Looking for a really good book to read? What could be better than your family history? You will likely have to write it, but you could hardly find a more interesting subject. Here are some tips to help you.
My father-in-law John Huber, an unusually good man I didn’t know very well, wanted to save his life story in book form. He wasn’t a writer so I offered to write the book and my daughter Brooke, finishing a degree in graphic design, offered to design it. John had grown up on a family farm in Midway, Utah so we titled the book, Midway to Heaven. Brooke and I were both beginners but two good things came out of the project: I got to better know and appreciate my wife’s father, and the story and lessons of his life have been saved. Another good outcome was it inspired me to write the history of my own family.
John Henry Huber
Want to save your family’s story? Here are five tips:
1. Start now to save material. Even if you can’t begin writing yet, save the stuff of stories. Your method could be as simple as a box you drop things into, or a computer diary, but the stuff you collect will be a great help when you do start to write.
2. Interview and collect stories from those who might not be around when you do write. I haven’t met anyone who didn’t enjoy being interviewed and it’s remarkable how you both know and like each other better afterwards. Don’t wait; when someone dies many great stories die with them.
3. Save pictures— they’ll help tell your story. My Mom grew up in the Kodak era and saves pictures. Even better, she writes the date and names of people in the picture on the back. She also has an endearing habit for a great- or great-great-grandchild’s birthday of sending a card with a picture of their parent when they were the age of the child. The kids love it.
4. Study the history of your ancestor’s time. I once searched the names of Mayflower passengers in my family history index for the 1600s and learned we had Pilgrim ancestors. This caused me to study the Pilgrim and Puritan experience and understand our family’s role.
5. Look for the goodness in people. I find that people, for whatever reason, often fail to see the beauty and goodness of their lives. Your job, as the keeper of their story, is to preserve it.
I hope this brief account will inspire you to work on saving the story of your family. It could make a really good book. Start today. -R. Skip Hellewell (Laguna Beach Ward)
John and his wife Florence
John (back row, 5th from the left) with his brothers and sisters and mother and father (front row, center).
For more information on writing a family history, read these articles:
18 Writing Tips (Family Search)
How to Write Your Family History (Chicago Tribune)
20 Reasons Why You Should Write Your Family History (New York Public Library)
Writing Your Personal and Family History (General Conference talk by John Groberg)