How To Organize Your Family History by
Cheryle Hoover Davis
How many times
have you set about to write your family history, only to
run across the daunting task of putting it all together
in a manner which will make sense?
How many times have you
set about to write your family history, only to run
across the daunting task of putting it all together in a
manner which will make sense?
Many people give up writing their family history at this
point. Too much information! So much to write about! If
you are like me, you’ve spent years researching your
ancestors only to find piles of papers, notes, and
website URLs piling up on your desktop.
The key to writing your family history is to GET
ORGANIZED, but take it one small step at a time!
We’ve all seen articles on how to organize your clutter
and make our homes neat and pleasing. This knowledge can
be applied to genealogy research, and writing your
history, also!
One interesting thing I have noticed is that most
experts on home organization emphasize ‘one step at a
time.’ If you choose to do it all at once, you’ve set
yourself up for failure before you’ve even begun. Giving
yourself permission to do just a little at a time will
make the task so much easier.
I know when I began cleaning out the clutter of closets,
kitchen cabinets and ‘junk drawers’ I began to feel
overwhelmed. I was making a bigger mess and never
getting it all finished. What a self deafeating
experience! Another side effect was not knowing where
anything was after I’d made such a mess.
Being a clutter-junkie was something I inherited from my
mother, the difference being, she always seemed to have
it all organized and easily accessible. In my case, I am
disorganizationally organized. I know where that note
about Uncle Harry is in that pile of papers on my
desktop, thank you very much. I remember where I put
that scrap of paper with Auntie Dorothy’s phone number
from 1982 on it. My mother laughed too, so go ahead -
laugh out loud!
If you are a ‘neatnik’, ignore this article. If you are
a ‘clutter junkie’, read on!
One day, while working on a family history project, I
was feeling quite overwhelmed at all the information I
had and was able to produce no clearly written story. My
mother’s voice came back to haunt me: “You need to get
organized…you need to get organized…you need to get
organized.”
Ok, alright, Mother, I hear you! But, HOW?
Remember your mother telling you: “Everything has a
place…blah blah blah”? Well, it’s true (don’t tell my
mother I said that - I‘ll never live it down).
It’s not easy for us clutter junkies, however. I decided
I would take it…one small step at a time. First, I
cleaned off my desktop. I just threw everything in a
couple boxes. There. Done. Finished. Finis.
Well, that was so easy, I decided to take the next step.
Sorting out one box. I had file folders, so I placed
each surname in a separate folder. Easy enough. It was
all going well.
The next step was soon to follow, as the last had been
so easy. Before I knew it, it was all organized, the
information easily found, and I was ready to begin
writing!
The next step was actually writing my family history.
I’ll take it…one step at a time.
After many years as a professional artist, DJ,
Production Studio manager, Program Director, Master
Control Board Operator at a television station,
professional writer, and being what she calls a "Jill of
all Trades and Master of Some", Ms. Davis has turned her
attention to focus on writing.
Genealogy is Cheryle Hoover Davis’ passion and her blog
“Surnames and Hernames” can be found at:
http://surnamesandhernames.blogspot.com/ and more at
eHow: http://www.ehow.com/members/Ceile.html