Capturing living memory
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PROVO, UTAH
Capturing living history — also known as writing — was the subject of one of the sessions given July 29 by nationally known genealogist Curt B. Witcher at the Conference on Family History and Genealogy at BYU.
Mr. Witcher is past president of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society and currently manages the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind. He asserts that to be serious about preserving family history for future generations, one must spend consequential time "dealing with living memory through writing."
"I fear that many of us ... focus a lot of our time, energy, talent on researching," he said. "I fear that excitement and zeal ... pushes out any time we have to do writing. I believe that's the second part — the second important part — of us preserving our family history."
After collecting documents, filling out ancestral charts and family group sheets, "we just expect that everyone's going to know how all that fits together," Mr. Witcher observed. "They won't know all the stories that went into you finding that information, and they may not know anything at all about you, if you don't write your story."
Many have a mental block against writing because of experiences in school, where assignments were arduous and one was graded on grammar, syntax or punctuation, he said. "It's hard for us to get that out of our mind."
He added, "I'm here to tell you this hour that you don't need a formula. ... You don't have to write in good grammar; you don't have to write in good English; you can use passive voice; you can be redundant; you can even say 'ain't got no,' if you want to." Strictures of writing may be necessary for publishable output, he acknowledged. "But in the beginning, there is no wrong; there is only write."
Typically, he said, writing does not come easily for all kinds of reasons. "We want it to be correct. Well, what does 'correct' mean? I hope that when you do family history writing, at least in the beginning, 'correct' means that you're telling the truth and that you're folding in how you feel about the truth."
Other keys Mr. Witcher suggested for beginning to write family stories include these:
Don't start writing at the beginning.
Don't think of sitting down to write a book.
Think in events and episodes.
Write in specifics: specific people, events and/or organizations.
Allow one event, memory or story to lead you to another event, memory or story, and write about them all.
Write fully rather than writing to get done. "You're never done writing."
Engage your senses in the writing process: sight, smell, sound, touch, taste.
Other keys Mr. Witcher suggested for beginning to write family stories include these:
Don't start writing at the beginning.
Don't think of sitting down to write a book.
Think in events and episodes.
Write in specifics: specific people, events and/or organizations.
Allow one event, memory or story to lead you to another event, memory or story, and write about them all.
Write fully rather than writing to get done. "You're never done writing."
Engage your senses in the writing process: sight, smell, sound, touch, taste.
