52 Weeks of Family History Writing Prompts

Writing about one ancestor at a time is the easiest way to turn research into a family history. Try one prompt a week, in a notebook, a blog or a shared family document. A paragraph is enough. You'll notice gaps in your research as you write, and you'll end the year with 52 stories. For tips, see Writing Your Family History.

Week 1: Begin with a name. Choose one ancestor and write down everything you know about them in a single page, then list three questions you'd most like answered.
Week 2: The oldest photograph. Describe the oldest family photograph you have: who is in it, what they're wearing, and what you think the occasion was.
Week 3: A house. Write about a house that mattered to your family. What did it look like, who lived there, and what happened to it?
Week 4: What's in a name. Where did one ancestor's first name come from? Were they named for a relative, a saint, a famous person or a hero of the day?
Week 5: The newcomer. Write about the first ancestor in one line to arrive in the place your family is from. What do you think they hoped for?
Week 6: Hands at work. Choose an ancestor's occupation and describe what a working day would have looked like for them.
Week 7: A wedding. Write about a marriage in your tree. How did the couple meet, and what do the records say about the day?
Week 8: Hard times. Write about a family member who lived through a war, a depression, an epidemic or a disaster. How did it change them?
Week 9: The census page. Look closely at one census page with your family on it. Who were the neighbors, and what does the page tell you about the community?
Week 10: Something handed down. Describe an heirloom: a Bible, a quilt, a tool, a recipe or a ring. Who owned it first, and how did it come to you?
Week 11: A child who didn't grow up. Write about a child in your tree who died young. Give them the attention a family history often forgets.
Week 12: Family food. Write about a dish your family has always made. Who taught whom, and where might the recipe have come from?
Week 13: On the move. Trace one family's move from one place to another. How did they travel, and why might they have gone?
Week 14: A brick wall. Describe your most stubborn research problem as a story: what you know, what you've tried, and what you suspect.
Week 15: Faith. Write about your family's religious life: a church, a congregation, a conversion or a falling-away.
Week 16: A surprise in the records. Write about a record that surprised you, and how it changed what you believed about your family.
Week 17: School days. What do you know about where and how one ancestor was educated? If they couldn't read or write, what does that tell you?
Week 18: In uniform. Write about an ancestor who served in the military, or who waited at home for someone who did.
Week 19: The land. Write about a piece of land your family owned or worked. Where was it, and what grew there?
Week 20: A family story. Write down a story that's been passed down, exactly as you heard it. Then write what the records say.
Week 21: Siblings. Choose an ancestor and write about their brothers and sisters. Whose lives turned out differently, and why?
Week 22: Holidays. How did your family celebrate a particular holiday? Which traditions came from which side of the family?
Week 23: A woman's life. Write about a woman in your tree whose life left few records. What can you piece together from the records of the people around her?
Week 24: Health and medicine. Write about an illness or injury in your family's past, and how it was treated at the time.
Week 25: The big city. Write about an ancestor who lived in, or moved to, a city. What would their street have sounded and smelled like?
Week 26: A letter. Write a letter to an ancestor, telling them about the family that came after them.
Week 27: Neighbors. Who lived next door to your ancestors for decades? Write about the families who shared their lives.
Week 28: Money. What do tax lists, inventories or wills tell you about one ancestor's finances? Were they comfortable, struggling, or somewhere between?
Week 29: A courthouse record. Choose a deed, a lawsuit or a probate record and tell the story behind it.
Week 30: Back to the old country. Write about the place one immigrant ancestor left behind. What was happening there the year they left?
Week 31: Music and fun. What did your ancestors do for enjoyment: music, dances, fairs, sports, card games, church socials?
Week 32: Look-alikes. Who in the family do you resemble, in looks, temperament or habits? Write about the traits that seem to run through generations.
Week 33: The informant. Pick a death certificate and write about the person who gave the information. How well did they know the person who died?
Week 34: A long life. Write about the longest-lived person in your tree. What changed in the world during their lifetime?
Week 35: Second chances. Write about a remarriage, a blended family or a fresh start in a new place.
Week 36: Grandparents. Write down a memory of a grandparent, or what others have told you about one you never knew.
Week 37: Writing in the margins. Find a note, signature or mark your ancestor left on a document. What does their handwriting, or their X, tell you?
Week 38: The year everything changed. Choose one year that was a turning point for a family, and tell it month by month.
Week 39: An unsung helper. Write about a person outside the family who mattered to them: a midwife, a teacher, a neighbor, an employer.
Week 40: DNA connections. Write about a DNA match who helped you, or a connection you discovered through DNA.
Week 41: A place you visited. Write about visiting a place where your ancestors lived, worked or are buried. What did you feel there?
Week 42: Firsts. Write about a family first: the first to finish high school, own a car, go to college, or move away.
Week 43: Rebels and rule-breakers. Every family has one. Write about an ancestor who didn't do what was expected.
Week 44: Kin who stayed. Write about relatives who stayed behind when others left. How did the two branches keep in touch?
Week 45: Clothing. Look at a photograph and describe the clothes. What do they say about the person's work, money or the occasion?
Week 46: A lost record. Write about a record you know existed but was lost, burned or never kept. How have you worked around it?
Week 47: Animals. Write about the horses, mules, dogs or livestock in your family's life, from inventories, photos or stories.
Week 48: Their own words. Find a letter, diary, pension testimony or interview in an ancestor's own words, and write about what it reveals.
Week 49: A mystery photo. Choose an unidentified family photo and write about your best guesses for who, when and where.
Week 50: What they'd think. What would one ancestor think of how their descendants live today? Write it from their point of view.
Week 51: Thankfulness. Write about the ancestor you feel most grateful to, and why.
Week 52: Looking ahead. Write what you'd like your own descendants to know about you, and the family history you're leaving them.