how do I create an autobiography of my own life in order to give my children and grandchildren my story?

Question

There are so many details that my family would like to know. I am having a difficult time getting started in getting this done. I would love to get some practical advice on how to accomplish this request from my family. Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

I would get a micro cassette recorder rr a recording device to record the stories and things as they come up. I believe it will help with fluidity. you can always transcibe them later. A trick I saw by an author I can't remember was to take each section of the tale in print and lay it out in front of you and since you can see them put them in proper chronological order.

Answer 2

If you're not sure where to start, try writing about the people that want these details - how did you feel when each person was born, what was going on in the world, any stories you remember about them (perhaps from before they could remember), how did you feel on birthdays, wedding days, holidays? From there other details might come to mind - if you're intent on writing about one thing, make a note somewhere else and then go back to it when you're done.

Try keeping a binder with different dividers in it. Label each section in the way that makes the most sense to you, either by events (birthdays, weddings, funerals, graduations) people (son, daughter, grandchild, in-laws) or dates (the 50s, the 60s, etc.). This will help you keep all your information in one place.

Have you ever kept a journal or diary? Now would be the time to pull it out and go through it - obviously you don't have to use all of it, but it might help job memories.

Since you're using Y! Answers, I'm assuming you're rather comfortable with computers... Get a scanner (I have a Canoscan 8600F that I like) and scan in pictures of you, friends, relatives, and tell the stories behind the pictures. You can put pictures into Word documents and have both the story and the picture on the same pages. (This has the added bonus of protecting all your valuable pictures/memories.)

Also, try putting in things like your earliest memory, your first word, descriptions of all the houses you lived in and where you went to school. What was your favorite toy as a child? Were you scared of monsters in the closet? How did you get around? Do you remember how much movies cost? What about candy? Sometimes it is little details like this that people treasure the most.

Answer 3

I saw a book / journal at a bookstore once that walks a person through the process, but I don't know the name of it. Sorry! Go to a bookstore and ask them if they have anything to help you get started. Look at a "baby" journal that is supposed to chronicle a child's first year of life for some ideas.
You could just buy a blank journal and start writing down whatever comes to you. I'd start with the specifics, such as family tree, dates of weddings, divorces, deaths, births, etc..... Then go into more detail about family members such as nicknames, medical conditions (which is useful for children and grandchildren to know) favorite places, foods, hobbies. Talk about where you met your kids mother / father, what the first date was like, when you knew that they were the one you'd marry or what made that person so special. Little anecdotes about yourself or other family members is something your kids would cherish. Share some family secrets or scandals if you like. Sometimes that can add a note of humor. You are only limited by your imagination. This sounds like a terrific idea.

Answer 4

Well, I am in process of doing just that. Actually I've been working on it - off and on for about five years. I'm doing it in the computer and call it my "Memoirs".

I've made several lists:
1. The people in my life and their relationship to me
2. The happiest times of my life
3. A list of things I want to cover such as:
Homes we lived in as a child
The times when I was a child
Special or significant things that happened

I use the lists and fill out the details using the list as a guide.

I have also created a dated list of the work I am doing - what I covered in that writing, and the # of pages at that point.

4. I have tried to do the memoirs chronologically. - the way I lived it.

I am now up to page 112 - single spaced computer pages which would translate to approximately 200 printed pages I think.

This is a first draft - I'm just trying to get all the info down and once it's finished I will go back and polish it.

Good luck with yours.

Answer 5

Could you break down your life into "chapters"?

Ch 1 Birth and early childhood
a) Parents
b) First homes
c) Memorable events of early years

Ch 2 Education
a) Preschool
b) Primary and on through all your education

Ch 3 Travels during my 0 - 20 years old

Ch 4 Births weddings and deaths in my lifetime

and so on.

Or you could do a year by year break down. I have the year by year one in Microsoft Word in outline form. One day I will go back and fill in details about each year with the outline already there and easily accessible.

Don't forget to save back up what you write.

OPTION TWO
Take a tape recorder and make story tapes with details and more details. Put them into order with dates and then get a program to do the transcribing. It will be a book with less effort. However, you have to be giving the stories in chronological order, or else yo u have to rearrange the writing later.

Good luck. My kids want the same thing.

Answer 6

Begin with journaling daily events and reactions to them, detailing every part of any experience that might teach a lesson or make someone cry or help someone learn more about life. You can add pictures that have sentimental value to you with a desired caption of the photo that describes the photo. Put a section in for any creative expression of yours either depicted in writing such as poetry or artwork. Make it your own as your life has been thus far and openly share the akashic record of your existence that will stretch across the skiens of space and time remembered through the minds of your children and your grandchildren.

Good luck to you !
sharing the light
erica

Answer 7

Write the important things. Write about your family before and after you were born. Write about waht you are like right now. Tell places you've been, Adventures you've taken. Make sure you write a lot about your family and yourself. Also put things about your friends.