Write your memoirs for people 100 years from today

The people who most want to know your life story aren’t born yet. In fact, they won’t be born for generations.

So you may as well not worry if your memoirs might be boastful or boring. Your best audience might be your grand-daughter’s great-grandchildren. Imagine: A hundred years from now someone might be reading your story.

The key question is really what you want to say. You might reflect on lessons learned. According to Psychology Today, that’s a useful topic.

Or you might just tell funny stories. It’s your memoir, after all.

To begin, you want to gather the factual details of your life — birthdate, birth place, the names of your mother and father, and their mother and father — as much as you can find.

Next, you want to make a list of major events or stories you especially want to tell. Review slides, photos, and family movies. Talk to loved ones. Think about your life by decades. If you are an experienced writer, you could outline your book as a frame for your life story. But, if not, simply begin at the beginning. Genealogical accounts usually begin: I was born…

Give details. Grandma’s crocheted bedspread. It was lavender! A good detail that colors the picture you want to paint.

Ponder experiences both good and bad. And, speaking of bad, what should you tell? You might not have anything to say as scandalous as Katharine Hepburn did of her 26-year affair with the married Spencer Tracy. For years, Hepburn never spoke of Tracy in public, but eventually she wrote about him in her autobiography. Asked why she finally told the story, she simply said all who would be hurt by the story had passed away. It’s one consideration.