There are four main ways to record a parent’s life story. A written life story book, such as Storyworth or a ghostwritten memoir from StoryTerrace. A voice-led service, such as Remento, which turns spoken answers into a book. A recording you make yourself, with a phone and a clip-on microphone. And a director-led portrait film. A book keeps the words. A voice-led book keeps the words and the voice. Film — whether you make it or we do — keeps the face, the hands, and the pause before the difficult part. The right choice depends on what you want to keep, how your parent likes to tell a story, and how much time either of you can give it.
If you are reading this, you have probably already decided the important thing: that a parent’s life should be recorded while there’s still time. What follows is a fair comparison. In some families, a book is simply the better answer.
The four ways, side by side
| Written life story book | Voice-led book | Recording it yourself | Director-led portrait film | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | Storyworth; StoryTerrace (ghostwritten memoir) | Remento | A phone, a small tripod, a clip-on microphone | The Open Journal |
| What it keeps | Their words | Their words and their voice | Voice, face, and gesture — as well as you can record them | Voice, face, gesture, and the pause, shaped into a portrait |
| What it asks of your parent | Writing answers to weekly questions, or sitting for interviews with a writer | Speaking answers to prompts | Several sessions of about an hour | A first conversation, then one or two filming days |
| What it asks of you | Setting it up, and gentle reminders | Setting it up, and gentle reminders | All of it: asking, recording, storing, and editing | Commissioning it, and helping plan the day |
| Rough cost | Tens of pounds to a few hundred; a ghostwritten memoir costs more | Tens of pounds to a few hundred | Little beyond a microphone and a tripod | From £2,250 |
| What you hold at the end | A printed book | A printed book, with a QR code in each chapter that plays the original recording | Files, once you copy them off the phone | A full-length archive, a 60-minute shaped edit, 2 to 4 short clips, a private family page, and a hard drive in a presentation case |
| Who it suits | Parents who like to write, or who want a finished memoir without writing it | Parents who talk more easily than they write | Families who want to begin now | Families who want to see and hear them, for generations |
Costs for the book and app services are broad bands. Check each service directly for current prices and features.
A written life story book
Storyworth emails your parent a question each week. They write an answer. At the end, the answers are bound into a book.
What it keeps is the words, and considered ones. Your parent chooses what to include and how to put it. For someone who writes letters, keeps a diary, or prefers to think before they speak, that is exactly right. The book sits on a shelf where a grandchild can take it down at Christmas.
What it asks is steady discipline. Some parents love it and write pages. Others stall a few weeks in, and the reminders fall to you.
StoryTerrace works differently. A ghostwriter interviews your parent and writes a memoir in their voice. Your parent talks; someone else does the writing. What you gain is a finished, well-shaped book, without asking your parent to write a word. What changes is that the words pass through another writer’s hands. It costs more than a question-a-week book, because a person’s time is involved.
A written book is the gentlest option for someone who wants control over every sentence. That matters.
What a book can’t keep is the sound of them. The laugh at the end of a story. The way they say a name they haven’t said in years. And a written answer is, almost by design, the second draft. The unguarded thing usually doesn’t make it to the page.
A voice-led book
Remento asks your parent to speak their answers rather than write them. Those recordings are turned into a written book, with a QR code in each chapter that plays the original recording.
This keeps a great deal. The voice carries more than people expect: the pace, the hesitations, the moment the tone drops. For a parent who would never write a page but will happily talk for an hour, it removes the biggest obstacle. And you still get a book to hold.
The limit is that your parent is talking to a phone, on their own. Nobody is there to say “go on”, or to ask who else was in the room. Nobody waits in the silence after an answer. So what you tend to get is the first answer — the one they have told before. It is still worth having. It is rarely the whole of it.
Recording it yourself
The most accessible option is the one already in your pocket. A recent phone on a small tripod, a clip-on microphone, a quiet room with soft furnishings, and several sessions of about an hour spread over a few weeks. We have written a full guide to how to preserve your family’s story on film, with the kit, the room, and how to keep the files safe.
Recording it yourself keeps everything a camera can see: the face, the hands, the way they turn a photograph over to read the back. It costs almost nothing. It can start this weekend.
The difficulty is not technical. Filming someone you love is harder than it looks. You already know the stories, so you don’t ask about them. And your parent performs slightly, because the person holding the phone is their child. None of this is a reason not to do it. It is a reason to prepare. A good list of questions to ask your parents about their life helps more than any piece of equipment.
Even an hour of someone’s voice, recorded properly, is enough to keep. Don’t wait for a perfect version.
A director-led portrait film
A personal documentary is a portrait film made by someone who has no personal stake in the answers. That is the whole difference, and it matters more than the camera.
At The Open Journal, Pri directs every film. Pri studied psychology before he became a filmmaker, and the first hour is simply a conversation — no camera, no agenda beyond getting to know the person. By the time filming begins, your parent has already been listened to. Then come one or two filming days, somewhere that feels like theirs. Then weeks in the edit, finding the shape of a life inside hours of recorded material. Most commissions take 8 to 16 weeks from first conversation to delivery.
What you receive is the full-length archive of everything recorded, a 60-minute shaped edit, 2 to 4 short thematic clips, a private family landing page, and a hard drive in a presentation case. Core Portrait starts from £2,250. Extended Chronicle starts from £3,500 and also suits a couple. Signature Opus starts from £5,000. All three can be paid in instalments over 3 or 6 months. There is a fuller breakdown in how much a personal documentary costs in the UK.
What film keeps that the others can’t is the face while they remember. The half-second before they decide to tell you. The hands. The silence after the story, which is often where the real one begins. A skilled listener who is not their child can ask the follow-up question, and wait. And a shaped edit can be watched in one sitting, decades from now, by someone who never met them. You can see what that looks like in our films.
It is also the most expensive option here, by a distance. It asks your parent to be seen, which not everyone wants. And it is not the right form for a parent who thinks best on paper.
When the others are the better choice
Be honest with yourself about your parent, not about the idea of them.
- If they write beautifully, a book of their own words may be the truest record you could make. A film would be a translation.
- If a camera would make them close up, start with a voice-led book or an audio recording. The voice alone is a real inheritance.
- If the budget isn’t there, record it yourself. A phone recording made this year is worth more than a film planned for a year that never comes.
- If you want something to pass round the table, a printed book does that better than anything on a screen.
Film earns its cost when the thing you most want to keep is the person themselves — how they sit, how they laugh, how they hold a silence — rather than a record of what they said.
Combining them
These options are not rivals. Several of the best family archives use more than one.
A book, then a film. A year of written answers becomes the research for a film. The book tells you which stories exist. The film goes back to the three or four that matter most, and asks about them properly.
A book of letters and a recorded conversation. Letters keep what a parent chose to say. A conversation keeps how they say it. Side by side, they are a remarkable pair.
Your own recordings now, a film later. Record what you can while it’s easy to. Keep the files twice. If you commission a film later, an Extended Chronicle can weave in archive material — photographs, home films, letters.
A shared gift. Siblings sometimes give a question-a-week book to one parent and commission a film together for the other. For a parent who says they need nothing, either can be the right gift; there is more in gifts for elderly parents who have everything.
How to choose
Three questions are worth sitting with.
What do you want the grandchildren to have — their words, their voice, or their face? How does your parent tell a story best — on paper, out loud, or across a table from someone listening? And how much time can each of you honestly give it?
If the answer points to a book, choose a book. If it points to film, and you would like us to make it, register interest and Pri will be in touch.
Questions
What is the best Storyworth alternative in the UK?
It depends what you want to keep. If your parent would rather talk than write, a voice-led service such as Remento turns spoken answers into a book and keeps the recordings. If they want a finished memoir without doing the writing, StoryTerrace pairs them with a ghostwriter. If you want to keep their face and voice as well as their words, record them on film, either yourself with a phone and a clip-on microphone, or with a director-led portrait film.
Is a life story book or a film better for recording a parent’s life?
Neither is better in general. A book keeps the words, and suits a parent who likes to write or think before they speak. A film keeps the face, the voice, the hands, and the pause before a difficult answer. Many families find the two work well together: a book to pass round the table, and a film to watch.
How much does it cost to record a parent’s life story?
Recording it yourself costs little beyond a clip-on microphone and a small tripod. Book and app services typically cost tens of pounds to a few hundred; a ghostwritten memoir costs more. A director-led portrait film from The Open Journal starts from £2,250 for a Core Portrait, with instalments over 3 or 6 months.
How much work does a life story book ask of my parent?
A question-a-week book asks your parent to write regularly, often over many months. A voice-led app asks them to speak their answers instead, which many people find easier. A ghostwritten memoir asks them to sit for interviews while someone else writes. A portrait film asks for a first conversation and one or two filming days.
Can I combine a life story book with a film?
Yes, and it often works well. A written book can become the research for a film, pointing to the stories worth asking about on camera. A book of letters sits naturally beside a recorded conversation. Phone recordings made now are worth keeping, whatever you decide later.
Can I record my parent’s life story myself?
Yes. A recent phone on a small tripod, a clip-on microphone, a quiet room, and several sessions of about an hour will give you something worth keeping. The hardest part is not the kit. It is asking a follow-up question, and then waiting through the silence for the real answer.