Writers, Here’s Why Exploring Your Family History Can Enrich Your Work
How Writers Can Use Family History To Build Emotionally Rich Biopics, Novels, And Historical Films
The Need to Tell A Specific Story May Run Deeper Than You Think
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As a writer, when an idea first sparks in your mind, you want to capture it—whether it’s for a story or a film.
But before diving into your project, it’s worth exploring why this idea resonates so strongly with you.
Understanding the roots of your storytelling drive can make your work richer and more impactful.
Here are 7 questions to help you reflect on your own history before you start creating.
1. Are there personal connections to history?
Could your family history reveal deep connections to historical events that might enrich your project?
For example, if your grandfather was a factory worker during the Great Depression, your project could explore how the economic downturn shaped your family’s resilience.
Reading my own grandfather’s letters when he was about to be shipped off to Russia as a soldier during the Second World War was heartbreaking. Only then was I able to write a better chapter in a biography I was writing when the young man was also shipped off to the Russian front.
By weaving bits and pieces of the anxiety theseGerman men voiced into my book, I could add an authentic layer of fear, hope and endurance to my protagonist’s journey.
2. Could you be carrying inherited trauma?
Do emotional themes like loss, survival or conflict in your work stem from past family experiences? If so, consider how these inherited themes might influence your storytelling.
I collaborated with a writer who initially wrote a generic war manuscript. the topic if loss bubbled up again and again, but it didn’t click yet… However, as we explored his family history, we found out that his grandfather had been a child refugee during WWII. He had been taken from Berlin to England with a so-called ‘Kindertransport’ (children’s transport). He was adopted by strangers and brought up in the south of England. He never saw his German family again; they had died in the war and in concentration camps. Nor did he ever speak German again...
The focus of the script shifted to the trauma of displacement, which made the final version far more compelling and personal.
3. Does your heritage inspire you?
Are the cultural traditions, migrations, or struggles in your background a source of authentic, compelling storytelling material?
For instance, if your family’s migration journey is a central part of your heritage, it could inspire themes of displacement, homecoming or identity in your work.
One writer I consulted wanted to portray a family’s struggle in post-war Britain. We incorporated his own family’s experience of immigrating to Australia in the 1950s, turning the narrative into a moving story about adaptation and belonging.
4. Do your personal struggles reflect historical moments?
Could your own family’s challenges mirror broader historical events, helping you create more relatable and powerful narratives?
If so, consider setting your narrative against a similar backdrop to add resonance and authenticity to your characters’ struggles. For example, I assisted an author whose mother had faced job discrimination in the 1970s—because she wore trousers!
By placing her character in a similar period and focusing on the historical backdrop of the Women’s Liberation Movement, we added a powerful layer of historical context that strengthened the protagonist’s arc.
5. Have you felt the impact of social or political change?
Could your project explore how societal shifts shaped your family’s fate?
For instance, if your family was affected by the fall of the Berlin Wall or changes in immigration laws, these events could serve as powerful backdrops for your narrative.
Once, I helped a novelist trace how the GDR’s surveillance culture influenced her father’s decisions, which added layers of suspense and moral complexity to her thriller. For hours, I listened to recordings of the ‘Staatssicherheit’ (the Secret Service, or Intelligence Service of East Germany) interrogating—and threatening—potential informants.
Then I sent the author a selection of these audios, and mentioned: Her father must have sat in similar interrogations.
This helped her understand the constant pressure much, much better, so that she could write about it. For both of us, it was eerie to know that these Stasi officers who ran the interrogations are probably still alive somewhere in Germany...
6. Does your family have a legacy of activism or resistance?
Have members of your family been involved in protests, civil rights movements, or political resistance?
These legacies can offer a wealth of inspiration for powerful stories of courage, perseverance, or defiance. A client I worked with initially wrote a simple adventure story—but after researching his grandmother’s involvement in the Anti-Apartheid Movement and deciphering her letters from these adventurous days, he transformed it into a historical novel that illuminated a pivotal moment in history.
Another example: Kate Winslet has been working on her upcoming film LEE for eight(!) years... she says she’s determined to tell Lee Miller’s story from the *female* gaze, not the male gaze. I would love to ask her about the motivation to research, write and produce this story… Because telling the story of the war photographer from a female perspective is a form of activism in itself.
7. Is storytelling perhaps a way to heal?
Could telling your family’s untold stories be a healing journey? Could it bring personal resolution to your creative work?
One client found that by weaving his family’s story of surveillance behind the Iron Curtain into his novel, he not only created a gripping narrative but also confronted long-buried emotions.
Exploring the pain of separation and loss became part of his own healing process, enriching the work and giving it an emotional depth that resonated deeply with readers. Read more in this article here.
Why Every Writer Should Tap into Their Personal History for Deeper Stories
Your personal story has the power to shape and deepen your creative work. By uncovering your family’s past, you can bring new, authentic insights to the historical stories you tell.
Whether it’s for healing or inspiration, don’t hesitate to explore your personal themes and let their underlying message flow into the projects you’re passionate about.
One way to find out?
Ask your parents. Ask your grandparents.
Ask Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Erwin about their past.
Ask if they attended or witnessed any important historical events.
Ask how they felt.
Then ask how they really felt back then.
Do not just read this article. Print it.
Journal about these 7 questions before your next project, and see what unexpected stories emerge.
Here’s to turning research into remarkable stories,
~ Barbara
Historical Consultant | withdrbarbara.com
This is great. I wish I’d thought to ask my grandma for more of her stories when she was still able to tell them. I’d love to see a post from you about historical fiction/fantasy, as a historical fantasy author!
Sorry. I read literally *every* genre but thrillers and fantasy... Wrong person to ask this, I'm afraid. But two of my best author friend write fantasy with a historical backdrop, f.i. time travel to Versailles, or Edinburgh. Or dystopic fantasy loosely based on Greek myths