This book is a friendly and encouraging guide for writing a family history. Ms. Carmack takes a daunting task and breaks it down into well-defined and manageable steps that will allow even the busiest of us to make the needed headway on that family history we have been meaning to write (or finish writing).

The most important lesson Carmack teaches is that everyone can be a writer and "practically everyone has the potential to write a family history" (p. 1). With that encouragement, she gives some very basic and helpful steps, and recommends taking the project one step at a time. The reader can easily do this by following her "ten characteristics of a quality family history"--a basic recipe for the family history (p. 5). With this recipe in mind, she coaches readers through each step in an encouraging voice that makes one feel as if the task will come out great.

The first step, is to determine the genre, or type of history, you will write. Carmack includes a helpful table that defines and discusses the different genres and includes examples and further references. Some well-known examples she refers to are Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and Alex Haley's Roots. Carmack points out that while we don't have to emulate such literary greatness, it is helpful to know some examples and styles one can follow.

Next, in Step 2, she discusses the scope of the project and invites writers to define "what you will include and what you will leave for another book" (p. 13). The first step towards deciding this is to determine who your audience is. This is an important basic step in writing. If you are writing for your family only, you can infer some understood references or allusions. But, as Carmack points out, other researchers may use your history, so it is important that you document your sources clearly. This way others do not have to go back and redo any research.

The most important point in determining your project's scope is to decide how many family lines or branches of the family tree you will include in your history. Carmack gives some helpful organization plans based on the number of family lines you want to include in your history, which can be paternal, maternal, or both.

Step 3 is determining when you have finished researching and have enough information to begin writing your history. In this chapter Carmack discusses the value of detailed and well documented family group records and family summaries as a basis for the family history.

The next chapter, Step 4, "Determining the Plot and Structure," is the most helpful out of all the book's chapters. In this step Carmack isolates and gives recipes for structuring your family story. She suggests looking for "family and personal struggles" around which to base your narrative. She also identifies "some common family history plots": Immigration, Pioneer Saga, Rags to Riches, Rising Out of Slavery, War and Military Survival, and City Dweller to Country Dweller (p. 29-31). Once you have identified the plot you will use, she gives some basic formulas to follow for narrating the time of the story and provides some specific examples. And while Carmack claims she never uses the outlines she was taught by her English teachers, she does encourage planning the narrative in whatever format works best for you as a writer, especially if you are writing what she calls the "All-My-Ancestors Book" (p. 39-40).

Step 5, "Isolating Themes in Your Family History," piggybacks with step 4. The themes are what makes the story come alive, especially if you are writing about ancestors that are "boring." Carmack lists some themes to consider when writing the history, such as education, food, religion, reproductive cycles, and leisure. These themes also may be sensitive in nature, so she urges writers to be cautious when approaching topics such as alcoholism, children born out of wedlock, or domestic abuse. She does not believe in covering up details or hiding family secrets, but urges writers to "simply report on the facts of [your ancestors'] lives, whether we agree with their decisions or not" (p. 56).

The next step in fleshing out your narrative is to find background information about the localities in which your ancestors lived. In the 7th chapter, Carmack discusses different types of sources that provide information about those locations. She provides helpful examples from her own writing that make this step seem easily accomplished. After finding this information, Carmack suggest looking at social histories so that you can set your family in their historical context and make their stories come alive. One suggestion that was new to me, was to look at cookbooks for clues about what your ancestors might have eaten (p. 78). Such details would help with an immigration narrative. Finally, Carmack says that with all this planning completed and material gathered, you are ready to begin writing.

The next sections of the book focus on the nitty-gritty of the writing, such as style, focusing your story, transitions, point of view, and narrative voice. While all of these skills of writing are taught in basic writing classes, Carmack's explanations here will help those whose skills are a bit rusty. Steps 10 and 11 focus on developing details about characters and setting. For instance, Carmack suggests commenting on photographs that are included with your story to "point out details your readers might not have noticed" (p. 113), such as the style of clothing or the absence of jewelery on your ancestor. She also encourages the use of sensory details since readers may want "to experience what life was like in your ancestors' days" (p. 123). All such details, she asserts, will help draw readers into your text.

Step 12 deals with the incorporation of oral family tales into the narrative. She points out how to find people to interview, cite the source, and format dialogue. Steps 13 and 14 are about polishing off your writing to keep your readers interested. She suggests possibly including suspense, humor, and romance (along with historical events), into the narrative to really bring your ancestor's story to life.

The last five steps deal with finishing the narrative off with documentation, illustrations, and an index, as well as information about publishing and marketing your book. These sections are most helpful for the novice writer since there is no standardized citation format for writing a family history. Carmack discusses different methods and gives examples of her preferred formats. She also includes sample illustrations and photos and discusses how to use them in your narrative. The differences between self-publication, print on demand, and marketing your book are also presented.

Lastly, a strength of this book is its helpful appendices. This includes a bibliography with further sources to help you with your research and writing; two sample excerpts of family histories; a list of writing courses, contests, organizations, and conferences; and an index of key ideas and names in the book.

Overall, this is a fine book about writing a family history. The format of the text allows readers to get a quick sense of the task and its steps so that writers can begin writing immediately. There are ample supplementary materials referenced and the examples provided will make this task much more manageable for busy genealogists and family historians.

Article written by Larisa S. Asaeli