After talking with dozens of genealogists at the New England Genealogy Consortium 2023 in May about their passion projects and juicy family stories, I heard the same question over and over:
How can I add more “story” to help my research be more compelling?
Those of you who are working on researching your genealogy, whether it be as a beginner or as an advanced researcher, know that it is easy to get pulled into the data (names, dates, and facts). I know for myself, working with online tools, filling in the names and dates and connections is like a game that becomes addicting while you try to see how far back you can go.
After all of these conversations I created a talk specifically for Genealogy Associations and Clubs, and would like to share one of the five tips I offer to the participants - one that I believe can be used in a variety of scenarios.
If you are collecting any type of research or data that may seem to be factual, dry, or a bit disjointed yet want to pass along or communicate this information in a more compelling way, I suggest you use the power of story to tie all of the information together.
Creating an introduction in narrative form gives further background to the information you have collected in your research. This allows you to be more conversational and personalized than your research may feel.
This introduction can be used for several purposes:
Setting the stage
Use this introduction as a way to set the stage for the information you are going to share. Maybe you have back stories that are not included in the research, maybe you want to share how the information you are sharing is related. Use this introduction as a way to more descriptively and eloquently round out the research you will be sharing.
Sharing your motivation
Write about why you have an interest in doing this research (genealogy altogether or this specific topic).
Why are you sharing? What is your hope for the intended audience?
Share your Process
Were there challenges? Did you hit any dead ends?
Were there surprises? How does this affect other research?
Any little adventures along the way? Sharing this will help bring research process alive.
Introduce the “characters”
Here you can write from your own point of view as if you are introducing your subjects as characters.
Share specifics about the persons in your own words.
Able to share “softer” facts that stand out
You could relate your ancestors information to present day events or traits of family members
You can see there are so many ways you can write your introduction that could then lead your readers to photos, data, maps, etc. The most important thing to consider is that while you can be creative and have fun with this, you should also be thoughtful of staying true to the facts. If you are using a heavier creative license, be very clear about that. Always let the readers know if you are surmising. Even a line in your introduction can state these are your thoughts.
This is your project, you get to decide, but as you have put forth the effort to do your detailed research, you don't want to undermine the validity of that by an intro that is not well-defined as a different section with a different style and purpose than the rest of your research.
Do you have other ways you have added an introduction to pull together research? You can email me at melissa@melissaannkitchen.com, reach out to @melissaloveshistory on Facebook or Instagram, or leave a comment below.
I’d love to hear your ideas!