# Willow Stories — Biography Writing Platform > Willow Stories helps families deepen their connections by capturing and preserving life stories together. Through guided interviews, photo and video collection, guest contributions, and collaborative writing, Willow helps you organize meaningful conversations into a beautiful, shareable biography. The platform is designed for adult children and grandchildren who want to record the life story of someone they love. ## What Willow Stories Is Willow Stories is a digital biography writing platform built around one idea: the most meaningful gift you can give your family is time spent together, having real conversations. Rather than simply producing a book, Willow focuses on the process of capturing a life story. It provides structured tools for interviewing a loved one, collecting photos and memories from across the family, and organising everything into a cohesive narrative. The result is a shared biography that brings together voices, images, and stories from multiple contributors. Willow is particularly suited for: - Adult children who want to capture a parent's life story before those memories fade - Grandchildren who want to preserve a grandparent's experiences and wisdom - Families who want to gather scattered photos and memories into one place - Anyone creating a biographical record of someone they care about ## The Biography Product ### The Process Creating a biography with Willow is built around gathering content from multiple sources and weaving it together into a single, organised story. **Gathering content:** - **Guided interviews** — Structured conversation guides with thoughtful, meaningful questions organised by topic. Record audio during the interview and Willow transcribes it automatically - **Photo and video collection** — Gather photos and videos from across the family, from phone cameras to old albums - **Audio recordings** — Short audio clips that can be uploaded or recorded on the go, separate from guided interviews - **Guest submissions** — Invite family and friends to contribute their own memories: - **Q&A responses** — Answers to questions about what the person means to them - **Letters** — Personal letters written to the person whose story is being told - **Collaborative writing** — Write and edit the story together using the built-in section editor - **Notes** — Private notes for planning and organising story content (not visible in the final story) - **AI conversations** — Interactive conversations that help develop story content by asking follow-up questions and exploring memories in depth **Curating and organising:** - **Timeline** — A chronological timeline of life events, curated by you and displayed on the digital story - **Slideshow** — Curated photo slideshows that appear within the digital story - **Insights** — Reflections and meaningful takeaways from the gathered content, which you curate and edit **Outputs — how the story is shared:** - **Digital story** — The primary output: a beautifully organised, shareable website that brings together all the memories, photos, recordings, and writing - **Printed book** — A professionally printed biographical book - **EPUB** — An eBook version for e-readers and tablets - **ZIP export** — A complete archive of everything in the story (all content, photos, media) for backup and offline storage; can also be re-imported ### Time Capsules Willow also includes a standalone time capsule feature. Users can create messages — with photos, videos, audio, and rich text — to be delivered to a recipient in the future. Three delivery mechanisms are available: - **Specific date** — Delivered on a chosen date - **Age-based** — Delivered when the recipient reaches a certain age - **Manually triggered** — Released by a trusted contact (e.g. after the creator's passing) Time capsules support multiple security levels including email verification, password protection, and security questions. ## How It Works 1. **Sign up for a free trial** — Create an account and start a 14-day free trial. No credit card required 2. **Complete the onboarding wizard** — Set up the biography by entering details about yourself and the person whose story you want to capture. Choose topics, upload a few photos, and personalise the experience 3. **Start a guided interview** — Sit down together and use Willow's guided interview questions to have a meaningful conversation. Press record and Willow turns it into text 4. **Invite family and friends** — Send invitations so others can contribute their own photos, memories, letters, and Q&A responses 5. **Organise and edit** — Arrange content into sections, curate a timeline, create slideshows, and edit the text. Use AI conversations to develop content further 6. **Publish and share** — When you are ready, publish the digital story and share it with family. Order a printed book or download an EPUB or ZIP export ## Plans Willow offers three plan tiers for the biography product. ### Basic (Free) - Create and organise a biography - Unlimited photos, videos, and audio uploads - Timeline - Sections and collaborative writing - Private visibility only - No AI features - No guest invitations ### Standard Everything in Basic, plus: - AI-guided interviews with transcription - AI conversations for content development - Guest invitations (family and friends can contribute letters and Q&A responses) - Slideshow creation - Time capsules - Insights (AI-generated reflections) - Public, protected, or private visibility - Generous AI credits included - 1 story included ### Premium Everything in Standard, plus: - Priority support - More generous AI credits - 3 stories included (e.g. one for mum, one for dad, one for a grandparent) - Advanced access controls Monthly and annual billing options available. ## Free Trial - **Duration**: 14 days - **Credit card**: Not required - **What is included**: Full Standard plan features, including AI-guided interviews, AI conversations, guest invitations, and all content tools - **AI tokens during trial**: 5,000 tokens (enough to try the AI features) - **Limit**: One trial per user - **What happens after**: When the trial ends, the biography becomes private. All content is preserved. Upgrade at any time to restore sharing and continue using paid features. No automatic charges ## Use Cases ### Writing a parent's biography An adult child sits down with their mum or dad over a series of conversations, using Willow's guided interview questions to draw out memories and stories. Photos from old albums are uploaded, siblings contribute their own memories, and the result is a comprehensive biography that captures a full life. ### Capturing a grandparent's stories A grandchild uses Willow to record their grandparent's experiences — childhood memories, career stories, family traditions, and life lessons. The audio recordings preserve their voice, and the digital story becomes a family resource that younger generations can explore. ### Preserving family heritage A family uses Willow to gather memories, photos, and stories from multiple relatives. Each person contributes through guest submissions, and the combined result is a rich biographical record that connects generations and preserves cultural heritage. ### Memorial and legacy projects After someone has passed, family members use Willow to bring together photos, recordings, and written memories into a biographical tribute. Guest invitations allow friends and extended family to contribute, creating a comprehensive memorial. ## Key Features - **Guided interviews** — Structured questions designed to draw out meaningful stories, with audio recording and automatic transcription - **Photo and video collection** — Upload from phones, scan old prints, or pull from family albums. Unlimited storage on paid plans - **Guest invitations** — Invite family and friends to contribute letters and Q&A responses about the person - **Collaborative writing** — Write and edit the story together using the built-in section editor - **Timeline** — Chronological record of life events displayed on the digital story - **Slideshow** — Curated photo collections presented as slideshows within the story - **Audio recording** — Record conversations and short audio clips directly in the platform - **AI conversations** — Interactive conversations that help develop story content by asking follow-up questions and exploring memories - **Insights** — Reflections and takeaways from gathered content, which you curate and edit - **Time capsules** — Create messages for future delivery with photos, videos, audio, and rich text - **Real-time collaboration** — Multiple users can work on the story simultaneously - **Multi-language support** — Available in English, Spanish, French, and German - **Digital story** — A shareable website bringing together all content - **Printed book** — Professionally printed biographical book - **EPUB** — eBook format for e-readers and tablets - **ZIP export** — Complete archive for backup and offline storage ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How much does Willow cost? Willow offers a free Basic plan with limited features. Paid plans (Standard and Premium) include AI features, guest invitations, and full sharing options. Premium adds priority support and up to 3 stories. ### Is there a free trial? Yes. You can try the full Standard plan for 14 days, free, with no credit card required. One trial per user. ### What happens to my content if I do not subscribe? Your content is always preserved. If your trial expires or you downgrade to Basic, the biography becomes private but nothing is deleted. You can upgrade at any time to restore sharing and access paid features. ### Can multiple family members contribute? Yes. On Standard and Premium plans, you can send guest invitations to family and friends. They can contribute photos, written memories, letters, and answers to guided questions — all without needing their own Willow account. ### Can multiple people edit the story at the same time? Yes. Willow supports real-time collaborative editing. Multiple users can work on the story simultaneously, with changes synced in real time. ### What languages does Willow support? The platform is available in English, Spanish, French, and German. All interface elements, guided questions, and AI features work in all four languages. ### Can I print the biography as a book? Yes. Standard and Premium plans include the option to generate a professionally formatted printed book from the biography content. ### Can I export my data? Yes. You can download a complete ZIP archive of your story, including all text, photos, videos, and audio. This archive can also be re-imported into Willow. ### Is my data secure? Willow takes privacy seriously. Stories are private by default. You control who can view or contribute to your story. Protected stories require a password to access. All data is stored securely and can be exported at any time. ## Published Stories - [Ein Andenken an Otto Schenk](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/otto-schenk) - [Géraldine Rollin](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Geraldine-Rollin) - [Marc Desvignes](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Marc-Desvignes) - [Gwen & Hervé](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Gwen-Herve) - [Margot Ganser-Skofic ](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Margot-Ganser-Skofic) - [Maurice Lefebvre](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Maurice-Lefebvre) - [Wir feiern das Leben von Walther Soyka](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Walther-Soyka) - [Anniversaire de Papi](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Nicolas-Fischer) - [Andre Desvignes - Papoune](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Andre-Desvignes) - [Frank Michanowicz](https://app.willow-stories.com/stories/Frank-Michanowicz) ## Links - [Landing Page](https://app.willow-stories.com/en/landing/biography) - [Free Trial](https://app.willow-stories.com/en/trial/biography) - [Plans and Pricing](https://app.willow-stories.com/en/landing/biography) - [Terms of Service](https://willow-stories.com/terms) - [Privacy Policy](https://willow-stories.com/impressum/)