Writing for a genealogy

newsletterDaniel Klein, MLIS, APG

Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society

April 11, 2015

“I don’t like to write,

I like to have written.”

Frank Norris?

Dorothy Parker?

George R.R. Martin?

Theory

What is writing?

• The physical aspect of writing is using an instrument to record words in an analog or digital format

• The creative aspect of writing is capturing events, ideas and information from real life or from imagination, processing it and recording that processed information

• This is true of all writing: poetry, prose, plays, advertising, scriptwriting, news and sports writing, business writing and yes, genealogical writing

• In a word: Storytelling

It’s all about storytelling

• A story is: “A narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader; tale.”1

• Storytelling is: “…the conveying of events in words, and images, often by improvisation or embellishment.”2

• There is an entire branch of nonfiction writing devoted to inventive storytelling called Creative Nonfiction. This genre is dedicated to telling truestories, in a creative and interesting manner.

1 “Story,” Dictionary.com, accessed 22 Oct. 2014, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/story

2 “Storytelling,” Wikipedia, Accessed 22 Oct. 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling

Creative Nonfiction examples

• All The President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

• The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

• The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

What is genealogical writing?

• Narrative – A story from your family’s history

• Methodology or “How-to” – How to conduct certain types of research

• Case Study – Similar to a “how to,” but uses a particular story to illustrate

methodology

• Review – An opinion on a book, movie, TV show, software program, web site, etc.

• Essay – Writing that doesn’t fit into any other category, for example, your thoughts

on genealogy, theory and criticism

Mechanics

What are you going to write about?

• Do you want to tell a story about your family or a historic person or place?

• Do you want to tell a story about your research?

• Is it interesting to you?

• Do you think it will be interesting for others?

Do you have an elevator speech?

• Get your idea focused to the point where you can get it to one (or two) short

sentences

“Give them the third best

to go on with; the second

best comes too late, the

best never comes.”Sir Robert Wilson-Watt

What is structure?

• “Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to

the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and

relationships of entities.”1

• For our purposes, structure is the way a story is put together.

• It can make a story more interesting or more confusing.

1 “Structure,” Wikipedia, accessed 22 Oct., 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure

The inverted pyramid

“Inverted Pyramid,” Wikipedia, accessed 22 Oct. 2014,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid

“Once upon a time…”

• Linear storytelling.

• Tells a story chronologically – A happens, then B, then C,…, then Z.

• Simple but effective.

Bookends

• Tells a story beginning with an event, then flashing back (or maybe even

flashing forward!), then ending with the original event.

Thesis

• Standard high school/college thesis paper style

• Open with a thesis paragraph, making a statement as to what you intend to

prove, make your case, and end with a summary paragraph.

• Good for scholarly or legal writing.

• Could be on the dry or boring side.

Know Your Ending

• By knowing your ending, you have something to work towards. All roads

must lead to the end

• No horizontal movement unless it affects the narrative

“I didn’t have time to write

a short article, so I wrote a

long one instead.”

Another old newspaper saying

“The only kind of writing

is rewriting.”

Ernest Hemingway – A Movable Feast

Attribution

• Attribution is when you put words into someone’s mouth (figuratively)

• In 99.9% of cases, a simple “he said,” “she said,” or “[insert name here]

said” is sufficient

• Do not add adverbs to attribution (i.e., “he said jokingly”)

• Only direct quotes in quotation marks

Interviews

• Always identify yourself as a writer if you plan on talking to someone on the

record and use their quotes. Even if you’re not going to use direct quotes, it’s

important to identify yourself

• Ask them to spell their name and give a title

• Taping is a good idea, if allowed by the interviewee

• Save the awkward questions for the end

Taping interviews

• Always ask if you can tape first

• Turn on the recorder, identify yourself and give the date, the time and where

the interview is being recorded

• Introduce the interviewee and again ask them for their consent in being

recorded

• Always take notes, even if you’re taping

• Never tape surreptitiously

“If your mother says

she loves you,

check it out.”Old newspaper saying

Grammar

Taming the grammar monsters

• Bad grammar (and spelling) is hard on the reader

• Bad grammar (and spelling) doesn’t reflect well on you

• Bad grammar makes editors cry

Active voice vs. Passive voice

• Active: It is this editor’s opinion that the active voice is better.

• Passive: It is the opinion of this editor that the passive voice is better.

Active Voice Wins!

The split infinitive

• An infinitive is a dictionary form of a verb (e.g., to go, to buy, to run)

• By placing an adverb between the preposition and the verb you are splitting the

infinitive

• It used to be a big no-no (see Strunk and White’s Elements of Style), but is less

frowned upon now.

“To boldly go…”

Is the world’s most famous example of a

split infinitive.

Photo via WikiMedia Commons

Its and It’s

• If it’s possessive, there’s no apostrophe

• “The genealogical society is having a gathering of its members.”

• If it’s a contraction of “it is,” there’s an apostrophe.

• Say it to yourself: If you can replace the “its” with “it is,” then there’s an

apostrophe

Apostrophes

• Possessives – Use ‘s for singular nouns

• Danny’s laptop

• Kansas’s team

• Use s’ for plural nouns

• The Murgittroyds’ home

Style

Style refers to…

• …a series of rules to make copy more cohesive

• …setting a standard for spelling

• …standardizes attribution and titles

All Caps

• A long time standard: Surnames written in all capital letters in genealogical

publications

• Why?

• Easier to find on a page

• Moving away from that standard

• More documents have indexes and online publications are keyword searchable

• Avoids confusion (e.g., DEMOTT vs. DeMott)

Ethics

“

”

The act of using another person's words or

ideas without giving credit to that person; the

act of plagiarizing something

“Plagiarism,” Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com

One of the great sins of writing.

Fabrication

• Fabrication is the act of inventing parts or the entire article

• In my eyes, it’s the greatest of all journalism/historical sins

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