Questions worth asking, while you can still ask them

I record conversations with people about their lives and write them into stories their families keep. These pages are the parts of that I can hand over: the questions themselves, and the practical business of getting someone talking who is not in the habit of it.

Use them yourself. Nothing here needs me.

If you are recording the answers, the guides cover the practical side: what to record on, where to sit, how long to go for, and what to do with the file afterwards.

How to use any of these lists

Three things make more difference than which list you pick.

Ask one question at a time. A double question gets a half answer. If you ask “where did you grow up and what was it like?”, you will get the postcode.

Go specific, not general. “Tell me about your childhood” is an essay question and it closes people down. “What did your kitchen smell like on a Sunday?” gets ten minutes.

Wait three seconds after they finish. The better half of the answer usually lives in that gap, and most people fill it with their own voice instead.

The rest of the free help

• Guides and practical advice, for the mechanics: what to record on, where to sit, what to do with the file afterwards, and what to do with photographs, letters and half-finished journals.
• The Memory Kit, when it is ready: the same idea as these lists, made into something a family works through together. Not on sale yet, and you do not need to wait for it.
• Amanda’s writing, if you want to see what a finished story actually reads like.