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Do you want to write your own biography and don't know how to do it? You don't know how to start telling your life story? Don't know what should be part of the story and what shouldn't?
You may not know it, but people love to peek behind the scenes of other people's lives, especially the rich and famous.
Generally, people want to know everything there is to know about everyone.
So, it's no wonder to me that many autobiographies (by actors, musicians, politicians, and sports stars) make it onto the bestseller list.
And for authors, autobiographies offer the chance to share events in their lives with the world.
Are you thinking about writing your own biography and don't know how to go about it? Unsure how to start telling your life story? Don't know what should be part of the story and what shouldn't?
If you're worried about these things, this article is for you!
I'll discuss everything you need to know about writing an autobiography: the difference between autobiographies and other biographies, the key elements of an autobiography, how to write an autobiography, and more.
It's a non-fiction story about someone's life, written by the person whose life is being told in the biography.
So, an autobiography is a biography written by its subject, unlike other subgenres of the broader biography genre.
Standard biographies are written by someone other than the subject, making autobiographies more intriguing because the story is told directly.
Since the subject is telling their own life story in an autobiography, the story typically includes the most meaningful moments, people, and events in the subject's life from birth to the time of writing or publication.
Alright, let's discuss the broader biography first. Since an autobiography is a subgenre of biography, they are one and the same. The only difference, as I've briefly explained, is that other biographies are written about the subject by someone else other than the subject, whereas an autobiography is a person's life history written by that person.
Biographers are skilled at studying and researching their subjects; conversely, an autobiographical writer already knows their subject.
Now, you should know that Autobiography and Memoir are somewhat similar, but Memoir differs from Autobiography in this aspect:
Memoirs are used to elucidate larger themes or ideas and, instead of telling the writer's life story in a chronological narrative, focus on personal experience and emotional truth to tell a compelling story with a theme behind it.
Now that you have a good understanding of what an autobiography is, let me introduce you to its key features.
As a genre, autobiography has several technical elements. Let's look at some of them:
Every writer has a purpose for writing a book. You don't just wake up one day and say, "I'm going to write a book just for the sake of writing, without a purpose or message."
Clearly, the purpose of an autobiography is to provide an overview of the author's life up to that point.
Yes, this is nonfiction, and the events have already happened, so they're usually written in the past tense.
However, most autobiographies end with the present tense, and in some cases, the tense shifts to future tense towards the end of the book.
This feature of autobiographies isn't always the same in every book, but most books in this genre have a similar structure.
One feature under the structure is chronological order. Because the book recounts significant events in the author's life, it's usually written in chronological order. And to indicate this chronology, the author uses time transition words like afterward, before, then, finally, etc.
Autobiographies, like other biographies, tell real stories, so the author usually uses real names of people, places, and events. Additionally, the book often describes specific details such as time, date, place, and similar details.
It includes personal memories and details as well as specific descriptions.
Well-written autobiographies don't just spill the story on their readers; the authors also offer some observations and analytical reflections on how the events mentioned in the book shaped them. The authors also use the autobiography to share their feelings, thoughts, and plans for the future.
Some autobiographies include important photos that provide a visual insight into the story for the readers.
Writing an autobiography isn't complicated, but you need to know how to do it, so this is the most important part of this article, especially if you don't understand the process of writing an autobiography.
Here's a step-by-step guide to writing an autobiography:
This is the stage where you sit down and try to pick out the most relevant events in your life. You gather all life experiences that you think are worth reading. First, you make a list of all the interesting or life-changing experiences from childhood to the present (from playing in your backyard as a kid, to high school memories, to your first day at your first job), then choose the cream of the crop from that list.
While most early events won't make it to the final list, still write down those events?it's better to have too many options than too few.
Some things you can include in your initial list are:
You've written down all those important events, places, and people, what do you do next?
Organize your list.
The items on your list should be grouped into sub-categories, and items within the same sub-category should be similar or in the same category?create subgroups for important events, important people, life lessons, challenges, successes, etc.
This order will help you in the next step
By recounting the complete life story of this legend, Nelson Mandela's autobiography tells the world how great he was as a man and leader. The book narrates his story from his childhood, through his youth, facing apartheid and becoming a freedom fighter, his 27 years of imprisonment, and the crucial role he played in building a new and democratic South Africa.
It's a book you read if you feel you have a purpose to fulfill in life.
After reading this autobiography, you realize that this was the greatest teenage girl who ever lived.
Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl, who, along with millions of other Jews, perished at the hands of the Nazi regime, gave us this beautiful work. In 1942, thirteen-year-old Anne and her family left their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
She recounts her experiences during this period in a wise, touching, and humorous manner. The book gives the world her perspective on human courage, weakness, friendship, and loneliness.
The Nazis may have taken the life of such a beautiful soul sooner than anyone good expected, but her legacy remains alive through this autobiography.
Who wouldn't want to uncover the story behind the Queen of Mystery?
Different from Mandela and Anne Frank, Christie was actually one of the most influential and fascinating novelists in the world, and you know her story will be told cleverly.
In this book, readers get to know Agatha Christie's life story told in her own words starting from her childhood, her relationship with her mother and her mother's death, the tragic events that impacted her, her two marriages, her first husband's infidelity, and notably, about her writing.
You can write your autobiography as you please, but remember that an autobiography is a story.
Much focus should be given to the narrative. The book will be as good as the writer's storytelling ability.
Your autobiography should have all the necessary elements of a story, such as a plot (which is easier to create because you already know the whole story), character casts, conflict, resolution, and so on.
With all this, the secret ingredient remains honesty. After all, people want to read real-life stories.
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