Any ideas how to cover all the branches?

[Tinker]

I've bitten the bullet and finally started writing up my father's family tree, but have run into a slight snag...how on earth do I cover all of the descendants of the all of the children of my original couple? I started off mentioning their children and then doing a piece about who each of them married and what they did for a living, and so on and so forth, with a bit of background material thrown in where appropriate, but it's starting to get a bit confusing following so many branches at once. (Not to mention that chapter titles such as 'The Second Generation' and 'The Third Generation' are a little boring...!)

I know I should probably only be dealing with my father's direct line of descent, but it seems such a shame, as most of the descendants of the original couple led varied and interesting lives! I'd be grateful for any suggestions on how to resolve this problem, so that I can get on with simply telling the story.

[Ladkyis]

I thought that I would do a bit about my main couple and then follow my line of descent and then a chapter on each of the other children of the original couple. Some of them will deserve more than one chapter so I will give them more space. I thought about chapter headings and toyed with using the occupations; thought about finding quotations that would fit (that seemed like far too much work) and then realised that to keep them sorted in my head I have them all named, and not necessarily with their given names. There is Bessie, Maggie, Uncle Charlie, the real Uncle Charlie, Ma, Grancha, and Aunty Trumpet just to name a few. With the exeption of Aunty Trumpet they will all make darned good chapter headings and together with a family tree diagram that's my lot sorted. All I have to do is write it.

Good luck with your writing, remember that this is a hobby and you should be enjoying it.

[Neil Wilson]

Hi Tinker
First generation, Second generation, sounds like the why most software would print out the Descendants tree report. Chapter one would be the initial couple i.e. Generation one, etc, etc. All the data comes from the software Notes section.
One thought is that when you put this into a word processor, you could do a find and replace on the Generation No and change this to either Chapter or whatever you decide, try family group one, family group 2, etc.
On one of my sites, I have a family shown which have been split into the main family branches that had been traced, i.e. each report starts with a member of the family, not necessary all from the same dateline. See my site above and click on the Farnsworth family link. By the way, this is not my family.
Good luck with whatever way you decide.

[Tinker]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I can see myself writing an entire book about each of the children of my couple, at this rate!

The chapter titles were my very unimaginative choice , simply because I couldn't think of anything else...those will change if/when inspirations strikes. Ladkyis, your suggestion of using the childrens' names might be the answer. I'm using the Family Tree Maker book facility to write my tome, but am still finding my way round with it, so probably doing things the hard way.

Neil, unfortunately I got a 'this page cannot open on this server' type of message, on clicking your link. Should I do a Google for your Farnsworths? I'd really like to see how you've dealt with the problem!

[Aislin]

if when you click on that link you remove the first part of the address up to the www.claycross.org.uk part, you should be fine.

(or click this link as it seems to now be clickable)

[Aislin]

When I ultimately get around to writing my family's history, I thought it might be nice to write it based on location. For example, if one of my lines started out in Whitney, Oxfordshire, it might be interesting to start the story there, giving a history of how they got there, who married who, what children they had and where they went from there. Then on to the next location with that family's story. So chapter 2 would then be, say Halstead, Essex and then Lambeth, Surrey and so on.

I haven't decided yet, but its one way to approach it.

[Tinker]

Thanks for your suggestions and the link, Aislin. Using the places as chapter headings is a good idea (unless your ancestors happened to live in the same vicinity for several generations, like a neighbour of mine!)

Neil, reading through the layout of the Farnsworth family story has definitely helped to give me some different ideas about dealing with moving through the generations, thank you.

When I first started writing up the tree, I didn't think I had an awful lot to put down about the family except the basics, but now that I've got going, I've realised how much I could add, and although I don't have much in the way of photos, I have all sorts of other bits and pieces I can use, like medal cards, newspaper cuttings, etc, so I don't feel too bad, now!

[v.wells]

if when you click on that link you remove the first part of the address up to the www.claycross.org.uk part, you should be fine.

(or click this link as it seems to now be clickable)

What a terrific site Aislin! An enormous amount of work and congratulations on a job well done! I found it enormously interesting and very helpful with ideas on how to present a family tree book.

[Aislin]

Oh, I can't take credit for the site. It belongs to Neil Wilson and I was just clarifying the link. Kudos go to him, not I.

[v.wells]

Then KUDOS TO NEIL for a site well done