52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: 1 - Inspiring Blogs

Amy at http://wetree.blogspot.com/  in conjunction with Geneabloggers, has begun a new series of weekly blogging prompts on the theme of  52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy.  Week 1 is Blogs: Blogging is a great way for genealogists to share information with family members, potential cousins and each other. For which blog are you most thankful?  What is special about the blog and why should others read it?

I have taken a slightly different approach to this topic.  I find it difficult to select one single blog that I admire, but instead  pay  tribute to the network of http://www.geneabloggers.com/.

When I started my blog in late August 2010, I soon expected to run out of material to post. My main concern was "Is anyone finding this and more importantly actually reading it?" I began by trying to find other British family history bloggers.  Thank you to John of http://wanderinggenealogist.wordpress.com/ for pointing me in the direction of Geneabloggers.com.   I haven't looked back, taking on the challenge of the varied blog prompts, eagerly checking the daily blog beats to see if my efforts have been listed, hoping for comments and becoming part of a great social network.

So what have I gained from Geneabloggers?

1. Stimulating daily prompts which have inspired me to write far more often  than I originally intended and encourged me to look at my own material from a different perspective.
2. Ideas from fellow bloggers suggesting new directions for postings.  Two recent ones come to mind - Greta at  http://gretabog.blogspot.com/  on her different approach to the recent Advent Calendar theme and John at  http://wanderinggenealogist.wordpress.com/   for  putting his focus this year on his own county of Sussex. This seems an ideal approach for me in the Scottish Borders.  It is often a forgotten corner of Scotland, yet has a rich, unique and colourful local history, with key family names predominating - Scott, Turnbull, Elliot and Armstrong.
3. Articles that make me think  and encourage me  to clarify my own views on aspects of research and writing.  
4. The weekly reviews which point me to different blogs and postings.
5. The opportunity to share my family history with others and to get encouraging feedback.
6. The many helpful,  practical tips on content and presentation which have hopefully  made my blog more appealing to readers. 
7. Amazement and fascination at the stories and memorabilia shared by fellow  bloggers.   Photographs are a constant delight,  whether of family, fashions, heirlooms, views, houses  or documents.
8. The lovely feeling of being part of a great social network across the world with people of shared interests - and the avoidance of boring my own family yet again!  

So many Geneabloggers have helped me on this blogging journey, but I am selecting three in particular for their  thoughtful, stimulating  postings, practical ideas, and stories that educate, inform and amuse.   They are an inspiration!

Amy at http://wetree.blogspot.com/
Pauleen at http://cassmob.wordpress.com/
Susan at http://longlostrelatives-smp.blogspot.com/