Every single book I’ve worked on, or supported someone to write, has been different.
No one writes their life story or family history in the same way, because each of our lives are so different. And I like it this way.
Some people start at the end of their life stories and work back. Some people want to dive deeply into their family tree and others want to skim above the surface, sharing stories of their happiest moments.
We all tell different stories.
There’s just one thing I ask people to check and double check: names – people’s names and place names.
I’d love for you to be careful with these, in case future generations want to trace their family history, via your story.
When I was a journalist I trained myself to check and double check even the most commonly used names, because it’s amazing how many ways we can spell names.
Even Smith can be spelt Smyth, or Smithe or even Smyph. It’s good to check and double check, every single name.
It’s also interesting (and sometimes confusing) that families can accidentally change names from generation to generation, via death and birth certificates.
A book I’m working on featured the same last name, spelt three different ways, because this name was mostly spoken, rather than written. The family and I talked about it and agreed upon one version of the name we’d use throughout the book.
The other thing about that book is that the main person in our book was born nearly 100 years ago and countries have changed names, or even disappeared during that time span.
It’s good to google to double check place names.
My tutors used to say to me: decide how you’re going to write it and stick to it. Be consistent. So I’ll pass that onto you.
And that’s enough from me today!
Write on,
Charlotte x
PS if you’re thinking about joining my main course Write Your Memoir, now’s a good time. The price is going up at the start of February.
Charlotte Squire 