Every week when I sit down to write this newsletter, I have to stop and think, “What, or who, am I going to write about?” Picking a topic is especially difficult when I haven’t been elbow-deep in genealogy and just happening across stories.
I write up my stories in much the same way. Get the vital statistics together, details of their siblings and children, and hopefully a story develops. I usually check the newspapers to see if there's anything that stands out. It always amazes me who many stories there are to tell.
I have a notebook where I jot down story ideas as they occur to me. Later, those that are worthy get written on another piece of paper and put on my cork board. When I need a story idea, I go to the board and pick one. As I'm writing, sometimes the story morphs into something else or spawns more ideas. On one project, I was trying to write about a woman whose obituary said she had many friends, and I discovered the only way to tell her story was to tell the stories of other family members.
I often think, oh I'll write about them, that's an interesting story to tell. Then off I go down a rabbit hole finding more and more information. I don't have as many as you in my tree, but it is growing. My dad was one of 10, his mother an only child, but his father was one of 8. For my mother, she was one of 4, then the tree starts to grow and as I delve into the brothers and sisters, it gets even better. I try not to write too much about my parents or even grandparents siblings unless I run it passed their descendants, my cousins and second cousins, in case I unearth something that's not common knowledge.
I write up my stories in much the same way. Get the vital statistics together, details of their siblings and children, and hopefully a story develops. I usually check the newspapers to see if there's anything that stands out. It always amazes me who many stories there are to tell.
My family tree has more than 10000 people. My family is Italian and I have lots of couples that had more than 10 children each. So I get what you mean
I have a notebook where I jot down story ideas as they occur to me. Later, those that are worthy get written on another piece of paper and put on my cork board. When I need a story idea, I go to the board and pick one. As I'm writing, sometimes the story morphs into something else or spawns more ideas. On one project, I was trying to write about a woman whose obituary said she had many friends, and I discovered the only way to tell her story was to tell the stories of other family members.
I often think, oh I'll write about them, that's an interesting story to tell. Then off I go down a rabbit hole finding more and more information. I don't have as many as you in my tree, but it is growing. My dad was one of 10, his mother an only child, but his father was one of 8. For my mother, she was one of 4, then the tree starts to grow and as I delve into the brothers and sisters, it gets even better. I try not to write too much about my parents or even grandparents siblings unless I run it passed their descendants, my cousins and second cousins, in case I unearth something that's not common knowledge.