Over the years, several of my friends said I should write a book. To be honest, except for a just a couple of events in my life, it’s really no different than your life story. Writing about my life was never really something I thought I’d do…and perhaps I didn’t kinda.
But there’s more to writing a book than just telling “your story”. A book about your life can serve a couple of unintended purposes that your children (or siblings) might enjoy and could answer questions that might otherwise go unanswered after you’re gone. I know that since my Mom and Dad are gone now, there are so many questions I would like to have asked. I’ve even written here (and Facebook) before about kids asking their parents questions about their life, family events, and unique relatives and situations in the family tree.
I know after going through Mom and Dads things at their passing, I had even MORE questions than before about so many different topics. The more I thought about it the more I wondered whether I could be patient enough (and smart enough) to write a book about my life so far. I always thought a blog like this would be a way for my daughter and granddaughters to read about things that we may or may not have discussed before. The problem with this type of media though is that it would be very difficult to pass on to future generations. There is a way to print this blog, but there are so many subjects (political and others) that I would not want included in a book. In the end, the thought of a book was just too intensive to tackle…call me lazy.
Just over a year ago, my daughter Tracy gifted me a book from StoryWorth . She gifted me what would be sort of an autobiography. StoryWorth is a company on the internet that offers a book by sending a couple of questions every week through email, and you answer the questions as briefly or as detailed as you want. Of course, the more detail you provide, the more interesting and informative the book. The questions (maybe a 1000 or more questions to choose from) cover all kinds of topics from growing up, to your first dance, your first car, or your favorite relative. But it also allows your son or daughter (or brother or sister) to ask any questions they want you to answer. Then it’s up to you to answer them or not, and as to how much information you want to provide. You can also add images/photos/documents to the book or to any story. This question and answer period lasts a year or more (but you can stop anytime)…I think I answered questions from both the publisher and from my daughter over the course of about 13 months. You can even make up your own questions and answer those too.
After I answered all the questions (225 questions total for me) it was the end of the process. The company would put the book together and send it to you when it was printed. Probably a month or more had went by and I completely forgot about the book. Then, one day a couple of weeks ago the book arrived. Tracy made sure to have 2 copies made, she got a copy and I got my own copy. When I opened the package, I was very impressed with the book, not the content of course (LOL), but quality of the hard cover, the photo on the front, the binding, the paper used for the pages and the quality of the images in the book. ALL OF IT was top notch. No, this isn’t a “real book” in the traditional sense of creative writing, and I don’t want to take anything away from those are real authors…I’m sure writing a novel or book is extremely tedious, but this format serves a real purpose.
I highly suggest that if you are a child or sibling, father or mother… ASK QUESTIONS about your family, your heritage, family events, etc. Because if you don’t, you’ll regret it for the entirety of your life. This is a unique way to get information without having to actually write a manuscript. The process is easy and it gives you an heirloom to hand down to future generations…you legacy doesn’t have to die with you.
I was skeptical to do this at first, and it seemed tedious. I really didn’t take it serious the first couple of questions, but eventually it became easier and easier to answer the questions and to give detailed answers. Had I known it would have turned out this well, I think I would have gave longer and more detailed answers.
Here’s the information on the company and the cost, I’m not really reviewing the book, but I am impressed…and certainly I didn’t receive any compensation for telling you about the process. I just think it’s important for families to have many questions answered before it’s too late.
WEBSITE: StoryWorth
Cost for the book: $99
I Gotta Tell Ya 