As you complete your family’s genealogy and personal history’s for other people, you may become interested in passing on your own personal history to those who come after you. I have really enjoyed reading my grandparents’ personal histories and learning from their lives. I was fortunate enough to grow up and have good relationships with each of them. I heard some of their life stories first hand and others I heard my parents or their personal histories.
It can be intimidating to sit down and think about writing about your entire life. It is a lot to cover. Many people worry about the boring the reader and what details to include. If you are just getting started you may want to begin by writing chronologically and pulling out the important events you remember from each year. As you move from location to location be sure to describe the new home, with at least an acknowledgement of where you moved.
I have a friend who is writing her family history in relation to the life events her children experience. She writes about her experiences when a similar experience happens to her children. This makes the personal history much more meaningful for her children. It also allows her to break it up into manageable writing parts. The history will take several years to write, but it will stay fresh, because she will write, as it is relevant to her current situation.
Even though many people cover the big life changing events, they often leave out the small daily details. Things like how their family celebrated birthdays, common dinners, a day in the life of, and things like that. As you write be sure to pause and add some of the more common details. These show what life was really like for those who will be reading in the future.
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