I’ve spent the last few years doing many things, continuing my education has been one of them. I signed up for art classes at my local community college and completed the coursework for both Studio Art and Art History degrees. Along the way, I decided to tackle writing. So far, I’ve completed two creative writing classes and read many books on the art of writing nonfiction. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon have inspired me to push my skills to another level. In the beginning, my goal was just to become a better writer. When I wanted to improve my genealogical skills, I read many journal articles that were stilted and unreadable. The articles may be have well-researched, but they were as boring as watching a field of wheat grow, putting many a reader to sleep before reaching a conclusion or losing them in a corn maze of conflicting information. As a self-published author myself, I cringe at many of the works my fellow genealogists have produced in an effort to preserve family history. I determined that I did not want to be that kind of writer. I want to engage my audience. I want my writing to be enjoyable. I also plan to have early peer readers and pay an editor well for their time.

My education is far from complete. Writing takes practice. Ask any published author and they will tell you to write every day, make it a habit. And then revise what you have written and make it better. For the new year, I started a Substack account to share my stories, the good, the bad, and the ugly. My focus is personal memoir, creative nonfiction, and family history. This genealogy site is not going anywhere, anytime soon, but feel free to check out my current work. Just follow the link below. I hope to see you there!

https://dsweeney.substack.com/