Writing Your Family History course

From genealogist Gill Blanchard, a forthcoming course for those who may wish to preserve their family history by recording it in a narrative form:

Writing Your Family History
E-Course
W: www.pastsearchlearning.co.uk
(formerly writingyourfamilyhistory.co.uk)
E: gblanchard@pastsearch.co.uk

Starts Friday 11 September 2020
Ends Week ending Friday 4 December 2020
12 Weeks. 5 Lessons. Weekly Live Discussions.
Cost £150

Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Author and Professional Family Historian
MA. Biography and Creative Non Fiction (UEA)

This is a practical writing course spread over a twelve week period that guides participants through the process of bringing their ancestors to life. The aim is on producing an entertaining family history that other people want to read. The lessons enable students to choose the most suitable format for them, decide what to include and how, and find and add relevant context. The tutor provides personalised and in-depth feedback throughout the course.

Students are encouraged to move beyond a basic ‘John begat William and Jane begat Mary’ chronicle; learn how to integrate relevant social and local history materials and to deal with repetitions, missing pieces and anomalies in their writing.

The course lasts for twelve weeks and is comprised of five lessons. The first four lessons are posted online at fortnightly intervals, with an extra week after lessons four and five to allow additional time for reading, writing, critiquing and feedback. Each lesson includes writing exercises, focussed guidance, useful tips, writing examples, links to useful resources and background reading. There are regular live online discussions with the tutor and other students. A dedicated learning hub can be used at any time throughout the course to share work, ask questions and post news.

This course is aimed at those who have completed a body of research into their family history and are ready to start writing.

Lesson 1 Starting Out
When to stop researching.
Format and what to include.
Planning.
Introduction to the Writing Craft.
Introduction to Adding Context.
Writing exercises and feedback.

Lesson 2 Expanding a Family History Biography
Structuring a family history continued.
Dealing with repetition and anomalies.
Adding background context.
Writing exercises and feedback.

Lesson 3 Bringing your Family History to Life - Building Background Material
Social and local history context continued.
Creating authenticity.

Lesson 4 Developing a Family History Further
Focussed work using local histories, biographies, autobiographies, letters, memoirs and oral histories to build context.
Writing exercises and feedback.

Lesson 5 Introduction to Publishing, Layout and Production and Review
Editing and layout.
Printing and publishing.
Reviewing progress.
Writing exercises and feedback.

(With thanks to Gill)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.