Storytelling Hub
Blog articles to Help You Tell the Stories of the Past
Storytelling Prompt: The First Airplane Trip
For many people, the first airplane trip was a momentous event. Last week, I shared @DoYouRemember’s prompt: “First time on a plane, where did you go?” Some of the responses were of exotic (at least to me) places. However, the stories struck me more than the...
21 Family Story Starters for Family History Month
Just in time for Family History Month, here are 21 family story starters, prompts to aid you in collecting precious memories and family lore. Remember, the Key to Family Story Starters Is Your Follow Up Questions: In addition to Tami Koenig’s excellent advice in How...
RootsTech 2019: What’s New, Improved, and Good as Ever
Whether you’re a genealogical wizard or totally new to family history, you might want to start planning now for RootsTech 2019 February 27–March 2, 2019, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Full disclosure: As a RootsTech Ambassador, I receive perks at RootsTech, such as a free...
Using Small Details to Describe Family Members and Relationships
Family storytellers can take a page from fiction writers who know the importance of the small details in describing a character. Though you may have to dig a little to find that type information about ancestors (more about that coming soon), your memory banks and...
Writing about an Imaginary Friend: My Magic Dragon
Including an imaginary friend in your family story or memoir seems a little odd at first. Shouldn’t it be a non-fiction account? But think. Often, the role of an imaginary friend in childhood reveals other stories. Depicts family dynamics. Portrays childhood fears....
Montreal in 1916 – Century Old Honeymoon Diary Series
The honeymoon diary continues from New York City with a view from the past of Montreal in 1916. As much as I’ve enjoyed reading the 102-year-old honeymoon diary, as the young bride, Myrtle, describes visiting Montreal, Canada, I’m left thinking “What?” a lot. Newly...
5 Procrastination Busters for Writing Family Stories
We all have things we have to do and things we want to do. Writing family stories is one of those things we put off until next week, next month, or that glorious day when we’ll have time. Read on to find five tips that make it easier to break through the...
5 Tips for Getting Started in Genealogy Research
Guest poster Diana Elder, author of Research like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide, shares some great starting points for genealogy research. Are you ready to get started researching your family's history? Does it sound too difficult? Try these five steps to get started....
Roses Aren’t Perfect – Family Stories Shouldn’t be Either
We want to see the people of our past—at least the people we love—as most of us see a rose. Perfect. Flawless. Thorn-less. Let’s take the dozen roses that we so often have delivered. Colors may vary, but they are always presented in bud form. Is that so we can watch...
Icebreakers: What Really Matters to You
Icebreakers can work for writers as well as speakers. We know ice breaker games from summer camps, team building meetings, and orientations. Fun, get-to-know-each-other exercises. Toastmasters International has their own version of Icebreakers. In their first speech...
Family Inheritances: Trash or Treasure?
Is the trash or treasure question equivalent to the flower or weed question? Does the answer lie completely in the eye of the beholder? Like a lot of things, it’s not as simple as that. For instance, soil content, and climate can play a role in whether a flowering...
Recapturing Childhood Feelings
Recapturing childhood feelings sounds like an impossible task, doesn’t it? Once again experiencing days—or even moments—of innocence, wonder, or naïve joy. Difficult perhaps. But not impossible. Sometimes it even happens when we’re not expecting it, as was the case...
Century-Old Honeymoon Journal: New York City in 1916
A century-old honeymoon journal gives us a view of New York City in 1916 as seen through the eyes of a young woman from Ohio. We've done a little time-traveling, courtesy of Sid and Myrtle (Lookabaugh) Earhart, accompanying them 102 years later as they traveled to the...
Story Prompt: Favorite Toy or Possession
A description of a favorite toy or possession can tell a deeper story, whether it was your own or someone else’s. My mind immediately goes back to those 5” x 5” black and white photos of the sixties. If my sister had had her way, “Chatty Cathy” would’ve accompanied...
A Genealogy Problem: Accessible Records of Enslaved Individuals
Descendants of enslaved people have a lot harder time digging out the stories of their ancestors. Considered “property,” these ancestors weren’t afforded the dignity of having their names and birth dates recorded on census records, county marriage records, and the...
Writing Postcards: A Lost Art in Need of Revival
Like my pack-rat tendencies, I come by my love of writing postcards honestly. My mom was an avid postcard writer and both my parents were sentimental savers. They saved greeting cards, mementos, letters, and of course, postcards. After their deaths, I found that they...
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