Kia ora!
This is Charlotte, reaching out from Golden Bay after a weekend of talking memoirs at libraries on the West Coast of the South Island. Welcome to my (mostly) weekly coaching session Coasters!
Today I have an offering for both those who don’t feel comfortable writing and those who want to record ideas as they come to mind.
As a journalist I used to use this tool often, as it was the best way to record accurate information.
Many of us have phones these days, and you’ll find voice recording apps on most of those phones. You can download these apps, for free, onto your phone, from your App or PlayStore. My one’s called Voice Recorder, and you could search ‘voice recording.’
It’s best to have a digitised voice recorder, rather than your old dictaphone. What this means is you have the option to move those recordings around online, including sending them to family, or getting them transcribed into written words.
Once you have the voice recording app on your phone. All you need to do is make yourself a cuppa, sit down somewhere comfy, hit ‘record’ and start talking.
If you’re not sure where to start, choose the first topic that comes to mind, and let your thoughts flow out. As I always say, let the first draft be messy.
This is a simple, powerful way to record your story. What’s better than hearing it straight from you? Even if it never gets written, to have these stories, narrated by you, will be of great value to future generations.
So hit record and start talking!
To those who are writing. Keep going, just keep writing, one word at a time. Because your story matters.
Charlotte
PS if you want to dive deeper into the process of writing your memoir, with me beside you, check out my online course Write Your Memoir. You can do it at your own pace, from anywhere.
Charlotte Squire 