For as many years as I’ve been sharing Storybook Journals, I have come to one unsettling realization: Without prodding from you, most journal recipients never fill in the blanks.
I don’t know why that is the case. Maybe it’s just as unnatural to write about yourself as it is to talk about yourself. That’s why I’m sending you this guide. I’m hoping you’ll take the time to set up and record even a single hour-long person-to-person interview with the loved-one who is receiving your gift. If you’ll do that, you’ll significantly improve the likelihood that the journal will be put to use and become a family heirloom. And best of all, you’ll have a recording of the person’s voice that can be preserved forever.
Let’s Get Started!
Recording a personal history for yourself or for an aging or terminally ill loved one is a daunting task. How do you condense an entire lift into a few words? If you are overwhelmed, take a deep breath. This is doable. We are going to break the process down into some bite-sized chunks:
- Record
- Gather
- Transcribe
- Assemble and Edit
- Share
Step 1: Record
The first step is the easiest and also the most complicated. It’s also the most urgent. Once the person dies, their library of stories is gone as well, so don’t delay this doing this part. You’re going to need a recording of the story you want to preserve. It can be a video recording or an audio recording. You’ll simply ask questions about the person’s life (use questions from the Storybook Journal as inspiration), and then you’ll hit “record” and sit back and listen as the stories flow.
When you start the process of making a recording, keep the following in mind:
- You MUST have a backup plan when you are doing archival recordings. Always have a second device recording the interview just in case of a tragedy like an accidentally-erased file, battery failure, power outage, or some other glitch.
- The audio has to be clear or you’ll be frustrated with the process all along the way. Take some time to get the audio right. Use a good microphone or headphones with a mic. Record indoors in a quiet, carpeted room, and try to eliminate all background noise like the dog barking or the swamp cooler running in the background.
First, to make sure you see how easy all of this is, try a single three-minute interview using these simple steps:
- Open your smartphone and set your camera on a stable surface. Use a camera tripod if you have one. Press “record” and ask one of the questions from the Grandma’s Storybook or Grandpa’s Storybook Journal.
- When the story is finished, save a backup of the recording somewhere where it will be safe.
- Share the recorded video with other family members and sit back and wait for them to ask you to send more!
If this interview is all you ever record, you will have preserved something priceless.
But if you are ready to record more, here are some ideas for expanding your library of recorded family stories:
Step 1: Record a Longer Interview
EASY:
Continue using your smartphone as a recording device and capture some longer interviews. If you need audio only, use a voice recording app that you can download to your device. Here are a few the pros recommend.
MORE ADVANCED:
Record using your favorite videoconferencing app. I recommend Zoom.us because of ease of use on both ends of the screen. Zoom calls can be recorded by the host. The recorded video can be saved to your device or in the cloud. For a $20 monthly fee, you can add a Rev.com “Live Captions for Zoom” option that will create a surprisingly accurate transcription of your interview (including timestamps) that you can download and edit into a written document.
The beauty of this method is three-fold:
- You don’t have to be in the same location to interview and record your subject.
- The interview can be recorded and you’ll have future access to both video and audio files of the stories you capture.
- You’ll simplify some of the tedium of creating a transcript of your interview.
Step 2: Gather Photos and Documents and Digitize Them
For a more complete finished product, take some time to gather some photos or documents so that you can add detail to your finished product via images. Creating digitized (electronic) copies of photos and other documents that are part of your story (like a wedding certificate, or a copy of a handwritten love poem or recipe) is a labor of love and will preserve precious memories for future generations.
EASY:
Help your subject gather 10- 20 original photos of their life. Choose a room with great diffused lighting (like near a window that lets in natural light) and take new photos of the originals using your smartphone. Crop and edit them as needed. Take notes on who is in the photos so you can add detailed captions later. These photos can be used to enhance video as well since they can be inserted as “B-roll” images that fade in and out as the audio from your interview plays in the background. Splice is an easy-to-use video editing app that will allow you to create a video and add music right from your phone or tablet.
MORE ADVANCED:
If you want digital copies of original photos but lack access to high-quality scanning equipment, there may be a Family History Library in your area. These libraries are built and sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and use of the facilities is free. Many public libraries or also offer use of scanning equipment. There are also services that will digitize your photos and documents for a fee.
If you are scanning photos for archival purposes, taking a little time to learn best practices will be a valuable use of your time. Here’s one article with some expert recommendations that is worth reviewing before you begin scanning or making copies of your photos.
If you are a budding family historian (you must be, or you would not be reading this now), make your archival images with the assumption that they will be used for many purposes far into the future. They may survive when the original documents do not. Make them a size and quality that will be sufficient for lots of uses. Include identifying information in the filename of the photo and in the meta-date stored as part of the image file. Try to store the finished image files in a format that will be accessible far into the future.
Step 3: Transcribe Your Interview
The stories you record stand the best chance of being preserved if you turn them into written documents that can be duplicated and shared. You can transcribe an interview several different ways. Here are the three that I use most often:
- Find a reputable transcription company and pay to have the recording transcribed by a human. Rev.com is one company that is currently leading the industry. At this writing, a human transcription costs about $1.25 per minute of recorded material.
- If a human transcription is too costly, an AI transcription (artificial intelligence transcription done by a machine) may get you close enough to perfect to be worth the expense. Temi.com and HappyScribe.com are two services I have used with good success. You’ll need to spend time making corrections to an AI transcription, and sometimes the time you saved with the machine transcription gets lost again when you start the tedious editing. These services get more and more accurate all the time, so this option may be worth considering.
- The most budget-friendly solution is to do the transcription yourself the old-fashioned way by listening and re-typing what was said. OTranscribe.com is a free web app that allows you to upload an audio or video file that you can transcribe using your own computer (much like an old-fashioned dictation machine). When you pause the uploaded file, OTranscribe automatically rewinds it a bit so you can back up and catch anything you missed.
Transcribing is tedious but important work. I transcribe all client personal history interviews, even if the client only wants video as a finished product. A transcription with good timestamps simplifies the video editing process and saves editing time. You can highlight sections of text you want in your finished product and then locate them quickly in your video feed.
Step 4: Assemble and Edit Your Interview as a Documentary Video or a Printed Book
This is where you turn your interview into a work of art. Put the stories and the images together in one beautiful, shareable package.
EASY:
Drop your transcribed text into a Google document or a Microsoft Word file and insert those 20 favorite photos you digitized earlier throughout the text. If you have lots of photos and not as much text, you can create a fun photo book at Shutterfly.com. Or, find a template from any reputable photo book creation company.
Sample book created on Shutterfly.com using a template
MORE ADVANCED:
A printed, bound book or an edited video production are both possible finished products. I won’t cover video editing here. If it’s a hobby you enjoy, creating edited videos from your family stories is a magical way to preserve someone’s story. You have the benefit of voice, face, and personality in a medium that written text can’t quite convey. A professional videographer can help you create a finished product as well. Here’s a sample of an amateur video created from a videotaped interview using iMovie.
For a printed book, the market is robust and there are many options. The system I prefer to use is a free “print on demand” option from Blurb.com. You’ll download a free software called Bookwright (https://www.blurb.com/bookwright) and design your book yourself. Bookwright has templates available that will simplify the process. When you are finished designing, Blurb.com will print full-color copies for you.
Step 5: Share
Now that all of the hard work is complete, look for ways to share your collection of stories, (your wisdom, wit, and words of advice) so that future generations have access to them. Make copies for family and close friends. If you are a U.S. veteran, consider submitting copies of your history and the supporting documents to the Library of Congress Veteran’s History Project. Or, you can create a free account at FamilySearch.org or a paid account at Ancestry.com and share your story and memories where other members of your immediate and extended family can access them as downloadable files attached to your name as “Memories.”
I wish you the very best as you embark on this fun journey. Don’t get discouraged if it takes time. You can record a significant chunk of a family member’s life history with 4-6 hour long recordings. Remember, the recording part is the most urgent. Once the person dies, her stories die too. Don’t delay this part. Get the recordings as soon as possible. Once the recordings are preserved, you can tackle the rest of the project at your own pace. The Personal Histories I create for my friends and family often take me more than a year to assemble since I tackle them one small bite at a time.
Please stay in touch and let me know if you have any questions. You can email me with your questions or suggestions:
Email: CustomerCare@playdatebox.com
Thanks and best wishes!
Lynnae W. Allred