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RecipeTitle: A Recipe for Writing Family History

By: Devon Noel Lee

Format: Kindle

Published: 2018

My Rating:

Devon Noel Lee has put together a wonderful, practical guide outlining a simple seven-step process to get people over the hump of writing their family history. Using the recipe analogy, she likens the writing process to preparing a dish—“you will gather your ingredients and mix them together and have something worth sharing at the end (location 145).

Written in an upbeat, conversational tone, Lee guides you through her writing process, which is actually a superb method because it breaks the project into manageable steps. These simple steps will help keep you from becoming overwhelmed because you’re focusing on one thing at a time. She provides illustrative examples during each step, so you really get an understanding of how to write a good story about your ancestors. There are a ton of ideas to get you thinking outside the box.

Lee suggests you stop reading after each step to practice what was presented. While I didn’t take that approach, and therefore did not have anything written by the time I finished the book, I felt a wild sense of motivation that I haven’t had in a long time. I really like Lee’s approach and plan to use the process and her many ideas to continue writing about my own family. In fact, I may participate in the upcoming Family History Writing Challenge in February—with this process, I think I could get a lot done in those 28 days. Heck, I may just drop everything and start on a project now!

I initially obtained the Kindle version through my Kindle Unlimited subscription, but it really is a great reference that I’ll refer to often, so I purchased the Kindle version (a paperback version is also available).

I don’t normally “thank” an author in my reviews, but since I am a proponent of getting people to share their family stories (and need to do a better job of practicing what I preach), I feel like I own Lee a big “thank you” for putting this book together. I am highly motivated upon finding such a simple method (while at the same time thinking, why didn’t I think of that!). And I hope that others will pick up this book a find the same encouragement to start writing their own family stories.

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