Ideas and guides

Life story book for grandparents: how one is made

What a life story book is, the ways to create one for your grandparents – DIY, ghostwriter or guided app – and what each step involves.

A life story book is exactly what it sounds like: your grandmother’s or grandfather’s life, told in their own words, written down so it can be read, shared and passed on. It is not a family tree and not a photo album, though it often includes both. It is the story behind them: the village they grew up in, the dance where they met, the job they were proudest of, the hard winter nobody talks about anymore.

Families usually start thinking about one at a milestone birthday, after an illness, or when they realise how many questions they never asked. If that is where you are now, here is how a life story book is actually made, and the three main ways to go about it.

What goes into a good life story book?

The best ones share a few things:

• Their voice, not yours. The book should sound like them: their phrases, their humour, the way they describe things.
• A shape. Chapters that follow a life, roughly from childhood to today, so it reads like a story rather than a list of answers.
• Details. Names, smells, prices, songs. “We were poor” is a sentence; “we shared one pair of good shoes between three sisters” is a memory.
• Photographs placed where they belong, with captions that say who and when.
• A little of what they learned, and what they would like to say to the generations after them.

Step 1: Gathering the stories

Everything starts with conversation. Most people cannot write their life down from a blank page, but almost everyone can answer a good question. Start with something concrete: “Tell me about the house you grew up in.” Then follow up: “Who lived there? What did it smell like at Christmas?” Our list of 30 questions to ask your grandparents is organised by theme to help.

Plan on many shorter sessions rather than one marathon. Remembering is tiring, and emotional moments need room. Let them stop whenever they want.

Step 2: Gathering the photographs

Old photos are the best memory prompts there are. Spread a few on the table or show them on a screen and ask, “Who is this? Where were you going?” Scan the ones that matter and note down what they say about each.

Step 3: Turning speech into writing

This is the step where most family projects stall. Spoken memories are full of detours, repetition and half-sentences; turning hours of recordings into readable chapters takes real time and skill. This is also where the three approaches differ most.

Three ways to make the book

Do it yourself. Record conversations on your phone, transcribe them, then edit and arrange the text. It is deeply personal and costs almost nothing, but it takes many evenings and a fair amount of writing confidence.

Hire a ghostwriter or personal biographer. A professional interviews your grandparent and writes the book. The results can be wonderful, but this is usually the most expensive route, and you need to find someone your grandparent feels comfortable with.

Use a guided service. Several services now help with the process. Memoair, for example, gives your grandparent a kind, patient conversation partner they simply talk to, by voice, on a phone, tablet or computer. It asks follow-up questions, never rushes, and they can pause and carry on another day. Photos can be shown to the camera or uploaded and land in the right chapter with captions from what they said. Memoair then writes a literary, chapter-by-chapter book in their own first-person voice, with a title and a foreword. The family reads it online through a private link, and can print it as a nicely formatted PDF. It costs a one-time €83.

Step 4: Sharing it with the family

A life story book is meant to be read. Share it with the family, print copies for the grandchildren, and read parts aloud at the next gathering. With Memoair the family can read and listen to the book in any of 22 languages, which helps when cousins have grown up in different countries. An audiobook can be added too, with a premium narrator or, with the storyteller’s explicit consent, in their own voice.

For a more general walkthrough, see our guide on how to record your parents’ life story.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to make a life story book?

It depends entirely on the storyteller. Doing it yourself often takes months of evenings. With a guided service like Memoair there is no fixed schedule: some people tell their story over a few evenings, others over several weeks.

What if my grandparent gets emotional while telling their story?

That is natural and often part of the value. Memoair’s companion is patient and warm, never rushes, and your grandparent can pause at any time and continue later.

Can I print the book?

Yes. Memoair produces a nicely formatted PDF that you can print at home or at any print shop, as well as an online version you can share with the family.

Who sees the stories?

The book is shared with family through a private link. It is not published publicly.