How to write a life story
that will be treasured forever

Decide on your format

Written answers, recorded interviews, or a guided platform — each has its place. Written answers give more time to reflect and work well for people who prefer to work through things in their own time. Recordings capture tone and personality that text alone can't reproduce — the accent, the laugh, the rhythm of how they tell a story. A guided platform like Tell Me Your Story combines both, with structured questions, built-in voice recording, and automatic saving.

Most families find a guided platform the easiest route — because the hardest part of writing a life story is knowing what to ask.

Choose your chapters

A life story works best when it follows the natural arc of a life — childhood, teenage years, work, love, family, hard times, proudest moments, and legacy. You don't need to cover every chapter at once. Start with the one they're most comfortable talking about — often childhood, which tends to produce the most vivid and detailed memories.

Don't start at the beginning if it feels forced. Start where the energy is.

Write or gather your questions

The best questions are open-ended and specific. "What was your childhood like?" gets a short answer. "What is your earliest memory?" gets a story. "What did your childhood home smell like?" gets an even better one. Aim for questions that can't be answered with yes or no — questions that require them to retrieve a specific moment rather than give a general description.

Our guide to life story questions has 150 examples across every chapter of life.

Create the right environment

Side-by-side works better than face-to-face — it's less like an interview and more like a conversation. A walk, a car journey, a quiet cup of tea at the kitchen table. Older people often open up more naturally when they're relaxed, occupied with something else, and there's no pressure to perform. Avoid formal settings, clipboards, and anything that feels like an interrogation.

If they seem reluctant, start with something lighter — a funny memory, a favourite meal, a song they loved.

Record if you can

Ask permission to record on your phone. Most people say yes once they understand it's just for the family. Their voice — the accent, the pauses, the way they laugh at their own stories — is worth more than any transcript. Even a low-quality recording made on a phone captures something that written words simply can't. If they're comfortable, Tell Me Your Story's built-in voice recording saves directly to their keepsake book.

Voice recordings become more precious over time. Start recording sooner than you think you need to.

Edit lightly

Resist the urge to polish everything. The things that make their answers feel authentic — the digressions, the repetitions, the specific phrases they use, the moments where they trail off and then come back to something — are exactly what makes a life story feel real rather than written. You're not creating literature. You're preserving a person.

Correct obvious errors but keep their voice. If they always said "anyroad" instead of "anyway" — keep it.

Turn it into a keepsake

A life story that exists only in a notebook or phone recording is at risk — phones break, notebooks get lost. Export it to a PDF, print it as a book, or use Tell Me Your Story to generate a professionally designed keepsake automatically. A physical printed book is the gold standard — something that can be shared, displayed, and passed down to grandchildren who won't know what a phone app is.

Printed books from Tell Me Your Story start at £21.99 including UK delivery.

Asking too many questions at once

Presenting a list of questions feels like an interview and produces short, surface-level answers. Ask one question and follow where it leads. The best stories always surface in the tangents.

Starting at the beginning

You don't have to start with childhood. Start where the energy is — wherever they seem most animated or willing. You can fill in the gaps later.

Over-editing their voice

The instinct to make their answers sound better is understandable but damaging. Their specific phrases, their particular way of telling a story — that's exactly what you're trying to preserve.

Trying to capture everything in one sitting

Life stories are built over time. One good question in a car journey, one story over tea, one memory triggered by an old photo. Spread it out and the story will be richer for it.

Leaving it in digital form only

A life story on a phone or laptop is fragile. Print it, or export it to a permanent format. The families who regret capturing a life story are the ones who captured it but didn't preserve it.