Family Tree to Novel, 1

Begin Simply: Write a Story

Do you have lots of family research no one will care about, much less read? Are you intimidated about writing stories?

In 2019, my brother's sudden passing made me realize the importance of preserving forty years of genealogical research.

I wondered, how can I engage future generations with my work?

The idea of writing stories my great-grandchildren would eagerly read popped into my mind.

But I felt overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.

Start simply, my inner muse told me. Write only one story, but make it compelling.

I contemplated which tale I wanted to tell and landed on a family legend with elements of truth. It revolved around who actually "invented" the cotton gin, a topic I knew I had to handle carefully given my legal background.

But what if I lost the historical romance associated with the legend?

An idea struck me.

What if I blended truth and imagination, walking a fine line between fiction and reality?

Suddenly, I felt joy. I could fulfill my childhood dream of writing fiction while incorporating my extensive research. And even impart some little-known history along the way.

The task seemed daunting.

I didn't want to join an in-person writer's group or invest in expensive seminars or conferences.

Then it hit me. Go with the familiar.

An avid user and reader of Facebook, I could explore it for a group of like-minded individuals who shared similar concerns.

I lurked in several places and stumbled upon a writing group focused on family histories. They offered free coaching and gentle peer advice for a month each year, providing the discipline I needed.

I began posting my chapters, ending with a cliffhanger. To attract more readers, I even included illustrations, which seemed to work.

However, my frequent posts overshadowed others and intimidated new writers, which was never my intention.

That's when I noticed some prolific writers shared links to their blogs with teaser excerpts. It seemed like a fantastic idea!

But I had never blogged before.

Despite reservations, I dedicated time to learn how to create blog entries. Blogger turned out to be easy to learn and I mustered the courage to compose and post entries daily.

To my surprise, the statistics page of my blog revealed that more and more people were reading, even though there were few "likes" or comments.

By the end of the month, I accumulated over 3,000 page views!

I hadn't used any marketing or advertising strategies other than sharing my work to the writing group and my few hundred Facebook friends.

And just like that, a novel was born.