Life Story Writer
As a celebrant I spend a lot of time listening to families talk about the lives of their loved ones. I am endlessly fascinated by this aspect of my job and the lives that people have led. I have helped write over two hundred such life stories and I can honestly say that all of these lives are fascinating and deserve remembering.These short ‘life stories’ are usually 2000 words or so or around ten minutes in length.
Some time ago someone approached me to ask whether I had ever thought about writing extended biographies to include a more in-depth story of a person’s life. These could be commissioned by the person themselves or perhaps by a family member as a gift. I have taken this idea on board and have started working on such biographies.
How does this work?
I prefer face to face meetings initially rather than those conducted virtually (although I am happy to use Zoom or facetime for additional meetings once I have met the person first). The ‘standard’ life story will be between eight and ten thousand words long and include 20 –25 colour photographs. Typically, I will meet with you/and possibly family members for around eight hours in total. There will be a number of drafts of the book and you will have full control of the final product. This is your story. Once we are both happy with the content, I will ask my colleague and editor Christine Harter to provide a professional edit and once this has been completed, the book will be printed and sent to you. I allow five months from start to finish.
Who is involved in the process?
Unlike large life story writing companies, where your writer is picked from a large pool of people, I write all of the copy myself. I prefer to work locally (within 25 miles of home if possible) I work closely with my editor ‘CJ Harter’ who is very experienced and is a published writer herself. (for further information about Christine’s work please see her website) The book would make an amazing gift for someone you love and equally would be a wonderful present for you to give to your children, partner of family members. If you would like to know more about this service please call me. There is absolutely no obligation and I am always interested in talking about this service that I love to provide. I have always loved to write and belong to South Manchester Writer’s workshop. I have written many short stories (many of which have won prizes). My travel memoir ‘Hard Graft and Graft’ is available on Amazon.
