Organizing Your Family History Writing Projects

Person writing in a spiral notebook with a pen next to an open laptop on a white desk.

Did you start doing family history projects because of a well-thought-out plan, or did you feel called? Many genealogy journeys start like mine did: unexpectedly. I first began writing when my dad passed away, which sparked an urgent desire to capture my parents’ story. I set out with childlike exuberance. But since I lacked formal training, I knew my approach was not very efficient. I kept thinking, “I’m sure there are better ways.” Indeed there are, and I went in search of them. Those best practices became the backbone of my writing, both about my own family and for clients I work with.

In this article, I’ll share what I’ve gleaned to hopefully save you that learning curve—and get you writing sooner.

1. Create a Broad Outline

Set up a simple (but well-structured) overview of your project. Even though each work is different, I consult the same “starter checklist” of common story elements or research needs whenever I start a new project:

Digital files related to research: photos, audio and transcripts, etc.
Physical documents that correspond to the electronic files
A working document that logs research and citations
A timeline that captures relevant dates
A task list or project-management board (e.g., using Trello www.trello.com)
A biographical sheet for each person in the story
A timekeeping log (if it’s a client project)

We’ll cover several of these in subsequent sections, and you can get my project templates for free at Evalogue.

2. Collect Your Materials

In some ways, organizing your writing project is a lot like organizing your research in general. Once you’ve determined the scope of your project, you’ll next need to get all your stuff in one place. Some may require digitization (see No. 3), but these resources often come about earlier in the research process.

Family interviews

I begin every project by interviewing subjects. Their memories, factual details, and voices give me a feel for what’s already been researched and where I should go next. Each interview starts with careful prep and by gathering the right supplies. Over the years, I’ve developed an interview kit that includes:

A digital recorder with a built-in USB (for easy file transfers)
A backup recorder, such as a voice recording app on a phone
A lapel microphone (also known as a lavalier)
A notebook for jotting down follow-up questions and interview highlights
Tissues for emotional moments
Extra batteries as necessary

Photos

In addition to being “records” in their own right, family photos grab attention and add a spark to
stories. Collecting them in one place is crucial to jump-starting your storytelling. Depending on your circumstances, photos may also be overwhelming to manage. Having learned this the hard way, I now send clients a “file request” link via Dropbox where they can upload photos to a central place. That saves me having to field random text messages or long email threads with attached low-quality images.

To keep track of photos, I create a Google Sheet that has the following columns:

File name
Description
Date taken
Caption

Possible location of the photo in the final project (e.g., which chapter), useful when I create a book’s design Photos can also be helpful tools in the aforementioned family interviews. They can trigger memories in your subjects, who can also provide more information about the people and places in
them. With that in mind, I schedule a Zoom call with clients and show them photos via screenshare.
As they talk about the photos, I type notes directly into the spreadsheet.

Audio Files

Back when I was a paralegal, I experienced firsthand the slog of manually transcribing audio. At the time, it involved a foot-pedal dictation machine and mini cassette tapes. Today, AI transcription tools make quick work of the process. These technologies keep evolving, so I periodically update a detailed article here.

My go-to is HappyScribe , which is astonishingly accurate. It detects different speakers, offers a choice of languages and accents, and allows a custom vocabulary. Otter and Zoom are also great options.

Here’s my typical workflow when transcribing many audio files:

Rename each audio file.
Run a transcript using AI tools.
Format the file name line as an “H1” or
“H2” header.
Copy each transcript into a master document
in Microsoft Word or Google Docs to
make the text of all transcripts searchable
Generate an automatic table of contents. To do so in Word, make sure your headers are labeled H1 or H2, then click Insert > Index.

3. Digitize Efficiently

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been handed giant tubs of client material to process. Digitizing all that stuff can be daunting and seriously hamper your ability to move forward with your research and writing.
Fortunately, you can break down the seemingly overwhelming task by:

Finding the Right Equipment

You don’t need to buy archival-quality scanners yourself. Public libraries, FamilySearch Centers,
and genealogical societies often allow patrons to use their scanners and software. For example, I met with a client named Gordon at a FamilySearch Center. The center had a high-end flatbed scanner that processed multiple images of WWII-era letters Gordon’s parents wrote to each other. The built-in software used “intelligent cropping” to trim out each photo, and we added custom file names and metadata. Altogether, the project took just a day.

If you would like a home scanner, you might consider the Vivid-Pix Memory Station . This combines the ScanSnap SV600 overhead scanner with Vivid-Pix’s RESTORE photo-editing software. With it, you can scan, digitize and enhance up to 10 documents at once. ScanSnap scanners also come with the ABBYY FineReader software, which generates searchable text from PDFs.

Using a Consistent Fie-Naming System

A consistent naming convention is crucial for an organized project. Early in my career, I named files haphazardly. Finding files was a nightmare! So now, I name every file with the date first: YYYY-MM-DD (four-digit year, two-digit month, and two-digit day). Next, I add a descriptive title—for example, 1998-03-27 Jane Smith interview – Early Childhood. With this system, my files are helpfully listed in chronological order on my computer. Many genealogists prefer adding the surname and first name before the date, which also works well. Whatever naming convention you choose, commit it to memory until it becomes second nature. Adopting consistent file names is one of the simplest yet most effective improvements you can make.

Getting Help

For large digitizing jobs, rope in an assistant to help you. When visiting collection archives, I
usually bring an intern to work with me so we can finish in an afternoon. Just don’t get chatty
with your helper, or you’ll lose the efficiency.

Extra hands only make light work only if you don’t distract each other with conversation. Another person also makes it less likely you’ll lose your place while bouncing between different steps: scanning, naming and organizing digital files, and putting away physical materials. The real benefit is allowing each person to focus on fewer tasks. It’s easy to lose your place with multiple steps in scanning, saving filenames, and properly returning materials. (The work is time-consuming, but not mindless.)

4. Build a Timeline

There are several factors to consider as you outline your story. Who is the “main character”? What events will you portray? And will you structure those events chronologically or in some non-linear format? Regardless of how you answer that last question, a timeline can provide the scaffolding upon which you hang your family history narrative. Make it easy to add dates as you uncover them.

I use a spreadsheet, but you could also tap AI tools: ChatGPT, Grok, etc. Try asking the chatbot to analyze transcripts of documents you provide, then list life events such as births, marriages and career milestones. (Bonus: Ask it to include source citations, then prompt the tool to format them in your style of choice.)

5. Put Together a Narrative

With your materials gathered and organized, start thinking about your story in concrete terms. Which details do you want to include, and where?

Selecting and Organizing Research Details

I take running notes as I research (including, if relevant, text from records, articles and other sources), then organize them into headings and subheadings. That work-in-progress document
becomes a kind of brain dump, housing facts and ideas before they mature into text.

Inevitably, only a small fraction of this material will end up in the final product. But it becomes a valuable reference for the future, especially by organizing a table of contents and looking for any holes in your research or narrative.

Writing as You Go

“Your goal is to write a first draft quickly—and messily, if needed. In a presentation for Lega- cy Tree Webinars , genealogist Jill Morelli defines “writ- ing as you go” as setting up the framework for your report when you first begin a new project or phase of work, then filling in your results as you find them. Don’t wait for your research to be “finished” before you write.

Another piece of life-changing advice came from historian Jenny Lund, who said to write the first draft “from memory.” Write fast with- out stopping to edit, look up citations, or pull exact quotes. Just leave a note near a section that needs follow up—focus on getting the words out in your own voice.

In addition to the work-in-progress document and timeline mentioned earlier, I also frequently refer to a searchable collection of transcripts from interviews and any other audio. Keep these open alongside the manuscript itself—a clean document that contains a working outline and any “final” text you’ve written.

My first attempt in writing a life story will fol- low an outline of major life events in chronological order. That gives some shape to my writing while still allowing plenty of room for creativity. Only after I’ve completed my first draft do I analyze what I have. Next, I map out a story- board—a “snapshot” sequence of events—using sticky notes. In the storyboard phase, I’m looking for emotional moment, character arcs, and pacing.

This borrows from the “beat sheet” technique used by Hollywood screenwriters. In his book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need, the late author Blake Snyder outlined in detail the emotional “beats” of compelling stories (including, as the title implies, a scene in which a character demonstrates moral virtue by saving a proverbial cat).

The Save the Cat methodology lives on in a website that examines story beats and storytelling tropes of various TV shows and movies.

6. Pick the Right Tools

When you walk into a master carpenter’s shop, you see how each well-used tool has a purpose and a place. Likewise, you’ll want to collect your own arsenal of quality tools for family history tasks. For smaller projects, Microsoft Word is fine. But I prefer Scrivener when writing a book or another complex
research project. It has a slight learning curve, but it’s one-time cost is reasonable. (For a simpler
alternative, consider Atticus or the free Google Docs .)

Scrivener’s nested outline structure lets you easily organize chapters, sections and scenes. Among my favorite features are dragging-and-dropping sections (the card view mimics a digital corkboard, making it easy to shuffle scenes around) and viewing two sections at once. You can also save research files right in Scrivener.

The sidebar on page 50 lists some of my essential tools (and which programs I use for them) for other functions. You may find yours are different.

Tech pioneer Kevin Ashton wisely wrote “Time is the raw material of creation” . I’ll add that attention is the currency of our lives. That is why it pays dividends to invest in organizational methods that will
keep our projects tidy and minds clear. What a waste to burn precious time on cleanup that could have been prevented, or to get bogged down in a mess. Protect your time and free your attention for creative play. Most importantly, take your beloved projects all the way to the finish line.