Share your unique experiences. Pay tribute to someone special. Tell the human story of an ancestor’s life. Leave a legacy of memories and family history.

There’s more than one story to tell. Everyone has unique experiences and memories to share. A life story captures a lifetime, yet there are many stories along the way.

Which stories to tell from your life and family history? Consider your aim and your audience, and look for elements of story.

Share your family history in ways that suit you and your audience. Perhaps a booklet of ancestor profiles, a custom-made map, or true tales of ancestors’ lives…

Choose from a variety of formats to tell your stories, your way. Consider these options to a full memoir. How about short stories or voice-memos to share your experiences?

Here’s a look at some short formats I’ve used to write stories about my family, ancestors, and life experiences. Check out my “take-aways” learned in the process!

Ask these types of questions to invite stories of challenge, change and chance. Go beyond basic aspects of life to tell stories of the journey.

Help your relatives connect with their past through stories of your ancestors as real people – not statistics. Leave a legacy of family history for next generations.

Wonder how to tell a real-life story about your ancestor? Line up the info you have, then look deeper to find the story you can tell. Here’s how.

Apps, learning resources and services are available to help you capture and share life stories – as you research, write, record audio, arrange visuals – and get your project done!

Family, friend, or ancestor – help their stories be remembered. Choose among these 14 ways (mostly short format!) to shine a spotlight on someone’s life.

Bring us on a journey with your main character (you, someone in your life, or an ancestor). What do they want, and what’s at stake? Take us through their ups and downs, until…

What if you have memory gaps, lack details, or your story seems too ordinary…should you make stuff up? No need, when you can tell a real-life story in an engaging way.

Choose which experiences to share, then shape facts and memory into an engaging storyline. You don’t need to stray from the true tale to hold your reader’s attention.

Tell some of your stories and family history through images. Engage your viewers with photo books, slideshows, interactive maps and other visual formats.

Here are some ways I’ve found to portray life stories through pictures – for people to see and enjoy. Photo-essays, diagrams, interactive maps… and more! 

Share a bit at a time, show images… and most of all, tell the human stories of your ancestors. Check out these ways to interest relatives of all ages in your family history.

Whether in person, online, or in-print, you have many choices for where to share life stories. It depends what suits you, your audience, and your material. 

Use these key writing methods to bring your stories to life. Help your readers to imagine being in the world of your story, on a journey to find out what happens next. 

Write life stories, tell true tales aloud, or share with images. How about short stories from your life, or profiles of ancestors? Choose which options suit you best.