomplished, and it may provide them with new sources, too.
• Leave my tree alone! I repeatedly hear this complaint, that someone’s family tree has been altered, or that every online presence of their ancestor is wrong. Could it be because no one has shown them the truth? Writing a well-documented and understandable report about your great-grandfather may help others to see their mistakes.
• Genealogy is based on giving. Have you ever thought about the thousands of people who have made your research possible? People who have given their time to index records, participated in discussion boards, created or located resources for you, or put on a webinar to help you build your skills? You, too, can jump on the bandwagon and write about that hidden repository you have found or how you broke through your brick wall. Remember, Together Everyone Accomplishes More. Be part of the TEAM.

In the morning, Dr. Jones will review the basics with “Gearing Up and Getting Started.” After we get our thoughts down on paper (or, on our monitors), the next step will be “Shaping Your Writing”, when we work on editing and creating an easy read. Then, Dr. Jones will discuss “Infusing Structure and Flow” to help with grammar, make our writing more impactful and visually appealing. At the day’s end, we will practice what we learned. Attendees may use previously prepared documents (up to 500 words) and apply the lessons from the seminar to their work.

Saturday morning will start with a few samples of the previous evening’s “homework” being reviewed by Dr. Jones. Then we will move into “Documenting the Answer to Five Questions” so we can make those pesky citations easier. (I am really looking forward to that!) Dr. Jones will then end with “Writing for Publication”, discussing ways to share our breakthroughs with our fellow genealogists.

Reward yourself and your descendants by creating a written record of all your findings. You deserve to be recognized for all your great research, and the best way to do that is to “Write It Up!”