Writing Family Histories for the Nonwriter

Writing Family Histories for the Nonwriter
Author: Stephen Szabados
Publisher: Stephen Szabados
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2024-07-17
Genre: Reference
ISBN:

With the growing number of writing groups in genealogy societies, this book should serve as a guide to help overcome some of the roadblocks some genealogists experience with their writing skills. This book is about writing family history with special examples to help the nonwriter get started. It outlines a simple process that will aid your research and create pages of information that can be read and understood by all family members. The process has a dual focus. First, it makes research more efficient, and then it creates a readable family history. As a result, your research will become faster and more accurate, and your family can enjoy the family history. Don’t be afraid to begin. Concentrate on finding one story and then another by doing the research. You will find small pieces first that will make the task easier. Eventually, the small pieces will begin to fit together, and the overall story of your family history will appear. Do the work and get the details to organize and save it for future generations.

The Descendants of Thomas McDowell in Colonial America

The Descendants of Thomas McDowell in Colonial America
Author: Stephen Szabados
Publisher: Stephen Szabados
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2023-10-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

This book is the story of the descendants of Thomas McDowell, who came to the American colonies in the 1700s, and their impact on American History. The different branches lived in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky, and many family members made significant contributions to the growth of the colonies. The new homes of the McDowell Family were on the frontier. Life there was challenging as they had to clear their land and build cabins. They also joined the local militias to protect themselves against Indian attacks. Even though Indians killed some, most survived and, in many cases, flourished. The McDowell family had many members who fought in the American Revolution to establish our freedoms. Did you know Charles McDowell, “Pleasant Garden Joe” McDowell, and "Quaker Meadows Joe" McDowell were officers in the North Carolina Militia who had a significant role in defeating the British at a turning point in the American Revolution. They are in history books. The McDowell family’s contribution to American History goes beyond our three heroes in the North Carolina militia. Read the pages of this book to discover who the other heroes are. One may be your ancestor. The book offers a fascinating overview of colonial American life. Even if you don't have McDowell ancestors, you may find a connection to your colonial roots.

Write Your Family History: Easy Steps to Organize, Save and Share

Write Your Family History: Easy Steps to Organize, Save and Share
Author: Stephen Szabados
Publisher: Stephen Szabados
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2014-04-09
Genre: Reference
ISBN:

Writing a family history does not have to be an overwhelming task. This book outlines a simple process that will aid your research and create pages of information that can be read and understood by all family members. Your research will become faster and more accurate and your family can enjoy the family history. Remember, our writing should go beyond finding documents and filling in charts. Hopefully, the methods discussed in this book will show the reader a simple format that will make this task much easier. You may be reluctant to write down these stories because you do not consider yourself a writer. Our ancestors were ordinary people. Why should we write about them? All of our immigrant ancestors contributed to America’s history and their stories should be saved for our grandchildren. Our family histories should give clues of their roles and this will help us understand our roots.

Handling the Truth

Handling the Truth
Author: Beth Kephart
Publisher: Avery
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 159240815X

A memoir-writing guide offers writing lessons and examples for those interested in putting their memories down on paper, explains the difference between remembering and imagining, and describes the language of truth.

Family Trouble

Family Trouble
Author: Joy Castro
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2013-10-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0803248717

Whenever a memoirist gives a reading, someone in the audience is sure to ask: How did your family react? Revisiting our pasts and exploring our experiences, we often reveal more of our nearest and dearest than they might prefer. This volume navigates the emotional and literary minefields that any writer of family stories or secrets must travel when depicting private lives for public consumption. Essays by twenty-five memoirists, including Faith Adiele, Alison Bechdel, Jill Christman, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Rigoberto González, Robin Hemley, Dinty W. Moore, Bich Minh Nguyen, and Mimi Schwartz, explore the fraught territory of family history told from one perspective, which, from another angle in the family drama, might appear quite different indeed. In her introduction to this book, Joy Castro, herself a memoirist, explores the ethical dilemmas of writing about family and offers practical strategies for this tricky but necessary subject. A sustained and eminently readable lesson in the craft of memoir, Family Trouble serves as a practical guide for writers to find their own version of the truth while still respecting family boundaries.

How to Write Your Own Life Story

How to Write Your Own Life Story
Author: Lois Daniel
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 1997-08-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1569764468

Writing the story of one's life sounds like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. This warmhearted, encouraging guide helps readers record the events of their lives for family and friends. Excerpts from other writers' work are included to exemplify and inspire. Provided are tips on intriguing topics to write about, foolproof tricks to jog your memory, ways to capture stories on paper without getting bogged down, ways to gather the facts at a local library or historical society, inspired excerpts from other writers, and published biographies that will delight and motivate.

The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way
Author: Julia Cameron
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2002-03-04
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1101156880

"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.

The Midnight Disease

The Midnight Disease
Author: Alice W. Flaherty
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2015-04-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0547525095

“An original, fascinating, and beautifully written reckoning . . . of that great human passion: to write.”—Kay Redfield Jamison, national bestselling author of An Unquiet Mind Why is it that some writers struggle for months to come up with the perfect sentence or phrase while others, hunched over a keyboard deep into the night, seem unable to stop writing? In The Midnight Disease, neurologist Alice W. Flaherty explores the mysteries of literary creativity: the drive to write, what sparks it, and what extinguishes it. She draws on intriguing examples from medical case studies and from the lives of writers, from Franz Kafka to Anne Lamott, from Sylvia Plath to Stephen King. Flaherty, who herself has grappled with episodes of compulsive writing and block, also offers a compelling personal account of her own experiences with these conditions. “[Flaherty] is the real thing . . . and her writing magically transforms her own tragedies into something strange and whimsical almost, almost funny.”—The Washington Post “This is interesting, heated stuff.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Brilliant . . . [a] precious jewel of a book . . . that sparkles with some fresh insight or intriguing fact on practically every page.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer “Flaherty mixes memoir, meditation, compendium and scholarly reportage in an odd but absorbing look at the neurological basis of writing and its pathologies . . . Writers will delight in the way information and lore are interspersed.”—Publishers Weekly

The Creative Family

The Creative Family
Author: Amanda Blake Soule
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0834822040

When you learn to awaken your family’s creativity, wonderful things will happen: you’ll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you—your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials—you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun! Amanda Soule has charmed many with her tales of creativity and parenting on her blog, SouleMama. Here she shares ideas and projects with the same warm tone and down-to-earth voice. Perfect for all families, the wide range of projects presented here offers ideas for imaginative play, art and crafts, nature explorations, and family celebrations. This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children’s imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.