A few hints as to literary craftsmanship may be useful to budding historians. First and foremost, get writing!

—Samuel Eliot Morison, 1887-1976

Why Should We Preserve Our Family History?
There are many reasons why we begin to trace our family histories. As Loretto Szucs says in Family History Made Easy, "Every family historian has unique but always compelling reasons to keep family memories alive. We've been told that those who are remembered never die. Yet, our lives are increasingly crammed with activity; our jobs have splintered families, moving parts of them hundreds of miles from hometown roots; and television and other diversions occupy time that families used to spend in conversation."

She also suggests, "Stories that had been handed down for generations in families are being lost. As memories fade, the intriguing accounts of the struggles and the accomplishments of our ancestors become shrouded in mystery. If we don't take steps to chronicle our own lives and preserve the histories of our families, they are in danger of being lost forever."

Publishing on Paper
Before you start, consider the various methods now available to preserve your family history. If you are seeking to preserve your family history for posterity, you will want to consider the longevity of the medium. With technology changing so rapidly, formats can become quickly outdated and obsolete. (For more on this, see Michael John Neill's article "Ken and Martha: A Lesson in Data Preservation." You can continue to update your files as you go along and as technology changes, but what about when you are gone? What if there is a gap of twenty or thirty years before someone else picks up where you left off? On the other hand, some archives around the world still retain copies of manuscripts that are centuries old, and remember, paper is Y2K compliant! Also, when choosing paper for your own personal archives, make sure your family history is printed on archival quality acid-free paper.

Getting Started
If you are just getting started, you may want to take a look at Ancestry.com's newest reference section, Getting Started, in the Learn section.

After you have "collected" ancestors and other family members for a while, the task of organizing and publishing information may seem overwhelming. It doesn't have to be that way, though! If you are interested in having your family history published in any format . . . and particularly if you are going to do it yourself, there is an excellent book available to guide you through the process. Producing a Quality Family History, by Patricia Law Hatcher, is written in an easy-to-read style, taking you through all the steps, from what to write and how to write it, to how to organize your information. Once this is accomplished, there you are taken through the process of laying out pages. She also shares here considerable expertise in showing you how to use charts and illustrations to enhance and enliven your project.

The most important thing though, is that you start. As with most projects, getting started can be the hardest part. Below are some steps that can help launch your family's history from a pedigree chart into an interesting and lively family history:

Start Small. When faced with huge projects, we tend to procrastinate, and many a family history has never been written because it seemed like too much work. Choose one person to focus on. That person can even be you! Pull together all the information you have on that person, include citations for records, and organize the facts into a timeline. Using the timeline begin writing a narrative about this person.

Do Your History Homework. Most of us are not descended from presidents or royalty. From what I know, I am descended from the purest of peasant stock. But in my eyes, this does not diminish one bit the admiration that I hold for my ancestors who left their homes to come to a new land and start their lives anew. Everyone has a story, and while you may not find your ancestors in the history books, it does not mean that they cannot help you. Set the stage for your ancestors, by weaving history into your story. "The year was 1869. Ulysses Grant was president, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed, the National Woman Suffrage Association was formed, and on May 31, in a small apartment in the working-class section of Brooklyn, Raymond Dyer was born. . . ."

Your Ancestors' Day to Day Lives. By including information about the lives of your ancestors, your readers can get to know them better. Patricia Hatcher's Producing a Quality Family History, contains an excellent chapter with questions that to ask as you prepare your family history. The Ancestry Daily News periodically picks a group of questions and guides researchers to some resources that can help you answer these questions as they pertain to your ancestors' lives.

Use Photographs, Illustrations, Maps, and Charts. Photographs, illustrations, and maps, where available, can add a visual element to your story. When available, use photographs of ancestors, ancestral homes or residences, churches, schools, shops, towns, cemeteries, headstones, immigration ships, charts to show relationships, maps, or anything else that may give a more three-dimensional aspect to your story.

Cite Your Sources. Although you may be tempted to just write your history and go back later to insert citations, this can be a mistake. If you include citations as you go along, there is less risk of confusing sources later, or including facts that may be based on presumptions without realizing it. Another benefit is that while you are recording these facts and sources, it gives you a chance to go over your research. You may find that you have overlooked a particular record, or possibly, a piece of information that didn't make sense at the time, takes on an important new meaning when combined with information more recently acquired.

Share Your Findings. When you have finished recording history of one individual or family, share it with family members that may have more information. Once they see your narration and any accompanying images, it may spur memories that may have otherwise been forgotten. You also might intrigue a family member who was previously disinterested. A MyFamily.com Web site offers a free way to share this information with other family members with Internet connections over long distances, thus allowing you to collaborate quickly and easily, at no cost.

Make It Readable and Interesting. While it is important to include names, dates and locations, including details, will make your family's story interesting reading. Without embellishing, fill your story with the same passion that inspired your search. Kindle the same love and respect for your family in all who read it. This will ensure that your family history will be a family treasure, instead of a book on a shelf collecting dust.