It's Time to Sign Up for the Family History Writing Challenge
Biff Barnes
If you are writing a family history or thinking about starting to, Lynn Palermo, The Armchair Genealogist, has a few questions for you:
Lynn Palermo
- Have you been writing sporadically never finishing a story?
- Have you procrastinated writing your stories, not sure where to begin?
- Do you need that nudge to finish your stories and finally publish?
- Are you overwhelmed and need some support in getting started?
If you answered yes to any of the questions, Palermo’s Family History Writing Challenge is designed to get you over the hump.
The challenge is simple. Make a 28 day commitment beginning February 1st to write your family history every day.
As Palermo explains:
You select the ancestor or ancestors, the timeframe, keeping in mind who you feel most prepared to write about in terms of research and interest, and who are you most motivated to write about. Write your stories in the form of family history blog posts, a family history memoir, narrative stories for a legacy book or as a personal journal.
You pick the amount 250, 500, 1000 words a day whatever you can work into your schedule. Do the math.
- 250 words x 28 days = 7000 words, you would be well on your way!
- 500 words x 28 days = 14,000 words, this would be an incredible start!
- 1000 words x 28 days = 28,000 words, you would be a hero!
The goal is not necessarily to create a finished product, but instead, you to commit 28 days to writing your family history, in the hopes that you will get a running start and you’ll never look back. There will be plenty of time to edit your stories later, committing to the daily word count is a huge step to making it happen.
Palermo has enlisted published authors, editors and professional instructors to help you along the way. (We’ll be contributing a guest post. More on that later.) She will also provide personal support and encouragement to keep you going with a Daily Dose newsletter emailed to all participants.
To sign up visit the Family History Writing Challenge website.
Good luck! You can do it.
If you’ll be taking the challenge, leave a comment below.