Everybody’s Got a Story

The Genealogy Writers’ Group met yesterday. Everyone who attended reported progress on their writing or had goals for our next meeting on March 1. We have found that getting together keeps us on track with our writing and we enjoy both sharing our own work and hearing what others are working on. We also discussed two other opportunities to spur us in our writing.

The Family History Writing Challenge takes place during the month of February. You can choose how much you want to write but the idea is to write SOMETHING every day. I have chosen to write 250 words a day. I will spend the month of January deciding which of my ancestors I will write about and getting a few facts in line. There are lots of inspirational articles on this website to help me prepare.

The other writing opportunity is the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors 2016 Excellence-In-Writing Competition. The competition is open to members and non-members alike. There are six categories: Published Columns, Published Articles, Genealogy Newsletters, Unpublished Material by Unpublished Authors, Unpublished Material by Published Authors, and Poetry and Music Lyrics. Entries are due by June 15, 2016.

All of our ancestors have a story to tell, and if we don’t tell it, who will? Consider spending some time this year in putting your ancestors’ stories down in words. And if you’d like some company, please join us at our next meeting on March 1, 2016.

Happy writing!