[CA--SCGS] The Searcher is Going On Hiatus

 

The Searcher Is Going on Hiatus

By Alice Fairhurst, Editor and SCGS President

It is time to re-imagine The Searcher.  Times are changing and more societies are no longer sending out printed journals or newsletters. 

SCGS is looking for a team leader who can chair a committee to envision new possibilities that fit the changing needs of our members.  In the meantime, society news is available on our website, through the SCGS and Jamboree blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter.  Access to all information is available through our website, scgsgenealogy.com.  Don’t forget to check the electronic calendar.

If you have ideas to contribute on this subject, please email searcher@scgsgenealogy.com

 

Southern California Genealogical Society and Family History Library

417 Irving Drive

Burbank, CA 91504-2408

(818) 843-7247

Email: scgs@scgsgenealogy.com

www.scgsgenealogy.com

 

Jamboree 2016: Thursday Workshop - Organizing Notes to Write a Compelling Story

Guest post by Anita R. Henderson

You Can’t Put It All In There

What’s the point in doing all that research if you never tell the stories of the people, places, and events you discover? Stories are the glue that binds us together. These tapestries of emotion draw others to want to know what you’ve discovered in your genealogy research (rather than you chasing down family members to recite your latest find). But storytelling only works when done well.

Learn the intricacies of storytelling, and find out how to narrow down all of that research into one organized, compelling tale. In “You Can’t Put It All In There: Organizing Notes to Write a Compelling Story,” author’s coach and author, Anita R. Henderson, explains key points for getting to the meat of your genealogy story.

“Most outsiders don’t want to know who begot whom or how many census documents you had to scour to find the one ancestor you’ve been seeking for the past decade,” says Henderson. “What they do want to know is the stories of the lives of those ancestors; who they loved, what motivated them, what mattered to them, how they lived, how historical events impacted them, and the legacies they left. You really can’t put it all in there, and you shouldn’t if you want to engage your readers and help them connect to your research.”

Here’s your chance to learn:

What makes a good story
How to narrow the focus of your research into one compelling story
Key story elements
How to write for your reader
A simple formula for outlining your story
How to determine what’s relevant in your research story

Anita is known as The Author’s Midwife. She helps genealogists and others write and publish engaging books on interesting topics. Through her Write Your Life program, authors overcome the struggles of writing so they can tell their unique stories and reach their writing and publishing goals. Anita has written for more than 25 publication in the U.S. and Canada. She has written and co-authored eight books, and assisted dozens of authors through the book publishing process. She speaks to genealogy and business groups nationwide, and is co-host of the Write Books That Sell Now podcast on iTunes.

In this interactive session, intermediate and advanced researchers will engage in writing practice and exercises with the goal of walking away with an outline for their own compelling genealogy story.

Thursday, June 2 2016  10:00 a.m. - 12 noon
TH‐C   You Can’t Put It All In There: Organizing Notes to Write a Compelling Story by Anita R. Henderson

This is part of a series of special workshops which are open to registered attendees of Genetic Genealogy or to those registered to at least one day at Jamboree 2016. Additional registration is required.

Limited to 35 participants

SCGS Member Registration

Non-Member Registration

Jamboree: Share Your Recollection of the 1960s for a Chance to Win A Jamboree 2015 Registration

SCGS is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of its founding which took place on January 10, 1964. To help commemorate our anniversary, we are asking you to share a memory of the 1960s.

We talk about the need to record the stories of our life that can be passed to our descendants. But how many of us really take the time to jot down those remembrances? The 2014 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree offers an opportunity to do just that.

The saying goes that if you remember the 60s, you weren’t really there.  Pshaw, folderol and hooey.  We all have - or we have family members who have - memories of the 60s.  If you weren’t around that long ago, maybe you discovered your parents’ $4 concert ticket stub or trick-or-treated in their faded tie-dye, dressed as a hippie.

If you wish, you can interview a family member and share their memory. It's your family's history that we want to record.

The 1960s provide a rich tapestry of topics. Whether your memory is of an intimate detail of special day, or a reaction to a world event, or a snapshot of school, work, family, music, holiday, or other slice of life, write it. 

Why should you participate in this activity? Imagine your great-granddaughter reading about your first date. Or your grandson’s delight at reading about the time you dented dad’s new car. See their face, hear their laughter. That’s why.

Oh, and one submission will be selected at random to receive a free registration to the 2015 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree.
Here are the instructions:

1. Entries are limited to registered attendees of the 2014 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree attendees and/or members of the Southern California Genealogical Society.
2. Please keep your entries to 400 words or less. It can be as short as a couple of sentences.
3. Email entries to flashback1960@scgsgenealogy.com. Put the content directly into the email; no attachments please. Your subject line should read “Flashback 1960 - .”
4. Include your Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Phone number, and email address at the bottom of the email.
5. Any research used in the submission must be supported by end note citations. For guidelines on citation style, see Evidence, Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian, by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Genealogical Publishing Co.). End notes are not included in the word count.
6. Entries will be posted online and displayed at Jamboree.  Entrants grant SCGS the one-time right to publish their memory in the SCGS journal The Searcher; and/or the SCGS website; and/or the Jamboree app, and/or displayed in electronic or print form at Jamboree. You retain the copyright to your work. 
7. The winner will be announced on Friday, June 6, at the banquet. Since there was no date specified in The Searcher article, submissions will be accepted through Friday noon, June 6.