Ask Nicola Q&A: Amazing ways to finish your story today
Welcome to Forever Young Autobiographies – Ask Nicola.
Each week I get queries about creating life stories for family and friends.
Today’s Ask Nicola question is:
How do you know when you are finished a life-story project?
So let’s dive into a few key considerations to finish a life story …
Related article – Edit: The ultimate guide to polishing your writing
Finish by checking essential editing
Firstly, you should have tightened and polished your work so key themes or messages are clear.
Also make sure you have addressed complex sentences, spelling and grammar errors and anything defamatory.
Certainly a life story will never be perfect.
But you want to feel you have done your best to reach the finish line.
Related article – Proofreading tips for revising and editing your writing
Related article – Editing: Don’t try self editing before reading this!
Consider your readers
Knowing when to finish a life story also depends on your intended audience.
For example, a professionally published life story sold to the general public will obviously need to be very polished.
However, this isn’t usually as important for a self-published work intended for family and friends.
Indeed your loved ones are more forgiving than the public about the odd typo!
Related article – Revising and editing: How to take the headache out of editing a life story
Related article – Ask Nicola Q&A: How to copy edit + CPR for revising and editing your own work
Finish by knowing your personality
Finally know that your personality influences when to finish a life story.
For instance, some people rush to finish too early.
Meanwhile many are perfectionists and take too long.
So identify your tendency and self-correct with more editing or by setting a final deadline.
Final say
To finish a life-story project is a huge achievement!
Indeed you should feel excited to share widely what you have created.
However, knowing a project is finished depends on: editing to an adequate standard, knowing your audience’s expectations and understanding your own tendencies.
After this the only thing left to do is to saviour the moment and celebrate your hard work.
Happy writing!
Free gift!
The Your Family Stories System shows you step by step how to record a loved one’s life story. Sign up here to get the first few sections for free!
Your say
How close are you to starting or finishing a life story? Send me an email or leave a reply in the comments section at the end of this article.
Get in touch
Have you hit a roadblock planning, creating, polishing or finishing your life story? Let me know so I can help!
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First published May 23, 2019: This article has been updated and improved.
