My Tangent – How Boring Is Genealogy?

Morning,

After listening and talking to a few friends and family members these past couple of days I had to ask the question “How boring is genealogy?” You know, unless you are the one bitten by the genealogy bug and doing the hands-on research and the searching, nine times out of 10 listening to someone drone on about genealogy is bloody boring. 10 years ago I would've given that same answer. I would have said diplomatically and very polite "That's very nice", while thinking; “Damn I'm tired” and then stifle the yawn.

So how does one go about writing a blog about genealogy and life family ancestry research that may appeal to the general reader? How do you make the study of ancestry much more than a droll compendium of names, begats, and dates? What would make a reader to set a perpetual link to your blog and want to check back time and time again for an update?

I think a part of it has to do with the mystery and format of how the details and information are presented. Top-level keep it short. Too much information is overwhelming, not to the aficionado of genealogy but to the lay reader who may or may not have a passing interest. An individual blog posting, newsletter or website article should contain itself to one topic… one idea, or one person. And one has to remember to keep it simple.

Keep it as simple as possible. I’m not implying that the genealogist or researcher may be light-years ahead of the reader or listener, but because the reader, who may be interested at the moment, takes time to grasp the information and data and then takes more time trying to assimilate the details into the complexity of their own thinking processes.

The first and foremost question that I believe the reader may ask is “How am I related to this person that is being discussed?” That alone requires a complex construction within an individual’s capabilities. The listener or reader is trying to determine from whom within their own immediate family the subject originates.

And with that statement I’ll stop right here… I just realized that I could write on for miles and miles, of Internet bytes, but I stop right here and be back with more thought, bit by bit, and I’m sorry but that is a bad pun…

Enjoy,

Jim