Behind the Scenes: My story-writing workflow, step by step
How I go from raw research to a finished story with help from AI and the STORI process
Welcome back to Chronicle Makers, where we celebrate beginning family history writers, turning facts into stories (often using AI to help!).
All my previous posts and newsletters are archived here. And subscribers can now join the waitlist for my first Chronicles Lab. Learn more about it.
If you took a time machine back to 2023, you’d see me doing the following:
Sitting down to write a family story and…
Thirty seconds in, opening Ancestry to research again. Or writing and rewriting the same sentence five times.
And finishing and sharing a story? Forget it.
It didn’t matter how much research I had completed or how good my intentions were—something always got in the way of writing my own family history.
So in 2024, I decided I needed a process.
Something to guide me step by step from the chaos of documents and notes to a story I could actually finish and feel good about sharing.
That’s when I started building what I now call the STORI framework.
This framework gives me set phases of writing and I use AI throughout the process to support me.
(Paid subscribers, check the P.S. for a downloadable checklist
Here’s what my current workflow with the STORI framework looks like. I usually do this over a focused morning when I want to make real progress and walk away with a completed draft (and a little dopamine boost from finishing something).
S — Set the Scope
I start by picking one ancestor and one clear reader for the story.
Who’s it for? What do I want to show this person? What do I want him or her to feel?
I write this at the top of the document to keep myself focused. It keeps me focused when I start drifting into side quests.
T — Thread the Timeline
Next, I build a basic timeline using genealogical facts.
Then I ask AI to help me explore different ways to structure the story:
Chronologically (brief recap, like obituary)
By life phases (longer with childhood, marriage, migration, etc.)
Thematically (grief, war, work, resilience…)
Historically (set within major local or national events)
I don’t overthink it. I just choose based on what works for the reader/audience.
O — Originate the Story
This is the fun part. Sometimes I talk it out and let AI transcribe it, then help shape the tone.
Other times, I give AI my outline and ask it to generate a few versions so I can compare.
It’s honestly fascinating, to see how many ways one story can be told.
When I want a laugh, I have AI create a sonnet or limerick out of my ancestor’s life. Here’s a short one for my ancestor John Wilmer:
John mined with a pick, rain or shine,
Then milked cows by dawn—quite the grind!
When his barn caught ablaze,
He just said, “One of those days…”
And rebuilt it by suppertime.
Now that I had a laugh, I feel lighter and can focus again.
Once I have something drafted, I can then edit so the story can be told (or maybe the better word is found.
R — Reflect and Revise
Author Robert Greene says “The story comes out in the editing. The story is not the words you wrote, it’s in the words you kept.”
I agree. This is why AI could 20 sentences, but it doesn’t matter, because I am going to go through and pick it apart and make it my own.
I wrestle a bit with getting the words to match the intention and emotion I am trying to reach. This usually looks like reading it over on a different screen (move from monitor to phone), printing it out and penciling in my changes, and reading it out loud. AI does a read through for grammar and flow. And its all incorporated into a new draft.
This revised piece I then give to my reader for feedback. And honestly, the human feedback is 10x more valuable than AI (but don’t tell AI that!).
This step was one I rarely got to before 2024. Now I look forward to this step and working and reworking words so I can say what I want to say.
I — Inspire the Next
I post the final story on the ancestor’s profile.
I also save a copy to my personal archive and with my readers.
Every finished story is a building block.
Eventually, I’ll have enough to turn into a book, but even now, I know these stories aren’t lost. They’re part of something.
If you’d like a video version of this post, I created one here:
Ready to finally turn your research into a story you’re proud to share?
The first round of the Chronicles Lab opens June 13—and the waitlist is now open.
Inside, you’ll learn the STORI framework, get access to writing templates, checklists, and AI prompts, and finish one story (multiple drafts to published) in 10 days. Plus you’ll have access to tutorials on using AI and a community of fellow (human!) writers.
It’s fast, supportive, and designed for family historians who are ready to actually write—not just collect research.
Join the waitlist now and get a discount and first access.
Looking forward to working with you on the writing that matters to you!
—Denyse