The innovative approach that breaks memoir paralysis.
Speak your story, skip the struggle; systematically complete the compelling personal narrative within you that seemed impossible to share.
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Sarah always thought she had a story to tell. But dismissed her ‘life’ as memoir-unworthy until she discovered a compelling multi-generational saga of economic anxiety, family resilience, and identity formation. Her transformation proves that countless people who face the challenge of writing and believe they lack memoir material are simply looking for a means and how to start… in the wrong places. This book shows you how to look in the right places and utilize what you find through an innovative approach.
A veteran writer, ghostwriter (40 books as of this writing), and publisher (with over 100 titles), Dennis Lowery, president of Adducent, A Story & Book Development Firm, brings over two decades of professional story development expertise to memoir writers through a unique method that works no matter your level of writing experience. It breaks memoir paralysis so you can complete the compelling personal narrative within you that seemed impossible to share.
TELL YOUR STORY: The Voice-First Method for Memoir Discovery introduces a systematic approach using spoken memory exploration and analysis with Google NotebookLM to uncover profound memoir material hidden in everyday life experiences, family relationships, and personal growth.
This Voice-First approach works better than writing for developing memoir content (most people can talk 2 to 3 times faster than they can type); and speaking accesses different neural pathways that unlock emotional narratives, sensory memories, and unconscious patterns that writing often blocks. Voice recordings create digital files ready for use with NotebookLM, removing the barrier between memory and systematic exploration.
The book provides step-by-step instructions for adding scanned traditional memoir materials while keeping the emotional authenticity discovered through voice as the foundation.
NotebookLM‘s conversational and analytical capabilities become a breakthrough tool. Beyond pattern recognition, memoirists can ask questions of their content, revealing hidden details, factual connections, and emotional threads that manual reading misses. Users uncover forgotten significance and connect scattered memories into coherent themes.
In Lowery’s experience with dozens of clients, their memoirs took years of traditional exploration, often with months- or years-long work stops-and-starts. For many, their story never fully emerged or took too long to form through conventional writing approaches. The Voice-First method streamlines memoir development while maintaining authenticity. It works regardless of writing experience.
The book provides comprehensive steps and implementation tools, including over 100 memory-triggering prompts, 65+ query templates, family collaboration protocols, and detailed guidance.
Drawing on Lowery’s two decades of experience, memoir development becomes achievable. Your story matters, and this method helps you find and shape it.
CONTENTS (page numbers from the upcoming print version)
PREFACE…. 1
PART I: THE PERSONAL MEMOIR…. 2
PART II: NotebookLM MASTERY FOR PERSONAL MEMOIR…. 30
PART III: TECHNICAL MASTERY AND CONTENT DEVELOPMENT…. 83
PART IV: PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION…. 138
PART V: ADVANCED TECHNIQUES AND INTEGRATION…. 233
PART VI: CASE STUDY AND RESOURCES…. 314
YOUR STORY MATTERS…. 339
APPENDIX…. 346
A: Voice Prompt Library for Personal Memoir…. 346
B: Query Template Library…. 353
C: Assessment and Planning Tools…. 357
D: Ethical Framework Resources…. 364
E: Third-Party Resources, Software, and Applications…. 374