Amazing ways to organise and present life-story interview gold
First published April 5, 2018: This article has been updated and improved.
We have made it to the final installment of the super stay-at-home family stories writing challenge part 3!
While we are all in lockdown, I suggested bonding with a loved one by compiling a life-story feature article.
Some of you have done this with your parents, grandparents or other relatives and joined forces with your children for a fun quarantine activity. I love this idea!
In part 1 of the challenge we got set for a phone or video interview.
Meanwhile, in part 2 I shared some interview ideas I’ve learnt as a print journalist.
Finally in this writing challenge part 3, I show you how to quickly organise and present your interview material.
All suggestions come from the Your Family Stories System: Easily capture your loved ones’ memories for future generations.
Let’s wrap-up this challenge …
Related article – Writing challenge – part 1: Join in some stay-at-home Easter fun!
Related article – Writing challenge – part 2: 6 things to remember before you hold a family stories interview
Writing challenge part 3: Order out of chaos
After the interview is over your mind will be spinning with what you have heard and absorbed!
For this writing challenge part 3, I suggest you transcribe your notes and recordings.
For example, you could do this yourself by writing everything out longhand or typing it up on a computer.
However, if you aren’t confident typing maybe ask a friend or relative to help.
Another option is to pay for someone to type a transcript of the recordings.
For instance, one popular site that does this is Rev or source someone on Upwork or Fiverr.
However, Rev also offers automated (machine) transcription using speech recognition.
On the other hand, try the handy Voice Typing tool in Google Docs word processor software or speed up the transcription process with a free app like oTranscribe.
Subsequently you will find more details about these options in the transcription article below.
Related article – Transcription: How to make writing easier with 3 transcription writing tools
Related article – Proofreading tips for revising and editing your writing
Picture power
The next step of the writing challenge part 3 is to see what photos you have available to go with your interview material.
For example, this could be: childhood shots, wedding pics, family photos, modern-day images, etc.
Most importantly, you want the photos to tell a complete story so keep this in mind as you select your top 5-6.
However, more pictures than this is fine but use your judgement.
Above all, like in fashion, less is more!
Next give each shot an informative caption.
Certainly children love helping with this task.
Moreover, captioning is also a good opportunity to add extra information not included elsewhere or easily deducted from looking at an image.
However, I go into more detail about writing captions in the article below.
Related article – Life in pictures: Make a life-story scrapbook album in 3 easy steps
Putting it all together
Awesome job, you are up to the final step of the writing challenge part 3!
This phase is my favourite, seeing how a story finally comes together.
To create a life-story feature article I would suggest weaving your edited transcript and photos together across two pages and complete with a headline.
However, these days, there are countless ways you could present your material.
For example, here are a range of ideas or you might even like to try a combination:
- Print off copies of the transcript and top photos.
- Email files as attachments.
- Share text, audio and photo files in a folder saved on a cloud file-hosting service like Dropbox or Google Drive.
- Create a summary presentation or basic ebook using presentation slide software such as PowerPoint or Keynote.
- Make a short book using a web-based photo sharing and photo printing service like SnapFish or Shutterfly.
- Create a short movie using snippets of your interview recordings, photos and royalty-free music with standard software like Microsoft Photos or iMovie.
- Make a longer book using word processing software – DIY or use an off-the-shelf professional template from Book Design Templates.
- Start a website or blog as a central home for all your files and info using WordPress, Weebly or Wix.
Related article – Feature article guide: Helping you write a life story super fast!
Related article – How to get your own book printed without going crazy!
Final say: writing challenge part 3
Congratulations on making it to the end of the fun ‘stay-at-home’ writing challenge part 3!
In this final week, we used tips from the Your Family Stories System to: help organise interview material, include images, and to present the project as a feature story or something more.
Most importantly, my sincere hope is that this challenge will help you record an informative, entertaining and enriching life-story feature article.
And once you have completed the process for the first time it is extremely easy to repeat.
However, don’t be surprised if you or your children get addicted to writing life stories like many of us.
If you want to learn and write more, get the Your Family Stories System for 50% off.
I can’t wait to help you record, share and celebrate more life stories right now.
Happy writing!
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Your say
I’d love to hear how you get on with the writing challenge part 3. I always love hearing from different people. Drop me an email or leave a reply in the comments section at the end of this article.
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Got a question or an idea for a future article about planning, writing, polishing or publishing a life story? You can let me know here!
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This article first appeared on the website Forever Young Autobiographies.com.
