Interview on Children Author Show

You can listen to a fun interview about my book. Now Playing at www.TheChildrenAuthorsShow.com : Interview with Beth LaMie about Grannys Guide To Fun and Fabulous Family Stories.

One of the surreal aspects was that usually I do the interviewing, so this was a rather unusual experience for me. Don McCauley of the Author Show was very pleasant during the interview and easy to converse with.

My hope is that more people will hear about my book, website, newsletter and blog. It is very exciting when someone contacts me about my work.

SO the question is, "What is your most vivid memory about growing up?" Feel free to comment below and have fun saving your family stories.

Start Writing Your Family Stories

• Why write down your family stories
Sometimes we hear a story from someone like a grandparent. We think we will always remember it. Too bad it doesn’t work out that way. If we can’t hear or read the story once in a while, we will most likely forget the details of it. When you write down a story from your life, you capture it for people to read later. Just imagine how great it will feel for you years from now when one of your own kids reads a story you wrote! You can give future generations a piece of yourself by sharing what you learned about your family member.

• Getting started
Okay, so how do you start writing stories about your Friends and Family (FAF)? The neat thing is that you can look at all the FAF people in your life. Then start with one special person. When you ask someone a bunch of questions and write down their answers, that is called an interview. The person who answers your questions is called the subject of the interview.

You can interview anyone - a friend, family member, neighbor or teacher. If you select someone who is important in your life, there is a double benefit. You’ll learn who they really are and they’ll appreciate your interest. Just look at all the people around you and pick one person to start with. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn about somebody by asking a few questions.

Do the ill & the elderly make us feel mortal?

Barbara Sher posted this as a comment to my previous post: "I have a question about interviewing elderly people. I wonder if some of us avoid the people we love when they grow older because it's painful to realize we'll lose them one day. Someone I know told me he was often short with his mother and didn't realize why until one day it hit him that he was angry and hurt that she was getting old and would leave him. He said he was embarrassed about having such a childish feeling, but the realization made him stop being angry at her, so he was glad it happened.

"Have you ever heard of or felt anything like this?"

Barbara,
That is an excellent question & I am glad your friend recognized the reason for his behavior. In fact, I see that happening right now with my husband and his Mother. She is 90 and some days she does not know who he is. That bothers him so much that he almost doesn't want to see her.

I see the same thing happen with people who are seriously ill. Family & friends may be reluctant to go see them, either because they don't know what to say, or because they want to "remember them as they were." In addition, circumstances like that tend to remind us of our own mortality - if it can happen to them, it can happen to us.

Those reasons are understandable, but unfortunately, that tends to leave our loved ones alone when they need us the most. When we do go to see them, it is important to carry on as normal a conversation as possible. Sometimes it helps to bring along favorite photos or memorabilia as a nudge for reminiscing. Especially with the elderly, they may have better recall of events from many years ago than they will of last week.

Recently, a friend of mine died from cancer. Although it was a bittersweet experience, I was able to spend considerable time interviewing her to capture her life story before she passed away. Her dying wish was to leave a written legacy for her adopted daughter.

I was honored to help make her wish come true.

For more about the experience with my friend, please see this blog post: http://onestoryatatime.blogspot.com/2008/08/bittersweet-blessings.html

Starting your family stories

• Why write down your family stories

Sometimes we hear a story from someone like a grandparent. We think we will always remember it. Too bad it doesn’t work out that way. If we don’t have a way to hear or read the story once in a while, we will most likely forget the details of it. When you write down a story from your life, you capture it for people to read later. Just imagine how great it will feel for you years down the road when one of your own kids reads a story you wrote! You can give future generations a piece of yourself.

The other big deal about writing down stories is that somebody you know now may have a special story that lots of other people want to know. You know that most American families originated in another country some time ago. It might have been a very long time ago, or you might even remember it yourself. Either way, coming to America is a giant piece of the story about your family’s life.

• Getting started

Okay, so how do you get started writing stories about your Friends and Family (FAF)? The neat thing is that you can look at all the FAF people in your life. Then start with one special person. When you ask someone a bunch of questions and write down their answers, that is called an interview.

You can interview anyone - a friend, a family member, a neighbor or a teacher. It can be the Mayor, a shop keeper or a construction worker. It can be a police officer, a fireman, a minister or anyone else in your life. Just look at all the people around you and pick one to start with. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn about somebody by asking a few questions.

• Develop your detective skills

Every person has a story to tell. All you have to do is ask the right questions to find it. Think about how a detective or a newspaper reporter gets the real story. They ask lots and lots of questions. You can do it, too!

There is a whole list of sample questions at the end of this book. They will get you started when you are ready to interview your FAF subject. As you feel more at ease interviewing the person, you will think of even more question to ask. That is great! Dig in to get the best story from your subject.

• Looking at the funny side of the street

It’s fun when we look at the funny side of a story. See if you can tell the story so you have a funny ending to surprise people. Just be careful not to make fun of someone. You want to share something that made everyone laugh, or use a twist on words.

Biography Writing Workshop Winners

Here are the winning stories from my recent Biography Writing Workshop for a local third grade class. Each of the children interviewed someone important in their lives. All of the stories were interesting and best of all, the writers also learned something new about the people they interviewed. For more details about theworkshop, please read my previous post in this blog.

Jordan's Story
Chris B was born February 28 1969 at Grissom Air Force Base. He lived in a small town, city, and a farm at different times. He also had 3 siblings. He always teased his brother and sisters because he was the oldest. He always had to do chores. He did not have allowance. He was helpful with stuff to be a good person. He was also spectacular at sports. He had a small house and rooms. His pets were like friends. He had cats, dogs and ferrets. His favorite meal was meatloaf and his favorite snack was brownies. He had lots of friend. He also did the best in everything he did.

He liked math but did not like English. His 3rd teacher was Mrs. Level. She was patient and short. He did just as well as anybody else. His favorite subject in school was math. School was boring for him. He had to walk and ride the bus. He forgot how many kids were in his class. He had pizza, and applesauce, and chocolate milk almost everyday. He wanted to be a football player. He did homework and sports and practiced saxophone after school.

His best friends are Brian, Eddie, Jill, and Brent. He liked playing TPed houses and other games. The popular songs he listened to are Tullick, Mist, and Duron and he heard them from the radio. When he was 10 years old that was when he watched his first television. He didn’t watch a movie until he was 14. He took lessons for baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, and saxophone. His favorite birthday was when he turned 21. He never dressed up Halloween. He had about 150 kinds of food. He did football on Sunday.

His hobbies were riding and going to conserts (sic) and always had fun as much as he could. He wanted to learn how to fly a helicopter. He wants to travel to Hawaii. He would like to bring his kids to Winconsin (sic) Dells and Disney and then go to white sox games. He traveled with his children because they are so spontaias (sic).


Darrion's Story
Theresa T was born on September 18, 1987. She was raised in Chicago ill (sic). She had one sister her name was Quinine. Her chores were to wash dishes and sweep the floor. She got $20 for allowance. She used it for junk food. Her house was like a delightful princess castle. It had pink glittery square rooms. She got a pet fish and didn’t have to clean that much. Then she got a parrot that could talk. Her favorite foods were French fries and pizza.

School: Theresa hated English even though she spoke it. She didn’t like to stay in school to 2:30. Her teachers name was Mrs. Smith. Theresa said her teacher was very nice. The most important thing she had to learn was cursive. Her favorite subject was gym class. Theresa’s school days were long but she survived. She got home by the school bus. She had 24 students in her class. For lunch she ate and talked. When she got older she wanted to be an Anchererpeuneur (sic). She went home and played with her family. Theresa’s best friend name was Devin. She played football hide and seek for fun.

Entertainment: She saw her first television when she was 10 year’s old. Her favorite artist was 50 cent she heard it by radio. Her favorite movie was Honey I shrunk the kids. She celebrated her birthday with all her friends and a clown.

Celebration: But last but least on Halloween she went trick or treating. And she was dressed as batswomen. Some of the weddings she went to were O.K., a lot were fun, and sometimes boring. On Sundays in summer time she went to church then she went home and ate. Her hobbies were listing to music because it calmed her down. She learned Spanish by her teacher.

Travel: Theresa said she would like to travel to Florida. She planned to do everything for the summer. She wants to travel with her cousin because she wants to do everything. This is everything I didn’t know about my cousin Theresa T.


Kelvon's Story
Family Life: Gerildine is my grandmother and she born in Mississippi in 1953 in a small town. She had 6 brothers and sisters. Ruth, Carrie, Sherry, Angle, Mike and Fred. She didn’t tease them. She always had to clean her room. She doesn’t get allowance. She lived in a wooden house with fireplaces in all the rooms. She doesn’t have any pets or animals. Her favorite meals were peanut butter crackers with cheese. She remembers best about growing up was playing in the snow. Her proudest moment was when she graduated from school.

School: Gerildine likes reading and dislikes Math. Her third grade teacher was Mr. Buttler. He likes to pattle (sic paddle) you when bad. The most important thing she learned in third grade was Reading, Science, and Recess. Her school days were very good. Gerildine got to school by using a school bus. She had 30 kids in her class. She ate and played for lunch. On Career Day she like to be a nurse. After school she went home.

Entertainment: Gerildine’s best friends were Della and Earnistine. She liked to have Recess for fun and baseball and basketball for games. She saw her first television when 7 years old. Her favorite movies were Western movies. She used to take basketball lessons.

Celebration: Gerildine celebrated her birth by having a party. Her 7th birthday was best because she could go to 1st grade. Gerildine finds Easter eggs. She dressed up in a princess dress. Wediings were joyful. Family members came. They had snacks and meals. On Sundays she goes to Church and plays outside.

Future Plan: Gerildine’s favorite hobbies are Reading because she can learn words. She liked to learn Science when it is time. She doesn’t like to travel. In the summer she likes to go to the Mississippi beach. Her favorite companion was my Uncle Ricky. He always makes her laugh.

Children's Writing Workshop

Biography Writing Workshop
May 2008

I just completed a Biography Writing Workshop for one of the local third grade classes in Kankakee, Illinois, and it was a ball. The class had 24 students who participated over the course of three weeks. Some of them might have been a bit reluctant at the beginning of the workshop, but they soon caught on to the concept of writing a biography.

The top three authors received awards for reading their stories. They each got a writing journal to encourage further creativity. Two students received honorable mentions for their stories, for which they got writing pens.

The structure of the Biography Writing Workshop included the basic writing process, parts of a story, fiction versus non-fiction, directions on conducting an interview, sample questions to ask and guidance on developing their own stories.

We started out by discussing the five steps of the basic writing process: Brainstorming, Rough Draft, Revision, Editing and Publishing. We covered the parts of a story, with a beginning, a middle and an ending. In addition, the differences between fiction and non-fiction were explained, with emphasis on writing a biography of a live person.

The kids got really enthused when we discussed how to make their stories interesting. In particular, they were to use “juicy” (i.e., descriptive) words. Instead of saying someone was “nice,” they learned to say they were beautiful, generous or enormous. An incentive of Juicy Fruit Gum encouraged even more participation that was fun, too.

Each student received a handout that included all of the above, plus five lists of questions to use when conducting interviews. Their interview subjects could be anyone at least twenty years old and preferably someone important to them. Most of the students interviewed a parent, grandparent or sibling, and several interviewed an adult at the school.

The presentation of the stories was on Friday, May 16, 2008, which was also the International Day of Story Sharing. Each of the participating children read their stories to an audience of their own class and another 3rd grade class. At the conclusion, all the kids got a gold-embossed certificate of participation.

In response to questions, all the kids seemed to enjoy the workshop and would like to do one again in the future. My pleasure would be in conducting one for them.

Tips on Interviewing - Part 6

Part 6 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

6. In conclusion…

a. Thank them again - Thank them for taking the time to tell their wonderful stories.

b. Take a picture – Consider taking a photo of your subject. You may want to include the picture in your final story, to share with others or to keep for your own reference. Unfortunately for me, I did not consider doing this when I first started out and one of my favorite subjects passed away shortly afterward.

c. Follow up – In case you have any questions, ask if you can contact them again.

d. The finished product – You may want to ask if they would like to see the final product that you create. In fact, you may offer to give them a copy of what you have written, but that will be up to you. Remember that they may enjoy seeing their own stories in print, too!

Tips on Interviewing - Part 5

Part 5 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

5. No story to tell?

a. Nobody is interested – Some people don’t think they have a story to tell and that their life is nothing out of the ordinary. In reality, everyone has a story! They just need some encouragement to tell it to you.

b. Questions break the ice – Your list of questions will help the person remember stories to tell you. You can encourage them to think about specific topics, such as where they have lived, what it was like growing up, how they came to this city or what their favorite games were. General topics also help begin a conversation, such as where were they during World War II, what they liked best (or least) about school or what pets they have had.

c. Useful memory joggers – Consider bringing along some memory joggers to the interview, such as old photos, letters of newspaper clippings. If you are looking for stories about a particular period, such as the Great Depression for example, you can bring a book on the subject.

d. Tell me more… - Encourage them by using simple responses: Tell me more about your pet skunk, How did you feel after winning the spelling bee or Have you ever wanted to go back to visit the old homestead.

Tips on Interviewing - Part 4

Part 4 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

4. Impromptu questions

a. Develop good interview skills – Start with a prepared list of questions or topics to discuss, but feel free to expand to other areas on the fly. Impromptu (unplanned) questions may turn out to be the best ones.

b. Lead-ins to other questions – Often times their response will lead you to think of another question that is not on your list. Go for it! Some of the best human interest stories happen because the speaker opened up an unexpected door to another subject. These can be exciting discoveries. For example, as Grandma is telling you about her 3rd Grade experiences, she may say “Oh! That reminds me. Did you ever hear about the time your dad got kicked out of the 3rd Grade for…?”

c. Don’t interrupt - save it for later – While the person is responding to your question, they may trigger other questions in your mind. If they are still talking, do not interrupt them! Let them finish their train of thought first. You can jot down the question to remind yourself to ask it a bit later. If Grandma hasn’t told you as much as you’d like to know, ask her, “What else did my dad do in 3rd Grade that was funny?”

Tips on Interviewing - Part 3

Part 3 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

3. Really listen to the other person

a. Give your undivided attention – Treat this interview as your one and only chance to understand this person’s story. You never know when circumstances may prevent you from having another opportunity.

b. Let the other person talk – Ask your question, then listen to what they say. Don’t interrupt while they answer and don’t argue if your opinion differs. You want to record what they have to say, not so much your own responses and stories

c. Read their body language – Watch for visual clues: Are they reluctant to answer your question? Are they having a hard time forming a response and need some encouragement? Are they getting choked up and need a glass of water?

d. Wait until they finish – As they are speaking, they may think of something else to tell you. If it looks like they are thinking, give them more time to respond. These may be some of the best and most meaningful answers you will get.

Tips on Interviewing - Part 2

Part 2 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

2. Record the conversation

a. Why record? Take some notes during an interview, but remember it is easy to get caught up in the conversation. You might be thinking about your next question instead of giving the conversation your undivided attention. For that reason alone, I recommend using a simple recording device so you can listen to it again at your leisure.

b. Listen first! - Before you start the interview, listen carefully for any noises in the room. Remove or move away from anything that may be distracting or picked up on the recorder. That could be noise from the street, other people who are close by, an electric heater that hums, telephones, chiming clocks or a dozen other things. During one interview I had, we were interrupted by a phone call. Even though someone else took the call in another room, my recording picked up her conversation more clearly than my own. And she was some 10 feet away from us!

c. Interruptions – If there is an interruption, such as a knock on the door, an airplane flying overhead or a baby crying, stop the interview for a few moments. Take care of the disturbance and then continue. If some time has passed, you might want to repeat the last question or remind the interviewee where they were.

d. Recording devices – There are many recording devices available. Select one that you feel comfortable using. It could be a cassette tape recorder, a digital recorder, an MP3, a camcorder, etc. Whichever you choose, make sure you have enough extra batteries and storage for the entire interview. Murphy’s Law says that “Anything that can go wrong will!” And the odds are that the most fascinating part of any interview will occur when you can’t record it.

Tips on Interviewing - Part 1

Part 1 of a 6-part series on interviewing tips to capture stories from other people.

Sometimes getting started is the toughest part about a new project. The same is definitely true when you begin to write your family stories. So let's talk about the key points to consider when you want to interview a person, whether they are relatives, friends, neighbors or strangers.

1. Why are you asking questions to interview them?

a. Thank them first – Let them know you appreciate having the chance to hear their stories.

b. Introduce yourself – Particularly when talking to elderly people, you may need to remind them who you are. Tell them a little about yourself. Do you need to remind them of your relationship, such as you are their cousin Ralph’s youngest son from Atlanta? Are you visiting from an unfamiliar neighborhood?

c. Why you want their stories - Let them know you are interested in their stories, and why. Do you want some family history? Are you curious about what life was like before the invention of television? Do you want to know what a typical day was like in a one-room schoolhouse?

d. How you’ll use their stories – Tell them how you plan to use their stories. Will they be part of a class project? Are you combining their stories with a group of others? How many people will see the final results?

e. What if they want to omit some stories? If some stories are sensitive, you have a few options to consider: 1) leave out that specific part of the story for anyone else who may read it, 2) change their names to protect their identity or 3) ask why they are concerned. When in doubt, always respect their wishes to avoid embarrassment.