family biography outline

Warts And All

Writing, Scrapbooking, Podcasting My Family History

5 Templates To Quick Start Writing Your Family History

Researching your family history usually begins with finding names, dates & places. It doesn’t take long before you have a list of births & baptisms, deaths & marriages, occupations & residences. The thrill of the chase keeps us searching and our lists grow longer. But who wants to read lists? Now is the time to take those lists and turn them into something else. Something your family will enjoy reading!

The first post I wrote for this blog, (Not The Beginning) was not intended to be a cryptic clue. It was simply my way of dealing with the belief that, as I could not write a novel I would write what I know about my family history as I found it. Using the magic of ancestry research I accumulated a plethora of names, dates, occupations and roots in many English counties. Unexpected stories turned up in Canada, ( Finding Hidden Stories In Military Records ) and a family secret saw the light of day ( What A Tangled Web We Weave) The process I went through each time was chaotic and in many instances I lost and found important information many times over. The better I became at finding information the more disorganized I became.

I began by using research recording forms but I found the final product was just a different shaped list! What I needed was something between a list and a short story. In school they were known as “Pen Portraits” If you’re stuck at the “list” stage or if you want to take a “one step at a time approach” to something bigger then writing family history templates is the easiest, most stress free way to start. All you have to do is………………………. Choose, Write, Now!

Family History Template #1

Short story.

The focus of this template is a short story about one family member. It is the perfect solution for those times when you stumble upon a story that you can’t wait to write about. In my case it was my Great grandfathers criminal record.The profile facts took second place to the story line. The one thing it has in common with the writing template I did choose, (see below) is that it is minimal, clean and easy to use. The colour schemes are a personal choice and can always be changed. Using images of your ancestors brings your story to life but, if you don’t have photographs of your relatives images of the church where they were married, gravestones or local area will also add to the short story.

Family History Template #2

Short story floral.

This template works well when you know the subject personally or have access to someone who does. Personal stories tend to be the first family history stories written. They were the first stories to be posted on my blog and when family members asked for copies I presented this completed writing template as a gift rather than copying the post from the blog. This particular bundle includes two “empty” pages for those of you who have extra photographs, lots of stories or perhaps even newspaper articles to add. Remember all templates can be modified to fit the research material you have. It maybe you can only fill one page in which case the other pages will keep until your research turns up more information. Completing one page could be all the motivation you need to give impetus to your research.

Family History Template #3

Short story boxed.

This is the family history template I used for “When Great Grandfather Went To Town”. The researched material for Theophillus Adcock fell into my lap courtesy of his unusual name. Using the British Newspaper Archives his court case, living arrangements and social standing provided all I needed for a more extensive piece of writing. This template allowed me to take all my material and place it into the social history of the times. Even with limited facts the social history added supporting material. For example I knew from finding out the living costs of basic food items that Great grandfather outlaid a lot of money on alcohol! Like all templates extra pages can be added as your research turns up more material.

Family History Template #4

Easy modern.

This family history template is another example of less is more. The design is simple with plenty of ‘white’ space for easy reading. It differs from the other templates in that it gives extra space to the lives of the siblings. The focus of the family history is still the main character but with the added information about the siblings. The result gives the main character a place in the family. Knowing that your relative is the youngest in a family of 10 can help your research. For example. when I couldn’t find a name on a census, knowing he was the youngest of 12 children, led me to searching successfully with elder siblings in another county. If the “greenery” on the short story page is not to your taste it is simple to remove.

Family History Template #5

Family tree.

My end goal when researching is always to find stories that I can share with my extended family. My first blog post centered on my immediate family and, surprisingly it was my Great Niece who responded so positively that gave me the motivation to keep posting. I was also fortunate to latch on to a Canadian Military enthusiast who guided me to the story behind the emigration of my Great Uncle from the East End of London to fighting in the Canadian Army (Finding Hidden Stories in Military Records) Like many family historians I often find myself chasing a lead that is two generations away from where I should be! When you put this along side the habit of earlier generations of naming their first born son after the father it is not surprising that I often find myself wondering how John Smith managed to produce three children before his 10th birthday! My solution to this muddled approach was to have a simple family tree template within easy reach. There are two ways of using this family template. I either use a split computer print the template and add names manually. Adding it to any of the templates above is also an option. For those family members who are not used to following family trees, I strongly recommend you choose one if only to avoid brain freeze!

Support For Family History Templates

If you are new to the world of templates my advice is persevere as they will save you time once you master the process. It is unlikely you will ever find a template that ticks all your boxes which means you will have to learn some new skills. The text boxes may be too small, font choice not to your liking or the colour scheme does not match your “brand”. The only solution is to learn how to change and adjust the template that is closest to your needs. Everything you need is on the tool bar….you just have to find it. The download below will get you started with a few basics.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow Goethe

11 Do’s & Don’ts of Writing Family Biographies

June 19, 2015 by Elly - Legacy Tree Genealogists Project Manager 11 Comments

Our team has completed thousands of hours of writing client biographies. Review our tips for writing family biographies that will help make your ancestors come to life!

Recently, we published a post on tips for writing a family biography that others would want to read. Perhaps that article inspired you to begin your own, or to dig up an unfinished manuscript and take a closer look. Maybe you’ve got the organization part figured out, but your writing itself needs some polishing.

At Legacy Tree Genealogists, we have a lot of experience writing – not just on the part of our researchers, but also by our project managers and editors, who look over each report and make sure it is ready for publication. As you can imagine, the daily application of these skills has been very educational. Here, then, are eleven do’s and don’ts of writing family biographies using real examples from real biographies that we’ve really written…or rewritten.

1. Do Begin with an Interesting Story or Detail to Engage The Reader's Interest

“With no way of knowing that a ceasefire would be signed exactly one month later, James Ralph Wilson registered for the Great War draft on 1 September 1918 in Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama. He was 33 years old. As a salesman for the Shapleigh Hardware Company of St. Louis, Missouri, James Ralph Wilson had no home of his own and gave an address at the Edwards Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi. His nearest relative was his mother, Mrs. R.O. Wilson, living 250 miles away in Irondale, Alabama.”

2. Don't Use Overly Sentimental Verbiage

This is not a romance novel.

“devoted friends” “tears could never compensate for the loss” “mother’s arms and sweet lullabies” “saddened the hearts”

3. Do Use Wider Local and National Historical Context to Bring Your Ancestors’ World to Life

“As disastrous as the Civil War was, particularly for the South, Jonathan was one of the fortunate ones who made it back home alive. This was especially amazing in view of the fact that his regiment participated in many of the most gruesome, storied battles of the whole conflict: John’s baptism by fire occurred at Williamsburg as part of the Peninsula Campaign shortly after his enlistment. He would also have been involved at the Battle of Gettysburg in summer 1863, which had the highest death toll of the entire war.”

4. Don’t Use Clichéd Idioms (Unless it is a Specific One that Plays an Important Role in Your Family’s Verbal Culture!)

“pillar of society” “across the pond” “needle in a haystack” “kill two birds with one stone” “barking up the wrong tree” “went over it with a fine tooth comb”

5. Do Look Outside Typical Genealogy Sources to Glean Supplementary Details

“This invoice, for the cutting of cloth for a vest and coat, suggests that Washington was embarking on some adventure which required a new suit. Since we know that Washington married his wife, Nancy, in 1843, it is possible that the new vest and coat were for courting purposes.”

6. Don’t Paraphrase Existing Biographies or Histories. Beware of Plagiarism!

Either include a direct quote, or rewrite the facts in a completely different order in your own words. Footnotes with citations are always helpful, too!

“‘John P. Osatiuk immigrated to Canada from the village of Waskevche, Bukovina, in Ukraine and came to the Canora district. He spent the winter in Canora, married Katie Boychuk of Buchanan. Her family was also from the village of Waskevche and came to Canada in 1906. They moved to Preeceville area in 1907 and took up a homestead, south of Lady Lake N.E. 10-35-5.’” [1]

John P. Osatiuk came to Canada from the small town of Waskevche, Bukovina, Ukraine. He wintered in Canora and then married Katie Boychuk of Buchanan. Her family also came from the same village of Waskevche, arriving in 1906. John and Katie took up a homestead in the Preeceville area in 1907.

7. Do Use Visuals to Add Interest

If you don’t have photos of your ancestors, consider using screenshots from Google Maps of places they lived, historical maps, images of historically-relevant artifacts, or illustrations of historical events.

8. Don’t Data-Dump

Hint: If you cross out the names, dates, and places and there are hardly any words left , you need to rewrite.

“ ⊠ married ⊠ ⊠ in ⊠. The couple had nine children, the first six born in ⊠ : ⊠ was born ⊠ , ⊠ was born ⊠ , ⊠ was born ⊠ , ⊠ was born ⊠ , ⊠ was born ⊠ , and ⊠ was born ⊠ .”

9. Do Include The Hard Parts

It’s good for us to remember that our ancestors were people, too.

“In 1850, Alden Harrington was found living among approximately 175 prisoners of the Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. Interestingly, the census enumerator recorded the prisoner’s crime in the far right column—Alden’s was listed as theft. In addition to this extra information, the enumerator also listed a year next to the prisoner’s name. No notation could be located in the census that explained this year, though it was likely the year in which the prisoner entered the prison. Next to Alden’s name was recorded the year 1850, suggesting that he was imprisoned the year the census was taken. The crimes of his fellow convicts ranged from murder and rape to horse stealing and adultery.”

10. Don’t Pass Judgment on Your Ancestors

Tell the facts and let the readers draw their own conclusions.

“If Maude’s birthdate is correct (as several documents will attest), she was only about 13 or 14 years old when she and Howard—who was 18 or 19—married, and she had her first child before the year was out. Although average age at first marriage has fluctuated historically and often been lower than we would consider normal in the 21 st century, even this degree of youth was unusual for the time. It appears likely that Maude had found herself pregnant, and the wedding was hastened in order to legitimize the baby and guarantee support. It seems that something more than young love must have acted as the catalyst to the union.”

“It is possible that Maude became pregnant, and the teenage couple married in order to legitimize the baby and guarantee its support. However, without their marriage record (and its exact date), we can’t know for certain.”

11. Do Ask For Help!

Instead of procrastinating indefinitely, let us help you share your ancestors’ stories with the world. Contact us to learn more and to speak with a project manager.

[1] Preeceville Historical Society (Saskatchewan), Lines of the Past (Preeceville, Saskatchewan: Preeceville Historical Society, 1982), pages 714-175, Family History Library book 971.242/P4 H2L.

Family history is more than just dates & names! Bring your family history to life by following these 11 do's & don'ts of writing family history biographies.

June 19, 2015 at 11:47 pm

I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today’s Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/06/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-june-19-2015.html

Have a great weekend!

June 23, 2015 at 1:03 am

Thanks Jana!

June 24, 2015 at 4:23 am

I really appreciate all of this information. It is nice to know that Legacy Tree cares about how we write our family legacies so that future families will want to pass it on and not allow it to be discarded in future years. Thank you

June 24, 2015 at 8:02 am

Thank you! We love working with you.

June 24, 2015 at 5:17 am

The “11 Dos and Don’ts” was very good. Perhaps Legacy could do a short “Roots” lecture at the 2016 “RootsTech” Conference in SLC. Also, maybe Legacy could evaluate/comment on someone’s draft family history book (or mini-book) and/or hold a 1 day or 2 day course on “11 Dos and Don’ts” before or after the “RootsTech 2016” in SLC.

June 24, 2015 at 8:01 am

That would be fun Wayne! We’ll keep your thoughts in mind as we plan our participation in RT for 2016.

July 1, 2015 at 1:59 am

Loved these writing tips, especially that you gave the definition and then offered illuminating examples. Especially helpful was the list of overly sentimental verbiage, adding visual interest, and avoiding data dump.

August 11, 2021 at 10:28 am

This post helps me very much. I got the answers for all of my questions. I would like to visit again for more interesting articles. Thanks for for sharing such a greatest prince of content!

August 12, 2021 at 9:07 pm

Sughra, we are glad the post was helpful! Subscribing to our blog is a way to have our posts delivered to your inbox each week!

December 28, 2021 at 5:31 pm

I have spent many years researching family information back to immigration in the 1600s from England to Massachusetts to the west coast of America.

Writing a family biography I can provide to my relatives is my goal for putting my project together in a way that informs the family as well as enjoying a compelling story.

I am trying to decide upon the best Point of View for writing my book. Third person omniscient is a POV style that I am considering. Would you recommend that, or can you give me a better idea for putting my information into a creative biography that of course will be based upon factual data gathered that will also include general history contexts. Will you advise. I would appreciate it very much!

December 29, 2021 at 11:23 am

Hi Laura, thank you for contacting us. It’s so nice that you are writing a family biography to share your research with your relatives. Third-person omniscient is the most common for this type of writing; however, if you would like to make the biography more personal and fun, you might consider writing each section in the first person from a different family member of that era. It could be an interesting way of bringing out specific concerns or facts from that period. Congratulations on researching back to the 1600s!

How to Outline a Biography

Last Updated: July 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 55,339 times.

Writing a biography can seem daunting, as you are trying to explore the entirety of someone's life on the page. The key to writing a good biography is outlining it before you dive in. A strong, detailed outline will work through key events chronologically. To outline a biography, start by discussing early life and childhood. Then, go into adulthood and current life, or later life and death if the person is no longer alive.

Discussing Early Life and Childhood

Step 1 Mention the person's name, birth date, and place of birth.

For example, you may write, “RuPaul Andre Charles, born November 17, 1960 in San Diego, California.”

For example, you may write, “RuPaul's mother, Ernestine Charles, was from Louisiana. RuPaul's father was Irving Charles. They divorced in 1967.”

Step 3 Talk about the location of the person's childhood.

For example, you may write, “RuPaul grew up in San Diego, California and moved to Atlanta, Georgia with his sister when he was 15.”

For example, you may write, “At 15 years old, RuPaul attended a performing arts school in Atlanta. After he graduated, he focused on his budding stage career, opting not to attend college.”

Step 5 Mention details about the person's upbringing.

For example, you may write about the person's experience with abuse at the hands of a parent. Or you may mention that the person struggled with a learning disability in middle school that would go undiagnosed until later in their life.

Outlining Adulthood

Step 1 Talk about the person's adult education, if applicable.

For example, you may write, “Martha Graham went to Brown University from 1967-1981, majoring in dance. She worked under famous dancers and choreographers in the performance industry at Brown. She graduated with honors.”

Step 2 Outline key relationships in the person's adult life.

For example, you may write, “Martha Graham met choreographer Dash Nam in a dance class at Brown. They became romantic and professional partners, collaborating on a number of early performances. Nam would later play a major role in Graham's performing company in New York City.”

For example, you may write, “Martha Graham worked as a bartender while at Brown to support herself. She then created performances for a small stipend until she was able to open her own performing company in 1987 with the help of Dash Nam.”

Step 4 List the person's achievements and accomplishments.

For example, you may write, “Martha Graham was rejected from several major dance companies and was unemployed for several years. In frustration, Graham decided to open her own dance company and studio, using funds from friends and colleagues. It later became the premier dance company in America.”

Detailing Current Life and Impact

Step 1 Discuss the person's current situation in life.

For example, you may write, “RuPaul currently resides on a ranch in Wyoming with his partner of twenty years, Australian painter George LeBar. He continues to produce several successful television shows and is a continued advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

Step 2 Detail the later life and death of the person.

For example, you may write, “In her later life, Graham fell into a depression and battled alcohol addiction. She died in 1991 at the age of 96 from pneumonia. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico.”

Step 3 Reflect on the person's influence and impact.

You can also include your own opinions about the person's overall life. You may include a short section on the impact the person had, or continues to have, on you.
For example, you may write about how the person influenced a generation of artists or how the person impacted the way we view technology in the 21st century.

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Writing a Family Biography (Part 2)- A Handy Template

Posted by Lynn Palermo on February 1, 2010 at 12:40pm

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How to Write Your Family History

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Choose a Format

Define the scope, set realistic deadlines.

Choose a Plot and Themes

Do Your Background Research

Don't Be Afraid to Use Records and Documents

Include an Index and Source Citations

Certificate in Genealogical Research, Boston University
B.A., Carnegie Mellon University

Writing a family history may seem like a daunting task, but when the relatives start nagging, you can follow these five easy steps to make your family history project a reality.

What do you envision for your family history project? A simple photocopied booklet shared only with family members or a full-scale, hard-bound book to serve as a reference for other genealogists? Perhaps you'd rather produce a family newsletter, cookbook, or website. Now is the time to be honest with yourself about the type of family history that meetings your needs and your schedule. Otherwise, you'll have a half-finished product nagging you for years to come.

Considering your interests, potential audience, and the types of materials you have to work with, here are some forms your family history can take:

Memoir/Narrative: A combination of story and personal experience, memoirs, and narratives do not need to be all-inclusive or objective. Memoirs usually focus on a specific episode or time period in the life of a single ancestor, while a narrative generally encompasses a group of ancestors.
Cookbook: Share your family's favorite recipes while writing about the people who created them. A fun project to assemble, cookbooks help carry on the family tradition of cooking and eating together.
Scrapbook or Album: If you're fortunate enough to have a large collection of family photos and memorabilia, a scrapbook or photo album can be a fun way to tell your family's story. Include your photos in chronological order and include stories, descriptions, and family trees to complement the pictures.

Most family histories are generally narrative in nature, with a combination of personal stories, photos, and family trees.

Do you intend to write mostly about just one particular relative, or everyone in your family tree ? As the author, you need to choose a focus for your family history book. Some possibilities include:

Single Line of Descent: Begin with the earliest known ancestor for a particular surname and follows him/her through a single line of descent (to yourself, for example). Each chapter of your book would cover one ancestor or generation.
All Descendants Of...: Begin with an individual or couple and cover all of their descendants, with chapters organized by generation. If you're focusing your family history on an immigrant ancestor, this is a good way to go.
Grandparents: Include a section on each of your four grandparents, or eight great-grandparents, or sixteen great-great-grandparents if you are feeling ambitious. Each individual section should focus on one grandparent and work backward through their ancestry or forward from his/her earliest known ancestor.

Again, these suggestions can easily be adapted to fit your interests, time constraints, and creativity.

Even though you'll likely find yourself scrambling to meet them, deadlines force you to complete each stage of your project. The goal here is to get each piece done within a specified time frame. Revising and polishing can always be done later. The best way to meet these deadlines is to schedule writing time, just as you would a visit to the doctor or the hairdresser.

Choose a Plot and Themes

Thinking of your ancestors as characters in your family story, ask yourself: what problems and obstacles did they face? A plot gives your family history interest and focus. Popular family history plots and themes include:

Immigration/Migration
Rags to Riches
Pioneer or Farm Life
War Survival

If you want your family history to read more like a suspense novel than a dull, dry textbook, it is important to make the reader feel like an eyewitness to your family's life. Even when your ancestors didn't leave accounts of their daily lives, social histories can help you learn about the experiences of people in a given time and place. Read town and city histories to learn what life was life during certain periods of interest. Research timelines of wars, natural disasters, and epidemics to see if any might have influenced your ancestors. Read up on the fashions, art, transportation, and common foods of the time. If you haven't already, be sure to interview all of your living relatives. Family stories told in a relative's own words will add a personal touch to your book.

Don't Be Afraid to Use Records and Documents

Photos, pedigree charts, maps, and other illustrations can also add interest to family history and help break up the writing into manageable chunks for the reader. Be sure to include detailed captions for any photos or illustrations that you incorporate.

Source citations are an essential part of any family book, to both provide credibility to your research, and to leave a trail that others can follow to verify your findings.

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Writing biographies

How to Collect and Record Memories

Writing family biographies in just 7 easy steps, let’s start with all your concerns about writing biographies:.

“I don’t have time to do this.”
“I’m not a writer.”
“I’m not creative. My brain doesn’t work this way.”
“I don’t know where to begin.”
“No one wants to read my memories.”
“Nobody cares about our family stories.”
“This is going to be sooo hard.”

Sorry to be blunt, but these are pretty weak excuses … Collecting and recording your family stories and biographies does not require one bit of professional writing skills, creativity, publishing know-how, or any other special skills.

Anyone, and everyone, can and should do this!

The only requirement to record and preserve family stories and biographies is that you passionately care about your family..

Do you love them? Do you want to show them that love? Do you want future generations of your family to understand who they came from and what was important to the family?

That’s what we thought.

You’re doing this. Let’s get started !

7 easy steps to collect, record, and preserve your stories.

Here are the seven easy steps you’ll follow to collect, record, and preserve your family stories and biographies. Each step has free resources and tools to help keep you moving.

Step 1: Collect stories and memories

Step 2: collect photographs, step 3: collect other artifacts, step 4: write an outline.

Step 5: Arrange stories and images

Step 6: Pick a format

Step 7: Print and enjoy!

This can be one of the most time-consuming, but enjoyable steps of your family memories or biography project – collecting the stories! There are many ways to do this:

Write down your own life memories
Write down your favorite family stories
Write down your memories about a specific family member
Interview a family member about his/her life and memories
Interview several family members about a loved one who has passed away
Interview many family members about a beloved (and still living) family member

Collect as many memories and stories as you can. You’ll edit and prioritize later. Right now you just want to get them typed into your computer! When you’re writing your own memories, start with our 200+ interview questions to get you started. If you don’t have a computer or aren’t fond of typing, you can write your memories on paper and sweet talk a friend or family member into typing them.

Another option is speaking your memories into a recording device, like your smartphone or a small voice recorder. You can transcribe your notes or pay for a transcription service. It’s well worth the $1/minute fee many of them charge. Go to the Resources page for recommendations on voice recording apps and transcription services.

Nothing complements your heartfelt memories and beloved family stories like good photographs of the people and places in them. Unlike collecting memories and stories, too many photographs can quickly send you down a rabbit hole and stall your project.

Don’t go for quantity, go for quality photos. List the most prominent people mentioned in your memories and stories and look for a few relevant, high-quality photographs for each. It’s nice to have a mix of old and current photos. Now list some of the major events and places in your stories and memories. If you have sharp, high-quality photographs of these exact places or events, add them to your photo pile.

Once you have your photos, you’ll need to scan printed photos so you have digital versions of them. It’s likely any current photos will already be digital files. Head over to the Resources page for tips on how to scan photos.

There’s no need to dig deeper and search for related artifacts, but some people like to include them. What are artifacts? An artifact is a printed item that relates to the people, places, or events in your stories.

Common artifacts include:

Newspaper articles
Pictures, paintings, or other artwork
Handwritten or typed letters, cards, notes, stories, inscriptions, etc.
Event programs, ticket stubs, autographs
Official documents, like licenses, diplomas, etc.
Maps, brochures, travel guides, itineraries
Anything else interesting you find!

Like photographs, hunting for artifacts can quickly eat up time and delay your project. If you find them and they’re relevant to your story, awesome! But don’t worry if you can’t find them, or don’t want to. These artifacts can always be collected in an envelope and kept with your memory book.

If you find artifacts that you want to use in your memory book, you will need to scan them and create digital files. Look at the Resources page for recommendations on how to scan artifacts.

You’ve now collected everything for your memory or biography book. Good job! The hardest part is now finished. The rest of your project will go more quickly. Read some inspirational biographies to get started. There’s one key tip to remember at this stage: don’t overthink it.

Keep your memory or biography project outline simple and straightforward. There are a couple of ways to write your memory or biography book outline:

Chronologically – This can be an easy, no-nonsense way to organize your stories: put them in the order they occurred.
Life stages – Instead of trying to determine what years each story occurred, just group them together by major life stages: childhood, adolescence, young adult, career, retirement, etc.
Major events – Similar to life stages, this approach will group your memories and stories by significant life events, like birthdays, school years, weddings/anniversaries, births, deaths, vacations, career/jobs, military service, etc.
Family members – Thinking about your readers (your family members) one of the nicest ways to organize your memories are by them! You could have a chapter for each family member, or group them by generation, like parents, siblings, spouse, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so forth.
Random – For all you free spirits out there, this style is for you! This approach is less about organizing by topic, and more about creating many chapters of random, unrelated but interesting stories.

Step 5: Arrange your stories and images

Now it’s time to arrange your stories into one document. Your outline will be a good starting place, but you might decide there’s a better way to organize them. Don’t be afraid to change it and try different approaches. Your goal is simply to make it easy and enjoyable to read. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

When you’re finished, you’ll have a big document with a lot of text. Nobody, not even your loving family who is interested in these stories, wants to read page after page of text. It’s time to make your stories more reader-friendly.

Depending on how you organize your biography or memory book, there are different writer’s tricks you can add to really make your stories shine. Consider adding:

Headlines and subheads: Write a headline and subhead for each section or story. This lets the reader quickly scan and understand what they’ll learn.
Pull quotes: These are super interesting quotations you want to emphasize and draw attention to. For now, just highlight, underline or bold the quotes or sentences you might want to emphasize.
Sidebars/information in a box: Sometimes you have an interesting tidbit about a place or event that doesn’t quite fit into your story. Turn these facts or historical research into a sidebar. Again, don’t worry about the design, just find and label paragraphs that would make good sidebars.
More paragraphs: If you’re looking at your document and there is a wall of text with no paragraph breaks, you need to add some. Don’t worry about grammar rules – this is about making your text easier to read.
Space between stories: Add more white space between stories or sections in your book.
Lists: A great way to quickly educate and entertain a reader is by turning big blocks of text into a list. Look for paragraphs that could become a list of bullet points.

Now it’s time to match up photos and artifacts to your stories. No need to insert your digital images into your document. Instead, list the photo or artifact file names you want to use at the start of the corresponding story. This makes the design process much easier and faster.

Check out our story template in the Resources section for an example of how to set up your document.

Step 6: Pick a format for your project

It’s time to decide how you want to finish this biography or memory book project. You’ve put a lot of work and effort into these memories and family stories, and they deserve a high-quality finish! There are so many do-it-yourself publishing companies that make it easy and affordable to design and print hardcover copies of your biography or memory book. See our top recommendations for book printers in the Resources section.

Here are a few options and the general cost of each:

Basically free: Design the book yourself, print it at home, and preserve your hard work in a nice binder or folder.
Inexpensive: Design the book yourself, print it at a local copy shop, and have them add a clear or vinyl front cover, coil bind, or other finishing options.
Moderately expensive: Use an online printing service to design and print a soft- or hard-cover book.
More expensive: Hire a company like Circa Legacy to edit, design, and print your biography or memory book for you.

Step 7: Print your project

Hip hip hooray!!!! You did it! You’ve created an amazing gift for yourself, you family, and future generations. You should be so proud of yourself! All that’s left is to print multiple copies of your beautiful biography or memory book and present it to your family members.

This is no regular gift. You poured your heart and soul into this. Don’t just shyly slide it over to them at the end of a family dinner. Put it in a box or nice envelope. Wrap it. Include a little note about why this was an important project for you and what you hope they will get out of it. And then, you can give it to them.

Have a friend or family member who wants to write an autobiography or memory book but doesn’t know where to start? Take a look at our Products page for fun and easy do-it-yourself story kits to help them get started.

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How to Create an Outline for Writing an Interesting Family History

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You might approach writing with a mixture of caution, excitement and dread. On one hand, you look forward to sharing sweeping tales about your ancestors, the journeys they have taken and the triumphs and trials they have faced.

On the other hand, though, writing can be downright hard. The saying goes that the pen is mightier than the sword (or, in our digital world, the laptop or other electronic device). But when you struggle to find the right words to describe a person who means a great deal to you, the pen might feel like little more than a blunt stick.

In fact, because family stories are so personal, writing about them can be harder than writing about something more scientific or technical. You may know more about Grandma Ethel and her childhood than anyone else—but you know so much that you fear you will gloss over something important. Every time you sit down to write about her, nagging thoughts arise: what if I’m not doing her story justice? What if I’m leaving out important details or homing in on the wrong details? What if I’m just not the writer for the job?

Fortunately, writing doesn’t have to feel like a long, uncertain battle. You can break the writing process down into manageable parts, turning it from stressful slog into an illuminating journey.

Creating a handy outline can help. Below are some strategies to guide you in creating an outline that covers all you want to share about your family history.

What Is a Writing Outline?

A writing outline is a tangible plan in which you lay out:

what you are writing
about whom or what you are writing
the structure or organization of your work

Outlines take many different forms. Some may be linear, plotting out exactly what happens from the beginning to the end. For example, a story of your grandfather’s immigration to America may begin with the moment he left his homeland and end with him stepping foot on unfamiliar land.

Other outlines have a more stream-of-consciousness structure; you simply write whatever comes to mind as you brainstorm and use your notes as your guide. In this case, you might highlight specific descriptions or moments of your grandfather’s voyage, but don’t connect the dots, at least right away.

This article focuses mostly on structured outlines. But the “right” outline is whichever feels the most useful to you.

And whatever outline you create, nothing in it has to be set in stone. Even if you map out Grandpa’s life perfectly from its humble start to its glorious conclusion, you may decide as you write to change some parts around, to add details or to omit entire swaths of time and text altogether.

That’s okay. What makes the writing process so rewarding is uncovering old fond memories that you thought had turned to dust or making new, startling epiphanies that enliven your story.

Every time I write something new, be it a story or article or essay, I end up writing something very different than what I had initially envisioned. Even the final draft of this article looks quite different from my outline. I embrace these differences, and I also embrace my outlines for carrying me to the end.

Types of Outlines

What does an outline look like? Below I highlight several common types and provide examples of each. Your outline might look entirely different, or blend elements from several varieties. What’s important is that you find an outlining strategy that helps you write your family history the way you want.

The Alphanumeric Outline

The alphanumeric outline is exactly what it sounds like: It uses a combination of letters (lowercase or uppercase) and numbers (Arabic or Roman numerals) to denote hierarchies in your thought process.

For example, you might identify three main topics you want to highlight in your family history and number them 1, 2 and 3. Then you can expand upon a main topic with supporting, more-specific “sub-topics” that you label a, b and c under the main idea. To put it another way, the main topic serves as an “umbrella” over those sub-topics.

You’ve probably used this outline to write structured essays in school—ones with a clear introduction and thesis statement, a cohesive body and a compelling conclusion. The alphanumeric outline is ideal if you’re looking to write a chronological family history that has a clear order to your thoughts.

Below is an example of an alphanumeric outline I drafted up to write a piece on my own family history:

Note that my topics have different numbers of sub-topics beneath them. Your outline, too, might not look completely balanced. Some subjects might simply spur more inspiration or warrant a more-detailed discussion. I also gave my outline a temporary, working title to differentiate it from other outlines.

The Sentence Outline

Like the alphanumeric outline, the sentence outline sorts ideas and subjects into subject groups. However, each topic and sub-topic is written as a complete sentence. Sometimes, I’m so overflowing with ideas that I break the rules and end up creating a (short) paragraph outline.

While it may seem like extra work, this outline is useful. It forces you to engage with your ideas just as you would while writing your actual family history. As a result, you can potentially identify at the outline level what you need to expand upon and what you could possibly pare down. For instance, if you struggle to write even one sentence to sum up the topic, you may consider reworking the topic altogether.

Another thing I appreciate about the sentence outline is that it allows me to play with language and tone. Most sentences from the outline won’t survive to the actual written family history, but they do help me uncover sensory images and valuable details that I might otherwise overlook during the writing process.

I also may notice certain themes that emerge organically and tie my story together. For example, I found that the concept of myths and mythologizing the past threaded many of the topics in my outline together. This revelation helped guide my narrative throughout the entire piece.

Here’s a sentence outline for the first topic I laid out in my alphanumerical outline:

The Mind Map

If the outlines mentioned above feel too academic or rigid for you (or you just want something more visual), then the mind map may be right for you. The mind map usually begins with a single “seed” of a topic—something general, like “My Family History”—then branches off into many separate topics that intersect or sprout their own “sub-topics.” (It goes without saying, then, that a tree is an apt metaphor for the family history mind map!)

The mind map can help you visualize where your ideas are in relation to one another. As you add new ideas to your mind map, it grows, as does your understanding of what you are writing about.

Here’s a mind map outline that I created using a free version of Coggle:

Most mind-mapping tools allow you to create several free mind maps and use basic mapping capabilities. The paid versions of these tools offer unlimited maps and more complex features (for example, color-coding, more bubble shape options, etc.).

Here’s a quick breakdown of five different mind-mapping tools: Coggle , GitMind , Microsoft Visio , MindMeister and Miro . You can review this chart for number of free maps, free features offered, paid features offers and price.

Company	# of Free Mind Maps Offered	Free Features	Paid Features	Price
Coggle	3	Unlimited public diagrams, unlimited photo uploads, change history, several start points, branch auto-arrange feature	Unlimited private mind maps, control line path, change line style, more item shape options, high resolution photo downloads	$5/month
GitMind	10	Color themes, outline mode, slideshow capabilities	Free features + unlimited mind maps, nodes, and templates	$9/month
Microsoft Visio	Unlimited with 1 month trial	Enjoy all features during trial period	Many different templates and shapes, cross functional flowcharts, app to work anywhere	$5/month
MindMeister	3	Outline mode, customizable text colors and styles, custom icon color	Unlimited mind maps, file and image attachments, export PDFs and image, mind map printing	$4.99/month
Miro	3	Premade templates, integration with Google Drive, Microsoft and other programs	Unlimited mind maps, custom templates, project folders, high-resolution export capabilities, board version history	$8/month

Beyond the Outline: Family History Writing Organization Strategies

You might want jump right into writing once you’ve got an outline. By all means, go ahead! But if you’re still apprehensive, here are tips that will help you ease into the writing process, both before and after you start drafting an outline.

Before the Outline

Determine the form and length of your project.

Few writers can accurately predict how many words a piece will be, so it’s okay if you’re unsure about the length of your family history. However, your outline will be more helpful if it reflects the scope of your project: how deep you plan to go into your family history and what kind of form it’s going to take.

For example, are you writing a book-length memoir that captures snapshots throughout an ancestor’s life? Or are you weaving a narrative that has a clear beginning, middle and end? Is your family history going to be a cohesive narrative, or (like mine) a collection of shorter essays or stories tied together by a theme?

Determine Who You are Going to Write About

This might go without saying, but you’ll need to know who is going to appear in your written family history before you start outlining it. With that decided, you can spend the outlining stage sketching an accurate portrait of the person(s).

Determine Where You Fit into the Story

When you read a book (especially a work of fiction), the narrative point of view is usually one of the first pieces of information you receive. Who is telling the story?

Your family history isn’t fiction, of course. But you’ll want to decide how personal your storytelling will be. Will you let readers get a closer look at who you (the author) are, through personal memories? Or will family stories be told from the point of view of an omniscient, impersonal narrator? There’s no right or wrong answer, but deciding on an approach will help you build your outline.

After the Outline

Organize and integrate research.

Once you have your outline in hand, you can start incorporating your research into it. This is more challenging than it first seems, since you probably have decades of research and plenty of facts that you want to share. It can be tempting to dump all of that information on the page during the outline stage, but I get less overwhelmed if I write my outline first , then match details and facts to specific topics mentioned in my outline.

Make sure that the research you include is relevant to the story and reflects your overall vision. You don’t want your narrative to be bogged down in unrelated details.

Identify Common Images and Narrative Threads

I mentioned above how, during the outlining process, I recognized and embraced the theme of mythology that had emerged from my outline. As you study your own, look out for those such motifs. They might not be broad (such as connections to mythology) or subtle (such as memories of the sky, sea or birds).

Of course, you shouldn’t force such imagery into your writing if it feels unnatural. But concrete images can enrich your story and provide an emotional connection that your readers will respond to.

Find Photos, Heirlooms and Other Items That Can Help Strengthen Your Story

Consider looking through your family photos and keepsakes to find any objects that will help bring your story to life. While colorful descriptions of Grandma’s kitchen at Christmas can help readers visualize the scene (a flour-covered counter, or the smell of freshly baked cookies), an actual photo can transport them there.

For example, my Yia Yia kept a journal that dates to when I was just a baby. In it, she recorded notable milestones, stowed away some fun projects we did together and described some of our trips to church. I could describe this journal to you in great detail, but that probably wouldn’t be as interesting as seeing it for yourself!

Final Thoughts

Outlines don’t force your family history into a prescribed, write-by-number template. Instead they guide your thoughts, spark memories and move you through years of joys and sorrows. You can always deviate from your outline—you don’t have to commit to a certain topic just because your outline says so. The outline is only a foundation that you can build higher or reshape as you see fit. Keeping that in mind will leave you open to your own treasured memories: how peaceful you felt when you walked with your grandpa through the woods; the touch of his weathered hand in your own; the sound of his wise, booming voice; how his shadow disappeared into those of the trees.

A version of this article appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of Family Tree Magazine .

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Write a Personal History

1 Introduction
2 Why Create a Personal History?
3 When Should I Create My Personal History?
4.1 Written Biographies
4.2 Journals
4.3 Narratives
4.4 Records of Milestones
4.5 Scrapbooking
4.6 Oral Histories
4.7 Electronic Recordings
4.8 Online Photo Books
5.1 Potential Subjects for Your History
5.2 Start Writing
5.3 Other Things to Include
5.4 Writing Challenges
6.1 After the Review
7 Decide How You Want Your Finished History to Look
8.1 Websites
10 Websites
11 See also

Introduction [ edit | edit source ]

A personal history is one way of leaving a legacy for descendants to treasure for generations. It is important to retain accuracy of information when creating your personal history. If you leave it to someone else to create it, he or she can only rely on their memories of you and secondhand stories that may not accurately reflect your life.

If you feel overwhelmed about where to begin, go to jrnl.com (Sign up; it’s free!) On the site, there is a section titled “All About Me.” This is a great starting point, because not only does it ask questions to trigger memories, it also allows you to document your answers right there within the form. The questions are categorized to keep details organized.

Also, see this FamilySearch blog article about this subject, New Year's Resolution: Write Your Life Story #52Stories .

Why Create a Personal History? [ edit | edit source ]

Ask yourself these questions – if your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors did not leave life histories, do you wish they had? Do you wish you could read about their lives? If so, it is likely for your descendants to feel the same way if you don’t. A record of your life can be a great gift to those who come after you. Words in print can be read and reread, pondered over, and returned to. The words your teenager rejects now may become clear and precious when he or she rereads them later in life.

You could have a great effect on those who follow you. Your example, trials, and triumphs can strengthen and motivate others. A famous, biblical example is Job of the Old Testament, who suffered many trials. “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!” he mourned (Job 19:23-4 KJV). His words were written, and so his triumph over tragedy and his faith have remained an example of devotion to people of the world for thousands of years.

Writing your history can also provide you with an opportunity to evaluate your life. It may help to clarify your direction in life. Writing about your past, even if it was not idyllic, can help you cope with feelings and create an opportunity to find understanding and forgiveness. See also 2: Writing a Family History” in the FamilySearch Learning Center . Many of the same reasons also apply.

When Should I Create My Personal History? [ edit | edit source ]

There is no better time than now. Do not put off writing until you believe you’ll have more time, or until you’ll retire. Our expectations of how much time we have to do all that we need or want to so do not usually match that of what happens. In addition, you never know how long you may live, so do not procrastinate.

No one else can write your personal history the way you can. The story is about your life, and it should be written by you. However, the longer you wait to write it, the more details are likely to slip away and be forgotten.

When writing your story, set realistic and specific goals. For example, you could set a goal to complete a first draft in three months. A final draft could be ready to review within six. By the end of nine months, you could have a finished copy ready for distribution to your family members. The time allotted to write your history is subjective. It may be more reasonable for you to write a chapter a week for the next years or write about one subject per week or even a page per day. Do what you can, but do it regularly and consistency.

Your history isn’t limited to just subjects. It may be easier to write about the different stages of your life like preschool, grade school, high school, etc. Breaking up your history into segments like these makes the task easier to accomplish.

Different Types of Personal Histories [ edit | edit source ]

You can preserve your life history and memories in many ways. The following are a few ideas:

Written Biographies [ edit | edit source ]

A written biography is a great way to record personal histories for those who enjoy writing. They can include any of the following:

Personal account of events in your life. Cyndislist is a good website to help you get started.
Photographs of events, family, friends, homes you grew up in, places you’ve traveled, and other experiences of interest in your life. Photographs are good visual aides to supplement your history.
Copies of family records, such as your birth and marriage certificates, school records, diplomas, religious certificates, awards, and other records of interest.

What you decide to include is up to you, and any physical documents or images can help round out your words.

Journals [ edit | edit source ]

Journals are excellent to preserve your history. Where a personal history tends to be broader in scope and generally covers a greater period of time, a journal can preserve the day-to-day or week-to-week events of your life. A journal provides a more intimates and detailed account of your daily experiences.

They may be easier for someone to write. Although journal writing can span over large amounts of time, it is done in small increments rather than covering a lot of information at once.

Journals have a more personal feeling to them. They often contain insights, expressions or emotion, observations about events and how they affect you and those around you, musings, and much more.

You may also choose to include drawings or photographs within the journal, which can add interesting dimension.

Journals are not only a good way for those after you to see into your personal, but also a medium for you to reflect on during your life to see how you’ve grown.

Narratives [ edit | edit source ]

Narratives are another form of personal history. This particular kind of narrative documents memorable events and are usually brief.

Many people find it useful to set aside a time each week to write their narratives. For example, one woman spends an hour writing each Sunday afternoon while her young children take a nap. During each session, she writes two or three short narratives.

These narratives can later be polished and compiled into a longer history.

Appendix A of this lesson gives a list of subjects for personal narratives. You do not need to limit yourself to these topics, though. They may, however, remind you of other events that you would like to write about.

Records of Milestones [ edit | edit source ]

Creating a record of milestones is similar to keeping a journal, except it tends to be added to less frequently.

It is a record of important events like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, death, life-changing experience, and major accomplishments. They also include your feelings regarding the milestones.

Scrapbooking is one method some people use to chronicle their own milestones.

Scrapbooking [ edit | edit source ]

This is also a popular form to preserve memories and can be a great alternative or addition to a written personal history. Scrapbooks focus on documenting special events using photographs and other memorabilia.

Scrapbooks tend to not be as comprehensive as written history, but they provide excellent visual documentation.

Scrapbook supplies and classes are often readily available.

Keeping a journal and a scrapbook together can help you create an excellent, full history of your life. Narratives and journal entries help provide insightful background to each photograph in your scrapbook.

Oral Histories [ edit | edit source ]

An oral history preserves the voice of someone. It is a great alternative for those who do not feel that they have the skills or desire to write. Those who struggle with writing may find it easier to sit down and talk about their lives. For many people, having someone record someone from their lives is a fun and deeply touching experience.

Electronic Recordings [ edit | edit source ]

With the development of electronic devices, like video equipment and tape recorders, recording history is easier than ever. Using this equipment to record your history, you can include much more than is typically found in a written history.

These can include recordings of your voice, of you singing or playing an instrument, among other visual and auditory images.

A thing to be aware of when deciding to record electronically is that they can deteriorate or become outdated. Computer discs, hardware, and software programs can become outdated over time, and this process is becoming faster, with technology changing vastly over a few short years. After a few years, you may find that you have difficulty finding a computer or program that will read what you have recorded.

You should review the medium your recorded with on a regular basis. Once a year it best. Tapes should be played back annually to prevent the sound from bleeding through the tape.

Before it gets harder to find equipment to play or read what you have recorded, it is a good idea to transfer your history to an updated medium.

If you plan to record your history electronically, be aware that electronic media does not retain quality for long. Electronic recordings should be transcribed onto archival quality paper. If it is digitized, it will last forever.

Online Photo Books [ edit | edit source ]

With the availability of the Internet, it is possible to create a fine quality history book online and have it delivered to your door. You can add at many photographs and as much text as you would like. The company then prints out as many books as you want and ships them to you. These can then be distributed to friends and family members.

Before You Begin Writing [ edit | edit source ]

After considering your options, decide what method you would like to use to record your history. Whether you are going to write, video tape, or make a photo- or scrapbook, you should consider doing the following:

Gathering everything you can find about your life that might help you remember events.
Organizing the items per the type of history you plan to create.
Carrying note cards with you to record memories as they come to mind. Often memories will come up at inconvenient times. Note cards provide an easy way to record them, regardless of when they arise.
Elaborating on some of your memories as you have the time. Add more details that what you may have written on your note cards.
Talking into a tape- or video-recording device to record some preliminary ideas. Memories may also come easier and with more detail if you are speaking them. You may want to transcribe the recording alter or use it as a starting point for writing.
Asking relatives and friends to share memories and stories they have of you. These recollections are extremely valuable; others often remember events that happened when you were too young to remember them, or they might remember things that didn’t seem important to you when they happened or memories you may have forgotten.

Potential Subjects for Your History [ edit | edit source ]

Listed below are general topics you might consider as you prepare to write. Appendix A provides an additional list of questions to prompt your memory.

Below are some general topics to consider as you prepare to write. Appendix A provides an additional list of questions to prompt your memory.

A list of life events in the order they occurred (a chronology)
A list of the ten most important things in your life now and details about them
A health chronology if there are health issues that might affect your descendants
Family traditions
Personal convictions and learning experiences
Childhood memories
Family members – ancestors and descendants
Funny or embarrassing experiences
Society, geography, and entertainments surround you – anything that gives context to your life
Examples of your talents (poems, artwork, songs, etc.)
Challenges and how they shaped you
Stories of your life experiences
Stories or comments about you contributed to by other people
Advice you’d like to share with future generations. These words may be the most precious words you leave to your loved ones.

If you plan to create something to be printed and published formally, check with a few publishers. They will be able to tell you what you need to know to prepare your material for publication. This information could prevent the extra effort of retyping or reformatting your work later.

Start Writing [ edit | edit source ]

Do not be too critical of your writing skills. In the beginning, it is more important to get the information, stories, feelings, and events recorded first. Late, you can polish what you’ve written. These suggestions may help you begin your personal history:

Begin your narrative at an exciting point in your life. You do not have to begin by listing your date of birth. Get your readers interested first, and then they will enjoy learning the facts later.
Do not worry about style, grammar, punctuation, or other composition technicalities at the beginning. Write however feels most comfortable for you.
Be visual with your words. Include background information about the location or local history at the time a memory or event took place. Describe clothing, rooms, expressions, and so on that were involved. Try to recapture the emotions of people. Give enough detail about the situation to make things interesting (See an example in the Teacher Suggestions section at the end of this lesson). Do not let your writing become just a list of dates and places with stories and a background to bring them to life.
Be willing to laugh at yourself. Let your personality and humor shine through in your writing.
Do not be afraid to write about your weaknesses, as well as your strengths. If you feel comfortable writing about mistake you’ve made, elaborate on what you learned from them and what consequences followed.
Always be truthful and honest about your life. If something is too uncomfortable to share, just exclude it and move on.
Be wary of extremely sensitive issues, especially if other people were involved. It’s important to be careful of libeling or embarrassing others.
Remember your story doesn’t have to be told in chronological order. Digress whenever you feel like; these digressions may just be the most interesting parts of your story.

Other Things to Include [ edit | edit source ]

In addition to writing about your memories, you may want to include some of the following items of interest. They can be part of the body of the history or can be added as an appendix.

Photographs of family, friends, homes, wedding day, yourself at milestone ages, a few vacation highlights, homes you have lived in, schools you attended, and so on
Your feelings about social, religious, or personal issues
Lessons you have learned
Feelings about loved ones
Dreams for the future
Excerpts from journals
Poems you have written
Newspaper articles about you or events you took part in
Copies of certificates
Direction from insightful inspirations

Writing Challenges [ edit | edit source ]

If the writing process isn’t going well, ask yourself why. Maybe you’re writing about a subject you feel should be included but doesn’t excite you. Think about whether it is really important or if you can just skip over it, even if just for the moment.

Realize that hard work is often necessary for inspiration. Self-discipline to write when you don’t feel up to it may work, but taking a few days’ break may also. You can spend the time off from writing looking for photographs to include or revisiting a place you plan to talk about. Consider having a tape recorder handy while you’re doing these in case you remember more details. Activities related to your history may be enough to re-motivate you.

Sometimes the hardest part of writing is starting. If anything, write a single word. Then expand that word into a sentence. Expand that sentence into a paragraph. Once you’ve started writing, the process usually becomes easier and more enjoyable. When you need to take a break from writing, stop in the middle of an interesting story or paragraph. Then, when you return to your work, it will be easier for you to start again where you left off instead of wondering where to go next.

Another way is to start at the easiest part of your story, or begin will a topic you really want to write about. If you find that you’ve come to a stump and simply cannot keep writing, consider recording your thoughts and memories and transcribing it later, adding in additional details.

If you are writing electronically, remember to save your work often. It would be frustrating and demotivating to lose all your progress and hard work to a computer glitch or failure.

Review and Evaluate What You Have Written [ edit | edit source ]

Writing a first draft is only the beginning of your personal history process. Some of your best writing will happen as you review and revise what you’ve written. Take the time to rewrite sentence that don’t work as well as you’d like them to.

Getting a trusted friend, colleague, spouse, or family member to do the same will point out mistakes or confusions you may have skipped over. As you’re reviewing, ask yourself and any others helping you the following questions:

Does the reader feel involved and care about the outcome of the stories?
Is your writing organized? Do the stories flow well? If not, how can they be improved – rearrangement, additional details, etc.?
Do you have good sentence structure? Are any sentences too long or complicated, or do you have too many simple sentences?
Are the identities of people in the stories clear? For example, if you have mentioned Grandma, have you elaborated on which grandma? Do you explain which aunt you’re talking about when you say, “My aunt gave me my favorite Christmas gift that year”?
Do any details or events need to be clarified or elaborated on?
Have you included too much or overwhelming detail?
Do the stories need to be shorted or lengthened to make them more enjoyable?
Are there any spelling or other grammatical errors? These types of mistakes become more apparent when the text is read aloud.
Do you use repetitive phrases or words often? For example, do too many sentences begin with, “I remember”?
Are names, dates, places, and other details accurate?
Have you used the proper tense throughout the entire history?

After the Review [ edit | edit source ]

You must decide what input and feedback is most valuable to revision. Sometimes a reviewer will express a concern that will indicate a problem besides the one mentioned. For example, a reviewer may say that a certain story is too long, but perhaps length is not the real issue. You may need to consider how to retell the story or describe events in another way.

Also, keep in mind if a reviewer makes a comment on a universal issue, for instance, using the proper tense or the same phrase within a certain area, it may apply to other areas within your history. Take the time to make sure the issue is addressed.

Considering reading your story on tape and then listening to the recording. Do you feel that it is honest and worth listening to? Does is accurately represent your life?

Be extremely sensitive to personal information, such as dates, sensitive issues, and contentious stories, of individuals who are still alive or who have living family members who may read your history. Never publish anything that you would not want to appear in tomorrow’s newspaper. Also be cautious about including addresses and phone numbers.

Now is also the time to decide where to insert photographs, letters, certificates, and other physical or visual documents.

Decide How You Want Your Finished History to Look [ edit | edit source ]

Play around with layout. It is a good time to review and adjust the appearance of your work. Consider line spacing, headings of chapters, and subheadings. You may decide to add or delete some of the design and layout elements as you work. Some elements may be:

• Cover page • Title page • Preface (where you share your thoughts and feelings about your project) • Table of contents • Lists of photographs and illustrations • Chronology (a quick and concise overview of your life in a page or two) • Narrative • Appendixes (family group sheets, pedigree charts, will extracts, handwriting samples, favourite recipes, and so on) • Maps • Index

Most people look at photographs before reading text. Photos will create interest in reading accompanying test. Place photographs where they will be relevant within the writing.

such as the font, its size, and spacing, to make the text easy to read. If you plan on printing double-sided, be sure to leave margins on the binding size of each page wide enough to allow for binding. This is usually at least a quarter inch wider than the normal edge of a type-written page.

Resources [ edit | edit source ]

Websites [ edit | edit source ].

See the tutorial at the FamilySearch Learning Center , Ancestors Season 1: Leaving a Legacy .

Books [ edit | edit source ]

"From Shoes Boxes to Books: Writing Great Personal Histories" by Amy Jo Oaks Long. Ten-step program to creating a personal history.
"From Memories to Manuscript – The Five Step Method of Writing Your Life Story" by Joan R. Neubauer

Appendix [ edit | edit source ]

For suggested questions to prompt personal recollections, and for tips on preserving family photos and artifacts, go to the Appendix .

Jrnl.com – New website to ldsjournal.com. Questions to trigger memories.
Cyndislist.com – Links to various sites with help on writing personal histories.
GenWriters.com – Help on writing personal histories.

5 Templates To Quick Start Writing Your Family History
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Writing a compelling and interesting family history biography is one of the finest examples of experienced genealogists. Review our outline that will help share the stories of your ancestors.
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Here, then, are eleven do’s and don’ts of writing family biographies using real examples from real biographies that we’ve really written…or rewritten. 1. Do Begin with an Interesting Story or Detail to Engage The Reader's Interest.
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Read town and city histories to learn what life was life during certain periods of interest. Research timelines of wars, natural disasters, and epidemics to see if any might have influenced your ancestors.
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A written biography is a great way to record personal histories for those who enjoy writing. They can include any of the following: Personal account of events in your life.