Category: Writing Life Stories
Acknowledging a Life in a Family History
You open a notebook at the kitchen table, a stack of photographs spread before you, and a handwritten note that reads, “For Mom, who taught me patience while…
Using Quotations and Epigraphs in a Life Story or Memorial
You open a manuscript with a handwritten note that reads, “The best way to remember a life is to keep its stories alive.” That single line sets the…
Writing About the Neighbourhood That Shaped You
Childhood neighbourhoods hold a particular kind of memory — the geography of early life, the routes walked a thousand times, the houses and parks and corners that were…
Writing a Decade-Focused Memoir
Most people imagine that writing a memoir means sitting down and writing from the beginning of their life to wherever they are now. But some of the most…
The Difference Between a Memoir and an Autobiography: Which Should You Write?
People reach for the word “memoir” when they mean autobiography, and “autobiography” when they mean memoir, and most of the time it doesn’t matter. But if you are…
Writing About Love and Relationships in a Life Story
Love and relationships are often the most emotionally significant parts of a life, and the most challenging to write about honestly. People may worry about intruding on someone…
Writing About Difficult Family History: How to Handle Painful Stories
Every family history contains difficult chapters. Estrangements, addictions, mental illness, violence, poverty, choices that caused harm — these are not exceptional; they are part of most families’ stories.…
Writing a Life Story for Someone Else: A Step-by-Step Guide
Writing someone else’s life story is an act of love, but it comes with a particular challenge: how do you capture a person’s voice and experience when you…
How to Write a Meaningful Personal Biography for a Living Family Member
A biography does not have to wait until someone has died. Writing a personal biography for a living family member — a parent, grandparent, or beloved elder —…
How to Create a Personal Timeline of Your Life
Every life has a shape to it — a series of turning points, arrivals, losses, and beginnings that together form a story. Creating a personal timeline is one…
How to Write About a Person’s Personality in a Life Story
Capturing the facts of a life — the dates, places, and events — is the structural work of memoir writing. But what makes a life story come alive…
How to Record a Life Story in Chapters
One of the challenges of recording someone’s life story is that a life does not naturally divide into neat sections. People skip between decades, circle back to earlier…
Recently Published
- How Love and Grief Shape a Family History Conversation
- Acknowledging a Life in a Family History
- Better Conversations With Older Relatives
- How to Record the Phrases and Sayings That Made Someone Distinctive
- 50 Quotes for Lives Marked by Hardship, Resilience, and Survival
- 40 Quotes for When the Family History Project Feels Too Hard to Start
- Using Quotations and Epigraphs in a Life Story or Memorial
- 30 Day Family History Project Plan
- 3 2 1 Backup Rule for Family Memories
- What Grandparents Say About Happiness — and What It Teaches
- 21 Quotes About Memory, Family, and Why Stories Matter
- 100 Questions to Ask Parents Printable
- 100 Questions to Ask Grandparents Printable
- Preserving Family Stories Before They Stop Being Told
- Writing About the Neighbourhood That Shaped You
Topics
- Family Photos & Archives (13)
- Legacy (7)
- Recording a Life Story (53)
- Reflection & Life Review (5)
- Tribute & Remembrance (5)
- Wise Words (4)
- Writing Life Stories (16)