Turn Your Writing into Great Gifts © by Cathy Fulton

Most of us have relatives for whom finding gifts is difficult. They either already seem to have everything, or nothing seems special enough. If you have been writing your personal or family stories, you already have a head start. Just getting these stories on paper is a wonderful family gift. Here are a handful of ideas on how to embellish them a little or a lot to create unique keepsakes that will be shared again and again.

1.Publish a Book! Of course, compiling your stories into a book is a very special gift. When I began writing family stories, my first project was to collect as many stories about my Dad as I could remember. Before I knew it, I had enough stories for a small book. I rifled through my old photographs and sprinkled them among the typewritten pages. I took my pages to the local copy center and made copies for my mother, siblings, and uncle. The copy center bound the books with wire, and I sent them out just as Christmas arrived. I had figured that they would be appreciated, but I had no idea that my family would like them as much as they did! A brother who rarely writes letters wrote and told me another story about Daddy that I had never heard. I renewed a relationship with my uncle and later interviewed him for more stories. Mom wrote down the story of meeting and marrying Daddy, complete with details she had never told us.

Now, you may say, publishing a book is a bit much to tackle. Well, it may be for this year. The holidays always come sooner than we expect. But you can start now to collect those stories for next year. A book does not have to be long. Daddy's book was only twenty-one pages, but it contained fourteen stories, many photographs, and a loving account of his funeral. I did not know that much about publishing at the time. I just used my word processor (a typewriter works) and left space on the pages for photos and short captions.

If you want to include color photographs in your book, collect them together on a few pages in the center of the book and have the copy center reproduce them on the color copier. The rest of the pages, including those with black and white photos, can be copied on a standard copy machine. Most new copiers have a "photo" option that will make those photographs sharper.

Comb or wire binding costs between 75 cents and $1.30, depending on the shop. This usually includes the printed cover.

If publishing a book is a bit much of a project for this year, read on...

2.Caption Photographs. Find one or more old photographs and write short stories about them. Who are the people? How are they related? What are they doing? Position the photo on a page and write the story around it. This is a great gift for older relatives to give to younger family members. The younger generation may not remember those people, or maybe they never knew them. Wouldn't you love to receive a photograph of your great-grandmother, complete with your mother's memories of her? For more information on photo captioning, see "Write the Story Behind the Photo."

3.Customize a Blank Book. You've seen some of the blank books on the market that have a question on each page for Mom or Dad or Grandma to answer. The idea is to prompt these relatives to record their stories so we will have them after they are gone. Several participants in my workshops have mentioned that they gave such books to their parents, but they were never filled out. How about making your own book of questions? Customize it so you get the questions you want answered. For example, you might ask your mother, whose father died young, "When your father died, how did Grandma make ends meet in those years before Social Security? Did you have to go to work?" Decorate the front of your book with photographs of the recipient and family members. If you have photos that you want to have identified, include copies of them in the book and ask specific questions about them.

Your relatives may still be hesitant to fill in the book. How about sitting down with them and filling it out together? (Hint: Keep a tape recorder going while you are working together. You are sure to get many more stories than you anticipate!)

4.Publish Old Letters and Journals. If you are lucky enough to have an old journal or letters in your possession, consider transcribing and publishing them for your family. Ask around for photographs to illustrate the document. This can be an exciting joint project with other family members. Of course, be sensitive to information in such documents that might embarrass someone. Edit judiciously!

5.Joint Projects. Send out requests to friends and family that ask them to record short remembrances about one special person or event. The request could be specific, such as, "Describe your favorite food that Grandma fixes," or more general, "Share your favorite story about Uncle Jim." Ask for photographs. After you have collected the stories and photos, put them together in one booklet and send them back out to all family members. If some people are slow to respond, call them and record their memories orally. (Tell them ahead of time that you are going to call so they can think about what they are going to tell you.) Then transcribe the recording. (Note: Radio Shack sells two devices for recording phone conversations onto your cassette recorder: Part # 44-533 sells for $3.99, but may not work with all types of phones. Part # 43-1237 is $14.99, and it will make a better quality recording.)

6.Family Newsletters. Family newsletters are fun to put together. You can compose them on your own from tidbits of news you receive in the normal course of corresponding, or you can request stories, artwork, photos, and poetry from family members all over the world. Be sure to place a deadline for submissions, so you have time to lay out the newsletter. If someone is doing genealogical research, be sure to include their latest findings. To get hundreds of ideas for family newsletters, see Elaine Floyd's recent book, Creating Family Newsletters.

7.Life Timelines. Those of you who have heard me speak know how much I love to use life timelines to help spark memories, which lead to many stories. (I even teach a workshop on life timelines.) Once a timeline has been drafted on paper, there are many ways to present the information. Some possibilities are:

Books. A timeline can be incorporated as an appendix to a full-length memoir, or created as a book in itself. Allow five to ten years per page or two-page spread. If you want to get fancy, include pictures.

Large Format Timelines. These displays are people magnets at family gatherings. Use colored butcher paper (available at many office or school supply stores). Allow about 1? inches per year. (80 years of life will take about 10 feet.) Write vignettes on contrasting colored paper, and paste at the appropriate place. Include photographs and documents like birth certificates, marriage licenses, etc. You may wish to leave out Post-it® Notes and invite family members to add to the time line.

Miniature Accordion Books. Use cardstock folded back and forth, accordion fashion. Glue several pieces of paper together to create a lengthier book. Each "two-page spread" can display the highlights of a decade of life. Making Books that Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist and Turn, by Gwen Diehn, is an excellent source of ideas for creating accordion books and other unique display books.

Scroll. Make a timeline that chronicles the life of a family member or the entire family. It can be made by hand on a long roll of colored butcher paper. Roll it into a scroll and tie with ribbons.

Time for a Timeline. Sit down with an elderly relative and help them create a life timeline. Keep a tape recorder running as you work. You never know what stories will come forth.

For instructions on creating a timeline, see my article "Timelines—Plain and Fancy."

I have recently developed a "Life Timelines Kit," which is my workshop in kit form. It includes an 11x17 inch timeline page for each decade of your life, instructions, memory sparkers, and ideas for using timelines. These make nice gifts, and they are useful for working with other family members to collect their oral histories. Contact me for ordering information.

8.Gifts for Children. One writer I know sends a story to each of her grandchildren on his birthday. The story is always about an event from her own life when she was the grandchild's age.

9.Handmade Books. If you are the crafty type, handmade books are a special way to package your stories. There are too many methods of hand-binding to mention here, but I have found lots of ideas in two books: Classic Scrapbooking, by Vera Rosenbluth and Susan McDiarmid, and Making Books by Hand, by Mary McCarthy and Philip Manna. Both of these books can be found at your local library.

Okay, enough ideas for now. So, find a comfortable chair, brew a cup of your favorite tea, and enjoy creating gifts that will be appreciated for years to come!

Cathy travels the U.S. lectures on writing memoirs. For more information, contact Capturing Memories, 9228 SW 209th Street, Vashon, WA 98070, (206) 463-5652, www.capturingmemories.com, stories@capturingmemories.com.