Writing, Scrapbooking, Podcasting My Family History
There are 3 reasons why writing an eulogy is hard. Firstly, its highly emotional & secondly public speaking is exposing & makes the speaker feel vulnerable. Then there is the simple fact that until we are asked to write an eulogy we have never thought about it before! At school we were taught how to write letters, book reviews, short stories & job resumes. Writing an eulogy was definitely not part of the schools curriculum!
How do you turn your words into a family history? You write about them! If flashbacks to tortured school essays are the first images that come to mind have probably already decided that this post is not for you. But, it can be if you ignore words, like "autobiography", "memoirs" and "family history". Generations from now a simple sentence may offer an insight to your great great grand daughter that far outweighs any object wrapped in tissue paper or displayed in a cabinet.
Researching your family history usually begins with finding names, dates & places. It doesn't take long before you have a list of births & baptisms, deaths & marriages, occupations & residences. The thrill of the chase keeps us searching and our lists grow longer. But who wants to read lists? Now is the time to take those lists and turn them into something else. Something your family will enjoy reading!
In Downsizing Family Heirlooms I warned that you should "be prepared to be disappointed!" I wrote about "what is", "how to" and the history of family heirlooms. The more I wrote the more dissatisfied I became with my ramblings and explanations. It wasn't until I began writing my conclusion that I understood what I really wanted to write was the stories behind my own family heirlooms. Now, any blogger will tell you that if you make your reader scroll too far down the page you are in danger of them missing the punch line of your article. There is no way my mother's flying brass ducks were going to be relegated to blogger oblivion! In this post, family heirlooms are given back their stories that will go with them into the future for as long as those stories are remembered.
With it's roots in English Law, an heirloom is described as an item that is passed down the generations through family members. As heirlooms go, the Crown Jewels of the Queen of England have to be right up there alongside Monet's, Chippendale's and the Kohinoor diamond. They are perfect examples of how their history and their value guarantee their longevity as an heirloom. Ordinary family heirlooms, on the other hand, have a far more checkered existence. For some the emotional connection and life circumstances will see these treasures survive as family heirlooms. But, when the emotional connection is not shared and lifestyles change what then?
Be warned, if your goal is to research how to podcast your short story then typing "digital story telling" in the task bar is going to be somewhat disheartening as its use as a either a marketing tool or a classroom activity takes the lead in search engine results. Advertising, television and gaming are so well established in our 21st century digital age that it's not surprising that the media of choice for digital story telling is overwhelmingly visual. However, with today's baby boomers and their offspring taking up the fastest growing hobby of genealogy (not to mention the impetus derived from the publication of Alex Hayley's "Roots" in the 1970's) there is always room for new "players" in the form of story tellers who want to podcast their short stories.
Stories are meant to be shared. Balladeers, minstrels, shamans, bards; all shared their culture & history through myths, legends & folk tales. They were the story tellers of their age. In the 21st century they are the equivalent of today's "Google" search engine . If you are have worked through, writing your podcast & making your podcasts your next step as story teller is to find an audience. One way to draw your audience in, is to make a podcast teaser!
It sounds obvious, but there is a difference between writing movie scripts, short stories, novels and yes, podcasts. The one thing they all have in common is that words are their tools of trade. The difference lies in how those words are written and how they are presented. The end product will be as different as the paintings of Picasso are to those of Kadinsky. As writers, the good news is that we get to write our stories in whatever genre is a "best fit" for us. No matter which one we choose, planning is the key to the success of the finished masterpiece!
When I wrote about the future of my storytelling I did not expect that the process would begin so soon. It all started with my habit of making lists! The list I made (doodled really) of what was required to make a podcast was surprisingly short. Although a little out of my comfort zone my family history research had given me the confidence to use the internet to search for answers. Through the necessity of starting a blog I would describe myself as a "non-geeky" geek in that my knowledge of technology is restricted to a "need to know" basis. If I was going to record my family history in a story format then my "need to know" led me to researching the world of podcasting.
Albert Einstein's quote sounds a lot better than "Rubbish In, Rubbish Out" but the basic premise is the same. As the family historian it is important to record and preserve family memories. It is also important that future generations have access to the whole gamut of stories from the perspective of all those who have memories to share.
Warts And All 