
- This event has passed.
Bring Your Ancestors to Life on the Page
July 9, 2022 @ 10:15 am – 12:30 pm EDT
Hybrid Meeting — In person in the Florida History and Genealogy Library’s Beech Conference on the 4th Floor of the John F. Germany Library and virtually via Zoom.
Program Description
Family history writers are tasked with connecting their readers to their ancestors through story. Readers invest in a story when they can make an emotional bond with the character. They root for them. Something resonates with them about that ancestor, and they want to know more. To achieve this in our family history stories, we must have an intimate understanding of our ancestor and how to bring their personality to the page. Through this webinar, attendees will learn to use the tool, character development, to uncover an ancestor’s character traits. In addition, they will explore the tools of characterization, allowing the writer to bring that character to the page for the reader.
Attendees will learn:
- Character Development – How to uncover an ancestor’s character by identifying both positive and negative personality traits using genealogy and social history research.
- Backstory – How to explore wounds, contradictions, and secrets and how they provide a deeper understanding of an ancestor’s choices and opinions.
- Characterization – How to show an ancestor’s personality through the tools of dialogue, voice, subtext, thoughts, and descriptions.
Our Speaker

Lynn Palermo
I began my family history journey ten years ago. Spurred on by the passing of my in-laws, I grabbled with all those questions we didn’t ask. It is then that I picked up the torch as the family genealogist. I had no idea where it would take me and it continues to be a journey …