The primary function of this presentation is to make genealogy research accessible to relatives in narrative form.  Many genealogists are paralyzed by the number of ancestors they have researched, they don't know how to start writing any of their stories because it looks like too big a job.

This talk is geared specifically to genealogy, and describes a format that is used in genealogy journals. It focuses on a single couple (or individual), presenting all of the information found about them. At the end it lists the children and gives some biographical info about them, mainly birth, marriage and death dates and places. That is the simplest form of a sketch.  Nora will go through the steps of building a sketch, and present a badly written one that will be edited with the group to help them understand the elements. She will also briefly describe how to carry the story forward by stringing sketches together

 The presenter's intent is to get people started, and to make it happen by writing about only one person or couple. Of course, people could also use it simply to write about their favorite relative without having done any research, relying on oral history.