As I've mentioned before, I belong to ProGen Study Group #3. I'm a third of the way through the program, having just turned in my 6th assignment.
Recently, I wrote an article for Geneabloggers.com that provides a brief history and a little behind the scenes glimpse of this special group.
The ProGen Study Group - An Online Education Opportunity
This has been a very positive experience for me and I like to share the details with others. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog. 52 Ideas. 52 Weeks. Part 2
There are so many ideas, this piece is divided into 2 parts. Begin with Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog, 52 Ideas. 52 Weeks. Part 1, then continue to ideas 27-52 below:
27. Visit the graves of local celebrities. Talk about their lives. The word “celebrity” is used very loosely here. Just do some research and you’ll find some fascinating people buried within. Tell your readers about these past lives and they’ll be hooked on your blog.
28. Write about the genealogy software you use. Comment on any tips, tricks or complaints you may have about the product.
29. Write about your favorite genealogy web sites. It seems like a new web site pops up every day. Tell us about the ones you like best.
30. Write about your experiences with social networking tools for genealogy purposes. Do you use MySpace, Facebook or Twitter? Are you a wiki kind of person? None of the above? Tell readers about your experiences with these tools and watch your own social network grow.
31. Have a family member be a guest blogger. Let a family member take the reins and provide a different perspective for a post or two. If you can’t find anyone to take the job, interview a relative and spotlight the person yourself.
32. Update older posts. If you find more information related to a previous post, create an update post. Link to the older posts to refresh readers’ memories, then give us the details on new discoveries.
33. Highlight the good work of others. List your favorite posts of the week/month/year. This is an easy way to give some blog love and write an easy post. You can use this idea as little or as much as you want.
34. Share a photo that conjures mixed emotions in you. Explain why this is the case as you detail the who/what/when/where/why of the subject matter.
35. Talk about an orphan picture containing people you do not know. Provide comments on your best guess about date, place, subjects.
36. Talk about military battles and your ancestors’ connections to them.
37. Talk about historical events and your ancestors’ connections to them.
38. Talk about natural disasters and your ancestors’ connections to them.
39. Did your ancestors come by boat? Talk about the documentation that records their departure and arrival.
40. Discuss on your ancestors’ land records. Where did they live? Who were their neighbors?
41. Talk about any unusual occupations your ancestors had.
42. Campaign for the politicians in your family tree. If you don’t have one, research the political leaders in your ancestors’ city, county, or state and share the information on your blog.
43. Go directly to jail and talk about your ancestors in the slammer.
44. Dig around the patent office. Talk about your creative ancestors and their inventions. You can also pick a patent and research the registrant.
45. Extra, read all about it! Do you have an ancestor featured in a newspaper article that wasn’t an obituary? Share the article (or a bit of it if there are copyright concerns) on your blog.
46. Comment on obituaries in your collection. Obits come in all shapes and sizes. Share some of the stand-outs with readers.
47. Seek help for records that don’t make sense. Do you have a census page or family record that contains information that just doesn’t add up? Discuss it in your blog and see if readers can help.
48. Open up the ancestral military and pension files. Talk about the records contained within.
49. Use your blog like a sounding board for research plans. Sometimes it helps to write down what you want to do, so you can plan how to do it.
50. Ask questions on your blog. Get answers from readers. Need to find a record? Need to know the parking situation at a big repository? Throw the questions out there and see what happens.
51. Talk about the email discussion lists to which you belong. Are they great? Too quiet? Informative? Let readers know.
52. Discuss your favorite genealogy publication. Why do you like it? Is it worth the money? How would you improve it?
There you go! 52 blog writing ideas for 52 weeks of the year. Use these prompts for times when you’re stuck about something to write about. Hopefully, genealogy blog writing will evolve from a resolution to a wonderful habit that’s automatic.
[Edit: Due to spammers targeting this particular post, I've had disable comments here. I am very sorry for this. If you'd like to comment on this post or have questions, feel free to email me using the address listed on the side of this blog. Thanks!]
Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog. 52 ideas. 52 weeks. Part 1
As quick review of genealogy blogs shows that many bloggers have made resolutions to write more about genealogy in 2009. Yes, you should blog more about genealogy! Carve out a little time for yourself (that means make an appointment for YOU and put it on your calendar). If you have a little writer’s block, don't worry. Help is on the way
Below are some genealogy blog prompts to jump start your brain. There are 52 in all, one for each week of the year. These are not intended to be done in order. Skip around and repeat all you want, so long as you have fun!
1. Upload your favorite picture and talk about it on your blog. Answer the who/what/when/where/why of the subject matter and explain why it is your favorite.
2. Participate in carnivals. A blog carnival is a showcase of bloggers’ posts on a given topic. Genealogy bloggers LOVE carnivals because there’s something for everyone. To learn about when these showcase-type events are happening, read others’ genealogy blogs. Someone’s always talking about a carnival.
3. Participate in weekly blog themes: Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, etc. Many genealogy bloggers post photos of grave stones on Tombstone Tuesday or a photo worth 1,000 silent words on Wordless Wednesday. Participate in these informal events or invent your own.
4. Take a genealogy day trip and blog about it. Discover the local history and genealogy in your area. Take a trip to a cemetery or other historic location. Describe the day, what you learned, where you went, how it looked, how it sounded. Armchair genealogists will love the mini travelogue.
5. Talk about your genealogy adventures while on vacation. Doesn’t everyone plan a little genealogy visit during vacation? Take your readers along for the ride.
6. Let readers in to your kitchen. Discuss your family’s favorite foods. What was a typical Sunday dinner in your childhood house? What did grandma make that had you coming back for more? Were there any dishes that the dog wouldn’t even eat?
7. Share your holiday traditions. How did you spend the 4th of July? Did the fire truck ever come to your house on Thanksgiving? Share your memories of all holidays, not just the December ones.
8. Talk about highlights and events from your local genealogy society. Most genealogy bloggers are members of several historical societies and love to hear about the events in other organizations. This is also a great way to attract new members.
9. Attend a local genealogy presentation and talk about the experience. How was the speaker? How was the venue? How did the event help your personal research? Talk about the day, but use caution when discussing the subject matter in detail. The information presented belongs to the speaker(s). Posting part or all of the presentation would violate copyright.
10. Attend a national conference and blog about it! Genealogists who can’t make the conference will appreciate the first-person account of the action. Exercise the same copyright caution as mentioned in #9.
11. Have a unique record filing system? Share your secrets! Every genealogist has a stack of paper and an individual way of organizing the pile. Share your way of tackling the record mountain and help others get organized!
12. Use your blog to break down a brick wall. Posting a name may ring a bell with a reader. Maybe you’ll make a connection in 5 minutes. May be it will take 2 years. Either way, asking for help is the first step to knocking down that wall.
13. Have expertise in a specific area of study? Share your knowledge! If you’ve lived in the same town for 60 years, you have something to share. If you’re a librarian in your day job, you have something to share. If you read Civil War history books for fun, you have something to share. If you’re walking on this Earth, you have something to share.
14. Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research. Whether it’s a new search engine, a special application, or anything else “2.0,” let readers know what you’re working with, and how it’s working for you.
15. List some vital signs. Talk about specific birth, marriage and death certificates. Topics may include misspelled names, fudged dates, other anomalies that stand out in your records.
16. Goals. Not just for resolutions anymore. Write down your genealogy goals. Then you can look back and see what you’ve accomplished.
17. Make a research task list. Posting these items to will help you get your tasks done, and may encourage readers to do the same.
18. Showcase a favorite blog or blogger. This is a great way to share some blog love and introduce readers to new genealogy writers.
19. Describe your favorite records repository. Why is it your favorite? What types of records does it contain? Do you have any advice for first-time visitors?
20. Talk about a least favorite records searching experience. Did you have a run-in with a cranky court clerk? Did you butt heads with an over-protective records manager? Share your pain on your blog and commiserate with others who have put up their genealogical dukes in the name of family history.
21. Lessons learned. Fess up to your research mistakes so others can learn from them.
22. Dish the dirt on your celebrity ancestors. Don’t have a movie star in the tree? Then talk about ancestors famous for other reasons. This is your chance to be an historical gossip columnist!
23. Talk about anything that’s haunted. Readers love spooky genealogy.
24. Document a genealogy event with photos and share in your blog. Show others how much fun your local luncheon can be, or how your genealogy field trip turned into a landslide of books. Don’t forget to get permission before posting photos of others.
25. Visit a cemetery and talk about your ancestors buried there. Bring their stories to life for your readers.
26. Visit a cemetery. Take photos and comment on unusual/unique grave monuments. Most cemeteries have at least a monument or two that make you stop and look, so do just that. Take a picture of the grave marker that made you pause and tell us why it did so.
On to part 2, ideas 27-52...
Below are some genealogy blog prompts to jump start your brain. There are 52 in all, one for each week of the year. These are not intended to be done in order. Skip around and repeat all you want, so long as you have fun!
1. Upload your favorite picture and talk about it on your blog. Answer the who/what/when/where/why of the subject matter and explain why it is your favorite.
2. Participate in carnivals. A blog carnival is a showcase of bloggers’ posts on a given topic. Genealogy bloggers LOVE carnivals because there’s something for everyone. To learn about when these showcase-type events are happening, read others’ genealogy blogs. Someone’s always talking about a carnival.
3. Participate in weekly blog themes: Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, etc. Many genealogy bloggers post photos of grave stones on Tombstone Tuesday or a photo worth 1,000 silent words on Wordless Wednesday. Participate in these informal events or invent your own.
4. Take a genealogy day trip and blog about it. Discover the local history and genealogy in your area. Take a trip to a cemetery or other historic location. Describe the day, what you learned, where you went, how it looked, how it sounded. Armchair genealogists will love the mini travelogue.
5. Talk about your genealogy adventures while on vacation. Doesn’t everyone plan a little genealogy visit during vacation? Take your readers along for the ride.
6. Let readers in to your kitchen. Discuss your family’s favorite foods. What was a typical Sunday dinner in your childhood house? What did grandma make that had you coming back for more? Were there any dishes that the dog wouldn’t even eat?
7. Share your holiday traditions. How did you spend the 4th of July? Did the fire truck ever come to your house on Thanksgiving? Share your memories of all holidays, not just the December ones.
8. Talk about highlights and events from your local genealogy society. Most genealogy bloggers are members of several historical societies and love to hear about the events in other organizations. This is also a great way to attract new members.
9. Attend a local genealogy presentation and talk about the experience. How was the speaker? How was the venue? How did the event help your personal research? Talk about the day, but use caution when discussing the subject matter in detail. The information presented belongs to the speaker(s). Posting part or all of the presentation would violate copyright.
10. Attend a national conference and blog about it! Genealogists who can’t make the conference will appreciate the first-person account of the action. Exercise the same copyright caution as mentioned in #9.
11. Have a unique record filing system? Share your secrets! Every genealogist has a stack of paper and an individual way of organizing the pile. Share your way of tackling the record mountain and help others get organized!
12. Use your blog to break down a brick wall. Posting a name may ring a bell with a reader. Maybe you’ll make a connection in 5 minutes. May be it will take 2 years. Either way, asking for help is the first step to knocking down that wall.
13. Have expertise in a specific area of study? Share your knowledge! If you’ve lived in the same town for 60 years, you have something to share. If you’re a librarian in your day job, you have something to share. If you read Civil War history books for fun, you have something to share. If you’re walking on this Earth, you have something to share.
14. Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research. Whether it’s a new search engine, a special application, or anything else “2.0,” let readers know what you’re working with, and how it’s working for you.
15. List some vital signs. Talk about specific birth, marriage and death certificates. Topics may include misspelled names, fudged dates, other anomalies that stand out in your records.
16. Goals. Not just for resolutions anymore. Write down your genealogy goals. Then you can look back and see what you’ve accomplished.
17. Make a research task list. Posting these items to will help you get your tasks done, and may encourage readers to do the same.
18. Showcase a favorite blog or blogger. This is a great way to share some blog love and introduce readers to new genealogy writers.
19. Describe your favorite records repository. Why is it your favorite? What types of records does it contain? Do you have any advice for first-time visitors?
20. Talk about a least favorite records searching experience. Did you have a run-in with a cranky court clerk? Did you butt heads with an over-protective records manager? Share your pain on your blog and commiserate with others who have put up their genealogical dukes in the name of family history.
21. Lessons learned. Fess up to your research mistakes so others can learn from them.
22. Dish the dirt on your celebrity ancestors. Don’t have a movie star in the tree? Then talk about ancestors famous for other reasons. This is your chance to be an historical gossip columnist!
23. Talk about anything that’s haunted. Readers love spooky genealogy.
24. Document a genealogy event with photos and share in your blog. Show others how much fun your local luncheon can be, or how your genealogy field trip turned into a landslide of books. Don’t forget to get permission before posting photos of others.
25. Visit a cemetery and talk about your ancestors buried there. Bring their stories to life for your readers.
26. Visit a cemetery. Take photos and comment on unusual/unique grave monuments. Most cemeteries have at least a monument or two that make you stop and look, so do just that. Take a picture of the grave marker that made you pause and tell us why it did so.
On to part 2, ideas 27-52...
[Edit: Due to spammers targeting this particular post, I've had disable comments here. I am very sorry for this. If you'd like to comment on this post or have questions, feel free to email me using the address listed on the side of this blog. Thanks!]
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