As I get ready to write my Family History stories I make a choice of where to write them down before posting in my blog! This has become an important strategy for keeping track of my stories, avoiding duplication or enabling quick processing!

For quick processing I sometimes write the Family History content directly into the blog as I do with this educational one; then copy and paste back to my filing system of folders and files. However it can get messy!

For keeping track of my stories my preference was to use Word for writing before posting and then storing the stories in my computer. This is the most straight forward method, and I can categorise them into Family Group folders and one file per Ancestor! However this means that if I want to access these files from a mobile device then I am stuck if that mobile device does not support Word!

My strategies have now changed and I plan to use Dabble Writer for creating the content, organised into Chapters ready for copy and paste into Blog posts I have planned. This tool keeps everything together, automatically saving the content to the cloud!

Today’s post provides an overview of the writing tools you may wish to consider for writing your Family History stories!

Writing Tools

Word Document – one document file per story

Video https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/word2016/getting-started-with-word/1/

Dabble Writer – one chapter per story

Article https://help.dabblewriter.com/en/articles/2712906-getting-started-with-dabble

What are the benefits of using Word or Dabble or other word processing and story creation tools?

Word:

Microsoft Word is a word processor, which means that it’s designed primarily for text-based documents

https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/word

In Word I can format my document and keep a word count! I can also keep all my files stored privately on my computer.

Dabble Writer:

In Dabble Writer I can organise my stories into Manuscripts and Chapters, and view the content in summarised format as Scenes. Dabble also provides tools that enable me to keep on track and record the word count, deadlines and goals.

The online/offline cloud-based writing tool

“Dabble is an easy-to-use online writing tool, packed with helpful features that allows beginning novelists and published authors to create amazing stories.”

I like being able to access my writing from any device, so this cloud based tool is just right for me. Because I am also a ‘butterfly’ when it comes to concentration span I can keep building my stories in Dabble and when ready, take the content for the next blog from there.

Interesting to note that I have been using Dabble for my fiction writing pursuits this year and its only now occurring to me to use it for my Family History writing! It makes more sense to me to be consistent in my use of writing tools as it is with my planning tools.

What other story creation tools are available for you? Here’s a link to a comparison of the most popular tools: https://www.tckpublishing.com/best-novel-writing-software-tools/

Scrivener:

Scrivener – is useful for writing your family history book, but I have no in depth experience with tool. I will leave it to you to explore this option.

Video tutorial https://youtu.be/RvVJYRhPh58

The go-to app for writers of all kinds

Scrivener is a software application created by Literature and Latte and used by many writers. It provides a wide range of features to help writers organize their material, do research, create plots and outlines and much more.

Other Tools

You may also wish to explore Twile for putting historical context around your family tree in interesting ways! https://twile.com/timeline

Choice is plentiful and my advice is to explore and choose the tools that are right for you! If you prefer to write in a journal with a pen, go with that! If you wish you to expand your repertoire of tools for writing, do that!

If you are short on time and want to write your stories directly into your Blog site, do that!

The important thing is to get your storytelling into your Blog posts so that you can share your Family History with others! It is a most rewarding activity and a very popular way of Preserving your Family History!