What is a good structure for writing family stories/histories
Since my mother died and a lot of family stories are now lost, I want together together recollections for future generations. Where would you start? What would you include?
I don't want it to read like a family tree because it's not a question of tracing the family back through history.
I think it is great that you want to document your family stories. I would write up each of the memories, one per page, in a word document. Then I would think of things I could add to show that visually - either photos of the people involved, photos of the heirlooms, a scan of a recipe card, even drawings you or other family member (grandchild?) makes to illustrate the story.
Then I would take all this stuff, and put it in a photo book, like the ones from Snapfish or Shutterfly. Have only one printed. I find that I always find something I forgot or want to change after looking at the final version.
Then when you are satisfied, order copies for everyone who wants one. You can ask them to reimburse you for the cost of the printing, or even extra that you can use for a family reunion.
What was your favorite chapter book as a tween? More than likely, you chose it because the style was somewhat matched to your thinking process.
It would be pretty cool to write a family history cloaked in your preferred style of story.
That would be a really fun approach. I'm not sure that my writing skills would be up to that, though.
You should check out AmericasFootprints.com. It's a place where you can build a digital profile, in private, that does exactly what you're looking to do. Hope this helps! -Joe
It looks like a great site but you need to be American or have an American address.
Yeah I guess that might complicate things if you don't live in North America. I'll look around to see if I can find anything similar for other countries and will let you know if anything comes up.
by NJ's Ponderings 13 years ago
How is technology changing the family structure?
by MOlmstead 14 years ago
I find that while attempting to start a novel I was getting stuck. The result was a computer folder full of short stories about a young con man named Tyler, a slacker whose biggest flaw is that he's a pathological liar. Does anyone find that short stories and failed attempts to put a novel together...
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