How to Create Your Own Simple Genealogy Book (and Stay on Track)

If you’ve ever felt stuck in your genealogy research, you’re not alone. We all reach that point—that one ancestor where the trail just… stops. No matter how hard you dig, the records aren’t there, and frustration starts creeping in.

Instead of staying stuck, I’ve found a method that keeps me moving forward—and it turns into a really meaningful little genealogy book along the way.

Let me walk you through it.

Start Where the Trail Ends

When I reach an ancestor I can’t trace any further back, I make a simple decision:

This is my starting point.

This person becomes the “top” of my book—the root of everything that follows. I label them as #1, and instead of looking backward, I shift my focus and begin working forward through time.

Build Your Generations

From there, I organize everything by generations:

• Generation 1: Your starting person (#1)

• Generation 2: Their children (#2, #3, #4, #5, etc.)

  
  

Each child gets the next number in line. Simple, clean, and easy to follow.

Create Chapters for Each Generation

Here’s where the book really starts to take shape.

You’ll begin writing out sections (or chapters) based on each generation.

Start with Generation 2, and take the first child:

Example:

• Generation 2, Person #2

  • Write their details

  • Then list their children

    
    

Those children now become Generation 3.

But here’s the important part…

Don’t go too far down one line just yet.

Work Across Before You Go Down

After you write out Person #2 and their children, pause.

Now go back and continue through Generation 2:

• Move to #3 → list their children

• Then #4 → list their children

• Continue until you’ve covered all of Generation 2

  
  

This keeps your research balanced and prevents you from going too deep into one branch while missing others.

Numbering the Next Generation

Once you’ve completed Generation 2, it’s time to move forward.

Start your next chapter: Generation 3

Here’s how numbering works:

• Continue numbering from where you left off

• If Generation 2 ended at #6, then Generation 3 begins at #7

  
  

Now:

• Take the children of #2 → assign next numbers

• Then children of #3 → continue numbering

• And so on

  
  

By the end, you’ll have a full Generation 3, all clearly numbered and organized.

Keep Going Until Present Day

Repeat this process:

• Work across each generation

• Then move forward to the next

Keep building until you reach present-day family members—or until you run out of information.

What starts as a “little book” can grow into something truly meaningful… even if it’s just 20 pages focused on one person’s line.

What About Missing Information?

This method is also incredibly helpful for tracking gaps.

If I run into someone where:

• I can’t find children

• Or I lose track of them

  
  

I still give them a number and keep going.

Later, I go back and highlight those individuals so I know exactly where I need to do more research.

It turns your book into both:

A record of what you know

A roadmap for what you still need to find

A Flexible System That Grows With You

Every now and then, you might need to adjust numbers or shift things around—and that’s okay.

Genealogy is rarely perfect.

What matters is that you have a system that:

• Keeps you moving forward

• Keeps your information organized

• Helps you see the bigger picture

  
  

Final Thoughts

This simple method has helped me turn research frustration into progress—and into something I can actually hold in my hands.

Your genealogy book doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful.

Start small. Stay consistent. Keep going.

And before you know it, you’ll have created something truly special.

Happy hunting,

Heritage Hunters