How to Start, Teach, & Franchise a Creative Genealogy Writing Class or Club

By Anne Hart

It's easy to start, teach, and franchise a creative genealogy writing club, class, or publication. Start by looking at the descriptions of each business and outline a plan for how your group operates. Flesh out each category with your additional research pertaining to your local area and your resources. Your goal always is to solve problems and get measurable results or find accurate records and resources. Or research personal history and DNA-driven genealogy interpretation reporting.

You can make keepsake albums/scrapbooks, put video online or on disc, and create multimedia text and image with sound productions or work with researching records in archives, oral history, or living legacies and time capsules. A living legacy is a celebration of life as it is now.

A time capsule contains projects and products, items, records, and research you want given to future generations such as genograms of medical record family history, family newsletters, or genealogy documents, diaries, photos, and video transcribed as text or oral history for future generations without current technology to play the video discs. Or start and plan a family and/or school reunion project or franchise, business or event. Another alternative is the genealogy-related play or skit, life story, or memoir.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 12, 2008
• ISBN: 9781532000249

Anne Hart

Popular author, writing educator, creativity enhancement specialist, and journalist, Anne Hart has written 82 published books (22 of them novels) including short stories, plays, and lyrics. She holds a graduate degree and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Mensa.

Book preview

Copyright © 2008 by Anne Hart

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ASJA Press

an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. (For all category)

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-0-595-52212-5

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0024-9 (ebook)

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 What Problems You Can Solve & Results Obtain Using Family Newsletters, Time Capsules, or Living Legacies and Celebrations of Life Publications

Chapter 2 Designing Family History and Corporate Success Story Newsletters or Time Capsules as Anniversary or Event and Celebration of Life Gift Books

Chapter 3 How to Bind Your Own Book or Booklet by Hand

Chapter 4 Pop-Up Books for All Ages

Chapter 5 5-6 Week Course in Writing and Publishing Gift Books and Newsletters

Chapter 6 50 Strategies on How to Write Memoirs and Life Story Gift Books or Newsletters

Chapter 7 Personal Histories & Autobiographies as Points of View within Social Histories Write in the First Person for your Newsletter, Book, or DVD Family History Documentary or Report

Chapter 8 Personal History Time Capsules as Gift Books, Annual Newsletters and DNA-Driven Genealogy Reports: How to Open Your Own DNA Test Results or Molecular Genealogy Reporting Company—Add DNA-Driven Genealogy Reports to Your Time Capsules and Gift Books.

Chapter 9 Romantic Wedding and Anniversary Gift Books, DVDs or Newsletters

Chapter 10 Family History Newsletters or DVDs with Slog ans, Logos, and Branding

Chapter 11 Directories and DVDs as Gift Books: Entertainment, Walking Tour Guides, Historic Neighborhoods, Galleries, Museums, and Dining

Chapter 12 Gift Books, Discs, and Newsletters Documenting Media Tours for Authors, Performers, and Speakers: Occupations as Extended Families of Humankind

Chapter 13 News Clipping Collection on a Theme Newsletter, Report, Disc, or Niche Market Gift Book

Chapter 14Age-Related Genealogy Hubs as Family History Newsletters, DVDs, Reports, and Gift Books

Chapter 15 Reunion Newsletters, Discs, and Gift Books for Families or Alumni

Chapter 16 Digital Scrap Booking, Newsletters, DVDs, and Gift Books from Slide Shows

Chapter 17 Dating History or School Reunion Newsletters, DVDs, and Gift Books

Chapter 18 Celebrities’ Lessons Learned from Life as Newsletters, Discs, Reports, or Books

Chapter 19 Mind-Body-Spirit Gift Family History Video Newsletters, Reports, and Gift Books Numerology, Noetics, and Cycles for Entertainment at Family Reunions

Chapter 20 Inspirational Genealogy or Living Legacy Video and Print Newsletters, CDs, DVDs, or Gift Books

Chapter 21 Genogram Self-Help Seminar and Convention Newsletters, Discs, Reports, or Year Books

Chapter 22 How to Make Great Video Extended Family Newsletters

Chapter 23 International Family Reunions: Videoconferencing, Newsletters, DVDs, and Reports by Satellite or Camera Phones

Chapter 24 Family and Corporate Success Story Newsletters, Annual Updates, or Reunions by DVD or CD (Personalized Video News Releases)

Appendix A Newsletter Templates on the Web

Appendix B Multi-Ethnic Genealogy Web Sites:

Appendix C General Genealogy Web sites

Appendix D Bibliography

Appendix E 1,006 Action Verbs for Gift Book Writers and Publishers

Appendix F Template for a Handwritten Newsletter—Print or Multimedia

Appendix G List of Paperback Books Currently in Print Written by Anne Hart

Introduction

Education is the best provision for old age.

—Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC), from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers.

It’s easy to start, teach, and franchise a creative genealogy writing club, class, or publication. Start by looking at the descriptions ofeach business and outline a plan for how your group operates. Draw up the rules and operation by referring to the categories or headlines titled: DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS, INCOME POTENTIAL, TRAINING REQUIRED, EQUIPMENT NEEDED, OPERATING YOUR BUSINESS and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Flesh out each category with your additional research pertaining to your local area and your resources. Your goal always is to solve problems and get measurable results or find accurate records and resources. When records run out, there’s always DNA-driven ancestry testing, which may be vague, but can pinpoint deep ancestry somewhat.

You can make keepsake albums/scrapbooks, put video online or on disc, and create multimedia text and image with sound productions or work with researching records in archives, oral history, or living legacies and time capsules. A living legacy is a celebration of life as it is now.

A time capsule contains projects and products, items, records, and research you want given to future generations such as genograms of medical record family history, family newsletters, or genealogy documents, diaries, photos, and video transcribed as text or oral history for future generations without current technology to play the video discs. Or start and plan a family and/or school reunion project or franchise, business or event. Another alternative is the genealogy-related play or skit, life story, or memoir.

The most important point to remember is you’ll need a syllabus and a business plan. If you don’t want to turn creative genealogy writing into a business, keep it at the project level as a popular hobby. With genealogy being the second most popular hobby in the nation (gardening is first), there are plenty of creative projects to start groups researching in your area or nationally. You can take this to the franchise level by starting groups nationally or world-wide, or keep it at the level of your local club.

Syllabus—Creative Genealogy Writing

Sample Syllabus

This syllabus can be stretched out to be a course lasting a year, a semester, or 10 weeks. If you whittle it down to 10 weeks, make sure to make it less ambitious and include fewer items to cover. Students taking this as a class or in a continuing creative genealogy writing group will be working on these projects part time at their leisurely pace.

So you probably will not be able to cover all items unless this course is in a continuing club or group. In a classroom, you’ll have to revise your own syllabus to meet the length of your class requirements, such as a 5-week class, 10-week class, semester class, or two semesters. Therefore, be sure to adapt and revise this syllabus to cover what you want as your goals by asking the students for feedback on what they want and need to learn in the length of time allotted.

Try Something New

Creative genealogy writing can include something new such as recipes for homemade natural plant-based cleaning products, diaries, living legacies, and specialized living legacies and celebrations of life. They can include time capsules with genograms, medical records histories of families for future generations’ reference and useful information. Material also would be of interest to historians, researchers, medical and scientific researchers, educators, oral history librarians, as well as progeny. Short stories, novels, and plays also are born with genealogy records as their roots.

Here’s my sample syllabus. Adapt your own syllabus to the length and emphasis of your class, group, project, research, or event.

Creative Genealogy Writing Sample Syllabus

Class Meeting Information

This course meets online.

Instructor Information

Name:

Office Phone:

Email:

Web site: http://annehart.tripod.com

Sample instructor biography:

Anne Hart, M.A., is a popular novelist and playwright with 85 paperback books currently in print. She holds a graduate degree in English/Creative Writing and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and Mensa. She has been writing professionally since 1963. Her full biography appears at

Prerequisites—Classes or Knowledge Required for this Course

None, but an interest in writing and researching nonfiction, fiction, or drama/ docudrama about life stories, genealogy, history, social issues, memoirs, biography, current events, or an interest in genealogy is helpful.

Course Description

Almost everyone is interested in the migrations, history, significant life events, turning points, and highlights of his or her ancestors. This 10-week online introductory course represents the marriage of creative writing with genealogy, to create stories and record personal histories to be passed on to relatives or researchers in the future.

Identify individuals and their ancestors using paper records, online searches, surname groups online, and DNA-driven genealogy resources. Information from research is then applied to creative writing with a goal of developing salable materials in a variety of genres—memoir, personal history, drama/plays/scripts/ monologues, docudrama, essay, articles, true life stories, or simply publishing family newsletters. Weekly writing assignments usually will be one or two pages of writing.

Course Objectives (after completing this course, the student will be able to):

1. Use the methods of scientific genealogical research.

2. Establish lines of descent for the person or family you select and develop a pedigree chart or family history tree of names with critical dates such as birth, marriage, and death for each ancestor on the family tree and/or pedigree chart.

3. Organize genealogy records using online technology to research or supplement written records.

4. Interview and record relatives or selected persons.

5. Write a publishable 1,000-word researched family history/genealogy article.

Evaluation

Class participation and completion of projects/assignments is due by the end of the course. Assignments are due by the due date specified in the handout.

Equipment

Access to the Internet, a personal computer and printer, a tape or other audio digital recorder or camcorder using either tape or DVDs, and a DVD or CD recorder/R/RW disk drive in your computer or other device that saves a computer file to a CD and/or a DVD. Save your recorded projects on DVDs or CDs. Instruction will be provided on how to save any recorded material to a DVD or CD. Technical help will be available.

Course Text—Choose One

Hart, Anne. (2007). Ethno-Playography: How to Create Salable Ethnographic Plays, Monologues & Skits from Life Stories, Social Issues, and Current Events. ASJA Press imprint, iUniverse, (1-800-Authors).

ISBN: 978-0-595-46066-3.

The Ethno-Playography book is primarily for creative writers interested in using genealogy records to write plays, monologues, skits, or novels and real life stories or memoirs. If you choose this book you’ll also get materials of value to enhance your creativity and have a wider platform, a more versatile approach to adapting life stories to plays, skits, monologues, or stories and novels/essays and other genres such as niches, how to sell your play, and creating mini-books based on life stories, personal histories, and genealogy records or plays and monologues and essays.

Or:

Howto StartaCreative GenealogyWriting Class orGroup (this book) and the following articles on creative writing (not on genealogy topics) on Amazon Shorts

Articles:

1. How to Write Salable/Commercial Short Stories for Popular Magazines Using the Formula of Multiples of Three for Balance, an Amazon Short

by Anne Hart (Author) Amazon Shorts (49 cents) at:

2. How to Write a Historical Novel, an Amazon Short

by Anne Hart (Author) Amazon Shorts (49 cents) at:

3. How to Develop Depth of Character in Your Fiction, an Amazon Short

by Anne Hart (Author) Amazon Shorts (49 cents) at:

A Fashion Guide to Spatial Feminism: Full Metal Corsets?, an Amazon Short

by Anne Hart (Author) Amazon Shorts (49 cents) at:

Grading Scale

A = 90%-100%

B = 80%-89%

C = 70%-79%

D = 60%-69%

Course Outline

Types of Communication

In an online course, the majority of our communication takes place in the course forums. However, when we have a need for communication that is private, whether personal, interpersonal, or professional, we will use individual email or telephone.

Code of Conduct Information

Netiquette Information (What are the rules for your school, class, or club?) Course Policies (For consistency, plan your policies of what is required and acceptable.)

Expectations of students

Students should be able to email the instructor outlines and/or short (one to five pages) articles, stories, interviews, essays, family newsletters, or drama excerpts, skits, plays (excerpts) for each assignment. Student may also choose to record interviews on CDs and create multimedia, audio, or video files on DVDs to record short interviews of life stories as an assignment or choose to write articles or essays about the multimedia projects or narration. Student has a choice in which media to work in—print or multimedia, audio or video.

A script, skit, or article is required that would be salable to a genealogy magazine or similar publication. Writing can be for all ages or for any specific age group reader. Students should expect from instructor answers to questions and suggestions for creating salable writing or improving their writing. Students should expect instructor to provide by email a list of resources they can use for genealogy research such as publications, helpful Web sites, and resources for research.

Expectations of the instructor

Instructor’s expectations is that the students turn in weekly assignments, keep the writing short, and let instructor know in writing what the writing is supposed to accomplish, for example, an excerpt from a story, an outline for an interview, a page of dialogue from a skit or play, or one to five pages of a proposed book or novel, a list of questions the student might ask a person being interviewed for his/ her life story highlight or significant event, an outline for a map on your ancestor’s migrations, a short storyboard, or a short article for a genealogy magazine.

Here’s How to Write a Creative Genealogy Writing Course or Club Franchise Syllabus

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

You can start a national genealogy course franchise to be used by schools, clubs, groups, or extended studies divisions of universities offering creative writing courses that specialize in a popular hobby niche such as genealogy, gardening, or scrapbooking. Or simply teach one course to a group or in a classroom, social center, or auditorium setting almost anywhere.

Here’s how to open your own genealogy, family history journalism, or personal history business. This includes a genealogy course template and instruction on how to start and operate a home-based business working with personal and oral histories, genealogy, family history, and life story writing. You also learn how to interview people, what questions to ask, and how to put together a business and/ or a course or book on any aspect of genealogy around the world, journalism, writing, personal history, and life story writing.

Start your own course using the genealogy course template to inspire you to develop your own specialties and niche areas. Work with almost any ethnic group, and create businesses ranging from DNA-driven genealogy reporting services to family history, memoirs writing, or personal history videography services.

Use social history to find information such as female ancestors’ maiden names that had not been recorded using hidden and niche areas of information, including ethnic, religious, and institutional sources such as widows’ military pension applications.