Writing Contest for 2012
The Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. announces its Writing Contest for 2012. The goal of this biennial contest is to encourage and recognize amateur writers from our membership.
If you would like to tell your family's story, please submit your entry according to the guidelines below. A judging committee will select the winning writers and their entries based on accuracy of documentation and clarity of interpretation. First and second place awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting in 2012. All entries may be published in MASSOG with writers' approval.
Information to be observed by contest participants:
- All submissions must be received by August 15, 2012.
- Send your submission as an attachment to msogwritingcontest@msoginc.org.
- Submissions should include a three-generation family study, or tell an interesting story about parents and children or provide a brief solution to a genealogical problem.
- Special topics for this year's contest could be stories based on the lives of immigrants to Massachusetts between 1850 and 1920 or of participants in the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912.
- Should conform to current standards of documentation and, if it is a genealogical compilation rather than straight narrative, final version should use Register style. See the references suggested below.
Contestants may find links to free references at the upper left of the Register page of www.americanancestors.org/the-register. From related links, choose especially "Writing a Family Sketch in Register Style," and also "Download a Register Style Template for Microsoft Word," or "A Guide to Some Basic Register Citation Formats." See also The Chicago Manual of Style.
A small book, Genealogical Writing in the 21st Century, edited by Michael LeClerc and Henry Hoff, provides many helpful guidelines. It's available at www.americanancestors.org.
For the complete set of contest rules, go to the Writing Contest Rules 2012.
For any questions about the Writing Contest, contact Sara Costa at msogwritingcontest@msoginc.org.