UPDATE: The Amazon Prime Day sale has ended; however, the links below will still take you to items you may need for your business. I mentioned in a post a week ago that 23andMe may be going on sale, and yep, I was right! If you’re interested in doing your genetic genealogy, AND […]
Guided Autobiography creator James Birren honored in latest edition of journal
International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review honors the father of Guided Autobiography We’ve talked about Guided Autobiography here before, and we went even more in depth about reminiscence and life review in a recent podcast interview with Esther Gieschen. And, I’ve mentioned the usefulness of studying James Birren’s own personal history as an exercise […]
Personal history, life stories, memoirs? The words we use matter.
Should we call ourselves personal historians if we want clients to find us? I have a problem with our industry. Namely, its name. Let’s face it, the term “personal history” isn’t the greatest. A little stodgy. Worse, it doesn’t send a clear message to prospective clients—or the world at large—of what we do. I’ve struggled […]
How I Learned to Write Life Stories, Part 2
I found some examples of life story books. Now what? In part 1 of this post, I talked about how important it was for me to find life story books that other people have written. Before this, I wasn’t sure what a personal history should look like. That’s troublesome when you sit down to write […]
How I Learned to Write Life Stories, Part 1
Or, How do I write a life story if I don’t know what a life story is? Here’s a standard piece of advice every writer or writer-hopeful hears: “Read the kind of books you want to write.” Want to write romance? Read romance novels. Memoirs? Go stock up on Mary Karr, Cheryl Strayed, Frank McCourt. But […]
Reminiscence and Life Story Work Certificate Program
Reminiscence and Life Story Work Class for Personal Historians and Life Story Writers I haven’t personally worked with the good people at the International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review at University of Wisconsin, but several of my fellow life story writers have, and they give it high praise. If you’re interested in earning a […]