Writing Your Life History

Writing Your Life History: Your Purpose

If you aim to have your life history published and read by those outside of your family, there are a few other things to keep in mind:

• What are the highlights of your life, the anecdotes that will evoke an emotional response from someone who wasn't there and doesn't know you or the others involved?
• What is your theme? What sort of message are you trying to convey? Unless you're already famous, you'll need something other than a book with your name followed by, "My Life Story" to make sales. What makes your life worth reading about? Capitalize on that.

The Difference Between Memoirs and Autobiographies

There are two main ways to write your life story:

Memoirs

The memoir generally tells your story while reading like a novel and covers less time than an autobiography. Some popular memoirs you may be interested in reading to get a feel for the craft include:

• The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
• Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford
• Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs

In addition, you might be interested in checking out Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington.

Autobiographies

Autobiographies tend to have a stiffer approach than memoirs. Many read more like textbooks than novels, though some autobiographies are just as full of charming anecdotes and beautiful language as memoirs. Autobiographies also tend to have a less focused "theme" in the storytelling, and usually cover an extensive amount of time that starts with the author's birth.

A few autobiographies to thumb through to get a feel for the technique are:

• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
• Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
• Home: An Autobiography of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

How to Choose Your Method

Was there something monumental in your life that it took you years to recover from, but you feel that it's a story worth telling? Take this piece of your life history and create a memoir, a glimpse at your life history. To cover more time without plowing through all the details of your day-to-day life, you may add glimpses of your childhood that show how your amazing character came to be. This will offer a true portrait of your main character—you—without bogging down your reader.

If you just feel that you'd like to get your life down on paper for anyone who'd like to read it, especially as an act of preserving a section of your family's history for future generations, you should opt for the autobiographical approach. You will tell just that—the story of your life.

What Does It Do For You?

If writing your life history results in publication, some of the personal benefits are obvious—potential fame, money, and the feeling that you touched a few lives and inspired (or at least entertained) your readers. However, what's in it for you when you're just writing for the sake of writing?

• You can uncover memories you forgot you had stashed away in your mind.
• You may come to understand, respect, and love yourself more.
• Writing can be therapeutic, especially without the pressure to come up with something new. When writing your life history, all the information and ideas are already there. All you have to do is sort through them.
• You can allow your own family members—present and future—to know you better.
• You preserve a piece of your family's history.

Getting Started

No Order

You don't have to make a movie of your life in your mind right from the start. Skip over the urge to keep things in chronological order. Just write things down as you remember them and work them into the proper order after you've rediscovered all the details.

How to Write Your Own Life Story: The Classic Guide for the Nonprofessional Writer by Lois Daniel expands on this idea.

Need a Nudge?

If you know what you need to do to get started, but you still feel that you need some additional guidance, check out Life Bio. Programs of this nature give you prompts to help you excavate some of your best memories. Life Bio also allows you to add pictures right into the pages you write.

Classes and Exercises

Though the information is all already in your head somewhere, sitting down to sort through your memories is a daunting task. In some cases, there will be valuable memories that you don't even know to access that would add vivid detail to your autobiography or memoir. That's where classes and exercises come in.

Writers Weekly has a six-week class that will teach you to access memories you forgot you had using prompts. You'll learn more about the whole process through the lectures and assignments you get in your email every Monday.

Everyone has a story to tell. With the right tools, you'll be able to share yours.