How to Get Started Writing Your Life Story

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There are two kinds of people in this world, those who have not written down their own life story and those who have. Doing this changes you. You come to understand yourself and your world a lot better.

It could be beneficial to others also.

Here's one way to get started writing your own autobiography.

Open up a text file and write down the date you were born, like this:

1957 March 22 - I was born

I like to put dates in this format but you can suit yourself. Now make a "template" like this:

195 March 22 - I turned

And copy that umpteen times:

195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned
195 March 22 - I turned

Now just go down the line and fix it up to have the right numbers:

1957 March 22 - I was born
1958 March 22 - I turned 1
1959 March 22 - I turned 2
1960 March 22 - I turned 3
1961 March 22 - I turned 4
1962 March 22 - I turned 5
1963 March 22 - I turned 6
1964 March 22 - I turned 7
1965 March 22 - I turned 8
1966 March 22 - I turned 9
1967 March 22 - I turned 10
and so on...

Now save the file and add a new set of dates:

1958 Jan 1 - new year
1959 Jan 1 - new year
1960 Jan 1 - new year
1961 Jan 1 - new year
1962 Jan 1 - new year

Now, add one more set:
1962 Fall - started kindergarten
1963 Fall - started 1st grade
1964 Fall - started 2nd grade
1965 Fall - started 3rd grade
1966 Fall - started 4th grade
1967 Fall - started 5th grade

Now, just move all these dates around, merge them into one list:

1957 March 22 - I was born
1958 Jan 1 - new year
1958 March 22 - I turned 1
1959 Jan 1 - new year
1959 March 22 - I turned 2
1960 Jan 1 - new year
1960 March 22 - I turned 3
1961 Jan 1 - new year
1961 March 22 - I turned 4
1962 Jan 1 - new year
1962 March 22 - I turned 5
1962 Fall - started kindergarten
1963 March 22 - I turned 6
1963 Fall - started 1st grade
1964 March 22 - I turned 7
1964 Fall - started 2nd grade
1965 March 22 - I turned 8
1965 Fall - started 3rd grade
1966 March 22 - I turned 9
1966 Fall - started 4th grade
1967 March 22 - I turned 10
1967 Fall - started 5th grade

Save the file!

This gives you a framework in time, so that you can write memories and put them in their right places.

Think about something that happened. Remember getting into a fight with that other kid and getting a black eye? When was that? 4th grade, right after the school year started. OK, insert a few blank lines in the list and write the story. You can also improve the bare date a little, like this:

In the fall of 1966, I started 4th grade. About a week in, I got in a fight with Roger Brown. He called me a ...

When you do this, another memory is going to pop into your head:

As a result of the fight, I seem to have caught the attention of a girl named Ginger. She said I was very brave to fight that bully and ...

Save the file! And keep adding more stories. Sometimes you won't be able to remember exactly when something happened, so put it like this:

About this time, I went fishing with my dad up in the Cascades ... (etc.)

You might want to read a few autobiographies of other people, get some ideas on how it has been done:

Ben Franklin: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Fra2Aut.html

James Thurber: "My Life and Hard Times" (try your local library)

I think of these two because they helped me. Ben had some good ideas, and James made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe - good preparation for swimming lessons later.
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