LEVEL

COURSE NAME

LINK TO COURSE DETAILS

ALL-IN-ONE

- A broad view

Crafting Compelling Family Histories

Crafting catchy titles, choosing a structure for your family history publication, crafting intriguing birth, marriage and death descriptions, crafting vivid sentences, scenes and stories: these subjects and more are explored in this Family History Writing Fundamentals course.   

FULL COURSE COMING IN NOVEMBER 2023

Published lessons currently only available to Annual Members.

BEGINNER BASICS

- Getting started

Words on the Page

"First drafts don't need to be perfect. They just need to be written." This course helps you begin your family history writing journey.  

BEGINNER BASICS

- Finding a framework

Simple Structures for Family History Writers   

Don't know where to start in terms of structuring your family history publication? This course makes it easy.   

Course coming in 2024. Annual Members can view a lesson in the Crafting Compelling Family Histories course.  

BEGINNER BASICS

- Expository elaborations (aka the encyclopaedia or academic style of writing) 

Our Ancestral Surnames

Want to learn how to write interesting "expository" or encyclopaedia-style prose? It's the easiest writing style for a family historian. This course explains how to do so via the medium of crafting interesting surname-origin descriptions.

For further information about crafting this style of prose, visit the Writing Styles topic page.

INTERMEDIATE INSIGHTS

- Polishing our prose

Words Words Words

Want an easy way to improve your prose? The solution: use powerful verbs, visually descriptive adjectives and so on. This course defines the different "parts of speech" in the English language and how we can use them for dramatic effect.

INTERMEDIATE INSIGHTS

- Polishing our prose

Punctuation Packs a Punch!

Did you know that the punctuation we choose is important in helping us produce appealing prose? It not only assists us in the craft of writing, it plays an extraordinary role in the art of writing. 

(12 of 14 lessons can currently be accessed by Annual Members. The entire course will be available in 2024)

ADVANCED ACTIVITIES

- Polishing our prose

Fascinating Figures of Speech

Have you thought about using similes and metaphors, onomatopoeia, the "rule of three", and other such literary vehicles to lift your prose to the next level? This course shows you how. 

This course is not yet available. 

ADVANCED ACTIVITIES

- Descriptive writing 

Hooking Our Readers

How do you "hook" your readers so they want to read more? This descriptive writing course isn't only about crafting "all that flowery stuff". It shows you how to employ different literary vehicles to keep your readers engaged. 

Course coming in 2024. Annual Members can view a descriptive writing lesson in the Crafting Compelling Family Histories course.  

ADVANCED ACTIVITIES

- Narrative writing

It's all about the Story

Don't you love a good story! However, most genealogists don't know how to use their ancestral research to tell a great story. This course will show you how. 

Course coming in 2024. Annual Members can view a narrative writing lesson in the Crafting Compelling Family Histories course.  

ADVANCED ACTIVITIES

- Adding Intrigue 

Murder, Mystery & Mayhem 

How do we communicate tension and drama in telling our ancestors' stories, especially when they ventured over to the dark side? This course will show you how. 

Course coming in 2024/25. 

MISSION FRUITION 

- The end result

Publish or Perish

Exploring the publishing industry in general, the different publishing options for family historians, and everything you need to know about self-publishing down to the font and size levels.   

And more to come in the future ...

Additionally

Odds and Sods  

- Researching and writing skills

WFFH01 A Helpful Miscellany Publish or Perish

These lessons were presented as seminars and webinars for genealogy organisations such as Legacy Family Tree Webinars and Unlock the Past. Each lesson will ultimately be expanded upon – or already has been expanded upon – for Writing Fabulous Family Histories courses. They are only available to Annual Members.   

Odds and Sods  

- Writing skills development

WFFH02 ZOOM Q&A Meetings

Annual Members can view recordings of the monthly Zoom Q&A sessions. In these sessions, the attendees can ask questions and present for discussion a prose homework assignment (if they choose).