Opening remarks: Juggling Projects
Featured Article: A List of Memories
Resources You Can Use: Turning Memories into Memoirs, The MemoryGrabber, Highlight Sites

Opening Remarks: Juggling Projects

It can be stressful to juggle projects, but stress can be channeled and dealt with.

I have discovered that a full life is better than a dull life. I have choices today and if I choose to do more than I can handle I get to accept the consequences and learn from it. Good planning is essential. So is being grateful, taking time to appreciate the really important things in life and living one day at a time.

Remember life is a gift that you have to appreciate in the present.

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Thanks for reading. – Tom

Featured Article: A List of Memories

I was reminded of the importance of this recently. I’ve started reading Turning Memories into Memoirs by Denis Ledoux. He has revised and expanded this handbook for writing life stories and I’d been contemplating purchasing a copy for some time. I finally did and so far I’ve discovered it to be a well written and thoughtful guide to memoir and lifestory writing.

One of the things Denis emphasizes in beginning a lifestory project is to create memory lists. He calls them "the backbone of writing". I couldn’t agree more. Creating an extended list of memories gives you abundant material. You should write many, many items. Write short and descriptive phrases that mean enough to you when you review them. They don’t need to be complete sentences. You are not writing about the memories; you are simply listing them for future reference. It’s fine if there are more memories listed than you will use. The idea is to get the ball rolling. Writing down a list of memories will inevitably result in you remembering more and more.

From your extended memory list (which can easily have hundreds of items) you will develop a core list of memories. These are the pivotal events and crucial relationships of your life. These core memories are the basis of your story. They have shaped you and are essential elements of your life. I think of things like meeting my wife, our marriage, the birth of our children, the most important career choices, my spiritual awakening, the books, movies and concerts that have moved me the most, and the death of my mother as a few of my core memories. You have a number of such memories, too.

Ledoux suggests in his book that you limit your core memories to ten, although he admits that’s an arbitrary number. I think the point he is making is to not have too few or too many. Ten is a good number, meaty enough to provide ample substance for your life story, autobiography or memoir. Depending on your core memories and events in your life and the purpose of writing your story you may not even use all the memories on your core list. That’s up to you.

The hundreds of memories you write on your extended memory list will probably include some that can be grouped together and that are part of a “core” memory. This is one of the reasons for writing down your extended memory list first.

It’s a good idea to store your list of memories in a three-ring binder. And keep in mind that it can take months to complete your list. In fact, your list may never be completed in the sense that you can’t add to it later. Keep it fluid.

Another good resource to help jog your memory and add to your memory list is the MemoryGrabber. Michael Boyter created an affordable e-book with lots of excellent tips on preserving your life story. He has an entire section of what he terms "lists". He suggests you write lists on your favorite things (movies, cars, vegetable, ice cream flavor, season, movie and poem are just a few). He also encourages you to think about people from your life, your family, friends and those you admire (or not) and create a list of those fitting certain categories like the most creative, best looking, funniest, most compassionate, hardest worker, best cook and so on.

Developing a list of memories is a powerful way to get you working on your life story. It helps you remember more. It gives you something to write about when you feel stuck. And, most importantly, it is concrete evidence that you have lived and made memories and that it is all part of your life – and your story!

You can read other articles on life-story writing here.

Resources You Can Use

This resource is a self-described handbook for writing life stories and it is packed with practical and useful information. It will guide you through the process of starting and finishing your memoir, autobiography or life story (use the term that best fits your project). The author, Denis Ledoux, has received a great deal of positive reviews for his book and it was recently revised and expanded. You can learn more about the book and order it at his website www.turningmemories.com. While there you can learn more about his Soleil Lifestory Network and workshops.

The MemoryGrabber

I’ve recommended the excellent MemoryGrabber e-book for years now and I personally use it when helping others develop and write their personal histories. It’s highly affordable and over-delivers in helpful tips and guidance. I’ve highlighted Michael Boyter’s creation as a former “Highlight Site” and you can find out more about this resource and others at my profile of his Family History Products website here.

The Highlight Site

I search for other useful personal history resources, services and content on the Internet and from time to time I share this information through the Highlight Site section of my Your Life is Your Story website.

Closing Information

Any comments, ideas or feedback is greatly appreciated. Just reply to this ‘zine and tell me what you think!

Until next time, – keep your story alive!

Tom Gilbert