Autobiography Workshop

I just finished a university-level Autobiography Writing course. Tough stuff. At the end of the course, I ended up with 70 pages of recorded personal history. But every single one of those pages was a struggle. And I couldn’t have done it with out prompts from my professor.

Why would it be a struggle?

Every time I sat down at the computer, I perspired. What I have anything of value to write? Would what I wrote have any lasting value to anyone? How could I convey what was in my memory in a convincing way?

I wish my professor had provided me with an easy fill-in-the-blank/true-false/multiple-choice book for my autobiography. At the least, it would have been a great memory stimulator. And at the most, it would have provided me with a pretty complete personal history.

K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid

If you’re like me, I’m sure you make things more difficult than they should be. Keeping it simple is especially true when trying to sort through the events of your life. Anything you can do to simplify this difficult autobiography-writing process will greatly increase the chances of finishing your work and leaving behind a worthwhile legacy.

Memorygrabber

Memorygrabber is the ideal tool to ease to writing pain.

Michael Boyter, a family history buff, created Memorygrabber as an improvement on other tools he had encountered over the years. All too often, the tools contained a question followed by pages of blank space for you to write your answer.

I can see why he would want to improve these tools; I would quickly grow bored and frustrated.

So here’s what I like about using Mr. Boyter’s Memorygrabber:

1. He uses many different methods to draw the memories out:
   • Complete the Sentence Exercises
   • Fill In The Blank Methodology
   • Mental “Walk-Throughs” – revisit places from your past: the home you grew up, your high school, your first home, your grandparents home.
   • A Quick-Response Questionnaire – A snapshot of your life right now.
   • Life Timeline Construction
   • A Daily Journal Template – get daily journal ideas and save time.
   • Self-Interview Formatted Questions
   • Online Resources Directory
   • List Creation Drills – favorite ways to relax, first experiences, etc.
2. He suggests different ways to capture your memories:
   • Journal
   • Photo albums
   • Software
   • Video and audio recording
3. He dispels all common excuses for getting started:
   • “I don’t know where to start!”
   • “I’m not a good writer!”
   • “I have nothing interesting to say!”
   • “I’m just a regular Joe. Autobiographies are for celebrities!”
4. Memorygrabber works great for yourself or for others: parents, grandparents, siblings, friends.

Have you ever just sat around the living room reliving memories with your family. I often find myself remembering things I had long since forgotten. Memorygrabber recreates the living room family discussion.

Experience has shown that it works great with parents, yourself, and even children. Even school age kids will enjoy recreating recent memories they have had in school. What a treasure it would be to have these memories stored safely away to be given to them at some time in the future.

Or can you imagine your kids asking what grandma and grandpa were like. Now you can pull out grandma and grandpa’s own memories and recollections.

Life is short. We never know when it’ll be our time. You’ve got interesting stories that your family for generations to come would like to hear or read about. Write your autobiography with Memorygrabber.

Here are some screenshots of some of the pages from Memorygrabber (click on them to enlarge):

Other ideas to get you started:

• How to Start an Autobiography
  
• Autobiography Characteristics
• Benjamin Franklin Autobiography: 7 Reasons He Wrote His Story – This article is especially helpful in determining your own reasons for writing your autobiography.
• If You Don’t Write Your Autobiography, Nobody Will!
• My List of Lists – For me, writing Life Lists has been a powerful memory stimulator.