Daily Prompts

Want to blog (or vlog or podcast) more often but are at a loss of ideas? Need an idea for social media posts? Take your inspiration from the daily prompts below – there are over 40 of them!

Using daily prompts is not only a great way to create new content, but lets you participate in a community effort with other genealogy bloggers and content providers. You can also use our daily prompts on social media. In fact, if you tag your posts with #GeneaBloggersTRIBE, we’ll try to help you spread the word.

Sunday Prompts

• Black Sheep Sunday – tell about an ancestor with a shady past
• Census Sunday – surprises you found on a census record, suggested by Colleen Pasquale of Leaves and Branches
• Church Record Sunday – an individual church record or a set of records you’ve found helpful, developed by Gena Philibert Ortega at Gena’s Genealogy
• Sentimental Sunday – a sentimental story or memory about an ancestor, or maybe even a family tradition that touches you
• Sunday’s Obituary – this daily prompt can include an obituary and other information about a person, developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here

Monday Prompts

• Amanuensis Monday – this daily prompt, developed by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch, encourages bloggers to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. (An amanuensis is someone employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.)
• Madness Monday – could include an ancestor who might be hard to locate and drives you mad
• Mappy Monday – post map images and discuss how they relate to your research or explain other aspects of land ownership and your ancestors (Several members of GeneaBloggers suggested this type of theme and in fact Holly Spencer of Ravenna Area Historical Society Blog has been using it since March 2009.)
• Maritime Monday – stories of seafaring ancestors (Created by Ros Haywood at the GenWestUK)
• Matrilineal Monday – focuses on our female ancestors, what we’ve learned, how we learned it, as well as the brick walls we encounter, created by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of ‘On a flesh and bone foundation’: An Irish History
• Military Monday – an ancestor’s military service, created by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History
• Motivation Monday – seek or give advice created, by Dionne Kurti at Finding Josephine
• Mystery Monday – focuses on mysterious ancestors and records, used by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, Kathleen Moore of The Misadventures of a Genealogist and Betty Tartas of Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog

Tuesday Prompts

• Talented Tuesday – feature an ancestor with an unusual talent,suggested by Terri at Southwest Arkie
• Tombstone Tuesday – exactly what it sounds like it is
• Travel Tuesday – your travels to ancestral lands or archives, suggested by Susan Donaldson of Family History Fun
• Tuesday’s Tip – gives researchers an chance to offer helpful tips to other family historians, especially those just starting out, suggested by Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives and used ongoing series by Lynn Palermo at The Armchair Genealogist and by Miriam Robbins Midkiff at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors

Wednesday Prompts

• Wedding Wednesday – display those old wedding photos or scan wedding invitations and announcements, suggested by Carol of Reflections from the Fence
• Wednesday’s Child – used by Amy at Gravestoned, who posts photos of gravestones of children and gives life to these young souls’ stories
• Wisdom Wednesday – lends itself to wisdom passed down from one generation to the next, suggested by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of On a Flesh and Bone Foundation: An Irish History
• Wishful Wednesday – discuss which ancestor you wish you could have met or what day or event in your ancestors life you could have experienced with them, suggested by Deborah Carder Mayes of Rambling Along the Ancestral Trail
• Wordless Wednesday -focuses on an image (don’t forget attributions, though). This prompt originated with the folks at Wordless Wednesday for photos that tell stories without words.
• Workday Wednesday – spotlight your ancestors’ occupations, suggested by Denise Spurlock of the Denise’s Life in the Past Lane and Reflecting on Genealogy blogs

Thursday Prompts

• Thankful Thursday – express your genealogy-related gratitude, suggested by Carolyn Murphy of Family Tree Gal and has been in use by Mary Warren of Mary’s Musings
• Those Places Thursday – reflect on the places of your own and your ancestors’ pasts, used by Cheryl Palmer of Heritage Happens
• Thrifty Thursday – spotlights bargains of interest to family historians
• Thriller Thursday – this daily prompt can be used to describe murders, bizarre accidents or other thrilling stories in your family tree, used by Anne Kruszka at Gene Notes
• Treasure Chest Thursday – feature family heirlooms and objects of emotional significance, suggested by Leslie Ann Ballou of Lost Family Treasures

Friday Prompts

• Family Friends Friday – focus on those friends that counted (or still count) as family, suggested by John F.W. Goodwin of Remember When Genealogy
• Family Recipe Friday – share recipes with fellow bloggers and foodies alike, suggested by Lynn Palermo of The Armchair Genealogist
• Follow Friday – not just for genealogists, this prompt allows you to recommend a blogger or resource. (Use hashtag #FF on social media)
• Friend of Friends Friday – this daily prompt gives the community an important opportunity to transcribe the records of any enslaved ancestors you run across and post them on the Internet, used by both Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here and Greta of Greta’s Genealogy Blog
• Friday’s Faces from the Past – post photos of ancestors you can’t identify, or “orphaned photos” you rescued at flea markets, or to tell the story behind a cherished family photo. suggested by Smadar Belkin Gerson of Past-Present-Future
• Friday Funny – give your fellow family historians a giggle, suggested by Jennie Pak of They Came to Montana
• Funeral Card Friday – post copies of funeral cards along with stories of that ancestor, used by Dee at Funeral Cards & Genealogy

Saturday Prompts

• Shopping Saturday – tell about the various stores and vendors that your ancestors patronized or owned, suggested by Audrey Collins of The Family Recorder
• Sibling Saturday – explain special connections between siblings in a family or tell sibling stories, suggested by Susan Mosey of Ancestry Binders
• Society Saturday – showcase your genealogical or historical society’s good works and projects, suggested by Dana of the Just Folks blog
• Sorting Saturday – tips on sorting through a closet or box of stuff, what to do with what you find, organizing, supplies and tools you might need, used by Michelle Goodrum at Turning of Generations
• Sports Center Saturday – Tell about family members’ love of sports or athletic endeavors, suggested by Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives
• Surname Saturday – discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research
• Sympathy Saturday – post about any aspect of the passing of a person, used by Anne Kruszka at GeneNotes and Generational

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