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Writing Your Family History and Memoirs

9 Tips for Getting Started on Writing Your Family History

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FREE RESOURCES FROM FAMILY TREE

Organize Your Family History Writing Project Worksheet

Use this worksheet to help you collect your thought before beginning a family history writing project. Record which stories you want to include, who your audience will be and more.

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Family History Writing Prompts to Get You Started

 

Imagine you are a newspaper reporter.

Write an article about an event in your family history based on your research. Remember to include the who, what, when, where and why if you can!

What types of meals did your ancestor eat?

Describe a mealtime scene from your family’s history.

Imagine your ancestor had social media during their lifetime.

Write a Facebook post or series of tweets describing something they’re witnessing in real-time.

Write a paragraph or two about your ancestor and their best friend.

Imagine an adventure they had (real or imagined) based on what you know of their childhood and the time period and place they lived.

Write a diary or journal entry that details your immigrant ancestor’s journey.

What are their impressions of their fellow passengers? Research passenger lists and ship descriptions to make your description more accurate.

Imagine a holiday celebration your ancestor participated in.

Narrate it as accurately as possible.

Family History Book Writing Tips and Advice

How to Handle “Blemishes” When Writing Family Stories

To Write or Not to Write: Respecting Privacy in Family-History Storytelling

How to Create an Outline for Writing an Interesting Family History

30 Daily Tips to Jumpstart Your Family History Writing Project

5 Family History Writing Tips from Professional Historians

Can You Copyright a Family History Book Idea?

How to Self-Publish Your Family History Book

5 Tips to Naming your Family History Book

6 Questions to Help You Start Writing Your Family History

Getting Your Family History Book Into Libraries

Online Family History Writing Tools and Storytelling Websites

7 Inspirational Examples of Family History Book Genres

How (and Why) to Include Ancestral Places in Family Stories

Details in Family Stories: How Many is TOO Many?

Family History Writing Prompts

Our Ultimate List of Family History Writing Prompts

30 Family History Writing Prompts Free eBook

Memoir Writing Tips

How to Write a Must-Read Memoir for Your Family

6 Tips for Writing Your Life Story

16 Facts to Write Down About Yourself and “Memoir Mad Libs”

4 Ways to Jog Your Memories for Recording Your Own History

3 Tips for Recalling Your Childhood Memories

Resources for Writing Your Life Story

Alternatives to Writing a Traditional Family History

Writing Stories about Family Heirlooms

Start Spreading the News: Write a Family Newsletter

Resources for Writing Your Family History

Compiled by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, from the February 2001 issue of Family Tree Magazine (updated August 2021)

PUBLISHERS

Anundsen Publishing

Blurb

Family History Publishers

Genealogy House

Gregath Company, Inc.

Lulu

Newbury Street Press

The Reprint Company Publishers

Stories to Tell Books

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS*

Family Tales, Family Wisdom: How to Gather the Stories of a Lifetime and Share Them with Your Family by Robert U. Akeret and Daniel Klein (Henry Holt)

Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington (The Eighth Mountain Press)

Writing Personal Essays: How to Shape Your Life Experiences for the Page by Sheila Bender (Writer’s Digest Books)

Reaching Back: A Workbook for Recording Your Life’s Most Meaningful Moments to Share with Future Generations by Alice Chapin (Betterway Books)

From Memories to Manuscript: The Five Step Method of Writing Your Life Story by Joan Neubauer (Ancestry Publishing)

Writing from Within: A Guide to Creativity and Life Story Writing by Bernard Selling (Hunter House)

How to Write the Story of Your Life by Frank P. Thomas (Writer’s Digest Books)

Writing Family Histories and Memoirs by Kirk Polking (Writer’s Digest Books)

Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature by Bill Roorbach (Story Press)

Writing the Family Narrative by Lawrence P. Goldrup (Ancestry)

For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History by Charley Kempthorne (Heinemann)

Bringing Your Family History to Life through Social History by Katherine Scott Sturdevant (Betterway Books)

*FamilyTreeMagazine.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. It provides a means for this site to earn advertising fees, by advertising and linking to Amazon and affiliated websites.