What do you wish you knew about your parents? What do your children want to know about you? The following questions, culled from college students, can give tremendous insight into what to include in your own life story writing.
Read moreHow to Tell the Ten Best Stories of Your Life
How to Tell the Ten Best Stories of Your Life
What are your "ten best" stories? In this presentation you'll see a step-by-step method to make the process of writing or recording a personal history easier and more fun.
Read moreA Life Story "Triage" Exercise
A life story "triage" exercise - how to tell the best ten stories of your life.
Here is a short exercise from today's presentation, "Story Triage: How to Tell the Best Ten Stories of Your Life." If you are at the Rootstech conference, you can hear this presentation at 2:30 p.m. in Room 150. If you aren't able to join us, here is a little exercise you might want to try. It may jump-start some memories, and give you some ideas about important stories you need to tell.
Read moreBook highlight: His-and-Hers Histories
He said, she said: "His-and-hers" personal history books.
This week we wanted to show you a pair of personal histories by a husband and wife, Mack and Judy Lawrence. We've done a number of memoirs for couples over the years; some in separate books like this...
Read moreBook highlight: A Mother's Story
A while back, Laura Mortensen sat down with a tape recorder and asked her mother, Melba, some questions about her life. The result was this sweet little book, "I Wish You Bluebirds." I wanted to show it to you, because it's a great example of what can be done with a recorded oral interview and a few pictures.
Read moreAutobiography, Memoir, Personal History - What's the Diff? And Does It Matter?
Autobiography, Memoir, Personal History - What's the difference? And does it matter?
As "personal historians," Tom and I often use these terms interchangeably when blogging or teaching about the concept of writing one's life stories. But does that signify that they all mean the same thing?
Read moreGathering Stories at Family Gatherings
Holidays, for better or worse, are family gathering times (followed closely by weddings, funerals, and family reunions). What better time is there to interview those family members you only see once a year? Give your auntie an excuse to stay out of the kitchen and hold her comfortably captive while you ask a few questions.
Here are a few tips that will help you get better stories.
Read moreLost and Found: Do You Know Where Your Relatives Are?
"Edgar's Playground" by Alison Armstrong Taylor
But it also made me think: what will happen to my lost relatives? I have a box of unidentified ancestral photos, people I know are related to me, but in what way? They led full, interesting lives. Yet in a few short generations, nobody remembers who they are, what they did, what they lost, or who they loved. I crave knowledge of them, but because their stories weren't documented, I may never know.
Read moreQuick Writing Tip: Active vs. Passive Voice
Is your writing working hard? Or is it sleeping in class?
Since it's Friday---and who doesn't love grammar advice on a Friday?---I'm going to show you a neat little trick that will make your writing clearer, stronger, and more to the point.
Read moreDon’t Like to Write? Dictate Your Stories Using Speech-to-text Software
Fortunately, speech-to-text technology has evolved a bit since the turn of the last century.
You have stories to tell, but writing them is a pain. Or maybe you like to write, but you don’t like to type, and writing by hand takes too long. Speech-to-text technology now enables us to simply talk and let our computers do the typing.
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