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Blog • Perfecting your Craft
Posted on Jun 05, 2024
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How to Write an Autobiography: The Story of Your Life
Anyone who’s lived a long, interesting life (as many of us have in one way or another!) may dream of someday turning their life into a book. However, the practicalities of how to write an autobiography can be daunting — especially to those who don’t have much writing experience.
If you feel ready to write your autobiography but aren’t sure where to start, this guide will take you from opening lines to (hopefully) publishing your autobiography for all the world to read.
1. Understand what an autobiography entails
When asked to picture an autobiography, you might think of a celebrity tell-all or political memoir. This isn’t inaccurate ; a memoir would definitely fall under the autobiography umbrella. But to be really precise, there are a few key differences between memoirs and autobiographies:
- Memoirs tend to be more thematic and focus on a central narrative (similar to a novel), whereas an autobiography is highly factual and reads more like “classic” nonfiction.
- Memoirs focus on a specific period or theme in a person’s life, while autobiographies aim to give a complete, chronological picture.
- Lastly, many memoirs are written while the writer is still young. An autobiography, though, should be written later in one’s life — at a point where one’s life story can be told comprehensively.
An autobiography is also different from a biography in that it is always narrated by the subject. Note that we’ve said “narrated” instead of “written” because, indeed, many autobiographies are created with the help of ghostwriters!
Ghostwritten autobiographies aren’t just for celebrities, either. People from all walks of life work with ghostwriters to record their stories or simply guide them through the process.
If that sounds like you, have a look through our vetted ghostwriters on the Reedsy marketplace . You might just find your dream collaborator!
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Should you write a memoir or an autobiography?
In other words, if you’re still young (be honest here!), and/or if the book you want to write is more a series of vignettes revolving around a central theme, you may have a memoir on your hands. If that’s the case, check out our guide to how to write a memoir for more tailored advice.
But if you’ve already lived a long, interesting life — one that you feel prepared to share chronologically and completely — then an autobiography is the medium for you.
2. Outline your life's main “beats”
You might think you don’t need to be too picky about what to include in your autobiography since it’s supposed to be a “complete” account — and you’d be mostly right! That said, even in a fairly exhaustive autobiography, it’s still useful to identify the key “beats” before you begin.
What should you include in an autobiography?
While each person’s autobiography will be unique to them, readers expect certain “beats” to be covered. To get the ball rolling, here’s a list of classic autobiographical beats to hit:
- 🐣 Your birth and family background – possibly including how your parents met, where they were living at the time of your birth, whether you have any siblings, etc.
- 📚 Your early days at school – including the friends you made (whether long-lasting or not), your academic achievements (and failures), and any critical moments related to your future goals/actions.
- 🧑🏽💻 Your first job – this is often enlightening for readers, particularly if it had some bearing on your later career; whether because you realized that you loved the work or, more likely, that you didn’t want to work your first job forever.
- 👩❤️💋👩 Your first relationship – similar to your first job, this is often a major stepping stone into adulthood and understanding your priorities.
- Moving house;
- Having children;
- Getting promoted;
- Receiving an award;
- Traveling somewhere new;
- Or discovering anything significant about yourself.
- 💼 Your retirement – if applicable, this will likely be one of the last beats you cover; it might include why you decided to retire, how you are spending your time nowadays, and any plans for the future.
Remember that each beat you include should contribute to a holistic portrait of your life — whether it’s something that shaped your character or lends context to another parallel moment later on.
But not everything will be relevant. There’s no need to include random things that have no bearing on any other event or important element of your life; that said, the lucky thing about memory is that you likely won’t recall most of those things anyway!
Need some help outlining your autobiography? Check out our Biography Outline Template below — while not entirely chronological, it’s a great starting point for any aspiring autobiographical author.
![autobiography about english FREE RESOURCE](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/content_upgrade/125/large_7168e385a9bc874ed1865ca686b3f534.webp)
FREE RESOURCE
Biography Outline Template
Craft a satisfying story arc for your biography with our free template.
3. Try to write in chronological order
Having come up with a solid outline, you should now feel (somewhat) prepared to start writing your autobiography… and, ideally, to start writing it in chronological order.
While many books can be drafted non-chronologically, an autobiography is not one of them. This is because each new chapter quite literally builds on the last; this is different even from a memoir, which often skips around in time and leaves out details. The best way to ensure you’re not missing anything is to write your autobiography as chronologically as possible!
How to start an autobiography
On the note of starting your autobiography, it’s pretty straightforward: begin either with your birth or slightly before, e.g., with your parents. Unlike a memoir, which can start in medias res ( in the middle of the action ), an autobiography should start ab ovo , or “from the egg.”
This is one of the biggest benefits of writing chronologically: you always know where to start, and indeed, what should come next. Here are two strong autobiography openings to give a sense of how yours might sound:
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
When I was born, people in our village commiserated with my mother and nobody congratulated my father. I arrived at dawn as the last star blinked out… I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.
Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca and William Novak:
Nicola Iacocca, my father, arrived in this country in 1902 at the age of twelve — poor, alone, and scared. He used to say the only thing he was sure of when he got here was that the world was round. And that was only because another Italian boy named Christopher Columbus had preceded him by 410 years, almost to the day.
Though each opening takes a different tack — Yousafzai’s autobiography begins with her actual birth, while Iacocca’s begins even earlier, with his father’s arrival in America — both serve as effective starts to their respective books and set the tone for what’s to come.
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4. Include plenty of detail
In case we haven’t drilled down on this enough, let’s reiterate once more: an autobiography should be a complete overview of your life from beginning to end. That means that as you get into properly writing it, you should include as much detail as you can remember.
Taking one of our previous suggested beats — “your first job” — as an example, here are a few questions you might ask yourself to recount your memories in more detail:
- How did you get your first job?
- What made you want to work there?
- What was the environment/atmosphere like — physically and emotionally?
- What was your greatest accomplishment at this job? Your greatest failure?
- What did you learn from working there? How did it affect your later career?
As you can probably tell from these questions, the natural corollary to the advice of “be detailed!” is to also be honest . Don’t shy away from your failures or regrets — an autobiography without mistakes is not an autobiography, but rather a puff piece.
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Examples of strong biographical detail
For those wondering how to inject detail into their writing, here are two examples from great autobiographies that do exactly that. Each takes a different approach to engage readers — perhaps you can pick up some descriptive techniques to suit your own life story.
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
There was no natural light in my cell; a single bulb burned overhead twenty-four hours a day. I did not have a wristwatch and I often thought it was the middle of the night when it was only late afternoon. I had nothing to read, nothing to write on or with, no one to talk to [...] After a time in solitary, I relished the company even of the insects in my cell, and found myself on the verge of initiating conversations with a cockroach.
This passage’s evocative details — the single lightbulb, Mandela’s loss of his internal clock — convey the crushing loneliness of solitary confinement, yet also add levity with the bit about cockroaches.
This give-and-take style may be useful if you, too, are writing an autobiography which includes difficult or traumatic elements. Don’t shy away from the hard parts, but don’t let solemnity overpower your personality and voice!
Becoming by Michelle Obama
When you’re little, a piano can look like it has a thousand keys. You’re staring at an expanse of black and white that stretches farther than two small arms can reach. [...] The keys on Robbie’s piano had a subtle unevenness of color and shape, places where bits of ivory had broken off over time, leaving them looking like a set of bad teeth.
This passage uses sensory details and an intimate tone to draw readers in, describing not just how the piano looks, but how it feels to play. All this makes for a very compelling narrative style — almost like that of a novel. If you want your autobiography to flow this way, try reading more nonfiction in this style (indeed, many memoirs read quite similarly).
📚 Looking for more examples of brilliant biographical writing? Check out this list of The 30 Best Biographies of All Time to inspire you.
5. Do research to fill in the gaps
No matter how carefully you rack your brains, you won’t be able to recall every detail of your life. That’s where research comes in! Here are a couple of things you can do to learn more about yourself and your past.
Interview friends and family
While you’ve likely retained the core of each important life memory, some details will still elude you. For these, you might call on friends, family members, and anyone else who was in your life at the time — interviewing them should help flesh things out in your autobiography.
You might try a few different interview strategies, depending on what you’re hoping to achieve:
- Ask specific questions based on what you can’t remember/don’t know (e.g. “Whose wedding was that again?” or “Why did Dad quit that job in Pasadena?”);
- Ask your subject to recount everything they can about an event (e.g. “Tell me how you remember our high school graduation”); or
- Ask them if they have any key memories of you which they would like to talk about.
The first interview style will be the quickest, but the latter two might yield more interesting results. If you’re prioritizing thoroughness, we’d highly recommend calling up a few old friends or close family members, sitting down, and recording your interview for a few hours.
![autobiography about english](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/attachments/large_Interview-065d53.webp)
Do “traditional" research if needed
Having written as much as you can, and interviewed other people to add their stories, you might still find yourself missing information. If applicable, this is where you could turn to “traditional” research — that is, looking up relevant records and documentation, or even taking a field trip or two to previous neighborhoods.
It’s up to you how far to go with this; just don’t go mad, and try to avoid any rabbit holes that tempt you to write an entirely new book. (Then again, that could always be your next project! Check out our post on how to write a nonfiction book to learn more.)
6. Give your draft a discerning edit
You’ve finally finished a detailed draft — congratulations! Even if you don’t do anything else with your autobiography, your friends and family will be wildly impressed, and your descendants will have a fascinatingly thorough record of your life.
But if you want to publish your autobiography — or even if you suspect it hasn’t turned out quite as expected — you’ll now need to enter the editing stage. There are a few different types of editing to consider for your autobiography, including:
- Structural editing to heighten the impact of your key beats;
- Line editing to improve the syntax, flow, and clarity of your sentences; and
- Fact-checking and proofreading to ensure your book doesn’t contain any errors.
Again, it’s up to you how extensively you want to edit your autobiography. If you’re doing it yourself, we’d suggest going top-to-bottom — first structural editing, then line editing, then proofreading — to avoid unnecessary work. ( Check out this post on how to self-edit your book for key tips!)
And if this all feels overwhelming, you can always work with a professional editor to get your autobiography in tip-top shape . Autobiography and memoir specialists can help turn your work into an Iacocca-worthy masterpiece.
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7. Format and publish your autobiography
Now comes the really fun part, if you so choose it — formatting and publishing your autobiography for everyone to read!
Biography fans out there will know that auto/biographies often contain a selection of personal photos within the text. If you’re envisioning this, it will require specialty formatting; you’ll either need to intersperse photos throughout the text or format your book with a “photo section” in the middle (the more common option).
![autobiography about english autobiography about english](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/attachments/large_mceclip0-af69ff.webp)
You can do this with free book formatting tools like Reedsy Studio . Or if you’re not confident in your formatting abilities, consider hiring a professional typesetter to help !
As for publishing, many autobiographers choose to self-publish their books to get them out as quickly as possible, and to have more control over the process. However, if you’re interested in selling your autobiography to a publisher — a reasonable option if you are a businessperson, and especially if you already have a decent following — we’d suggest this post on how to write a non-fiction query letter to get you started.
Whatever path you take, whether you decide to publish it or not, writing the story of your life is an incredibly enlightening endeavor. If you're interested in novels instead, check out this advice from NYT bestselling author Caroline Leavitt ! We hope this guide has helped you on your journey; indeed, as autobiographical writing teaches us, the journey really is the greatest reward.
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- Introduction
The emergence of autobiography
Types of autobiography.
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- What kind of relationship did Franz Kafka have with his father?
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- Literary Devices - Autobiography
- Academia - Autobiography
- The Canadian Encyclopedia - Autobiographical Writing in English
- autobiography - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
- autobiography - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
- Table Of Contents
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autobiography , the biography of oneself narrated by oneself. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from the intimate writings made during life that were not necessarily intended for publication (including letters, diaries , journals , memoirs , and reminiscences) to a formal book-length autobiography.
Formal autobiographies offer a special kind of biographical truth: a life, reshaped by recollection, with all of recollection’s conscious and unconscious omissions and distortions. The novelist Graham Greene said that, for this reason, an autobiography is only “a sort of life” and used the phrase as the title for his own autobiography (1971).
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There are but few and scattered examples of autobiographical literature in antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the 2nd century bce the Chinese classical historian Sima Qian included a brief account of himself in the Shiji (“Historical Records”). It may be stretching a point to include, from the 1st century bce , the letters of Cicero (or, in the early Christian era, the letters of Saint Paul ), and Julius Caesar ’s Commentaries tell little about Caesar, though they present a masterly picture of the conquest of Gaul and the operations of the Roman military machine at its most efficient. But Saint Augustine ’s Confessions , written about 400 ce , stands out as unique: though Augustine put Christianity at the centre of his narrative and considered his description of his own life to be merely incidental, he produced a powerful personal account, stretching from youth to adulthood, of his religious conversion.
Confessions has much in common with what came to be known as autobiography in its modern, Western sense, which can be considered to have emerged in Europe during the Renaissance , in the 15th century. One of the first examples was produced in England by Margery Kempe , a religious mystic of Norfolk. In her old age Kempe dictated an account of her bustling, far-faring life, which, however concerned with religious experience, reveals her personality. One of the first full-scale formal autobiographies was written a generation later by a celebrated humanist publicist of the age, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, after he was elevated to the papacy, in 1458, as Pius II . In the first book of his autobiography—misleadingly named Commentarii , in evident imitation of Caesar—Pius II traces his career up to becoming pope; the succeeding 11 books (and a fragment of a 12th, which breaks off a few months before his death in 1464) present a panorama of the age.
The autobiography of the Italian physician and astrologer Gironimo Cardano and the adventures of the goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini in Italy of the 16th century; the uninhibited autobiography of the English historian and diplomat Lord Herbert of Cherbury, in the early 17th; and Colley Cibber ’s Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian in the early 18th—these are representative examples of biographical literature from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment. The latter period itself produced three works that are especially notable for their very different reflections of the spirit of the times as well as of the personalities of their authors: the urbane autobiography of Edward Gibbon , the great historian; the plainspoken, vigorous success story of an American who possessed all talents, Benjamin Franklin ; and the introspection of a revolutionary Swiss-born political and social theorist, the Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau —the latter leading to two autobiographical explorations in poetry during the Romantic period in England, William Wordsworth ’s Prelude and Lord Byron ’s Childe Harold , cantos III and IV.
An autobiography may be placed into one of four very broad types: thematic, religious, intellectual , and fictionalized. The first grouping includes books with such diverse purposes as The Americanization of Edward Bok (1920) and Adolf Hitler ’s Mein Kampf (1925, 1927). Religious autobiography claims a number of great works, ranging from Augustine and Kempe to the autobiographical chapters of Thomas Carlyle ’s Sartor Resartus and John Henry Cardinal Newman ’s Apologia in the 19th century. That century and the early 20th saw the creation of several intellectual autobiographies, including the severely analytical Autobiography of the philosopher John Stuart Mill and The Education of Henry Adams . Finally, somewhat analogous to the novel as biography is the autobiography thinly disguised as, or transformed into, the novel. This group includes such works as Samuel Butler ’s The Way of All Flesh (1903), James Joyce ’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), George Santayana ’s The Last Puritan (1935), and the novels of Thomas Wolfe . Yet in all of these works can be detected elements of all four types; the most outstanding autobiographies often ride roughshod over these distinctions.
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Shaping Your Legacy: How to Write a Compelling Autobiography
- The Speaker Lab
- March 12, 2024
Table of Contents
Ever thought about how your life story would read if it were a book? Writing an autobiography is like creating a map of your personal journey, each chapter representing milestones that shaped you. But where do you start and how can you ensure the tale holds interest?
This guide will help unravel those questions by delving into what makes an autobiography stand out, planning techniques to keep your narrative on track, writing tips for engaging storytelling, and even ethical considerations when revealing private aspects of your life.
We’ll also touch on refining drafts and navigating publishing options. By the end of this read, you’ll be equipped with all the insights you need to create a compelling autobiography!
Understanding the Essence of an Autobiography
An autobiography provides a comprehensive view of one’s life journey from birth to the present day. Imagine climbing into a time machine where every chapter represents different eras in your life. The goal of an autobiography is to allow readers to explore a factual, chronological telling of the author’s life.
Autobiographies aren’t merely catalogues of events, however; they need soulful introspection too. Think about why certain episodes mattered more than others and how those experiences influenced your perspectives or decisions later on.
You’ll also want to infuse emotional honesty, allowing yourself vulnerability when recalling both triumphant milestones and painful obstacles. Authenticity creates connections between authors and their audience, so let them see real human emotions behind every word written.
Distinguishing Features Of An Autobiography
The unique thing about autobiographies is they are first-person narratives . This allows readers to experience everything through your eyes, as if they’re living vicariously through you. From triumphs to trials, each page unravels another layer of who you are.
While memoirs are also first-person narratives of a person’s life, there are different from autobiographies. In a memoir, the author focuses on a particular time period or theme in their life. If you’d rather skip the details and dates needed for an autobiography and focus more on emotional truths, you might consider writing a memoir.
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Pre-Writing Stage: Planning Your Autobiography
The planning stage is a crucial part of writing your autobiography. It’s where you map out the significant events in your life, establish a timeline, and identify who will be reading your story.
Selecting Key Life Events
To start, you need to pinpoint key moments that have shaped you. While you will include plenty of factual details in your autobiography, you won’t include every single one. Rather, you’ll be spending the majority of your autobiography focusing on the transformative experiences that defined your life journey. After all, an autobiography is not just a catalogue of events; it’s also an exploration into what these experiences meant to you.
Establishing A Timeline
Next up is establishing a timeline for your narrative flow. Since you’re writing an autobiography, it’s important to first map out your story chronologically so that you can keep your events straight in your mind. MasterClass has several suggestions for key elements you might want to include in your timeline.
Identifying Your Audience
Finding out who’ll read your book helps shape its tone and style. Self-Publishing School says understanding whether it’s for close family members or broader public can guide how personal or universal themes should be presented.
While this process might feel overwhelming initially, take time with this stage. Good planning sets solid foundations for creating an engaging autobiography.
Writing Techniques for an Engaging Autobiography
If you’re on the journey to pen down your life story, let’s dive into some techniques that can help transform it from a simple narrative into a riveting read. An engaging autobiography is more than just facts and dates—it’s about weaving your experiences in such a way that they captivate readers.
Incorporating Dialogue
The first technique involves incorporating dialogue. Rather than telling your audience what happened, show them through conversations. It lets the reader experience events as if they were there with you. As renowned author Stephen King suggests , dialogue is crucial in defining a the character of a person (including yourself).
Using Vivid Descriptions
Vivid descriptions are another effective tool in creating an immersive reading experience. But remember: overdoing it might overwhelm or bore the reader, so find balance between being descriptive and concise.
Narrative Techniques
Different narrative techniques can also enhance storytelling in autobiographies. For instance, foreshadowing creates suspense; flashbacks provide deeper context; and stream of consciousness presents thoughts as they occur naturally—a powerful way to share personal reflections.
All these writing tools combined will give you a gripping account of your life journey—one where every turn of page reveals more layers of depth and dimensionality about who you are as both character and narrator.
Structuring Your Autobiography for Maximum Impact
Deciding on the right structure for your autobiography is essential to ensure your book captivates readers and keeps them engaged.
The first step towards structuring your autobiography effectively is deciding whether to organize it chronologically or thematically. A chronological approach takes readers on a journey through time, letting each event unfold as you experienced it. On the other hand, a thematic approach revolves around central themes that have defined your life—think resilience, ambition or transformation—and might jump back and forth in time.
Creating Chapters
An effective way to manage the vast amount of information in an autobiography is by dividing it into chapters. Each chapter should be structured around a specific time frame (if you’re opting for chronological order) or theme (if taking the thematic approach). The key here isn’t necessarily sticking rigidly to these categories but using them as guides to help shape and direct your narrative flow.
Crafting Compelling Beginnings and Endings
A strong beginning pulls people into your world while an impactful ending stays with them long after they’ve closed the book—a little like how memorable speeches often start with something surprising yet relatable and end leaving audiences pondering over what they’ve heard. So consider starting off with something unexpected that gives insight into who you are rather than birthplace/date details right away. For endings, look at wrapping up major themes from throughout the book instead of simply closing out on latest happenings in your life.
Remember, structuring an autobiography is as much about the art of storytelling as it is about chronicling facts. Use structure to draw readers in and take them on a journey through your life’s highs and lows—all the moments that made you who you are today.
Ethical Considerations When Writing an Autobiography
When penning your life story, it’s important to respect privacy and handle sensitive issues well. Because let’s face it, writing about others in our lives can be a slippery slope. We need to tread carefully.
Respecting Privacy: Telling Your Story Without Invading Others’
The first thing we have to consider is the right of privacy for those who cross paths with our narrative journey. While they might play crucial roles in our stories, remember that their experiences are their own too.
A good rule of thumb is to get explicit consent before mentioning anyone extensively or revealing sensitive information about them. In some cases where this isn’t possible, anonymizing details or using pseudonyms could help maintain privacy while keeping the essence of your story intact. Author Tracy Seeley sheds more light on how one should handle such situations responsibly.
Navigating Sensitive Topics With Care
Sensitive topics often make for compelling narratives but dealing with them requires tact and empathy. You’re walking a tightrope, balancing honesty and sensitivity, a fall from which can lead to hurt feelings or even legal troubles.
An excellent way around this dilemma would be by focusing on how these experiences affected you personally rather than detailing the event itself. Remember, your autobiography is an opportunity to share your life experiences, not just a platform for airing grievances or settling scores.
Maintaining Honesty: Your Authentic Self Is the Best Narrator
Above all else, stay truthful when writing your autobiography, both when you’re writing about sensitive topics and even when you’re not. While it can be tempting to bend the facts so that your audience sees you in a more positive light, maintaining honesty is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Editing and Revising Your Autobiography
Your initial draft is finished, but the job isn’t done yet. Editing and revising your autobiography can feel like a daunting task, but it’s essential for creating a polished final product.
The Importance of Self-Editing
You may feel that you have written your autobiography perfectly the first time, but there are always ways to make it better. The beauty of self-editing lies in refining your story to make sure it resonates with readers. You’re not just fixing typos or grammar mistakes; you’re looking at structure, flow, and consistency. Essentially you’re asking yourself: does this piece tell my life story in an engaging way?
Inviting Feedback from Others
No matter how meticulous we are as writers, our own work can sometimes evade us. Inviting feedback from others is invaluable during the revision process. They provide fresh eyes that can spot inconsistencies or confusing parts that may have slipped past us.
Hiring a Professional Editor
If you’re serious about publishing your autobiography and making an impact with your words, hiring a professional editor can be worth its weight in gold. An editor won’t just fix errors—they’ll help streamline sentences and enhance readability while respecting your unique voice.
Remember to approach editing and revising with patience—it’s part of the writing journey. Don’t rush through it; give each word careful consideration before moving onto publication options for your autobiography.
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Publishing Options for Your Autobiography
Once you’ve spent time and energy creating your autobiography, the following challenge is to make it available for others. But don’t fret! There are numerous options available for releasing your work.
Traditional Publishing Houses
A conventional path many authors take is partnering with a traditional publishing house . These industry giants have extensive resources and networks that can help boost the visibility of your book. The process may be competitive, but if accepted, they handle everything from design to distribution—letting you focus on what matters most: telling your story.
Self-Publishing Platforms
If you want more control over every aspect of publication or seek a faster route to market, self-publishing platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), offer an accessible alternative. With this option, you manage all aspects including cover design and pricing ; however, it also means greater responsibility in promoting your book.
Bear in mind that both options have their own pros and cons, so consider them carefully before making any decisions.
Marketing Your Autobiography
Now that you’ve crafted your autobiography, it’s time to get the word out. You need a plan and strategy.
Leveraging Social Media
To start with, use your social platforms as launching pads for your book. Sites like Facebook , Twitter, and especially LinkedIn can help generate buzz about your work. And don’t underestimate the power of other platforms like Instagram and TikTok when trying to reach younger audiences. Whatever social platform you use, remember to engage with followers by responding to comments and questions about the book.
Organizing Book Signings
A physical event like a book signing not only provides readers with a personal connection but also generates local publicity. Consider partnering up with local independent stores or libraries, which are often open to hosting such events.
Securing Media Coverage
Contacting local newspapers, radio stations or even bloggers and podcasters in your field can provide much-needed visibility for your work. It might seem intimidating at first, but who better than you knows how important this story is?
FAQs on How to Write an Autobiography
How do i start an autobiography about myself.
To kick off your autobiography, jot down significant life events and pick a unique angle that frames your story differently.
What are the 7 steps in writing an autobiography?
The seven steps are: understanding what an autobiography is, planning it out, using engaging writing techniques, structuring it effectively, considering ethics, revising thoroughly, and exploring publishing options.
What are the 3 parts of an autobiography?
An autobiography generally has three parts: introduction (your background), body (major life events), and conclusion (reflections on your journey).
What is the format for writing an autobiography?
The usual format for autobiographies involves chronological or thematic structure with clear chapters marking distinct phases of life.
Writing an autobiography is a journey, a trek exploring the unique narrative of your life. Together, we’ve covered how to plan effectively, select key events, and set timelines.
Once you’re all set to write, you now have the techniques you need for engaging storytelling, including vivid descriptions and dialogues. You also learned about structuring your story for maximum impact and navigating sensitive topics while maintaining honesty.
Last but not least, you learned editing strategies, publishing options, and effective ways of promoting your book.
Now you know more than just how to write an autobiography. You know how to craft a legacy worth reading!
- Last Updated: March 22, 2024
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Autobiography
Definition of autobiography, difference between autobiography and memoir, six types of autobiography, importance of autobiography, examples of autobiography in literature, example #1: the box: tales from the darkroom by gunter grass, example #2: the story of my life by helen keller, example #3: self portraits: fictions by frederic tuten, example #4: my prizes by thomas bernhard, example #5: the autobiography of benjamin franklin by benjamin franklin, synonyms of autobiography, related posts:, post navigation.
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Princeton University Library
His 414: life-writing and history: diaries, memoirs and autobiographies.
- Where to Begin
Recent Works from the Library's Collection
- Finding Autobiographies in the Library
- Finding and Retrieving Memoirs in Special Collections
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- Last Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:16 PM
- URL: https://libguides.princeton.edu/HIS414
Autobiography Writing Guide
Autobiography Examples
Last updated on: Nov 20, 2023
Autobiography Examples – Detailed Outline and Samples
By: Barbara P.
Reviewed By: Melisa C.
Published on: Mar 22, 2023
![autobiography about english Autobiography Examples](https://www.5staressays.com/ https://assets.5staressays.com/blog/autobiography-writing-guide/autobiography-examples/Autobiography-Examples-5star.jpg )
We all have stories to tell. And, for some of us, the only way we feel like we can get our story out there is by writing it down. Some people may believe that an autobiography is something only famous people write about themselves but that is not true.
In fact, anyone who has a story worth telling can write an autobiography.
If you are assigned to write an autobiography in your high school or college and you are confused about where to start, don’t panic.
You are at the right place.
Explore this detailed guide to understand the concept of writing an autobiography. It will also provide you with some great autobiography examples for a better understanding.
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On this Page
What is an Autobiography?
An autobiography is a kind of the self-written story of a person's life. This type of narration has various aims and objectives that depend on the kind of writing that you decide to go with.
Moreover, it has different types. A writer can choose any of them on the basis of what he wants to include in his story.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OUTLINE (PDF)
AUTOBIOGRAPHY TEMPLATE (PDF)
Struggling to understand the basics of autobiography? Check out this how to write an autobiography to understand the key prerequisite of autobiographies.
Autobiography Types
Below-mentioned is the four main types of autobiography. These include:
1. Traditional Autobiography – It is a complete story that covers all life experiences including birth, childhood, and adulthood. You can write it for personal use. However, if you feel that your life can be inspiring for others, you can also write it for the wider public.
2. Memoir – It focuses on describing a specific event, relationship, time period, or place that has an effect on your personality and life. For example, it may include your hometown or an important relationship.
3. Personal Essay – It is the idea of sharing your life story with the audience in a way that they feel as if they were a part of it. Similarly, it also describes two aspects including the event and how it affected the beliefs.
4. Confessional – Some people find comfort in writing about their mistakes and sins. Thus, they write this type of autobiography so that people will learn from their mistakes and avoid them.
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Examples are an essential way to learn something in less time. Therefore, we have stated some examples for you to write your autobiographies. These will also help to learn about a proper autobiography template and structure.
Have a look at these autobiography examples to get a better understanding.
Cultural Autobiography Examples
CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Educational Autobiography Examples for Students
EDUCATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Autobiography Examples For Class 6
Autobiography Examples For Grade 7
Autobiography Examples For College Students
Autobiography Examples About Yourself
Autobiography Examples Ks2
Famous Personality Autobiography
The autobiography of benjamin franklin is one example of a famous personality autobiography. Similarly, these famous autobiography examples will provide you with everything to get started with your famous personality autobiography.
FAMOUS PERSONALITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Funny Autobiography
FUNNY AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
High School Autobiography
HIGH SCHOOL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Literary Autobiography Example
Literary Autobiography
Personal Autobiography
PERSONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Professional Autobiography
PROFESSIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Struggling to understand the difference between memoir and autobiography? Check this guide with memoir vs autobiography examples to differentiate between the two terms.
Scientific Autobiography
SCIENTIFIC AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Short Autobiography Examples for Students
SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)
Autobiography Examples Books
Autobiography example books provide a detailed insight into the life of an individual. Through these real-life stories, readers get to know more about a person's experiences and how they overcame challenges.
Book Autobiography Sample
Spiritual Autobiography Examples
Spiritual autobiographies are a great way to reflect on one's spiritual journey and the lessons learned along the way. Here is an example to help you out.
Spiritual Autobiography Sample
The Dos and Don'ts of an Autobiography
A successful autobiography indicates the author’s ability to present a worthwhile story. There are a wide variety of things that you can talk about while writing your personal narratives.
However, the following are some dos and don'ts of writing an autobiography that will help in refining your writing skills.
Some dos of writing an autobiography are:
- Understanding the Intended Audience
There is a huge difference when you are writing an autobiography for your friends or a group of strangers. Because it requires extensive details about life events and experiences. Thus, make sure to include facts that you consider significant.
- Developing A Core Concept
It is essential to identify the central theme of your autobiography. Moreover, a well-structured outline is also a proper way of associating one event with another. It will also set the interest of the readers by keeping the story consistent from the beginning to the end.
- Do Tell the Truth
Do not portray yourself as the hero or villain of the story. Instead, tell the truth and acknowledge your mistakes by exposing your strengths and weaknesses.
- Revising and Editing
Read aloud what you have written and do some editing. Check if your ideas flow logically and look out for interrupting thoughts.
- Do Seek Feedback
Ask your friends and family to read your work and provide you with feedback. Understand the difference between fair criticism and forced judgment.
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Don’ts of Writing an Autobiography
Below mentioned are some don'ts of writing an autobiography.
- Do Not Mention Unnecessary Details
Include relevant details and struggles when narrating your life story. Avoid adding unnecessary details. Instead, share the information that is directly related to your story.
- Stop Worrying About Others
Your story may contain some details that can have a negative effect on others. Do not worry about them and rearrange all the details.
Moreover, remember that you are not here to please everyone. Thus, avoid writing for a broader audience and make your story too generic and specific for the readers.
- Discuss Why Your Story Is Inspiring
If your main goal is to inspire people with your story, show them how you felt instead of telling them directly. Allow the audience to come to the conclusion through your writing style.
- Avoid Copying Someone's Story
It is a big mistake to copy someone's work to make your story compelling. Find the hook and unique points that are marketable. Also, think of all these details before you begin writing.
Autobiographies aim to educate and inform others in some ways. This blog has provided all the essential details to write an autobiography. You can generate even more samples of autobiography through our FREE AI-based paper writer .
If you are still looking up “ who can write my essay? ”, relying on a professional expert is a good option. Make sure you select a reliable and top-ranked writing service, 5StarEssays.com . We guarantee you high-quality write essay services with zero percent plagiarism.
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Literature, Marketing
Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.
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- How to Write an Autobiography - A Complete Guide
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- Know the Different Types of Autobiography Here
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- Literary Terms
- Autobiography
- Definition & Examples
- When & How to Write Autobiography
I. What is Autobiography?
An autobiography is a self-written life story.
![autobiography about english autobiography](https://literaryterms.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Autobiography.png)
It is different from a biography , which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Some people may have their life story written by another person because they don’t believe they can write well, but they are still considered an author because they are providing the information. Reading autobiographies may be more interesting than biographies because you are reading the thoughts of the person instead of someone else’s interpretation.
II. Examples of Autobiography
One of the United States’ forefathers wrote prolifically (that means a lot!) about news, life, and common sense. His readings, quotes, and advice are still used today, and his face is on the $100 bill. Benjamin Franklin’s good advice is still used through his sayings, such as “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” He’s also the one who penned the saying that’s seen all over many schools: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” His autobiography is full of his adventures , philosophy about life, and his wisdom. His autobiography shows us how much he valued education through his anecdotes (stories) of his constant attempts to learn and improve himself. He also covers his many ideas on his inventions and his thoughts as he worked with others in helping the United States become free from England.
III. Types of Autobiography
There are many types of autobiographies. Authors must decide what purpose they have for writing about their lives, and then they can choose the format that would best tell their story. Most of these types all share common goals: helping themselves face an issue by writing it down, helping others overcome similar events, or simply telling their story.
a. Full autobiography (traditional):
This would be the complete life story, starting from birth through childhood, young adulthood, and up to the present time at which the book is being written. Authors might choose this if their whole lives were very different from others and could be considered interesting.
There are many types of memoirs – place, time, philosophic (their theory on life), occupational, etc. A memoir is a snapshot of a person’s life. It focuses on one specific part that stands out as a learning experience or worth sharing.
c. Psychological illness
People who have suffered mental illness of any kind find it therapeutic to write down their thoughts. Therapists are specialists who listen to people’s problems and help them feel better, but many people find writing down their story is also helpful.
d. Confession
Just as people share a psychological illness, people who have done something very wrong may find it helps to write down and share their story. Sharing the story may make one feel he or she is making amends (making things right), or perhaps hopes that others will learn and avoid the same mistake.
e. Spiritual
Spiritual and religious experiences are very personal . However, many people feel that it’s their duty and honor to share these stories. They may hope to pull others into their beliefs or simply improve others’ lives.
f. Overcoming adversity
Unfortunately, many people do not have happy, shining lives. Terrible events such as robberies, assaults, kidnappings, murders, horrific accidents, and life-threatening illnesses are common in some lives. Sharing the story can inspire others while also helping the person express deep emotions to heal.
IV. The Importance of Autobiography
Autobiographies are an important part of history. Being able to read the person’s own ideas and life stories is getting the first-person story versus the third-person (he-said/she-said) version. In journalism, reporters go to the source to get an accurate account of an event. The same is true when it comes to life stories. Reading the story from a second or third source will not be as reliable. The writer may be incorrectly explaining and describing the person’s life events.
Autobiographies are also important because they allow other people in similar circumstances realize that they are not alone. They can be inspiring for those who are facing problems in their lives. For the author, writing the autobiography allows them to heal as they express their feelings and opinions. Autobiographies are also an important part of history.
V. Examples of Autobiography in Literature
A popular autobiography that has lasted almost 100 years is that of Helen Keller. Her life story has been made into numerous movies and plays. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has also had her life story written and televised multiple times. Students today still read and learn about this young girl who went blind and deaf at 19 months of age, causing her to also lose her ability to learn to speak. Sullivan’s entrance into Helen’s life when the girl was seven was the turning point. She learned braille and soon became an activist for helping blind and deaf people across the nation. She died in 1968, but her autobiography is still helping others.
Even in the days before my teacher came, I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges, and, guided by the sense of smell, would find the first violets and lilies. There, too, after a fit of temper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass. What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden! (Keller).
An autobiography that many middle and high school students read every year is “Night” by Elie Wiesel. His story is also a memoir, covering his teen years as he and his family went from the comfort of their own home to being forced into a Jewish ghetto with other families, before ending up in a Nazi prison camp. His book is not that long, but the details and description he uses brings to life the horrors of Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany during World War II. Students also read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” another type of autobiography that shows a young Jewish girl’s daily life while hiding from the Nazis to her eventual capture and death in a German camp. Both books are meant to remind us to not be indifferent to the world’s suffering and to not allow hate to take over.
“The people were saying, “The Red Army is advancing with giant strides…Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to…” Yes, we even doubted his resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century! And thus my elders concerned themselves with all manner of things—strategy, diplomacy, politics, and Zionism—but not with their own fate. Even Moishe the Beadle had fallen silent. He was weary of talking. He would drift through synagogue or through the streets, hunched over, eyes cast down, avoiding people’s gaze. In those days it was still possible to buy emigration certificates to Palestine. I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave” (Wiesel 8).
VI. Examples of Autobiography in Pop Culture
One example of an autobiography that was a hit in the movie theaters is “American Sniper,” the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. According to an article in the Dallas, Texas, magazine D, Kyle donated all the proceeds from the film to veterans and their families. He had a story to tell, and he used it to help others. His story is a memoir, focusing on a specific time period of his life when he was overseas in the military.
An autobiography by a young Olympian is “Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith” by Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas. She had a writer, Michelle Burford, help her in writing her autobiography. This is common for those who have a story to tell but may not have the words to express it well. Gabby was the darling of the 2012 Olympics, winning gold medals for the U.S. in gymnastics along with being the All-Around Gold Medal winner, the first African-American to do so. Many young athletes see her as an inspiration. Her story also became a television movie, “The Gabby Douglas Story.”
VII. Related Terms
The life story of one person written by another. The purpose may to be highlight an event or person in a way to help the public learn a lesson, feel inspired, or to realize that they are not alone in their circumstance. Biographies are also a way to share history. Historic and famous people may have their biographies written by many authors who research their lives years after they have died.
VIII. Conclusion
Autobiographies are a way for people to share stories that may educate, inform, persuade, or inspire others. Many people find writing their stories to be therapeutic, healing them beyond what any counseling might do or as a part of the counseling. Autobiographies are also a way to keep history alive by allowing people in the present learn about those who lived in the past. In the future, people can learn a lot about our present culture by reading autobiographies by people of today.
List of Terms
- Alliteration
- Amplification
- Anachronism
- Anthropomorphism
- Antonomasia
- APA Citation
- Aposiopesis
- Bildungsroman
- Characterization
- Circumlocution
- Cliffhanger
- Comic Relief
- Connotation
- Deus ex machina
- Deuteragonist
- Doppelganger
- Double Entendre
- Dramatic irony
- Equivocation
- Extended Metaphor
- Figures of Speech
- Flash-forward
- Foreshadowing
- Intertextuality
- Juxtaposition
- Literary Device
- Malapropism
- Onomatopoeia
- Parallelism
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Personification
- Point of View
- Polysyndeton
- Protagonist
- Red Herring
- Rhetorical Device
- Rhetorical Question
- Science Fiction
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Synesthesia
- Turning Point
- Understatement
- Urban Legend
- Verisimilitude
- Essay Guide
- Cite This Website
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Autobiography Examples
40 autobiography examples (autobiographical essay templates).
Writing an autobiography template isn’t an easy undertaking. When written, there will be as many life stories as there are people. What will make an autobiographical essay stand out are the essential topics.
Those which will make it unique among the rest, sorting out the most significant events in one’s life and writing about them are difficult. There is an abundance of experiences to choose from.
Table of Contents
- 1 Autobiography Examples
- 2 Formats for autobiography examples
- 3 Autobiography Samples
- 4.1 Map out your whole life
- 4.2 Creating your narrative
- 5 Autobiographical Essay Templates
- 6.1 Edit your information first
- 6.2 Publishing your autobiography
Fortunately, there are plenty of innovative and well-thought-out autobiography samples that are available. They can assist you in organizing your thoughts to come up with a great autobiography. These samples can save you valuable time, especially on how to start an autobiography. Check out our extra 40 biography templates
![Download Autobiography Template 01 Free Autobiography Template 01](https://templatelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Autobiography-Template-01.jpg)
Formats for autobiography examples
As mentioned earlier, there could be as many life stories out there as there people. Each life story is unique; no two can be the same. It will be up to the writer to make his autobiography stand out.
The presentation of ideas will be an integral factor. Using the right strategies and format to make the writer more creative are necessary. As we all know, an autobiography is an account of a person’s life and it’s written by that person. Find out a suitable autobiography example to take reference from.
The reasons for writing an autobiographical essay differ from person to person. The main point of the writer’s exercise is to convey his life events using words. Autobiography samples will make it easy for the writer to organize thoughts.
To get you started, learn first the following types of written works:
- Dramas or scripts Usually presented on stage or screen as the venue, this type is in script formats.
- Graphic novels This new genre of novels is unique in the sense that they use drawn panels to convey a true story. Simply said, it’s a novel in comic-strip format. They tell stories through pictures and words.
- Memoirs This type limits the information you will present. It’s an account written from personal knowledge or special sources. Its main focus is on specific moments in one’s life. Those which could either are historical, religious, philosophical, adversity, coming-of-age, and more.
- Personal narratives or essays This type is shorter than a memoir. Its narratives focus on a single event in time. It expands that moment’s experience through conversations and imagery. These types are usually seen in classrooms, magazines or written by internet bloggers.
- Traditional autobiographies This type usually covers the events of the writer’s life from birth to the present moment.
- Vignettes This type covers just one particular occurrence at a time. It’s a brief evocative description, account or episode. You can even call it a lone chapter in a compilation of vignettes. You can have it published as a complete piece of work. Bear in mind, though, that each chapter in the collection is not directly related to the others.
Autobiography Samples
![Download Autobiography Template 10 Free Autobiography Template 10](https://templatelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Autobiography-Template-10.jpg)
How to start an autobiography
Interesting lives make for good autobiographies. When we say interesting, it means the person lived a life full of fascinating experiences. Those he can and should share with others.
A good trick when writing your autobiography example is to think of it just like any other story, a good one at that. There’s always the protagonist, a central plot, and a number of compelling characters. All these will keep the reader’s attention.
Before venturing for an autobiography sample, think of an important event in your life and build your story on that. There is a writing craft or a technique that can make your story come to life. Read on and make your writing sing!
Map out your whole life
It wouldn’t be so hard to map out your timeline; after all, you have lived it. Before anything else, conduct a study on your life. Make a timeline to ensure you will include the important details, both events, and dates.
This will provide you a basis to work on. Don’t inhibit yourself from writing down all you can recall. Don’t underestimate the importance of each event.
- Autobiographies needn’t always start with your birth Include a brief history of your ancestors if relevant. Introducing your family’s history can make readers relate. They can understand how you evolved into who you are at this moment.
- Identify your main characters Make them interesting and compelling, either he/she be friend or foe. Be sure they help in moving the story along. Obviously, an autobiography sample will mention your parents. Also, include your spouse, friends, and relatives. But think past your family and friends. Search for those characters that have directly influenced your life. They should play their roles in your life story.
- Include the best stories Your life is a collection of short stories and anecdotes. Each day, each struggle could be in itself a chapter. But there would be too many of them to contain in a book. Choose the best stories you can remember that have influenced you. Begin your manuscript with these chosen stories. Weave them together to create a picture of your life.
- Write using your own voice Most people like reading autobiographies to experience what it’s like to be the writer. Being yourself when writing your story is a great way to maintain the reader’s attention. Remember, you are writing about yourself and your life experiences. Stiff and formal writing is for college essays . It won’t and can’t totally engage your readers.
- Reveal things about your life You can reveal the truth about yourself without having to be too explicit. Write down the good as well as the bad experiences. This will make the reader feel the human side of you. You can write about your accomplishments but you also need to write the flaws that have made you what you are. Readers should empathize with you and may even cheer for you as the story progresses.
- Show your weaknesses too You may have pitfalls in life but will still remain a protagonist. Write about your mistakes and the times that you have failed in some struggles. Writing too much about your positive side may even turn off some of your readers.
Creating your narrative
One, or perhaps the most important element of an autobiographical essay, is the plot. Not just a plot but a great one that could hold your readers spellbound. When you’ve gathered the material to work with, it’s time to create a fascinating story that would end with a climax as well as final resolutions.
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Autobiographical Essay Templates
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Craft your story by organizing your memoirs and anecdotes in an autobiography example. Keep in mind that these are coherent to your plot and should flow logically together. There should be a central conflict in your narrative.
It can involve an eventful experience in your life that took you years to conquer.
- Build the suspense and tension to make it interesting Organize your plot in such as a way that every story would veer towards the conflict’s climax. Make it your goal to include anecdotes on your initial successes and failures. Readers love underdogs. Build on that.
- Think about your climax Every story will have to end as the protagonist will deal with the conflict. You have read novels and seen movies. You should know what a climax is. You should also know that it’s very important.
- Also, think about the resolution Autobiographies usually end with happy endings. If for some reason your story’s ending isn’t happy, just make sure that it’s profoundly satisfying. You might have lost the race but the wisdom you gain from the experience will be compensation enough.
- Determine where to start your story Most autobiographies start with birth and end with the present. But many successful writers have resorted to mixing up their chronology. This makes the narration more interesting. If you’re bold enough, try doing this.
- Weave in your themes Try to remember major themes in your life. Use them to link stories together by connecting the past with the now. Apart from a central conflict, there are themes that have followed us all through life. Use these themes as often as you can to form a consistent depiction of your story.
- Reflect on the content of your autobiography template You surely have learned many lessons during the course of your life. It would be nice to relay your desires, intentions, feelings of joy and loss, and more you’ve gained in your life. You can include these lessons intermittently throughout the story. Reflect on these important experiences and what they have meant to you. This is a great way you can add profundity to your life story.
- Add structure to your book by using chapters The use of chapters will permit you transition from talking about specific times in your life. We’ve all heard the expressions, “closed a chapter” and “opening a new chapter” in life. These are very applicable to autobiography samples and autobiography examples.
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Creating and publishing your autobiography
After you’ve written everything, subject your work to several processes. Do this to make sure that its contents are true and accurate. Be sure to comply with all the rules of writing to avoid any problems that may arise later.
First, does a substance check. Second, do forms check? Here are some tips for you:
Edit your information first
- Your facts should be completely accurate Double check or even triple if you have the time. Check the names, event descriptions, dates, and other things. Everything in your story should be accurate. Wrong facts will certainly get noticed at one time or another by people acquainted with you.
- Ask permission from those you mention in your book You may name names or quote quotes from sources. In this case, make certain they’ve granted permission. Many don’t appreciate the thought of appearing in an autobiography. Respect that. If the character is central to the plot, describe them differently or change their names.
- Go through your draft and edit if needed After you’ve finished the initial draft, go through your life story again. Comb through it by double checking your data. Reorganize the paragraphs, passages, and characters if necessary. Check your vocabulary and replace tedious words. Make your phrases more clear and compelling. And lastly, check your grammar and spelling.
- Let other people read your work An outside or second opinion will be necessary to make sure that your work would appeal to all. You may find passages in your book that are funny or serious but would be mundane or even offensive to others. Present your work to as many close acquaintances and listen to their feedback. This will make sure that your thoughts will come across clearly with other people.
- Hire a copy editor The job of a copy editor is to clean up your work and make those boring parts shine. Almost all writers seek the services of copy editors. Being a beginner, take a hint by seeking their help as well. Hire a seasoned copy editor to make sure that your book will have that professional polish.
- Think of your title Think of a title that is intriguing and attention-grabbing. A simple and short title for your autobiography can be “My Autobiography”. If you find it too direct and common, choose something more unique.
Publishing your autobiography
Some people try self-publishing their books. That means they will have their finished work printed but only for themselves. It would also be appropriate to present your work to persons you mentioned in your book.
There are companies that can handle your book design, printing, and even shipping services. But if you want to go public on publishing your autobiography, the sensible thing to do is hire a literary agent.
He will send a query letter to research agents who work frequently with autobiographies. The query will contain information about your autobiography. It will also contain information about the author and how you want to market the book.
You can also send the query letter yourself directly to the publisher and wait. Depending on your query letter, he might get interested. Don’t send them your manuscript all at once. Send it when you get a request for your manuscript.
You can also try publishing your work online. This new alternative method is increasingly getting popular. It doesn’t involve expenses for printing and shipping. Search for online publishers and send them a query letter.
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How to Define Autobiography
Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms
- An Introduction to Punctuation
- Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
- M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
- B.A., English, State University of New York
An autobiography is an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person. Adjective: autobiographical .
Many scholars regard the Confessions (c. 398) by Augustine of Hippo (354–430) as the first autobiography.
The term fictional autobiography (or pseudoautobiography ) refers to novels that employ first-person narrators who recount the events of their lives as if they actually happened. Well-known examples include David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951).
Some critics believe that all autobiographies are in some ways fictional. Patricia Meyer Spacks has observed that "people do make themselves up. . . . To read an autobiography is to encounter a self as an imaginative being" ( The Female Imagination , 1975).
For the distinction between a memoir and an autobiographical composition, see memoir as well as the examples and observations below.
From the Greek, "self" + "life" + "write"
Examples of Autobiographical Prose
- Imitating the Style of the Spectator , by Benjamin Franklin
- Langston Hughes on Harlem
- On the Street, by Emma Goldman
- Ritual in Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
- The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery, by Margaret Sanger
- Two Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark Twain
Examples and Observations of Autobiographical Compositions
- "An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing." (Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant , 1968)
- "Putting a life into words rescues it from confusion even when the words declare the omnipresence of confusion, since the art of declaring implies dominance." (Patricia Meyer Spacks, Imagining a Self: Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England . Harvard University Press, 1976)
- The Opening Lines of Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography - "Like the dead-seeming, cold rocks, I have memories within that came out of the material that went to make me. Time and place have had their say. "So you will have to know something about the time and place where I came from, in order that you may interpret the incidents and directions of my life. "I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town--charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all. It was not the first Negro community in America, but it was the first to be incorporated, the first attempt at organized self-government on the part of Negroes in America. "Eatonville is what you might call hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick. The town was not in the original plan. It is a by-product of something else. . . ." (Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road . J.B. Lippincott, 1942) - "There is a saying in the Black community that advises: 'If a person asks you where you're going, you tell him where you've been. That way you neither lie nor reveal your secrets.' Hurston had called herself the 'Queen of the Niggerati.' She also said, 'I like myself when I'm laughing.' Dust Tracks on a Road is written with royal humor and an imperious creativity. But then all creativity is imperious, and Zora Neale Hurston was certainly creative." (Maya Angelou, Foreword to Dust Tracks on a Road , rpt. HarperCollins, 1996)
- Autobiography and Truth "All autobiographies are lies. I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies; I mean deliberate lies. No man is bad enough to tell the truth about himself during his lifetime, involving, as it must, the truth about his family and friends and colleagues. And no man is good enough to tell the truth in a document which he suppresses until there is nobody left alive to contradict him." (George Bernard Shaw, Sixteen Self Sketches , 1898)" " Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people." (attributed to Thomas Carlyle, Philip Guedalla, and others)
- Autobiography and Memoir - "An autobiography is the story of a life : the name implies that the writer will somehow attempt to capture all the essential elements of that life. A writer's autobiography, for example, is not expected to deal merely with the author's growth and career as a writer but also with the facts and emotions connected to family life, education, relationships, sexuality, travels, and inner struggles of all kinds. An autobiography is sometimes limited by dates (as in Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography to 1949 by Doris Lessing), but not obviously by theme. "Memoir, on the other hand, is a story from a life . It makes no pretense of replicating a whole life." (Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art . Eighth Mountain Press, 2002) - "Unlike autobiography , which moves in a dutiful line from birth to fame, memoir narrows the lens, focusing on a time in the writer's life that was unusually vivid, such as childhood or adolescence, or that was framed by war or travel or public service or some other special circumstance." (William Zinsser, "Introduction," Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir . Mariner Books, 1998)
- An "Epidemical Rage for Auto-Biography" "[I]f the populace of writers become thus querulous after fame (to which they have no pretensions) we shall expect to see an epidemical rage for auto-biography break out, more wide in its influence and more pernicious in its tendency than the strange madness of the Abderites, so accurately described by Lucian. London, like Abdera, will be peopled solely by 'men of genius'; and as the frosty season, the grand specific for such evils, is over, we tremble for the consequences. Symptoms of this dreadful malady (though somewhat less violent) have appeared amongst us before . . .." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Review of "The Memoirs of Percival Stockdale," 1809)|
- The Lighter Side of Autobiography - "The Confessions of St. Augustine are the first autobiography , and they have this to distinguish them from all other autobiographies, that they are addressed directly to God." (Arthur Symons, Figures of Several Centuries , 1916) - "I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography , I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or isn't." (Philip Roth, Deception , 1990) - "I'm writing an unauthorized autobiography ." (Steven Wright)
Pronunciation: o-toe-bi-OG-ra-fee
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autobiography
Definition of autobiography
Examples of autobiography in a sentence.
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autobiography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
auto- + biography , perhaps after German Autobiographie
1797, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing autobiography
- semi - autobiography
Dictionary Entries Near autobiography
autobiographist
Cite this Entry
“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
Kids definition of autobiography, more from merriam-webster on autobiography.
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for autobiography
Nglish: Translation of autobiography for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of autobiography for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about autobiography
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Success Mindset
15 best autobiographies everyone should read at least once.
Autobiographies of famous people might be more of a self-help book than a simple account of someone’s life. There are times in our lives when we lose our focus and feel overwhelmed in life . Getting inspired by real-life stories from some of the best autobiographies can really motivate us.
Reading about other people’s diverse viewpoints and life experiences can provide us with a better perspective towards life and widen our horizon.
“Autobiography is a wound where the blood of history does not dry.” [1]
And this is right. The life lessons from these autobiographies can always inspire us to think and live differently.
15 Best Autobiographies You Need to Read
Here’re some of the best autobiographies for your perusal.
1. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
![autobiography about english The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41mJNFWa69L._SL500_.webp)
Understand Benjamin Franklin's past even if you did not live it.
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Through Writing, Franklin creates a place where his memories can live on in perpetuity, separate from his physical body, as part of collective memory.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is an intentional attempt to rewrite his past in a way that readers – including his son and American society – will understand, even if they did not fully live it.
Franklin’s lifelong pursuit of self-improvement began at a young age. Franklin’s desire for perfection led him to devise a plan to achieve it in just 13 weeks by eliminating bad habits and acquiring the 13 virtues he considered most important.
In addition, he laid out a day in which each necessary task was given the appropriate amount of time.
2. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
![autobiography about english A Long Walk to Freedom : The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51OPfZ0j-7L._SL500_.webp)
Mandela’s struggles and feats make his autobiography one of the most inspiring ones of all time.
An excerpt from Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s Autobiography, Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom , depicts the battle for black liberation in South Africa. It is one of the best autobiographies if you are looking for inspiration.
First Black President Nelson Mandela was sworn into office on May 10, 1994, ending more than three centuries of white dominance in South Africa. In the country’s first democratic elections, his party took 252 of the 400 seats up for grabs.
The opening ceremony was held in the Union Buildings amphitheater in Pretoria, which was attended by many dignitaries and political personalities from numerous countries.
Affirming his country’s invulnerability to such oppression, Mandela greeted the assembled dignitaries with a polite bow during his speech.
As the country’s first black president, he founded democracy and vowed that no one would be discriminated against, regardless of race, color, creed, or ethnicity.
That the government will treat everyone equally and with respect was a promise he made many times again. Mandela’s struggles and feats make his account one of the most inspiring autobiographies of all time.
3. The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
![autobiography about english Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/419ZFa80S4L._SL500_.webp)
Freedom fighter and activist Mohandas Gandhi led India to independence after a long and arduous struggle.
In his book “ An Autobiography: My Life and My Experiences with the Truth ,” he recounts his experiences fighting against English colonialism and spreading his philosophy, known as “Satyagraha.”.
It is, indeed one of the most popular autobiographies through the course of education in India and many countries.
Most people can’t claim Gandhi’s level of moral and ethical commitment. Despite this, he tells us of his own mistakes and how he has grown because of them.
However, these quotations illustrate Gandhi’s devotion to doing what he believes is good, from honesty to vegetarianism, from keeping commitments to self-denial. Morality is the foundation of his worldview, including the experiments that guide his daily activities.
One can even say that in the entire list this one is one of the good autobiographies that will guide you throughout your lives.
4. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
![autobiography about english Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51Vps1OxJPL._SL500_.webp)
During World War II, Anne Frank was a teenage Jewish girl who wrote a diary while her family hid from the Nazis. The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the best autobiographies of all time.
She and seven others stayed in Amsterdam’s “Secret Annex” for two years before being captured and deported to German concentration camps. In 1945, Anne died in the Bergen-Belsen detention camp.
Frank’s father was the last survivor of the family. He decided to publish Anne’s diary, which details her thoughts, feelings, and observations while hiding.
It has been a best-seller worldwide and a staple of Holocaust teaching programs for decades. Her legacy is honored by several humanitarian groups, and hers is one of the best autobiographies, read in several languages by people all around the world.
5. Chronicles, Vol 1 by Bob Dylan
![autobiography about english Chronicles: Volume One](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41WqdgNHsL._SL500_.webp)
Bob Dylan began his incredible musical career when he landed in New York City in the early 1960s. Dylan’s own words present an intimate glimpse of Dylan’s motives, difficulties, and astonishing creativity in Chronicles, Vol 1.
On the surface, Dylan’s memoir comprises of three chapters on his childhood and youth, which are surrounded by two chapters about
Dylan’s experiences while working on two completely unappreciated albums. The literary aspect of this work is what first grabs the reader’s attention.
So it was wise to arrange the two chapters focusing on an older, more broken self between the three chapters on an artist who is still striving to find his voice, so the dreams witnessed in the latter can be seen refracted, half-lit, but are still present.
The book’s title is also relevant, as this is a work that deals a lot with debts.
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
![autobiography about english I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41SKsBaGXRL._SL500_.webp)
The poem compares the features of a caged bird and a free bird, with a focus on the caged bird. The poem opens by describing the freedom of the free bird, which can fly wherever and whenever it wants because there are no other birds to compete with.
As a metaphor for a white person, the free bird follows the tide of air movement. In the sun’s orange light, it appears to be dipping its wings. It appears to be seizing the entire sky as it soars into the air.
Angelou also published one of the most inspiring autobiographies called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . As the title of her whole backstory, it is clear that this title meant a lot to Angelou.
This is what she talked about in her autobiography. She talked about how hard it was to be a black author and poet. She thought that people didn’t hear her because of her skin color.
She thought that, in some ways, she was still being enslaved. People in Angelou’s time were free, but there were still many rules in society that made many black people not feel independent.
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
![autobiography about english The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51K6Bsvbn6L._SL500_.webp)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X talks a lot about Malcolm’s experiences with racism, and “perception” is used a lot. Malcolm says that people thought of black people in a bad way when he was growing up.
There, Malcolm says that black and white people would not be able to live together in peace because of the idea of perception, which is the main reason he wants to keep them apart.
Malcolm also talks about religion in this book. Malcolm was a big fan of Islam, and he talks about religion in this text. He says Islam is better because it doesn’t support racism.
He says that “America needs to understand Islam because this is the only religion that removes race from its society.” Indeed deserving to be added to the group of truly readable and good autobiographies.
8. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
![autobiography about english Autobiography, An](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51DMirZN9jL._SL500_.webp)
Unless it’s a sleazy tell-all, you’d better skip the details and get straight to the dirt; the best autobiographies of all time strike a balance between the charming and the indulgent.
Agatha Christie’s Autobiography isn’t a sleazy tell-all (a Dame wouldn’t say such things anyhow), but she does it with enough charm and humor to make it worthwhile.
It wasn’t published until 1977, a year after Agatha Christie’s demise at 85 years old when she penned her autobiography.
Christie is one of the world’s best-known mystery writers, yet the author remained a mystery for many fans of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple.
Christie was a private person who rarely spoke to the media, never did interviews, and even disappeared for some time. Despite this, she had a long and successful career as a writer.
Christie fans finally had a chance to discover more about their favorite mystery author thanks to the release of one of the most inspiring autobiographies.
9. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
![autobiography about english Open: An Autobiography](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51MnUn63xNL._SL500_.webp)
Although some may disagree that Andre Agassi was the greatest tennis player of all time, it is clear the Las Vegas native was the most successful at attracting attention. The tome is one of the best autobiographies for sports fanatics all over the globe.
He first appeared on the pro tour in the 1980s, wearing a flamboyant outfit sponsored by Nike. It included stone-washed denim, skintight compression shorts called “Hot Lava,” and dark sunglasses that looked like they belonged on a roulette wheel at midnight.
Many were fooled by the granite consistency of Agassi’s game
Tennis star Andre Agassi is widely regarded as one of the greatest players.
Andre’s father, who was emotionally and physically abusive, was a driving force in Andre’s early development as a gymnast.
In the book Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi , Tennis star Andre won his first grand slam at the tender age of twenty-two, which details his sporting career and personal connections with Barbara Streisand and Brook Shields.
Andre Agassi College Prep Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, was founded due to his philanthropic endeavors, as detailed in his autobiography.
10. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
![autobiography about english On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41LyJ9yocnL._SL500_.webp)
Rarely has a book about writing been so simplistic, useful, and illuminating as this one has been.
Author Stephen King’s childhood and early focus on writing to tell stories are recounted in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft ‘s first chapter in one of his top autobiographies.
Readers will gain a new and often hilarious perspective on the development of a writer from the author’s vivid memories of his formative years in high school-college and the years leading up to his debut novel, Carrie.
Next, King discusses the essential tools of the writer’s profession, including how to use them to their full potential and keep them handy at all times.
Readers are taken on a journey through a wide range of topics, from plotting and character development to work habits and rejection, by the author.
It is a poignant tale of how King’s intense drive to write propelled him to recovery and brought him back to his life, which was serialized in the New Yorker to great acclaim.
11. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
![autobiography about english A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41lWsOqrDOL._SL500_.webp)
A Movable Feast is one of Ernest Hemingway’s best-known works of fiction. Mary Hemingway, the author’s widow, published the memoir after her husband’s death in the 1950s, based on entries from Hemingway’s diaries from the 1920s.
The writer and his little son, Jack, lived in Paris during this time with his first wife, Hadley.
When Ernest Hemingway was a young American writer in Paris (1921–26), with his first wife Hadley Richardson, he wrote a collection of anecdotes called A Moveable Feast.
Hemingway worked as a journalist while pursuing his dream of becoming a full-time novelist in a modest apartment on Paris’s artsy Left Bank.
Several of the artists and authors mentioned in the sketches were also American ex-pats living in Paris at Hemingway’s writings. Drawing from various perspectives, the sketches show the progression of events rather than following a strict timeline.
12. Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
![autobiography about english Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41aJPG0w6-L._SL500_.webp)
Famous American author Mark Twain shares his life story with young readers in one of his best autobiographies of all time. The Autobiography of Mark Twain , as well as insights into the mind of an author and the United States when it was young and hopeful.
The period covered by Mark Twain’s Autobiography ranges from 1835 to 1910, which is a significant one in the history of the US.
Twain’s wit and insight give readers a unique perspective on the Civil War, slavery and race relations, the settlement of the American West, globe travel in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and major literary and historical works.
Twain was widely recognized as a brilliant storyteller throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and readers eagerly awaited his memoirs.
13. I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne
![autobiography about english I Am Ozzy](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/41DqI5I-OQL._SL500_.webp)
Through the pages of one of his popular autobiographies, the world gets to meet Ozzy Osbourne. For the first time, Ozzy reveals the details of his life to the public. After filming a TV show, he’s now released an entire book about his family’s privacy invasion. Take a tour through the life of Ozzy Osbourne.
He recalls everything from his childhood to the present day throughout his life. I Am Ozzy is Ozzy’s way of telling you about the things that have shaped him into who he is now and the things that have made him laugh. As a result, Ozzy divided his book into two parts.
“Starting Over” is what he calls the second section of the book. But he makes an intriguing choice in how to divide up a book and name the parts. He has chapters inside each portion.” At the outset of his autobiography, he says that no one expected him to write it, yet he did.
From his working-class childhood, his decision to leave the factory job for music, how his band was formed, why he is notorious for biting off bats and fowl heads, drug and alcohol problems, near-death encounters with STDs, and the realities of becoming a grandfather.
14. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
![autobiography about english Mein Kampf](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/213Tr9VNszL._SL500_.webp)
Adolf Hitler wrote the Mein Kampf book, which translates to “My Struggle” in English. One volume was published in 1925, followed by another in the following year. It is one of the most popular autobiographies in the world.
Being one of the best autobiographies to read, the book explains Hitler’s political theory, including his views on the state, politics, and race.
In the early 1930s, Hitler amassed a small fortune thanks to the popularity of his book, Main Kampf.
After Hitler became chancellor, the book was made required reading for most Germans, and it served as a means of spreading Nazi ideology and principles throughout the country.
For instance, the book was provided to newlywed couples by the German government as a marriage gift during Hitler’s leadership in Germany.
Additionally, it was made available to all German troops serving in the field throughout World War II. Mein Kampf had sold more than 10 million copies in Germany by the end of World War II and translated them into 11 languages.
As a picture of fascism and Nazism in Germany at the time, it is still relevant today.
15. Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
![autobiography about english Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance](https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/51TdV4rjSL._SL500_.webp)
Among other things, Barack Obama was an author before he became a politician. Dreams from My Father is a refreshing and insightful depiction of a young man pondering the big concerns of identity and belonging.
It was an emotional journey for Obama, born to an African-American father and an American mother. When his mother’s family relocated from Kansas to Hawaii, he followed in their footsteps and grew up in Indonesia.
When he finally gets to Kenya, he faces the painful truth of his father’s death and finally makes peace with his father’s two estates.
Final Thoughts
Biographies and autobiographies can improve your life by allowing you to reading others’ words and apply their knowledge and experience to your own life.
Just let these best autobiographies mentor you. You will be able to learn valuable life lessons without having to experience the same things as these famous people.
Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com
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Literary English
Difference between Biography and Autobiography
Biography and autobiography and are two ways to explain a person’s life story. These two have some key differences and similarities. This article will discuss biography and autobiography in detail. Moreover, we will find some best autobiographies and biographies as well.
What exactly is a biography?
A biography, often known as a bio, is a detailed description of a person’s life. It shows a person’s experience of life events such as school, jobs, relationships, and death, rather than merely the basic facts. A biography book can represent the whole life events of an individual.
Unlike a resume or profile best biography explains the events in a person’s life in detail. We can write about essential aspects of their life and do a personality analysis in a biography book.
What exactly is an autobiography?
The author writes an autobiography to represent their life experiences and success. That is why writers mostly write autobiographies at the end of their lives. It uses a first-person point of view because the main character writes it.
It is usually written by any famous personality who people want to know more about. It is not a rule that only well-known people can write their autobiographies. Anyone can write the story of their life.
Differences between biography and autobiography
Main differences between biography and autobiography are:
Anyone can write a biography of someone.
A biography book is often considered less accurate because someone else writes about another person.
Permissions are necessary to write a biography about someone. It can cause issues if the person is not comfortable to be written about.
A person who writes a biography book usually collects data through newspapers or journals. They can also interview the main character.
Some biography examples: are Steve Jobs, Leonardo the Vinci, Alexander Hamilton
Autobiography :
Any person can write an autobiography about themselves based on their perspectives.
An autobiography book is more accurate because the narrator has faced the events themselves.
There is no need of taking anyone’s permission to write an autobiography
Some autobiography examples are: The Diary of a Young Girl, Dreams from My Father, and Born a Crime.
Memories and occasions of one’s life are the basis of an autobiography book.
Similarities between biography and autobiography
There are differences as well as some similar things between these two writing styles. These are:
Biographies and autobiographies are both nonfiction texts. They are based on reality.
Both types of writing are typically written in sequence. This indicates that they write events from birth to death, or from the present to the future.
We write biographies and autobiographies for the same objective. These narratives are intended to educate the reader about facts, events, and experiences from someone’s life.
Focus/subject: The subject of both are famous personalities. Many celebrities, scientists, politicians, and historical personalities have biographies and autobiographies.
Types of biographies
Biographies have four categories: historical fiction, academic, fictional academic, and prophetic biography.
Historical Fiction Biography
In this type, the author writes about the persons who are still alive. They can be celebrities, politicians, or any other famous personality. Their true stories inspire people and motivate them. Historical fiction biography book often becomes a movie with additional fiction added. It provides both entertainment and information. Facts related to the person are sometimes not accurate in this kind. Historical fiction does not need to be perfectly precise in information.
Academic Biography
An academic biography is based on documented facts and figures. This type requires accuracy and no fiction at all. A person’s life events and success are described with fact-checked data. Academic biographies are not so simple to read. They provide many references related to the work. It is all history so people do not prefer to read something so dry. These biographies have a small readership and are rarely used outside of the classroom.
“John Wyclif: Myth and reality” is one of the academic biography examples.
Academic Fictional Biography
This type combines history and fiction. The combination is great because people get information in a fun way. The outcome is a balanced portrayal of how someone may have lived. It is done by mixing the author’s unique insights into life with the facts and teachings of the personality.
East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart is one of the academic fictional biography examples.
Prophetic Biography
A prophetic biography varies from fictional biography. It tries to inspire the reader through the written personality. This type of biography creates a purpose along with entertainment. The goal is to give life lessons for the betterment of the readers. A fan of a prophetic biography will return to it again and again throughout their life for comfort, meaning, and guidance. “Free Eric. Bonhoeffer” and “Muhammad (PBUH) Islam and The First Arab Empire” are prophetic biography examples.
Types of Autobiography
An autobiography can be classified into four basic categories: thematic, religious, philosophical, and fictionalized.
Thematic Autobiography
Thematic autobiographies are typically more than just life stories. They express an underlying purpose within the narration. In this type, the author write autobiography to convey specific thoughts or ideals. The ideals can be any message that the author believes should be conveyed to the audience through this story.
Religious Autobiography In this type, author write autobiography that covers the journey towards religious enlightenment. People can take guidance from these autobiographies to follow the religious path. Thomas Merton’s “The Seven Storey Mountain” and “My Spiritual Journey” by the Dalai Lama are religious autobiography examples.
Scientific Autobiography
Scientific autobiography is about telling people about your journey. It tells important events that brought you to where you are now. You consider what has shaped your ideas and share it with the reader. Someone who reads this is curious about what has shaped you into who you are.
Fictional autobiography reflects the true experiences of the author. Some parts are dramatized to hide the identity of many people. Fiction is added to increase the artistic quantity of autobiography.
After reading all these types, you must be curious about how to write a biography or an autobiography. In this part we will teach you main points to write them.
How to Write a Biography
Following are the main points to write a Biography
Choose a subject
Take permissions
Research the subject
Form thesis
Outline the story
Include your thoughts
Choose a subject : The first step to write a biography is deciding on a subject. The method will be largely the same either way. You should look at important life events, relationships, and the person’s impact on society. Read more biography examples to get a better idea of writing it.
Take permissions: Once you’ve decided on a biography subject, get permission to write about their lives. If the person accepts, they will be able to provide accurate facts about their life.
Research the subject: To get the facts correct, research is essential. There are two types of research: primary and secondary. Primary sources are initial information about your subject’s life and are generally the most trustworthy sources. You can also use secondary information from magazines or documentaries if they are from valid sources.
Form Thesis : The first paragraph of your biography should tell the reader what they will learn about this individual from it. It should be interesting to grab the reader’s attention.
Outline the Story: Determine the major argument, or thesis, and then outline how each section will tell a different element to support that thesis. Determine whether you want to write about the subject’s entire life or simply a portion of it.
Include your thoughts: The author might add their ideas in the biography. This will assist you in explaining to the audience why a particular personality influences you. will show the purpose of why you wrote about this person. It will keep the audience reading from the first to the last sentence.
How to Write an Autobiography
Writing about your life can be intimidating but it can become easy by following some rules. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to write an autobiography book:
Generate ideas
Create outline
Do research
Begin writing
Generate ideas: Make sure to cover all events of your life as you go through your memories. Begin with your youth, then move on to high school. Make sure to write about the event that made you famous.
Create Outline: Begin organizing a story based on the most interesting moments from your imagination. Then write every point that you will include in your autobiography book.
Research: You can interview your family and friends to remind you of details about different events. Examine your journals or old diaries, if you have any.
Begin writing: For the first time, you will be unable to write well. Write down all of the information you remember. Then, sort them out and write again.
Proofread: You should identify weak points in the story and make positive changes. Consider what you’d seek in a biography of another individual and apply it to your autobiography.
List of some most famous biographies and autobiographies are given below:
Examples of Biography
Churchill: A life by martin gilbert
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
A beautiful mind by Sylvia Nasar
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson
Shelley: The Pursuit by Richard Holmes
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Examples of Autobiography
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Open by Andre Agassi
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Autobiography of Mark Twain
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Conclusion :
There are many differences as well as similarities between biography and autobiography. You can write a biography of any famous personality by following the tips given above. The main tip to write a biography or autobiography is to read most of them first. Reading these is best for people who are interested in exploring non-fiction materials and history.
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Meaning of autobiography in English
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- multi-volume
- young adult
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Autobiography | american dictionary, examples of autobiography, translations of autobiography.
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autobiography noun
- Hide all quotations
Earlier version
- autobiography in OED Second Edition (1989)
What does the noun autobiography mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun autobiography . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun autobiography ?
1790 | 0.064 |
1800 | 0.054 |
1810 | 0.069 |
1820 | 0.24 |
1830 | 0.52 |
1840 | 0.95 |
1850 | 1.2 |
1860 | 1.5 |
1870 | 1.7 |
1880 | 2.0 |
1890 | 2.3 |
1900 | 2.4 |
1910 | 2.7 |
1920 | 3.1 |
1930 | 3.7 |
1940 | 4.2 |
1950 | 4.4 |
1960 | 4.7 |
1970 | 5.1 |
1980 | 5.9 |
1990 | 6.3 |
2000 | 6.5 |
2010 | 6.2 |
How is the noun autobiography pronounced?
British english, u.s. english, where does the noun autobiography come from.
Earliest known use
The earliest known use of the noun autobiography is in the late 1700s.
OED's earliest evidence for autobiography is from 1797, in the writing of William Taylor, reviewer and translator.
autobiography is formed within English, by compounding; perhaps modelled on a German lexical item.
Etymons: auto- comb. form 1 , biography n.
Nearby entries
- autobasidium, n. 1895–
- autobio, n. 1856–
- autobiog, n. 1829–
- autobiographal, adj. 1845–
- autobiographer, n. 1807–
- autobiographic, adj. 1818–
- autobiographical, adj. 1807–
- autobiographically, adv. 1822–
- autobiographical novel, n. 1832–
- autobiographist, n. 1820–
- autobiography, n. 1797–
- autobiopic, n. 1977–
- auto body, n. 1904–
- auto-boot, n. 1981–
- auto-boot, v. 1984–
- auto-booting, adj. 1983–
- autobox, n. 1977–
- autobracketing, n. 1985–
- auto-burglar, n. 1884
- autocade, n. 1924–
- auto camp, n. 1904–
Meaning & use
The next dissertation concerns Diaries, and Self-biography . We are doubtful whether the latter word be legitimate: it is not very usual in English to employ hybrid words partly Saxon and partly Greek: yet autobiography would have seemed pedantic.
This very amusing and unique specimen of autobiography .
Geology (as Sir C. Lyell has so happily expressed it) is ‘the autobiography of the earth’.
We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography .
The autobiography in your letter..has pleased me a good deal.
Dent's will be pleased to hear that my Welsh book, a sort of provincial autobiography , is coming on well.
An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details.
The Cockney beauty's autobiography ..has become a surprise hit, debuting at number four in the best-seller lists.
- story 1533– With possessive adjective or genitive. A person's account of the events of his or her life or a part of it. Cf. life story , n. , and also sense 8.
- autography 1661– = autobiography , n. rare .
- memoirs 1676– In plural . Autobiographical observations; reminiscences. Frequently modified by a possessive.
- idiography a1734 Autobiography; writing about oneself. Obsolete . rare .
- self-biography 1796– An account of the life of an individual written by himself or herself; an autobiography. Also: the genre comprising such work.
- autobiography 1797– An account of a person's life given by himself or herself, esp. one published in book form. Also: the process of writing such an account; these…
- reminiscence 1797– Chiefly in plural . A recollection or memory of a past fact or experience recounted to others; spec. (usually in plural ) a person's collective…
- autobiog 1829– = autobiography , n.
- autobio 1856– = autobiography , n.
- auto 1881– = autobiography , n.
- curriculum vitae 1902– A course; spec. a regular course of study or training, as at a school or university. (The recognized term in the Scottish Universities.) curriculum …
- biodata 1947– ( plural ) biographical details, esp. summarizing a person's educational and employment history, academic career, etc.; (with singular agreement) =…
- vita 1949– A biography, the history of a life; spec. = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.
- c.v. 1971– = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.
Pronunciation
- ð th ee
- ɬ rhingy ll
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
- a trap, bath
- ɑː start, palm, bath
- ɔː thought, force
- ᵻ (/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ (/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here .
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
- i fleece, happ y
- æ trap, bath
- ɑ lot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɔ cloth, thought
- ɔr north, force
- ə strut, comm a
- ər nurse, lett er
- ɛ(ə)r square
- æ̃ sal on
Simple Text Respell
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- arr carry (British only)
- a(ng) gratin
- o lot (British only)
- orr sorry (British only)
- o(ng) salon
autobiography typically occurs about six times per million words in modern written English.
autobiography is in frequency band 5, which contains words occurring between 1 and 10 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of autobiography, n. , 1790–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole , n.¹, mole , n.², mole , n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
Decade | Frequency per million words |
---|---|
1790 | 0.064 |
1800 | 0.054 |
1810 | 0.069 |
1820 | 0.24 |
1830 | 0.52 |
1840 | 0.95 |
1850 | 1.2 |
1860 | 1.5 |
1870 | 1.7 |
1880 | 2.0 |
1890 | 2.3 |
1900 | 2.4 |
1910 | 2.7 |
1920 | 3.1 |
1930 | 3.7 |
1940 | 4.2 |
1950 | 4.4 |
1960 | 4.7 |
1970 | 5.1 |
1980 | 5.9 |
1990 | 6.3 |
2000 | 6.5 |
2010 | 6.2 |
Frequency of autobiography, n. , 2017–2023
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.
Period | Frequency per million words |
---|---|
Oct.–Dec. 2017 | 2.7 |
Jan.–Mar. 2018 | 2.6 |
Apr.–June 2018 | 2.6 |
July–Sept. 2018 | 2.6 |
Oct.–Dec. 2018 | 2.5 |
Jan.–Mar. 2019 | 2.3 |
Apr.–June 2019 | 2.2 |
July–Sept. 2019 | 2.4 |
Oct.–Dec. 2019 | 2.3 |
Jan.–Mar. 2020 | 2.3 |
Apr.–June 2020 | 2.1 |
July–Sept. 2020 | 2.2 |
Oct.–Dec. 2020 | 2.3 |
Jan.–Mar. 2021 | 2.3 |
Apr.–June 2021 | 2.2 |
July–Sept. 2021 | 2.2 |
Oct.–Dec. 2021 | 2.4 |
Jan.–Mar. 2022 | 2.3 |
Apr.–June 2022 | 2.2 |
July–Sept. 2022 | 2.3 |
Oct.–Dec. 2022 | 2.6 |
Jan.–Mar. 2023 | 2.8 |
Compounds & derived words
- autobiog , n. 1829– = autobiography, n.
- autobiographal , adj. 1845– = autobiographical, adj.
- autobio , n. 1856– = autobiography, n.
- auto , n.³ 1881– = autobiography, n.
Entry history for autobiography, n.
autobiography, n. was revised in June 2011.
autobiography, n. was last modified in June 2024.
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into autobiography, n. in June 2024.
Earlier versions of this entry were published in:
OED First Edition (1885)
- Find out more
OED Second Edition (1989)
- View autobiography in OED Second Edition
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Citation details
Factsheet for autobiography, n., browse entry.
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3. Try to write in chronological order. Having come up with a solid outline, you should now feel (somewhat) prepared to start writing your autobiography… and, ideally, to start writing it in chronological order. While many books can be drafted non-chronologically, an autobiography is not one of them.
The emergence of autobiography. There are but few and scattered examples of autobiographical literature in antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the 2nd century bce the Chinese classical historian Sima Qian included a brief account of himself in the Shiji ("Historical Records"). It may be stretching a point to include, from the 1st century bce, the letters of Cicero (or, in the early Christian ...
Autobiography Definition, Examples, and Writing Guide. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Aug 26, 2022 • 6 min read. As a firsthand account of the author's own life, an autobiography offers readers an unmatched level of intimacy. Learn how to write your first autobiography with examples from MasterClass instructors.
The goal of an autobiography is to allow readers to explore a factual, chronological telling of the author's life. Autobiographies aren't merely catalogues of events, however; they need soulful introspection too. Think about why certain episodes mattered more than others and how those experiences influenced your perspectives or decisions ...
YHISTORY OF ENGLISH AUTOBIOGRAPHYHistory of English Autobiography explores the genealogy of auto-biographical writing in England from the. edieval period to the digital era. Beginning with an extensive introduction that charts important theoretical contributions to the field, this History includes wide-ranging essays that illuminate th.
There are six types of autobiographies: Autobiography: A personal account that a person writes himself/herself. Memoir: An account of one's memory. Reflective Essay: One's thoughts about something. Confession: An account of one's wrong or right doings. Monologue: An address of one's thoughts to some audience or interlocuters.
The word autobiography literally means SELF (auto), LIFE (bio), WRITING (graph). Or, in other words, an autobiography is the story of someone's life written or otherwise told by that person. When writing your autobiography, find out what makes your family or your experience unique and build a narrative around that.
The earliest known autobiography written in English is the Book of Margery Kempe, written in 1438. Following in the earlier tradition of a life story told as an act of Christian witness, the book describes Margery Kempe 's pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Rome , her attempts to negotiate a celibate marriage with her husband, and most of all her ...
An autobiography (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written biography. The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader. ... The Book of Margery Kempe, written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest ...
A History of English Autobiography explores the genealogy of autobiographical writing in England from the medieval period to the digital era. Beginning with an extensive introduction that charts important theoretical contributions to the field, this History includes wide-ranging essays that illuminate the legacy of English autobiography. ...
Famous Personality Autobiography. The autobiography of benjamin franklin is one example of a famous personality autobiography. Similarly, these famous autobiography examples will provide you with everything to get started with your famous personality autobiography. It elaborates the family, education, and career details of Wolfgang Ketterle.
Example 2. An autobiography by a young Olympian is "Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith" by Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas. She had a writer, Michelle Burford, help her in writing her autobiography. This is common for those who have a story to tell but may not have the words to express it well.
Fortunately, there are plenty of innovative and well-thought-out autobiography samples that are available. They can assist you in organizing your thoughts to come up with a great autobiography. These samples can save you valuable time, especially on how to start an autobiography. Check out our extra 40 biography templates.
The word ''autobiography'' was first used in English in 1797. However, the genre is much older. It is difficult to name a single work as the world's first autobiography, ...
The term fictional autobiography (or pseudoautobiography) refers to novels that employ first-person narrators who recount the events of their lives as if they actually happened. Well-known examples include David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Some critics believe that all autobiographies are ...
In this English article, learn about the difference between a biography and an autobiography, and have a go at autobiographical writing yourself.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass. For fans of: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight and The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du ...
autobiography: [noun] the biography of a person narrated by himself or herself.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: 1821 James Hogg: Altrive Tales: Featuring a Memoir of the Author's Life: ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Autobiography Of Goethe: Truth And Poetry, From My Own Life: 1848 William Wordsworth: The Prelude: 1850 Leo Tolstoy: Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth: 1856 Alexandre Dumas: Mes Mémoires: 1856 John ...
Here're some of the best autobiographies for your perusal. 1. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. $7.37. Understand Benjamin Franklin's past even if you did not live it. Read Now. Lifehack is reader-supported.
Differences between biography and autobiography. Main differences between biography and autobiography are: Biography: Anyone can write a biography of someone. A biography book is often considered less accurate because someone else writes about another person. Permissions are necessary to write a biography about someone.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition: 1. a book about a person's life, written by that person: 2. the area of literature relating to…. Learn more.
autobiography is in frequency band 5, which contains words occurring between 1 and 10 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
The British public has elected a new government, and with that a new family will be moving into 10 Downing Street. Unlike some other countries, such as the United States, when a new British prime ...