Imagine how you'd feel if you came across a notebook written by your great-grandmother, describing her life and times and her contemporaries. It would be like finding pure gold! 

Remembering together

Going down memory lane like this is pleasant enough in isolation, but it's much more fun in a group. Reminiscence groups are informal gatherings where people meet to revive and share their memories using lists of memory prompts, old magazines, photographs and advertisements.

If you've ever been part of a conversation where someone says, "Oh, we had one of those!" you will understand why a reminiscence group can be so enjoyable. Some groups are set up by the local authority as part of a project to preserve local social history. If there isn't a group in your area, your WI is the perfect starting point for forming one.

You'll find all the help you need in two specialist books. Looking At Life by Ann Burke and Mary Corbett is aimed at oral history groups and looks like a textbook, but it's full of imaginative projects to tackle. Times Of Our Lives by Michael Oke is aimed at the individual so there are no specific group projects, but this book would still be excellent for group use.

Each chapter covers a time of your life from "Meeting The Family" at the start of your life to "The Later Years" at the stage you've reached now. Within each chapter there are sections covering a more tailored list of topics. The book ends with an invaluable section listing all the major national and international events of the years 1930-1979 - good memory joggers.

Reminiscence groups find their own way of working. Sometimes the group will leave a tape-recorder running to catch everything. Sometimes, one member may do some local research on behalf of the others and bring a report to the next meeting. Sometimes individuals write up anecdotes at home and read them at the next meeting. It's all great fun and can become quite addictive.

Help is available

If you like the idea of someone inheriting a book describing the person you are and the life you have lived but don't feel up to writing it yourself, there are reputable 'biography agencies' who can help you. These agencies have skilled interviewers who visit by appointment to hear and record your memories, drawing out all those things you thought you'd forgotten. From these visits, the interviewer - an experienced writer - will write up your story in book form.

When the interviewer has completed your story to the length of a book, you can keep it as a typed manuscript, to leave tucked away with other personal papers, or have it printed and bound as a book. You can opt for one single copy for yourself, or enough copies to go round the family. You might also have the option of producing your book in greater numbers for selling more widely.

Bound Biographies, founded in 1991, specialises in beautiful leather-bound memoirs produced in single copies or small numbers. There is a global fee of around £3,000 plus payments for additional visits. Biograph, founded in 2001, offers everything from manuscript to book including a Gift Biography scheme. Prices range from £750 to £3,800. Partings was founded in 2004 and produces Gift Biographies at £495.

You may prefer to undertake the writing of your story yourself.

If you do, the cost will be much less. Brush up your writing skills by joining a creative writing class, or use a self-help book. Two titles to look for are Writing Your Life Story by Michael Oke and How To Write About Yourself by Alison Chisholm and Brenda Courtie.

When you have completed your story to book length, you need to find an editor to check the writing, a designer to do the cover and any illustrations, and a printer-bookbinder to produce the actual books. Relax! There are 'self-publishing agencies' who will do all this for you. Pen Press advertises regularly in WI Home & Country and you'll find many similar agencies advertised in Writers' News.

Sadly, there are some disreputable 'vanity publishers' who make a lot of money by exploiting the vulnerability of unpublished writers. Avoid any company that praises your work without any mention of editing, awards you a certificate or a prize, suggests 'partnership' or 'subsidy' publishing, makes impressive promises about press reviews and high street sales, or says the full print run will be arranged when the orders start coming in.

Challenge them to show how they have provided these services for other clients. If you suspect that in reality they will do no more than have your book printed at great cost, go elsewhere.

True self-publishing, however, is when you as writer take on the same responsibilities as a commercial publisher - finding a typist to convert your manuscript to typescript, an editor to check the writing, a designer to do the cover and any illustrations, and a printer-bookbinder to produce the actual books - without using a go-between agency. It's not as daunting as it sounds.