Guides & advice
How to capture the memories that matter
Free, practical guides on interviewing your parents, recording a life story, writing a memoir, and keeping a voice, whether you do it yourself or let us help.
11 guides
Interviewing & memory
150 questions to ask your parents about their life
The questions we mean to ask are the ones we most regret not asking. Here is a free, organised list to start the conversation while there is still time to hear the answers.
Read the guideInterviewing & memory
How to record your parents’ life story
A calm, practical guide to capturing a life while you still can, whether you do it yourself or hand the hard part over.
Read the guideInterviewing & memory
Questions to ask a couple about how they met
Every couple has a story that usually survives as three well-worn anecdotes. These questions get you the rest of it.
Read the guideInterviewing & memory
Pet memorial ideas: ways to remember a companion
Losing an animal is a real grief, and it is often one people feel they should apologise for. These are ways to hold on to them.
Read the guideInterviewing & memory
How to record a working life before retirement
Forty years of work usually leaves behind a leaving card and a photograph. It is worth more than that.
Read the guideWriting & memoir
How to turn your travels into a book
Most travel ends up as a folder of photographs nobody opens. A little structure turns it into something people read.
Read the guideInterviewing & memory
How to start a family history
Family history usually begins too late, with the person who knew everything already gone. Here is the order to do it in.
Read the guideWriting & memoir
Life story, memoir, autobiography or biography: what is the difference?
They get used interchangeably, but each means something slightly different. Here is how to tell them apart and choose.
Read the guideAudiobooks & voice
Preserving a loved one’s voice
A voice is one of the first things we forget, and one of the most precious things to keep.
Read the guideAI & storytelling
Can you trust AI to write a life story?
It is the right question to ask. Here is an honest answer, and what we do to make sure your book is true to what you actually said.
Read the guideAI & storytelling
Is it safe to use AI for your memories?
Trusting software with your most private memories is a fair thing to worry about. Here is a plain, honest answer: who owns your story, whether it is ever used to train AI, and how you stay in control from beginning to end.
Read the guideReady to keep the answers?
When you're ready, Chapternity turns a warm conversation into a beautifully written book. You never have to write the book yourself, and there is nothing to pay until you've read it.
Start your story