Writing and publishing a family biography
Having finished a 300 page epic about my father's wartime experiences, I
wanted to share the pleasure and pains of writing a family biography or memoir. If you are thinking of committing your story to
paper, you might find my journey to publication enlightening.
Why do it?
For you, the effect can be very therapeutic. Call it ‘self-counselling’ but a
book is a good way to set the record straight. Family biographers report a bonding effect on
any extended family. Families have skeletons. You should also consider whether are they ready for your
version of the truth. In a world where families are often estranged by distance
or dispute, a book could be a way to build bridges.
For the rest of the world, your story forms part of a rich and largely
unrecorded popular history. Committing your story to paper ensures that the
events you have witnessed, or members of your family have been involved in,
become part of the public record. At least one copy of every book published in
most countries is stored in the national library for future scholars. Anyone
over 70 has witnessed changes in technology and the world order that merit a
personal record.
What to write?
Pick incidents that stand out. There is no point in giving equal
space to the mundane routine that has occupied the days of most normal lives. It is the high
and low points that you need to record.
Your plan
The best advice is to set out some chapter headings. These will provide the structure for your work and research.
Look on this sketch as a map. Without it, you will ramble. With a detailed
plan, your writing will come together much faster.
Keep this sketch map with you and adjust it as the work develops or you might
end up putting in the same material twice.
Scope
Your biography would probably benefit from a focus. For many, it is the drama
of wartime but it could be life in some particular setting. It is possible to
weave all the stories and experiences of a lifetime into a story that only seems
to cover a part of a life.
You could consider limiting the scope of your book. You might also think
carefully about the cast of characters. You will have to limit the number of people you
include so try and focus on the key ones, and see if the cast you have chosen can carry your story.
It has to be a story that people will want to read.
Another very early decision is to work out if your book is going to be written in
the fist person. You might tire of talking about ‘I, me and mine’ instead of
describing yourself in the third person. You can compromise and quote yourself
when you want to make it personal.
Research
As well as giving the perspective of those involved, it would probably make your
story more interesting if you could put it in a wider context. This calls for
some research.
Other books are the obvious place to look; these are
secondary sources. With so many primary
sources now available, why not do some original research?
You might thoroughly enjoy a visit to your local archive to look up what they
have recorded. The local paper can also be a valuable reference. If your story
is set on the national stage, a visit to the Public Records Office in the UK, or
your national equivalent, would entertain you for a week. The people who
staff archive enquiry desks are the patient servants of scholarship.
In my experience they are tireless in the help and advice they will offer. It
is important that you have worked out what it is you are looking for. Try to
start with a specific question and then allow your researches to expand. If you
do it the other way round, you will probably not find what you are looking for.
It is important to check your facts. Make sure you get your dates right. Many readers
will
not spot them, but since you are going to the trouble of making a record
you owe it to posterity to do your best to get it right. If you are uncertain,
then say so. I have my grandfather's contemporary diary of events in
the Ypres Salient in 1915. His eye-witness dates sometimes conflict with the
official record. I have 3 separate dates for the destruction of a Zeppelin. I
still do not know which one is right but my money is on granddad.
If you are making your book as a record that others might like to follow, it is
worth keeping track of the references you use. A cheap concertina file is very
useful to hold all of the photocopies, cuttings, letters and notes that you
make. It can add a lot to the credibility of your story if you can list the
sources of some of the information in your book.
What to write?
The English are, allegedly, bad at expressing their feelings but
that is what people want to read. How did you feel as events unfolded? How
did those around your respond during the drama? This is your story and you are
allowed to speculate how others felt, but just be careful that you do not start
blaming people, as they might take offence or even sue you if they are still alive.
You can say almost anything you like about the dear departed as they cannot be
libelled, but you will soon lose the sympathy of your readers if you come across
as a ‘know-all’. Readers are much more sympathetic to a narrator who is
accident-prone and tell tales against themselves. Perhaps this is the time to
own up to the mystery of the broken window or the hamster that changed colour.
Devote at least as much space to how you felt as to relating what you did.
This same rule should be applied to the other people in your story. It is both
polite and good writing to introduce people. You can do this before or after
their appearance in your story. If you meet the love of your life, you would
probably describe the event and tell us about their background later.
Readers have to love or hate the people in your story so that they care what
happens to them. You should look upon your writing as a cartoon or caricature. You
have to limit the number of lines to portray their essence. If you go into to
much detail, the pattern will be smudged. If your old boss had a heart of gold
but behaved like a hungry hyena then say so. It provides a clear image against
which readers can judge future actions.
Style is a personal matter but you will find that it improves once you get
going. Do not be afraid to rewrite a section. It is often easier than
to fiddle about with the words to make it read well. Watch a potter at work: if the
shape is wrong they abandon it and start again. Reworked clay, like reworked
words, can be inherently weak.
Think of a good line to start each section. ‘I nearly died when..’ grabs the
reader's attention and you can then relate how it began as just an ordinary day.
‘If I had known that…’ invites the reader to join you on a short voyage of
discovery whereas a tale of woe might not engage their interest. Listen to the
way people tell stories. ‘You are going to laugh at this’ or ‘I could have swung
for him’ sets the scene for what is to follow.
How long is a book?
A book with 100 pages is a good target. This will need 30,000 words.
Commercial publishers would regard this as rather short so if you want a
publisher you will need a longer story.
But beware just counting words. Add up the times you use the word ‘very’.
Then read the passage again leaving out ‘very’. Repeat the exercise with other
adjectives and you will be surprised how much the work is improved. Get tough on
yourself. Wasted words take time to type, paper to print and detract from what
you are writing. You might find it easier to go through your work after
you have completed the full first draft, editing and cutting out everything you
can.
The process
It is possible to sit down for a few hours and write a page of your story.
There is no rule that says you have to start at chapter one. In fact, many
writers would suggest that you leave the beginning until you are well into the
flow. Your style and writing are likely to improve and you want to make a good impression with
your first chapter.
Later you will have to set aside a large block of time to draw all of the
sketches together into a single picture.
Computers
My own view is that you have to learn to use a computer. Even if you spend a few weeks just
learning to type, it will eventually save you months. If you are not familiar
with computers, scrounge an old one from the family and ask them to set it up so
your work will be saved in a directory or folder reserved just for the book.
If you are determined to hand-write your book, start looking for someone who
can transcribe it for you. Unless it is somebody in the family, it will be
fairly expensive.
Who is going to read it?
Publishers like to tell us about multi-million pound or dollar book contracts and massive
sales. The reality is that selling 500 copies of a first book is good and 30-40%
of books end up unsold and re-cycled. The best sales may come after you talk to a
local group or society.
The Internet makes it very much easier to sell books into specialist markets
but the reality is that your memoir is probably going to have only local appeal.
Publishing your book
New technology means that you don’t have to dedicate a room in your home to
store unsold copies of your book. With print on demand, small batches of books
can be ordered when you need them. Big publishers are increasingly doing it this way now
for books with low demand. The
technology has been harnessed by firms like WritersServices' WritersPrintshop to deliver books to
order through bookshops and online sellers such as Amazon. WritersPrintshop makes
sure the book is in the online catalogues and then collects the money for you from
your sales.
You would be unwise to look at your biography as a way to supplement your
pension but there might be money to be made if it promotes you as an expert on
some event, place or development. You might find yourself being called on a few
times each year as a paid speaker. I have picked up several small speaking fees
already.
Should you start? A personal view.
It took a long time to write my book. What started out as a favour, editing
some diaries together, turned into a six-year
epic investigation.
It was hard work. In the early stages it was possible to write 'as and when'.
Putting the book together took many weeks of concentrated evening work and
eventually a week's holiday to copy-edit and
sort out all the details of photos and much more.
But, for me, the end-product has made the whole project worthwhile.
