Transcripts
1. Course Introduction: I. Stephen King Benjamin Franklin. Henry David Thorou. They've all written about
their extraordinary lives. And even though you and I may not be as famous
as any of them, our lives are no less worthy
of capturing and sharing. I'm Gretchen Anthony. And between the fictional
characters in my award winning novels or the very real people who have taken my workshops, I've captured literally
hundreds of lives. I know that every
life is full of color and humor and
heartbreak and drama and victory and that every life story is worth
capturing, especially yours. In this class, I'll
help you capture your own life story or
the story of a loved one, and I'll help you do it
without having to invest hundreds of dollars or
hours or even pages. In this class, you'll learn the best
questions for capturing the essence of one's life without getting bogged
down or overwhelmed. You'll learn how to write
a complete life story by breaking it down into
what I call story bites, small but meaningful anecdotes that speak to who a person is. You'll also learn why
the story bites make a story come alive much more
so than facts and figures. And you'll learn how to compile your document either
electronically or for print. By the way, printed
copies make for great gifts and their
wonderful additions to family archives. Some people even
use this course as a chance for
intergenerational connection, a child interviewing a parent, for example, or a
grandparent and grandchild, any combination of loved one interviewing another person
About their life story provides a chance to get
to know them in ways that you wouldn't otherwise
have the opportunity to do. We each have one big, beautiful life full of stories that deserve
to be heard and shared and enjoyed long after you and I are
around to tell them.
2. Unit 1 - How to Complete This Project: How to complete this course? The whole reason you're taking this class is because you want to capture your own life story or the story of a loved one, and that's exactly what you're
going to come away with. Your life story
will be broken into eight chapters from
early childhood, all the way to what life
looks like for you today. For each chapter, you will
be provided with prompts, questions designed to get you thinking and then writing about specific storybtes that capture the essence of that
period in your life. You can pick and choose which
prompts you want to use. Our lives are as
varied as we are. So some questions are going to resonate with you
more than others. You don't have to
answer every prompt. Let me say that again. You don't have to answer every question. Some chapters may be
bigger than others. For example, you may write only a few anecdotes about
your early childhood, but your career chapter
is where it's at for you. It's also important to honor your feelings
about a question. If it prompts a
reaction that you don't feel like dealing with
or putting on the page, that's okay. You don't have to. Quick overview of Google Docs. For those of you who are
already familiar with the tool, you can skip ahead. But I'm including this for
those of you who may be new to it or who need a
bit of a rear pressure. So let's just jump into
a few of the highlights. I chose to use Google Docs
as our primary tool because there are a number of
features in it that make it very easy to navigate
within your document, and that make it possible
for you to access your story from wherever
you have Internet access. But if you try to
start using it and you don't like it or if you'd rather not try to use a new tool, I have also included a Microsoft Word version of the template in your
course documents. And so you can use that
as an alternative. They're exactly the same. There's no difference. So
the choice is up to you. But when you click on the link for the
template in Google Docs. It will bring you to this page, which is essentially your
sign in page for Google. And so you will either enter your email and log into
your existing account, or you can create a new account. It will bring you to this page where it requires you to make a copy of the template so that everyone gets their own version of the very same template. And so you'll just click
here on Make a Copy. And it will bring
you to the template. And you'll see up here
in the file name, it says copy of My
Life Story template. And so you should rename your file to
whatever you wish it to be and click Enter, and then Google Docs will save all of your work automatically
under this file name. Now, so Google Docs, you'll see, is very much like any other
word processing tool. There are just a few
differences to highlight. One of them I already mentioned, and that is that it saves all of your changes
automatically. And so you don't
have to go up to File and Save and all of the things that
you would normally do. You will see this
little cloud here, and indicating that you are
connected to the cloud, and it is automatically saving. And you can see here it updates you every time
it saves something. It takes very little change to your document for Google to
go in and save it again. Now, here are some other things. The template itself is
broken into eight chapters, and there are a number of
prompts underneath each. So if you just scroll through here and begin to scroll
through the document, you can see that it's
just as a template. It's 34 pages long. And so one of the things I like about Google Docs is that if you just want to click
skim through the document, you can click on any of these sections and just
see what they have to say. Say, let's see. Maybe I want to start
actually on Chapter four, and I want to write about
some of my best friends. I can jump directly to that prompt and it'll
take me right there. Now, remember that part about
not getting overwhelmed. This project can be completed in as little as 2 hours by choosing one question per
chapter and writing about it for just
15 minutes per day. You'll have finished
all eight chapters in less time than it
takes to go to a movie. Finally, if you're completing this project on behalf
of a loved one, the process will be
very much the same for you as if you were
writing your own story. However, be sure
that you schedule enough time with your loved
one to interview them using the prompts provided. A
3. Unit 2 - Using the Story Prompts: So let's talk about writing your life story and using the story prompts
to help you do so. Like I mentioned earlier, your life story will be
divided into eight chapters, ranging from your
very early childhood, all the way up to
your life today. And in order to help you
write those chapters, you will be provided with
a number of prompts. It's important to
remember that you do not have to complete
every prompt. You don't have to
answer every question. You can write about as few
or as many as you like. Only do the ones that
are important to you or that speak
to you in some way. I do have a few recommendations. First of all, I
recommend that you only do one chapter at a time. And there's a few
reasons for this. The main reason is because quite often
the stories that we really want to tell aren't the first stories
that come to mind. And so it is to your advantage
to take some time to really think about your answers before you commit
them to your stories. One of the tools that works
for me is brainstorming. I get out a blank
sheet of paper, and I write everything that comes to mind as
quickly as it'll come. And I find with time that better and better
ideas start to come out, and it helps me narrow my thinking about what
I want to write about. Another tool that
works for me really well is to leave
everything behind, put on my sneakers,
and go for a walk. I find that my best
ideas come to me when I'm not even actually
trying to write about them. The main idea is to give yourself plenty of
time to think about your questions and your answers before you invest the time
and actually writing them. Here's another tip. Try
not to let yourself get overwhelmed by any
one prompt or chapter. One of the main questions I
get is how much time should I spend on answering
each of these questions? And my answer is enough time
to answer the question, but not so much time that you leave yourself
feeling overwhelmed.
4. Unit 3 - Story Bites: Let me tell you a
story. In this story, there were three
structures built. One structure was made of straw, one structure was made of wood, and one structure
was made of bricks. There were two
destructive events. The straw house was destroyed by Wolf's Breath in one attempt. The wood house was destroyed by Wolf's
breath in one attempt. And though there were
several attempts at destroying the brick house
using Wolf's breath, it was never destroyed. So you get the picture. The point I'm trying
to make here is that facts and figures
may be important, but only to a point, they are hardly the most interesting
parts of your story. Also, trying to include every single detail
and getting every fact and figure correct can be overwhelming when
trying to tell your story. Instead, use what I like
to call story Bytes. Story Bytes are essentially
anecdotes that are memorable and unique
to your experience. So, for example, think about the last
concert you attended. The reality is that no
two people who were at that concert experienced it exactly the same
way that you did. So no matter how many facts and figures and details
you try to include, it's impossible for you to
describe the entire concert. The idea in contrast, is to put the reader
in your shoes and describe what you
experienced your story bite. So close your eyes right now and try to
picture the concert. What are the first one or two
things that come to mind? For example, what did
the crowd sound like? Did you get a sense of nostalgia when the band
played a certain song? Was it outside? Was it inside? Were you hot? Were you cold? Did it matter at all? Would you have gone
to that concert, no matter what the
circumstances? These are the types of details
that you want to capture because they are unique
to your experience there. Here's another example
of using story Bytes. Instead of writing about
your entire career, think about one or two
moments that exemplify what it was like to be in that profession or job
if you were a teacher. Tell the story of one student of whom you were
particularly proud and contrast that with another student who
pushed all your buttons. Or if you were an accountant, tell the story of what made you want to enter
that profession. Was it a conversation
with your parents? Was it something a teacher
said to you at university? Or possibly tell the story
of the time you caught a mistake that
could have cost one of your clients a lot of money. Remember that when
you're writing, this is your own life story. No one else lived it,
so no one gets to decide what you talk about
or how you talk about it. This is yours to tell, and you own it every part of it. Finally, remember
that you are human. And you're not going to remember
everything correctly or even everything the same way that someone
else remembers it. That's okay. Again, this is your life story, and you get to tell it the way you lived it and the
way you recall it. If it concerns you, however, use phrases throughout
your writing, such as, as I recall or as memory serves to remind readers
that this is a memoir, not a history paper. Also, when you're
writing dialogue, you don't have to get it
exactly as it was said to you. Who remembers exactly how something was said
to you 25 years ago, or even 5 minutes ago? It's okay to paraphrase. What matters is the essence of what you remember
from that moment. Finally, anytime you feel yourself getting bogged
down by details, tell yourself this one
thing. Less is more. It's better to get it
on paper than to never finish it at all. I
5. Unit 4 - Getting to the Finish Line: I I mean, let's face it. You're trying to write
about your entire life, and your life has
spanned decades. So how do you capture it? One of the main questions I
get is how much time should I spend on answering
each of these questions? And my answer is enough time
to answer the question, but not so much time that you leave yourself
feeling overwhelmed. Here are a few rules of thumb. The first is to identify your main goal for
capturing your life story. Who is it for? Is
it for yourself? Is it to give to loved ones or to donate to a family archive? Like I've said before, memoirs
can make a great gift. But keep in mind the date by which you're
trying to give them. If you're trying to give them as Christmas gifts, for example, and Christmas is only
a few months away, then keep your deadlines in mind when you
allocate your time. Take out your
calendar, for example, and looking at your schedule, try to be realistic
about how much time you can allocate to this project
on a daily or weekly basis, and then allot yourself
time accordingly. Even if you don't have a
hard and fast deadline, it can be really helpful
sometimes to give yourself one. When I'm working on a novel, for example, that's a
really long term project. And so I break it into parts and give myself a deadline
for finishing each part. One of the things that
might be helpful for you is to get out
your calendar and to look at your schedule
and based on your schedule, decide how much time
is reasonable for you to allot on a daily or
weekly basis to this work. And then just give
yourself that much time. Don't try and overdo it. Experience has shown
me that if you act as if you have unlimited
time to complete something, you will take all that
time to complete it, and the project will
become never ending. So instead, decide how much
time you are willing or able to dedicate
to the project and then stick to those
timelines as best you can. Personally, I actually use a timer when I'm setting
time limits for myself, and that helps keep me on track. If you have 1 hour every week to dedicate to
this project, for example, get a simple kitchen timer, set it to 60 minutes, sit down at your desk, and work just for
those 60 minutes. When the timer goes
off, walk away. That's all you've
allotted, and that's all the time that you have
to dedicate to this project. Finally, I know how frustrating
it can be when you feel as if you have more to say than you have
time to do it in. Remember that for big
projects like this one, it's often far
better to complete something than to never
finish anything at all. And remember, you can always
do a second volume later on.
6. Unit 5 - Completing This Project with a Loved One: Now, for those of you who are completing this project
on behalf of a loved one, here are a few tips for
conducting a good interview. Your first job is to ensure that you talk to
your loved one about their goal for this
project because it's their life story that you
are attempting to tell. So they are the ones
who get to direct it. The second tip is
to consider giving your interviewee the
chapter prompts in advance so that
they have time to think about them before you
sit down for your interview. The third tip go
back to story Bytes. Aim to get story Bytes
from your friend or loved one far more
than facts or figures. To do this, you may want
to use phrases that drive towards
specificity, such as, tell me about a specific
time when you did X, or what emotion were you
feeling when that happened? The more specific you can get, the more you'll capture the moment from
their perspective, and that is your ultimate goal. If you find that your loved one is leaning too heavily
on facts and figures, go ahead and try
the Three Little Pigs example that
I used earlier. Finally, always remember that this is their story that
you're attempting to tell. So capture it exactly
as they tell it to you. You might at times be
tempted to edit their story. Maybe you think
their recollection is just a little bit off, or maybe you're worried that something that they
want to put in their story might be embarrassing for them
or other loved ones. Again, do your
best to resist it. If they want it in their life
story, that's their choice. And finally, unless you've already specifically
agreed to do this, it's not your job to
do follow up research, et cetera, on this
person's life story. This is a memoir project, again, not a history project,
so keep that in mind.
7. Unit 6 - Edit, Compile, and Print Your Book: When it comes to editing
your final manuscript, you can do as much
or as little of that work as you
feel as if you have the time to do or
you're compelled to do. Again, the idea is to keep from getting bogged
down by this project. It's always better
to come away with a finished project than
a perfect project. So don't get wrapped
up in perfectionism. I do recommend that you do basic work like spell checking
and checking for grammar. Google Docs includes
basic features like spell check in the tool. You might also feel that it's worthwhile to use a
tool like grammarly. Grammarly is AI powered, and it helps you dig down just a little bit deeper into things like your grammar and your sentence structure to make it a little
bit more readable. After you're done
with your editing, the final steps are to compile your final document and decide if you want to have it
printed into hard copies. Here are the steps
to doing that. The first thing that you'll
need is a cover page. I've included a template
in Google Docs. Or you can make your own. I've seen incredibly
creative cover pages that people have taken the time to create for their
life stories. Page numbers and chapter headers are helpful additions
for your readers. They're not required, but they are included
in your template. Those of you who wish to have your life story
printed and bound, I've included a printing
and binding resource for you in your
course materials. It'll run you through
the basics of your different binding options, as well as provide a number of reliable printing resources
that can be found online.
8. Conclusion - Ready to Write: That's it. You're ready to get writing your life story or
the story of a loved one. Over the course of just
a handful of lessons, you've learned how to use the story prompts to get your
creative juices flowing. You've learned why story
bites are the secret to keeping your story
engaging and you've prepared to get writing
while keeping the scope of your story in check so that you don't get bogged
down or discouraged. Remember, your story
is worth telling. But that doesn't mean
it has to be perfect. When it comes to capturing
your life on paper, a finished project beats a
perfect project every time. If you found this class
helpful, please leave a review. I always use feedback to
continually improve my courses and reviews are crucial to helping others find and
benefit from this class. Finally, if you
have any questions, feel free to post them to
the class discussion board. Thank you for taking this class. I feel honored to have
played a small role in helping you share your
life stories with others.
Gretchen Anthony, Writer
