What is the best way to go about composing one’s personal history? I’ve started mine several times but have never completed it.

Don Norton, personal history instructor and professor of English, Brigham Young University. The goal in writing personal history is to leave a record of your life. There are a variety of effective ways to leave such a record. The long, event-by-event, chronological history familiar to us is but one option—one that most people need special help with. But there are other ways, each with distinct advantages. Note that I use the word compose, rather than write. If you do not feel comfortable writing, you can still leave a rich and extensive history of your life by using one or more of the following alternatives:

1. A photographic history: a selection of your best photographs, with perhaps a brief explanation of each photograph—when, where, and why the photo was taken.

2. A collection of mementos—scrapbook materials, again with an explanation of each item.

3. A collection of important documents in your life: certificates of birth, marriage, and church ordinances; school or military records; awards and other personal documents.

4. A chronology of the main events in your life—each briefly described: birth, ordinances, family events, moves, trips, illnesses, jobs held, schooling, and so on. When I help people write their histories, I usually suggest they begin with a chronology, to put the events of their lives in order and perspective. A handful of 3″ by 5″ cards, with one event (and the date) per card, will enable you to compile a chronology efficiently.

5. A collection of your letters. Always keep a copy of every personal letter you write, or arrange that the person you write to return your letters.

6. A diary or daybook, in which you jot down briefly the main daily events in your life.

One means of composing personal history (a favorite of a number of my students) requires no writing at all—the oral history. Many people, young and old alike, are turning to the tape recorder as a tool for obtaining complete and vivid accounts of personal lives, their own as well as those of parents, grandparents, and other relatives.

Cassette-tape histories are ideal for several reasons. First, they require no laborious writing. Second, they are quite natural to compose: most people are better talkers than writers. Also, oral narrative does not need to be continuous. You can record events and thoughts in any order you wish, then, in transcribing, put them in an appropriate organizational pattern.

Before you attempt an oral history, become familiar with the techniques of interviewing and transcribing and get some pointers on equipment. A number of concise booklets on oral histories are available at most bookstores.

Some of my students tell me they like best to write personal history as a series of short pieces—such as episodes or essays. The main advantage of this approach is that you can complete a segment of your life story each time you sit down to write. If you wrote just two pages a week, you would have a fairly complete history in a couple of years. If you take this approach, focus on specific events, people, places, and experiences. Turn each of these into an open question:

—How did you meet your spouse? What were your first impressions? What eventually led you to consider marrying him/her?

—What was your favorite childhood pet? How did you obtain that pet, and what became of it? Why was it your favorite?

—What is your philosophy of discipline? How were you disciplined as a child? How successful have you been with your own children?

—Which church callings have you enjoyed most? Why?

As you can see, the number of questions is practically limitless. And each essay or episode enables you to bring out interesting detail you might overlook in a longer history.

All these short pieces can be organized into a long and very respectable personal history.

If you enjoy writing, or at least are willing to write, certainly you should consider a complete written history of several hundred pages. Before you undertake such a project, however, you would do well to read several autobiographies of others, to get some ideas on how you may wish to proceed with your own.

If you want to write but find the prospect of writing a long narrative intimidating, you might compose a 40-to-60-page concise history—sort of a summary of the main events of your life, and your thoughts about them. Such a history could be organized in a variety of ways—chronologically or by topic, for example.

The important thing is that you leave some kind of record of your own life—as detailed and personal and complete as you can make it. Some is better than none, and it need not take only one form.