The most talked-about AI writing prompt from Chronicle Lab

A peak into the process of writing family history with AI as an assistant.

There were over 16 AI prompts inside the first Chronicle Lab to guide writers. Some were quiet confidence-builders. Others pushed people out of their comfort zone. But one stood out above the rest, not because it was the most advanced or clever, but because it was the one our makers kept mentioning.

It wasn’t even originally meant to be “the big one.” It was just a meant to help figure out a place to start and be a warm up to the other prompts.

Here’s the story behind it and how it can help you get started with writing too.

Starting from zero

One thing I’ve learned from helping family historians turn research into stories is this: starting is the hardest part.

It’s not just that there’s a blank page.

It’s that we are overwhelmed by the amount of information we’ve collected from the years we’ve spent researching.

We know the names of every ancestor and the dates of every major event.

We know where they lived and maybe what church they belonged to.

We’ve got census records and newspaper articles.

And we have that for hundreds to thousands of people.

But we need to pick one ancestor to start with. We can’t write about everyone at once.

One ancestor. One story.

The prompt that everyone enjoyed in Chronicle Lab had AI interview them about which ancestor they would like to start writing about. It essentially asked:

Tell me about some ancestors who you want to write about.

That’s it.

(Well, not quite it. The full prompt is below and necessary to get the full experience.)

And after AI heard all their thinking and feelings, it gave a recommendation of who to start with and why.

But why was this AI prompt so effective?

Why it worked (and still works)

Getting started in family history writing isn’t just about choosing a name and jotting down facts. It’s about crossing a line: going from nothing to something real.

Before this prompt, most people in Chronicle Lab were sitting on a mountain of research. They had everything… except a story.

But once they got to talk through what was in their head with AI, they had something they didn’t have before:

A starting point.

That’s the zero to one moment.

You go from zero understanding of how to tell the story, to one clear path forward.

From zero emotional connection, to one living, breathing human on the page.

And once you’ve brought one ancestor to life, you’re no longer stuck. You can begin building, one story after another.

If you’ve never used AI, this sounds a little crazy. But really, an AI prompt can give you a way to start your family history.

Want to try it?

If you’re not sure where to begin, try this: