A life much less ordinary

Visit any high street book shop and you’ll find shelves full of celebrity biographies - as well as dump bins with cut-price offerings in a bid to attract the book-buying public.

These celebrities are in no doubt that their lives are sufficiently interesting for shoppers to part with their hard-earned cash. From pop stars to actors, politicians to Big Brother house rejects, these writers fill hundreds of pages, often as a way of grabbing a few headlines if their books are sufficiently scandalous or revealing.

Writing your own life book however, is literally a different story. It isn’t about name-dropping, shocking people or describing outrageous adventures, it’s simply the story of your life, written for your own pleasure, and for those nearest and dearest to you.

Another book shop, another celebrity biography...

These books can reveal family secrets, share poignant intimacies and make readers who are acquainted with the writers laugh or cry. Yet so many ordinary lives remain unwritten, usually because people believe that their lives are just that – ordinary and not worth writing about.

One lady I met recently had once started writing about her childhood and the time she’d spent as an evacuee during the war, but she’d soon put it to one side, thinking that no one would be interested.

She was wrong. Recently, her young grandson was working on a school project about World War Two and asked about her experiences. He was fascinated to hear about her year spent with an elderly couple in Dorset, quizzing her about her clothes, what they grew and ate and the friends she’d made. This lady and her grandson spent a very happy afternoon together, talking and looking through photo albums, and she realised that perhaps her life was more interesting than she’d first thought.

Now, she’s written her life story and it’s ready for her other grandchildren – and great-grandchildren - to discover.

Help your photos tell their stories

'Auntie Enid, Dorset'...who was she really?

It’s often said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. That might be true, but look at this picture and it'll probably only tell you a handful; it’s an elderly lady, she looks kind and friendly….er, that’s it.

If one of your children or grandchildren were to come across it in an old photo album, there might be a barely legible caption underneath to give them a clue. Perhaps, ‘Auntie Enid, Dorset.’ Of course, you might be on hand to explain that actually, Auntie Enid was a spy during the war, an eccentric who kept tame ducks that you loved to pet on visits to her farmhouse. She taught you how to ride a bike and you like to think you inherited your love of drawing from her.

But what if you’re not there when that grandchild looks through your photos, and just flicks past Auntie Enid, unaware of those memories and stories about your much-loved relative. They'll have been lost forever – unless you write them down.

The same applies to keepsakes. You might be saving stuff you salvaged from your parents’ house, trying to separate junk from treasure. There’s the broken sewing machine that’s missing a foot, kept purely because your mother loved it so much. But surely it’s better to write about how your mother was a brilliant seamstress, made all your clothes as a child and even patiently stitched matching tiny doll’s clothes for you? That way, future generations can share these treasures without worrying about having to house them, or dumping them without realising their significance.

These old photos and personal belongings won’t mean much to future generations if you’re not around to fill in the gaps. They’ll make a much better frame on which to hang your life story; you can use the photographs as illustrations, and even take pictures of the objects to include in your book, which then becomes an amazing family archive.

So go on, clean out your loft and cellar, go through the old albums and tell their story in a life story book.

Starting your life story: what's stopping you?

The biggest challenges to telling your life story are not what you might think. Unlike someone who’s writing a novel, you certainly won’t be stumped for ideas or face a lack of material. And it’s not as if you’ll have to do loads of research; your characters, events and feelings are all in your head. Going through some photo albums and diaries will usually give you all the inspiration you need.

You might think your life hasn't been interesting enough. You may not have been rich, famous or hugely successful, but your family and friends will be interested in what you've done.

However, simply getting started – just putting pen to paper - is tough. A good way to kick-start the process is by asking yourself a few questions to get you thinking about what’s important in your story.

Try these five for starters:

· Can you describe your childhood house and neighbourhood?

· Who were the important people growing up and what was their impact on you?

· What were the circumstances of your leaving home?

· Which friends have you valued most in your life and why?

· What skills or talents do you have and how did you acquire them?

Studies have shown that writing your thoughts down for a few minutes each night can help you sleep and improve sleep quality - even improve energy levels. Remembering all those happy memories will also give you a positive glow!

But despite this, a lack of time or writing ability often prevents people from embarking on a project, and honestly, that's where a life story writing service is such a good idea. You can simply enjoy chatting about your stories and a ghost writer will do the rest.

If you're ready to write, but need some help doing it, Memory Lane Books can take you through each chapter of your life, and produce a book that tells your story in your own words. So what are you waiting for?!