Now that you’ve reached retirement and are enjoying life without the daily grind of going to work, chances are you’re spending more time thinking about your life and all you have experienced. These thoughts may come in short bursts, or you may find them creeping into your mind on a regular basis. Either way, writing your own personal history is a great way to both organize your thoughts and create a valuable resource for younger generations.

Before launching into your writing, first take some time to plan out some of the project details. Three important aspects to consider are:

1. Scope – Will it be just about you personally? Will it include family history from your birth family? Will it include history from extended family and family by marriage? Will it cover a specific period of time? Will it cover an entire lifetime?

2. Format – Will you write it in chronological order, starting with your birth and continuing to the present? Will you write it by subject, talking about individual topics in separate sections? Will you combine elements of these two formats?

3. Style – Will your writing be conversational and informal? Will your writing be formal and structured? Will you include pictures, commentary, keepsakes, or other special additions?

Keep in mind that the larger the scope of your project, the more difficult and time consuming it will be to get it done. Most people are more successful if they set up their personal history project to be smaller in scope and more focused on specific parts of their life. Once this is done it’s common to then add more topics and more information, expanding the original scope to become something much larger and more detailed.

What Should You Write About?

As awkward as it sounds some people sit down to outline their writing project and immediately draw a blank, unsure of what exactly they should write about. Here are a few questions and ideas to get you started thinking about interesting topics:

• Describe the places you have lived and what you remember about them
• What are you political views and how have they changed over the year?
• What are the two or three most difficult experiences of your life and what lessons did you learn from them?
• Describe your siblings, parents, grandparents, and other close relatives, including what it was like growing up with them and how your relationships with each other have changed over time
• Which season is your favorite time of year and why?
• What are your thoughts, ideas, and best suggestions on being a successful parent?
• How did you first meet your spouse, what was your courtship like, and how did you decide to get married?
• What do you consider the most important life lessons you want your children to learn from you
• What major events, technologies, wars, world changes, etc. have you experienced?

You’ll notice that we didn’t start off with the usual “where were you born, how many siblings did you have” and the like. This kind of information should also be included in your personal history, but it is most effective if it is included as a fact sheet or appendix to the main history. The bulk of your project should be the thoughts, feelings, ideas, and stories you want to share about your life experiences.

Just How Personal Should It Be?

As you’re writing about each topic, think about how personal and revealing you want to get. Do you really want to share the intimate details of that romantic college fling you had? Or your deepest fears about your own self worth? These are of course perfectly fine to include if you’re comfortable putting these thoughts in writing and allowing others to read them. Remember, though, that some personal revelations you’re relieved to get off your chest might be disturbing or unnerving for relatives or family members.

If you plan to share copies of your personal history with others, it’s usually best to keep the tone informational, as if you’re simply telling a story. You can also write separately to record and express your more personal thoughts, with the option of sharing that writing with selected people in the future.