Copyright of Elizabeth O’Neal

Taking part in the Genealogy Blog Party, hosted by Elizabeth at MyDescendantsAncestors.com.

I have kept notebooks, journals and planners since I was 12 and I have written about them here where I explain how the obsession came to be. I subsequently wrote two more posts, firstly about the Benefits and Thoughts and about Notebooks and Inbox Review.

Readers of this blog will likely have noticed that I often create mini series of posts, typically surname related but not necessarily so. I have tended to scope out any series in my usual notebook, but since about last autumn, I have kept a separate planner, so that I can ensure that I have posts written or at the very least have the day highlighted when they should be published or scheduled. I often write posts months ahead of when they are published. Though I have on occasions drafted the posts and then subsequently forgotten to schedule them, which was another benefit of a separate planner. Writing this blog is not the only writing I undertake, so it is essential that I am organised.

This separate planner is actually an A5 Malden Filofax which I purchased for another purpose originally, in this gorgeous colour which Filofax call pear.  The planner I have divided into sections:

1. General posts
2. Surname posts
3. European Ancestors material
4. UK and Ireland series
5. Software and Apps
6. Other writing

I have set up the planner like this so I can plan and ensure that any subsequent plan actually works out correctly, with a view that there will be no periods of quietness on this site, though that does not always work out! I also list other potential posts, that might be time specific.

The last section covers genealogical articles, such as those for Family Tree Magazine, or WDYTYA? Magazine, or Pharos course material, such as the new Practicalities of a One-Name Studies course. Also in this section is a writing project I have been working on for over a year; the end is in sight!

Now there will be some readers, who will wonder why I bother. The answer to that is to keep me organised and to ensure that my writing portfolio is kept up to date.