Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History 

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With a little planning and effort, you can create a memory book just like my mother did, one that your family will treasure for generations to come.

First, Decide on Your Scope

You can create your memory book as a personal memoir of your own life. Of course, your memories will include a large number of other people, too, including your parents, family, friends, school and work associates, and many more. But in this case you'll probably want to limit the focus to the events and people of your lifetime.

Or you can decide to broaden your scope to a family history, including more information about one or more branches of your family tree. You might want to interview your grandparents, parents, or other relatives who are still alive. Although this can overlap into genealogical research, the focus of the family history is more personal — sharing thoughts and feelings, as well as events and stories that would never show up in genealogical research.

For example, my grandfather was a cowboy. When I was a child, he enthralled the entire family with his cowboy tales. He died when I was 12 years old, and although I vaguely recall listening to his stories, I don’t remember a single tale. In her memory book, my mother wrote the only remaining tale she remembered of the dozens he used to repeat regularly. No one ever wrote them down; Grandpa telling his tales was such a common occurrence, no one ever imagined the day would come when Grandpa would be gone — and the stories with him. None of his great-grandchildren or future generations will ever hear those tales.

Second, Determine Your Audience

Determine who you want to share your history with. Your immediate family is the obvious starting point because the people closest to you are the ones most likely to be interested in your history.

But remember you're not writing just for today. You're preserving your history for future generations. My grandfather’s cowboy stories should have been written down, not for his children and their spouses — they were probably tired of hearing them — but for his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and future generations.

Especially if you’re writing a family history rather than a memoir, you may want to expand your audience to include your extended family — aunts, uncles, cousins, and any other relatives who would be interested in knowing the history of the people in your family.

And you don’t have to limit it to family. Most people have friends who are as close as family and would be interested in reading about people they care about.

Although most family histories and memoirs are not viable for commercial publication, some are. If your story is compelling and unique, it might be a candidate for submission to publishers. This e-book does not address submitting your manuscript to publishers; if that is your goal, you should first learn more about writing and the submission process, starting with some of the resources listed at the end of this article.

Third, Plan Your Project

After you’ve decided on your scope and determined your audience, you’re ready to plan the details of your project. We’ll call this project a “book,” although it can take many forms.

There are several ways that you can go about writing your book. You can:

• Type into a word processor.

• Write in longhand and have a family member, friend, or professional type what you’ve written.

• Talk into a tape recorder and have a family member, friend, or professional transcribe the tape.

• Interview family members and transcribe the interviews or arrange for someone else to interview you.

• Hire a professional writer to ghost-write your book.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a writer, you’re usually the best person to tell your own story. Your loved ones will cherish your “voice” — the distinctive way you put words together — and your memoir or family history will read similar to the way you talk. It’s a good way to “preserve” yourself for the future.

You should know that your words are your intellectual property, protected by copyright. If you hire someone else to write your memoir or family history, make sure you understand and agree who will hold the copyright on the completed book. If you write your own story, you are the legal copyright owner. To protect your rights, include “Copyright (Your Name) 2007” on your manuscript in progress and in your book. For more information on US copyright law, see the resources section; in other countries, check with the appropriate agency in your country.

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