How to sum up a life in 500 words

“How am I supposed to fit eighty years onto one page?” The answer: you don't tell everything; you tell what is essential. And the essential fits.

The five-question method

Answer each in two or three sentences and the biography is nearly written:

• Where did they come from? Origins, family, childhood. “She was born in a village by the sea, the third of six children.”
• What did they do with their days? Their trade, their jobs, the farm, the home. Whatever kept their hands busy.
• Whom did they love? Partner, children, dearest friends. The names matter.
• What made them happy? Dominoes, the vegetable patch, the football, sewing, dancing. This is where the real person lives.
• What do they leave us? A lesson, a way of being, a phrase they always repeated.

Writing tricks

• Details before adjectives. “He kept sweets in the glovebox for the grandchildren” paints a truer portrait than “he was very generous”.
• Their voice. Including an expression of theirs — “she always used to say that…” — lets the reader hear them.
• Any order you like. There's no need to go from birth to death; you can start with whatever defines them best.
• Ask another family member to read it through: they'll correct the dates and add the missing detail.

It isn't an exam

The memorial's biography can always be edited: start with what you have, even if it's three paragraphs, and improve it as new memories arrive. The best memorial stories grow over time — just as the person did.