The Life-in-Brief Template

A printable biographical appendix for your memoir. Complete your story first — this is the gift you leave at the end for readers who already care.

📖 Chapter 3 Bonus Template

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📖 This template is for the "Life in Brief" appendix described in Chapter 3.
Complete your memoir FIRST — this biographical section goes at the end, as a gift to readers who already care about your story.

Print this page and fill it in by hand, or copy the structure into your memoir document. This isn't your story — it's your facts. Dates, names, places. The scaffolding that holds the story you've already told.

Personal Timeline

Birth → Key milestones → Present. A simple chronological backbone.

Born: _________________________ (Date, Place)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)
_________________________ (Year, Milestone)

Family Tree

Names, dates, and one-line descriptions.

Parents

Father: _________________________
Born/Died: _________________________ | One-line: _________________________
Mother: _________________________
Born/Died: _________________________ | One-line: _________________________

Grandparents

Paternal Grandfather: _________________________
Paternal Grandmother: _________________________
Maternal Grandfather: _________________________
Maternal Grandmother: _________________________

Siblings

_________________________ (Name, Age, One-line)
_________________________ (Name, Age, One-line)
_________________________ (Name, Age, One-line)

Spouse(s)

_________________________ (Married, Divorced/Widowed, One-line)
_________________________ (Married, Divorced/Widowed, One-line)

Children

_________________________ (Name, Born, One-line)
_________________________ (Name, Born, One-line)
_________________________ (Name, Born, One-line)
_________________________ (Name, Born, One-line)

Grandchildren

_________________________ (Name, Born)
_________________________ (Name, Born)
_________________________ (Name, Born)
_________________________ (Name, Born)

Places I've Lived

Address/location + years + one memory from each.

Location: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Memory: _________________________
Location: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Memory: _________________________
Location: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Memory: _________________________
Location: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Memory: _________________________
Location: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Memory: _________________________

Career History

Jobs held, businesses started, things built — with dates and one-line descriptions.

Job/Business: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | What I did: _________________________
Job/Business: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | What I did: _________________________
Job/Business: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | What I did: _________________________
Job/Business: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | What I did: _________________________
Job/Business: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | What I did: _________________________

Education

Schools, degrees, certifications.

School: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Degree/Field: _________________________
School: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Degree/Field: _________________________
School: _________________________
Years: _________________________ | Degree/Field: _________________________

Favorites & Fun Facts

The small details that made you you.

Favorite meal my mom made: _________________________
Song that defines my decade: _________________________
Book that changed me: _________________________
Name of my first pet: _________________________
Car I loved most: _________________________
Holiday tradition I'll never forget: _________________________
Nickname(s): _________________________
Something I collected: _________________________
A skill I taught myself: _________________________

Photos Guide

List of photos to include with caption prompts.

Photo 1: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 2: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 3: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 4: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 5: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 6: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 7: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...
Photo 8: This is me at age _____ in _____. What I remember about this moment is...

This appendix is a gift. It gives future generations the bones of your life — the dates and names they'll want to know. But the story? That's in the pages before this. That's what they'll read first.