Find and Tell Your Stories
52 thoughtful story prompts along with my full process, all in one place!
Your Story Matters More Than You Know
What are your struggles and triumphs, failures and successes? Where have you been, and who have you loved deeply? This book offers fifty-two story prompts to unearth the path you’ve walked and the moments you’ve held dear. It also guides you through telling your stories, one paragraph at a time, even if you don’t like to write. Explore your life with an open heart, and you’ll be gifted insights—and connections with loved ones—you’ll forever cherish.
“What a gift this beautiful book will be to the people lucky enough to read and act on it.” —Bernadette Jiwa, best-selling author of Story Driven
April Bell is the founder of Tree of Life Legacies and the co-creator of StoryCatcher® for iPhone. She helps elders and professionals unlock the power of personal storytelling through workshops, video interviews, and consulting.
Excerpts from the book…
Finding Your Stories
“Here’s something I’ve learned over the years—telling our stories can actually be fun! Even when you’re just telling them to yourself. You might be surprised by who ends up interested in your tales.”
“Something wonderful happens once you’ve gathered even a small collection of stories—you start to see patterns in your life. Your strengths, your struggles, where you’ve grown and why.”
“When professionals learn to share their personal stories at work, something beautiful happens. Instead of just presenting data or strategies, they share the values and experiences that have shaped their thinking.”
—excerpted from My Life in Paragraphs: Find and Tell Your Stories by April Bell
More about the book…
Your wisdom lives inside your stories. Delight in discovering them: the fifty-two life story prompts in this thoughtful book will shine a light and show the way.
My Life In Paragraphs is for the “reluctant storyteller,” the person who doubts anybody cares to know the details of their lives, worries their personal stories don’t deserve to take up time, and yet, has gained invaluable insights whenever they’ve taken a moment to reflect.
This book can help you:
- Communicate what you’ve held dear over the years—your most cherished values
- See what losses and gains shaped your life
- Develop the skills and confidence to effectively tell the stories you unearth, whether at home or at work
- Positively impact the lives of loved ones and strangers alike
- Build more genuine connections in both personal and professional relationships
Why tell stories?
Because telling each other stories reveals what made us who we are. It allows us to witness one another; we learn who we’ve shown up for and who showed up for us.
Our stories create meaning, connection, direction, and a sense of awe and gratitude, whether shared with loved ones or in the workplace. Stories matter.
Our stories create meaning, connection, direction, and a sense of awe and gratitude, whether shared with loved ones or in the workplace. Stories matter.
This is the discovery author April Bell, a former reluctant storyteller, made when she took the questions she poses to her legacy video clients—and turned them on herself.
What’s in this book?
My Life In Paragraphs is centered on fifty-two thought-provoking story prompts. They’re arranged into four themes.
Earth: Grounding and Values
Air: Hopes and Dreams
Fire: Passions and Motivations
Water: Emotions
April guides you by the hand through these questions, and her one-paragraph-at-a-time method of storytelling that gathers momentum with each gentle step, no writing skills required.
For inspiration, you can read essays about the journey of others who overcame reluctance, dug into their stories, and found clarity they didn’t even know was missing.
The process will guide you to “your story.” You’ll arrive there with more ease than you ever imagined, and be amazed by its richness.
The process will guide you to “your story.” You’ll arrive there with more ease than you ever imagined, and be amazed by its richness.
The second half of the book includes tips for crafting and sharing your story—so whether you “publish” in a conversation with a loved one, a handwritten note, or an iPhone app for capturing and sharing videos, you’ll know exactly what to do.
Why give the My Life In Paragraphs process a try?
Open this book and enjoy the fun, discovery, and magic that transpire when you let go of being a “reluctant storyteller” and bring your stories to life, one paragraph at a time.
Reviews
“What a gift this beautiful book will be to the people lucky enough to read and act on it.”
-Bernadette Jiwa, bestselling author of Story Driven
“What April crafted guides you deeper and deeper and deeper into the story until you're face to face with the actual values you hold most dear. And that's the moment when you realize, ‘Oh, I see why this works.’”
—Dan Senter, spiritual leader
“I help musicians create stories with their instrumental songs - many of them also want to do the same with words, but get overwhelmed. These prompts are a fantastic tool for helping people get in touch with deep and interesting aspects of their lives right away. You can tell the author has done this for a long time because the prompts are very straightforward but powerful. In music, you have to learn a certain grammar to put together a meaningful piece. Similarly, these prompts offer a clear structure to build upon. I’ve read some other books on how to write, but they get bogged down in technicalities fast. Somehow, this book bypasses all of this and gets people opening up and communicating right away. It’s so elegant and fun to use!"
—Diana Rowan, professional musician and creativity teacher
“Leaders looking to cultivate trust, connection, and a vibrant work culture benefit from using the power of sharing stories that align with their values. I've found that by digging deep and sharing our own authentic stories, we can truly transform loyalty and productivity. April's book My Life in Paragraphs: Find and Tell Your Stories offers a solid roadmap to help you do just that. It's a useful tool for creating a lasting impact.”
—Mike Robbins, best-selling author of Bring Your Whole Self To Work
I bought this book for myself but enjoyed it so much that I ended up giving my copy to my dad for his birthday. What a great gift for a loved one. In my dad's case, I suggested he use the audio notes function on his phone to record his answers to the prompts, and then we can transcribe later into a little book! I found the book overall very inspirational and loved the opening chapters where the author shares about how reluctant storytellers can engage with the process... and learn to love it! Well done!
—Sandra Harris, author of Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide to Plastic-Free Living
"I read a lot of storytelling books. And I am happy that I picked this book up. First of all, it's beautifully written and was very practical in giving me the how-to, and very easy-to-digest prompts to help unearth my stories. Not only was I informed, I am inspired. Loved it! ❤️”
—Enrika Greathouse, creative entrepreneur; founder of Small Gorilla Marketing
“A perfect book for a lot of different situations: Whether you’re a memoirist, journaler, fiction writer, or someone wanting to explore and make sense of your own life, this book will help. April’s introductory stories are engaging, compelling, and heartwarming. They reveal her expertise and her open-hearted humanity. (We all would enjoy being interviewed by her.) The questions she offers are rich [story] prompts. The book is beautiful as an object. Money well spent. A great gift for a loved one or yourself.”
—Michelle Spencer, writer/storyteller
"As a scientist, I've spent my life seeing stories in data; April's process has taught me to recognize the power in each individual human story. The prompts look deceptively simple but are truly thought-provoking. April’s "My Life in Paragraphs" framework is comprehensive, leaving you feeling like you've done a deep dive into the meaning and impact of your life and story.”
—Dr. Ann Blake, environmental scientist, changemaker, memoirist
“As a creative director, I learned early on that brands that allow their audiences to feel safe, heard, intelligent, and worthy are the ones people love most. April’s approach does all of this and her book is a great starting point for people to tell their stories with pride and grace.”
—Jon Soto, creative director
“You know how sometimes what happens in your life, you never really look at what you learned from it? The questions prompted me to really see what I learned, what my values were, and how I grew.”
—Carolyn Goto, workshop participant
“Wow! What a beautiful and practically useful book. It is written in such a clear and accessible way, that I can imagine using the prompts and process and came away with the motivation to explore my personal stories and those of others too.”
—Laurie Senter, educator
“Hearing story examples of what’s been important to other people helped me go further in my own thinking about what I want to pass on.”
—Steve Alparone, workshop participant
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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
—Maya Angelou
My Story
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April Bell ~ Storytelling with Heart
As a child, I spent my days listening to stories from whichever elder neighbor would have me. More recently, I’ve turned my wisdom-mining process into a book called My Life in Paragraphs: Find and Tell Your Stories. Because my storytelling focus leans toward the spoken word, people daunted by writing love my approach.
I am the founder at Tree of Life Legacies, a storytelling and wisdom-keeping project based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2008, I’ve been helping people find and tell the origin stories behind their values, often on video. I am co-creator of StoryCatcher® for iPhone.
What’s your story?
What’s your story?