Hi Elfinblues,
I have co-written a family history before and am working on another now.
The following info is what I put together for a friend of mine who wanted some ideas. Hope it is helpful!
Writing a Family History
After collecting all the names, dates, places and data, you now have to consider how you wish to present it. You want it to be something that you, your family and your descendants can be proud of.
There are various ways a family history can be written up and the most obvious would be in chronological order. However, this can cause the story to be flat and it would not be an exciting start for the book.ie. John Smith was born in 1652 in the small village of Sutton, Yorkshire.
The best way to start the story is by starting with one of your most interesting ancestors (characters). You can always give up a later chapter to ‘his’ ancestors or just use a chart to show where he fits in to the Family Tree.
Family histories can be written in various forms.-
- Standard data – narrative -
Example -John Smith was born in 1652 in the small village of Sutton, in Yorkshire. * Boring!
- Slightly Elaborated – narrative - * note: you will need to do a lot of research into your ancestor’s occupation, the village he lives in, his neighbours, the climate etc. It is probably the most acceptable as far as what most people expect a family history to be.
Example – The old dry stone church sat high on the hill. The surrounding headstones gave a clue to its past and to the earlier village folk who once resided in the small town of Sutton.
- Highly Elaborated – narrative – This is similar to Elaborated but you can use a bit more imagination. Also acceptable but you would have to be careful how much imagination you put in, else some folk will complain that it is not a true history of that family –
Example: The Smith family approached the old dry stone church, which sat high on the hill. The small infant, dressed formally in a reused christening gown, snuggled comfortably in his mother’s arms. It was 1652 ...
- Writers point of view – This would only work if the writer (yourself) had been to the place of his ancestors –
Example: I walked up the hill towards the old dry stone church. The surrounding headstones told me of a time that once was, a time of my ancestors.
This could also work as your intro regardless of what format you end up going with.
- Fiction + Fact = Faction – Well, I think that is what it is referred to! This style of writing for a family history is based on all the fact you have accumulated but it is in the form of a fiction. Now, beware, there may be some family members who will dispute this style and think you have used far too much imagination. It is your choice.
To make this work you will need a huge amount of information on your ancestor or ancestors. Newspapers are a great source.
Let us go back to your most exciting ancestor – let’s say, John Smith born in 1652 had a descendant who was sent to Australia as a convict. (We will call him William Smith) Now this could be a great character to start with. You could start the story with his court case in England, his trip out, or his arrival. Try and make a bit of drama for the first intro just to grab the reader’s attention.
Example: William and the other prisoners were brought out on deck. “Git yer lazy a**** over ther,” yelled one of the guards. William shuffled along slowly, his leg irons were rubbing hard on his already bruised ankle.
There are probably many other ways a family history could be written. Some people have opted for using Photobooks and just using photos and data to tell their story, only printing a small handful of books for immediate family.
Whichever format you choose it is extremely important to do your homework, not just on your family’s details but on the setting where you are placing your ancestor, whether it is his home village or a ship. Learn all about that village; learn about ships of that time and what convicts had to deal with. The more thorough your research the more realistic the story will be.
cheers
Margaret
