Committed to the Process

Okay, you have committed time you don’t have available to a process you are not sure of…now what do you do? First of all, commend yourself for having the unction to attempt such a task because you felt that it was the right thing to do. With the formalities of the moment out of the way, let’s get started. Yes, you have many questions to ask about lots of information they may or may not have answers to. But this is always the place to begin when collecting data and information. The more you can collect the easier it will be to categorize and prioritize later. Try to track the information you receive in a chronological order if possible and then cross-reference it into categories. This will become clear to you as to why this method is important when you begin to identify each item’s priority. Think about the books, music, and other perishable information and what to do with it. In the autobiography you can transfer these to CD or DVD and include it in the back of the book. Be sure to have all materials of value copyrighted, even the autobiography when it’s complete. Reference these materials’ location from the copyright forms in the book also. After the book is completed donate printed originals to several library repositories that maintain genealogy publications.

When enough is enough, well, you will know because it just won’t fit properly anywhere. But until then let’s look at the process as a funnel. You have a ton of information and data; obviously you can’t put all of it in this 250 page book. Identifying several pipelines of information that parallels one another helps to see what genre of information it is and where it belongs. What do I mean by genre? Here are some examples (probably others can be added) that are very basic: personal (his/hers), professional (his/hers), family (one generation level each), hobbies (for each one), volunteer activities (for each one), education (his/hers), experiences (for each one), and others. Remember the matrices I referred to…now is the time to employ it and populate it with these and their relevant information and data.

Probably one of the most important things to do is completing the discovery phase that includes compiling all of the autobiographical materials available. Going through the question list in a chronological fashion promotes triggers that bring up past years’ knowledgebase. As you go through the plethora of items, data, and information begin an outline of life endeavors on a timeline. Marry that with significant U.S. and global events to view their lives in the proper context. Now you are ready to build a tale for future generations to read.

The Biography Trap

Everyone has one. Yes, the story of our life. Shoot, my own outline is 5-pages in length and much of it is yet to be written. But for those who have reached the twilight of their years are thinking about what they want the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know about them, their legacy. Of course they don’t use computers (some may). Their life stories are in the attic with treasures from travels and excursions through their time travels of the twentieth century. They’ve told you the stories, which were fascinating. You’ve even read some of the written text they used during their careers; and even listened to some of the recordings from their vivid past. You have been wowed and are awed by the demonstrative lives, now they ask you to help them to publish their masterpiece, a biography of life.

Panic is a funny feeling, like falling without a net. You have the necessary fortitude to accomplish the task, but neither the time nor the experience for the task. What can you do? What should you do? Well, the first thing is to be honest, then recommend a meeting with a biographer to discuss the amount of information available, the length of time it will take, and the expectations from the effort.

From the legacy to the digital archive; aghast at the very nature of what should be done with their precious sentimental diaries of life and careers. With no disrespectfulness intended, these are extremely important to family historians and interested heirs, but for most of the wares of the legacy, it can be noted and annotated within a single publication.

So the living will of information must be decided from the beginning through a series of questions and rigorous investigation into what purpose they intend to instill in their readership and inspiration struck from the chords of their experiences in life. Conducting this important cornerstone value and the rest of the foundation will consist of weeks of discussion and focus to provide a descriptive outline that embodies the purpose and frames the life experiences correctly for future generations to read and get to know their ancestors.

Many books on this exist but every effort has different challenges to overcome. Providing an overview of the agreed upon approach, its nuances and how you will address other unknown nuances during the process, the capacity of the final document to project a life and legacy tastefully, and lastly, how you will incorporate all of the “hard copy” documents and relevant photographs with the book covers will be a crucial step toward beginning the process. Did I mention that you must have them autograph this acknowledgement in clear detail, and dated, so the parties will all be in agreement on the scope of the project?