How many of you have thought about writing your own life history, but just don’t get around to it, or simply don’t know where to start, or think that you don’t have anything interesting to write about? I’m sure quite a number have had those thoughts. But think about it, you know yourself better than anyone, so you should be the writer of your own history. It doesn’t have to be for publication, but just recording your history and memoirs for posterity … otherwise information about our own lives often dies with us. Writing your life history isn’t an easy thing to do when you think of it in the context of a book … but thanks to The Book of Me, Written by You, it is now easier than ever!
The Book of Me, Written by You is a concept that comes from Julie Goucher who is author of the Angler’s Rest blog. Julie writes in her introductory post about this …
The Book of Me, Written by You is an opportunity to remember, explore and rediscover things and memories of our own and perhaps those relatives you know in addition to sharing oral history. Ultimately, this is the creation of a legacy for the future.
The Book of Me prompts are going to be published weekly starting 31st August 2013 and will appear on Thomas’s site at GeneaBloggers.
The prompts are going run until at least the end of December 2014 and will be not be delivered in a systematic way, they will be completely random.
There is no right or wrong way to create your book of me.
It can be illustrated however you chose. I would recommend using copies rather than original photographs if you elect to create a physical book, in perhaps scrapbook style, or as a series of blog posts.
I would though recommend that perhaps you share information with caution if using a blog as your book of me. Perhaps the option is to create a structured book, I would suggest in loose leaf format and share some parts on line.
The book of me is a journey. Some of the prompts are basic, others might be emotional and some may be “deep”. You do not have to complete all the prompts and you may choose to substitute some prompts. I would recommend you date your individual writings.
Launched last week with Prompt 1, The Book of Me has most certainly grabbed the attention of the geneabloggers around the world. Some are blogging and sharing their insights about themselves online, others are choosing to do it privately. But seriously, this an ideal way for ANYONE to create their own life history. Grab a big fat ruled book, and start from page one with the prompts. Or get a ring binder, so you can add extra bits as you go. It’s whatever works for you.
I know from reading about the whole idea of The Book of Me, Written by You, as well as running the idea past our staff that it’s a winner, and is likely to inspire many to start writing their life history. And I hope it does for you to.
[ADDITIONAL NOTE: for ease of use for readers, I’ll add in the links to each week’s prompt here, so you can access them readily]
Thank you so much for sharing the details among your readership. We are about 3 days from prompt 2, but people can join in, at anytime.
My pleasure Julie. It’s a fabulous idea, and I really do think it will inspire people to start writing their own life history, so thank you.