My brother-in-law, Abes, set me the challenge to write my life story in fifty words or less. He let me know that ABC Radio Sydney is running a competition to celebrate the annual National Biography Award: “What would it say on the back of your biography?” Here goes:

There were two of his, two of hers and two of theirs and Jacquie was one of theirs, the youngest of six children. She was born in Canada, then moved to England, the Bahamas, back to Canada and now she lives in Australia and works as a life historian.

Intriguing but bland.

Summing up my life in fifty words or less has really hit home for me how important it is to capture the stories behind the facts. Behind those forty-nine words are five-hundred million stories and a few hundred images. One day I will whittle those stories and images down to my keystone and watershed moments, creating a terrific read for my kids, my future grandkids and beyond. The forty-nine words above would put them all to sleep.

I often say, “Stories bring the photos to life and photos bring the stories to life”. Now I think I should add, “In fact, capturing your life story and creating a book brings your life to life.”

Rather than fifty words, I print about ten words on the back of my clients’ books, capturing their essence, to draw the reader in. Here are a few examples:

“I always think, if someone else can do it, I can do it.”

“As you can see, we’ve been very, very lucky.”

“I had a technique where I could fly down the stairs.”

I love it when those ten words hit me during the process of recording someone’s story. It feels just like that cartoon lightbulb switching on in my brain.

Thank you Abes. I will be sure to will share my prize (of the six shortlisted biographies) with you if I’m the lucky winner.