Ways to Tell Life Stories
Gather your materials and thoughts and choose an approach – or make a combo. / Photo by Thought Catalog via Unsplash
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.
There are many ways to tell life stories. Options include a variety of short formats. You don’t need to write a book (unless you’d like to)!
“I did it my way.”
Anecdotes etc.
The shortest of the short ways!
If you have a brief memory, a bit to say about someone, or a piece of family history to share, it’s good to make a note when it comes to mind. You can decide if to:
keep it to remind yourself
share it with others right away
include it in a larger piece such as a tribute, story, or family history
make a collection of the same type (e.g. your memories, someone’s sayings)
Some brief ways to capture memories or story fragments are:
anecdote – tell a tiny story (often funny) about someone’s actions, to show their character
description – share an impression or brief memory, on its own or within a story (tip: evoke one or two of the senses – e.g. what did you see or hear at the time?)
note – write on a notepad (paper, electronic or voice memo) to outline an event, your memory, or a bit of family history
quote or saying – provide someone’s familiar saying, quote or piece of advice that speaks to their views and what they find meaningful
life motto – find a phrase that captures someone’s outlook and may guide their choices, such as “better safe than sorry”, “win some, lose some”, or “the one with the most toys, wins”
caption – when you tell a story through pictures (e.g. scrapbook, album, photo-book, slideshow), write brief captions (as to who, when, where) to help tell the narrative
annotation – if you include a diagram or document with your family history, it helps to add side-notes to explain and provide context
entry – make a memo in a journal, diary, agenda, or calendar. You might use this to log when you made a key genealogy finding, as part of your story of discovery. Or to track when to post an ancestor’s story (e.g. on their birthdate).
This list is to show you options and provide ideas. The main thing is to make notes to remember these life-story details, to share with family and others.
Short Stories
Short stories are one of the ways to tell your life stories. Write a unique story about a certain experience in your life. You can write one story at a time – as many or few as you wish – and share each on its own or as part of a collection.
Write your memories, stories or family history in any way that suits you best. / Photo by Anna Shvets via Pexels
On this site, the term story refers to a variety of ways to share about your life or family history (including a poem, essay, slideshow with voice-over, or another format).
This kind of story is a piece of writing that follows a character through ups and downs as they try to reach their goal. In the writing world, ‘short story’ often means a work of fiction. Here, I’m talking about real-life stories of a short length (from a couple of paragraphs to about ten pages).
When you write a story about one of your life experiences, you can bring your reader in to your world. A short story is also a good format when you wish to write about events in the life of someone you know. You can also tell a story about an ancestor or their family. A real-life story will keep your readers’ interest more than a list of facts. That’s why stories came to be! The more you use basic storytelling methods, the better you can keep your readers engaged.
Stories Told Aloud
There are times where it’s good to tell life stories aloud.
You might like to:
‘regale with a tale’ when you get together with family or friends
tell a story to your children or grandchildren about something that happened to you, or an interesting tale about your parents
share ancestor stories from your family history
The occasion may call for you to tell stories to a group, such as:
at a high school reunion or a wedding
in tribute to someone at their retirement or celebration of life
when you speak about your ancestors at a family reunion
You can tell one of your stories or speak about a friend impromptu, or write it down first. / Photo by Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash
Would you like to tell a story at a live storytelling event?
If you wish to capture your life stories for people to hear later, you can voice-record. It’s easy to record your voice on a smart phone and share with others. If you seek a wider audience, you could record a story for radio, a podcast, or perhaps your own YouTube channel.
The main ancestry websites have audio-recording options for you to save and share your family stories. This is just one way to share family history through stories.
There are AI apps to record memories in your voice for next generations to interact with a ‘virtual you’. Personally, I’m not ready to embrace this yet, but just so you’re aware it’s available. You can check out the demos and decide for yourself!
In Their Words
It’s great if you can help share someone’s memories in their own words. If possible, you could interview them and record their responses. Or encourage and help them to write or record their own stories.
Did they leave any letters, a diary, voice recordings – or even their memoir? Listeners and readers get a better idea of the person through stories they tell in their own manner of speech.
No doubt this guy has a unique way to tell his stories, familiar to those around him. / Photo by Tim Mossholder via Unsplash
When the time comes to pay tribute to someone, it’s good to hear from various people – in their own words. Those who knew the person can share their memories, feelings, and the person’s qualities.
Some ways to tell life stories ‘in their words’ are:
interview – someone significant in your life, record and/or write up the interview
audio – recording of their voice, perhaps over a slideshow of images
diary – pull excerpts from the journal of a deceased family member
letters – written by ancestors, collected to tell a narrative (story)
quote – passages from an ancestor’s memoir, to include in a family history
booklet – about them, comprised of input from their relatives and friends
You can include these elements in a story or family history, or they can stand-alone as one of the various ways to showcase someone.
Profiles and Essays
Essays and profiles are a great way to highlight key aspects of a person’s life. Choose from these options:
autobiographical essay – to give a factual account of phases of your life
biographical essay – about a family member, other key person in your life, or ancestor
C.V-style profile – to highlight various life stages, interests and accomplishments
tribute – to celebrate a person’s retirement or other milestone, or as a memorial
article – to present your genealogy research findings
personal essay – about your experience and perspective on something others face in life too
For some people (of a certain age?), it helps ideas flow if you start writing by hand. / Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom via Pexels
Letters and Poems
Letters and poems are a good way to express your thoughts and feelings for others to hear, such as:
letters – to current relatives (or others), future descendants, even to ancestors
open letters – for a public audience
poems – about a life experience that moved you emotionally, or to or about someone
In Pictures
Tell your stories through images, in ‘old-school’ (low-tech) ways or with modern technology, such as:
scrapbook or album – of family photos, with captions to tell the story behind the picture
slideshow presentation – for a family reunion, with photos and family tree diagrams
‘movie’ slideshow – with title cards and audio, to tell the story of an ancestor
photo book – with captions to tell the story of a vacation, a family’s history or anything!
social media post – (e.g. on Facebook or Instagram) with photos or a video – and some words – to highlight an experience, friend, or relative
video or vlog – where you share a slice of your life or relate family history (e.g. on YouTube)
interactive map – to tell the story of key places in a person’s life, a trip you took, or migration of your ancestors
drawing or diagram – that tells a story: such as a family tree, or the timeline of someone’s life
animated photos – that use AI to add movement and a speaking voice to a still image
For ideas and info, see the post on visual storytelling methods.
Compilations
You can collect short pieces into a book (of any length). This way, you can go step by step to produce each piece over time. Once ready, compile them into one or a series of volumes to cover different parts of your life or family history.
Types of compilations include:
anthology – collection of your short stories (doesn’t need to be a literary publication)
chapbook – self-published book of poems (can be a small booklet)
family history – a collection or compilation of individual ancestor or family profiles
albums – a photo album, book or scrapbook, with words to narrate life stories (e.g. of an experience, someone’s life story, or part of your family history)
life story – a collection of stories, memories and more to capture key aspects of a person’s life
Life story books come in all shapes and sizes – and are enhanced with photos. / Photo by David Lezcano via Unsplash
I like to tell stories in short formats. Some of my favourite ways are to:
write or voice-record short stories from my life
interview someone, then prepare their life-story booklet
compile profiles of individual ancestors into a family history book
prepare an interactive map to tell the story of a trip, a life, or ancestral migration
I find these do-able and fun to create. Also, I find that short and visual formats engage people of all ages.
Full-length Books
Life-stories books come in all shapes and sizes. If you choose to write a book (or hire a life story writer), the type will depend on your aim for a given project – such as:
memoir – to write about your reflections on a particular phase, theme or pattern in your life
autobiography – to document the facts of your life and its most interesting aspects
biography – of someone meaningful to you: perhaps a mentor, ancestor or (famous?) relative
family history narrative – a long-form description about part of your family lineage
genealogy – a record of your ancestry through the generations in a precisely listed format
On this site, I focus on short formats and compilations of life stories.
Choose What Fits
I created this site to show you options, and empower you to share life stories.
You’re bound to find ideas on these pages, whether you wonder where to start with life storytelling, seek appealing ways to share your genealogy findings, or are already working on a life-stories project. You needn’t do it all at once, nor choose every item. An option that suits one occasion may not suit another.
Think of this and other posts as a menu to choose from, and this site as a restaurant to come back to!
Find what suits you, your audience, and the occasion. Perhaps:
a social media post with a photo and anecdote about an ancestor, for young relatives
a slideshow about your family lineage, for a genealogy meeting or family reunion
a self-published collection of your stories and memories, or about someone in your life
While new user-friendly technology for story-sharing is more and more available, you don’t have to use it if you prefer pen and paper, or print copies over e-books. Or use printed versions in some cases, and digital approaches for others.
Your choice of format is related to where to share your stories.
written by Barbara L Campbell, 2024