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Write Your Autobiography
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By Cathy Severson, MS
What greater family legacy can you pass to your children and grandchildren than the writing an autobiography? You might feel like your life isn’t worthy of a story. Everyone has lived through events filled with success and lessons that will be valued by others. This is a personal expression of a family genealogy. If you have letters, diaries or memoirs from your ancestors, you know what a personal treasure these can be.
Getting started can feel daunting. By incorporating a few of the tips here, you will be on your way to creating a time honored family legacy that will be treasured for years to come.
If you know of others who are interested in writing their autobiographies, form a group that meets on a regular basis. Listen to each others stories and offer constructive suggestions on how to improve the autobiographies. Never criticize the writing and grammar as those are part of the unique story.
Be creative in what medium you use to share your life’s story. In addition to writing an autobiography, you can be captured your personal history using tape recorders, video recorders, written in long hand or word processor. You could incorporate art work, done by you are others, photographs, or collage. Use your imagination to create your family legacy.
Instead of starting at the beginning of your life, select specific events that you’d like to share. Don’t feel like you have to go through every mundane event of your life. Pick and choose stories you’d like to tell.
Use descriptive words to describe the situation. Remember to include details such as the time of day, season, and the names of the people who were involved. Most important, share the emotions you felt during or after the event. What lessons did you learn? Would you have done things differently? Include your thoughts about your life.
While this is your account, be careful how you represent other people in your stories. This is going to be shared with family members and should not be used to start or perpetuate misunderstandings, hurt feelings or feuds.
With that said, it’s important to share accurately the time you were living. If you survived difficult times, let people know about the challenges you lived through. You’re not writing about a fantasy time and most of us have lived through hard times and situations. In fact, sharing those times and how we overcame them can provide inspiration to others.
We live in an age of tremendous technological change. Youngsters today can not imagine a time before computers, cell phones, and video games. Include stories about how you used to do things. Share you’re experiences and frustrations with technological advances.
Write in a conversational tone. Pretend you are talking to someone about your life. What would you like to share with them? Use your voice. Use phrasing like you would if you were talking.
One helpful way to get started is to write out a question, such as, “What was it like when your mother brought home your baby brother from the hospital?” Write your question at the top of the paper and then set a timer and write non-stop for five minutes. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or editing. Just let the words flow. When you’re done, read it over and then make corrections if necessary.
Select a time every a regular time on a daily or weekly basis to work on writing an autobiography. It doesn’t matter if it’s for five minutes or an hour. What’s key is to get in the habit of writing on a consistent basis. Keep a small notebook with you to jot down notes as ideas come to you. You may want to put a note pad next to your bed, as many creative thoughts will come either as you’re just falling to sleep or waking up.
When you’re beginning the writing process, only share your work with people who will be supportive and encouraging. If you’re not confident with your writing, the last thing you need is someone being critical.
Remember who you are a culmination of the journey you have taken. All the events in your life have contributed to making you who you are today. By sharing your story, you’re allowing people to get to know you in a whole new way. There is no greater legacy you can leave than the story your life.
For seniors, finding a new life purpose is often found in creating a family legacy, but sharing their life. This is the value of writing an autobiography.
Cathy Severson, MS helps you make the most of your retirement. Find out how to make the rest of your life the best of your life with the complimentary e-book 7 Ingredients for a Satisfying Retirement at http://tinyurl.com/8moymb
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