PRACTICAL GUIDE + WORKSHEETS

Brick Wall Starter Guide

Stop repeating the same searches. Reassess the evidence, widen the search, and build a focused plan for what to do next.

13-PAGE PRINTABLE PDFEVIDENCE AUDIT WORKSHEETFAN / CLUSTER RESEARCH WORKSHEETFOCUSED SEARCH-PLAN WORKSHEET

Digital Product$12.00 A practical 13-page guide and workbook for reassessing a stubborn genealogy problem, auditing the evidence, widening the search, and building a focused plan for what to do next.

WHAT'S INSIDE

A methodical first pass at the ancestor who stopped you cold

Brick walls are rarely solved by repeating the same searches. This guide walks you through a deliberate reset: define exactly what you're trying to learn, reconsider the evidence you already have, look for the people and records you've overlooked, and turn what you discover into a practical research plan.

Sharpen the Research Question

Turn a broad brick wall into a specific question that can guide where, when, and how you search.

Audit the Evidence

Re-read what you've already collected, separate documented facts from assumptions, and identify gaps and contradictions.

Follow the People Around Them

Use family, associates, neighbors, witnesses, and other members of the ancestor's cluster to find evidence that may not appear under the ancestor's own name.

Search Differently

Move beyond repeated database searches by changing names, places, record types, repositories, and the way you approach records you've already found.

Reset the Problem in Seven Days

Work through seven focused research sessions that take you from a sharper question to a written assessment of what changed.

Build Your Starter Kit

Pull the question, documented evidence, assumptions, priority records, cluster person, and single next action together on one reusable worksheet.

THE WORKFLOW

One brick wall. One question. A better research strategy.

Instead of searching harder, work through the problem in a deliberate sequence. Each step helps you understand what you know, expose what you're assuming, and decide which search is actually worth doing next.

01Define the question02Audit the evidence03Widen the network04Change the search05Work the seven-day reset06Write the next step

Ten lines of written research beat a hundred unfinished searches. Write as you go.