Are you holding your ancestors hostage by making any of these common mistakes?
If you’re a genealogist who wants to share family history stories (but can’t seem to get started) then you need to read this article immediately.
Mistake #1 – Thinking you have to write a BIG BOOK telling the WHOLE family history.
Sounds overwhelming, right?
Make it easy on yourself. Instead, write a short sentence or two about ONE ancestor’s story.
As with most things, getting started can be the hardest part.
When telling family history stories, you face the same challenge.
Getting started is the hardest part.
So don’t try to do this entire project in one bite. You’ll choke.
Instead, break it down into bite-sized pieces.
Simply write a short sentence or two about an ancestor’s story – really, just a line or two. If you’re inspired to do more – great. At this point your focused on just a line or two or three. Remember, you can tell the beginning, middle, and end of a story in three sentences. After that, filling in a few details is icing on the cake.
Mistake #2 – Thinking you have to first buy an expensive scanner and then scan ALL your photographs before you share them.
“So what do I do with all these pictures, movie tickets, papers, etc.?”
Sounds a bit like that BIG BOOK. It can get overwhelming fast.
What you can do right away is digitize images you will use for the very short story you just wrote.
Focus on the photographs and items related to the sentences you wrote in Step #1. Digitize them by taking pictures with your smart phone or tablet. And yes, take pictures of the things, too — like a movie ticket or a family keepsake, to illustrate the story.
In this way they are all captured and collected in one place.
Click here to get some tools to help out with with this step.
Mistake # 3 – Telling yourself “I’m not a writer. I can’t even type. I’m not sure I have even one short story!”
So take a different approach.
Create and record a narrative track to put the story together.
Use the photos and items you digitized as prompts for your narrative.
Use your voice to tell how to put the story together.
Simple, powerful, and it works!
Hint: your smart phone can record voice notes and even transcribe them as you speak!
If you take the steps to avoid these three common mistakes, you’ll end up with what you need to create a short ancestor video, which your family will watch!
Bonus Hint: your smartphone or computer has an app for that too!
Now that you know the three mistakes holding your ancestor’s stories hostage and what to do instead to create visual family history stories, I’d like to invite you to take the next step with your instant access to the “Ancestor Video Brainstorm Tools.” The Tools help you discover and show the ancestor stories hidden within items you have around your home.
Start now and set your family history free!