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Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir
The three primary formats of a memory book , used to tell a life story, are a biography, an autobiography, and a memoir. Distinguishing between the three can feel a bit confusing since they all share several similarities. But there are some distinct differences.
Simply put, a biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. An autobiography is the story of a person’s life, written by that person. And a memoir is a collection of memories written by the person themselves.
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What is a Biography?
A biography, also called a bio, is a non-fiction piece of work giving an objective account of a person’s life. The main difference between a biography vs. an autobiography is that the author of a biography is not the subject. A biography could be someone still living today, or it could be the subject of a person who lived years ago.
Biographies include details of key events that shaped the subject’s life, and information about their birthplace, education, work, and relationships. Biographers use a number of research sources, including interviews, letters, diaries, photographs, essays, reference books, and newspapers. While a biography is usually in the written form, it can be produced in other formats such as music composition or film.
If the target person of the biography is not alive, then the storytelling requires an immense amount of research. Interviews might be required to collect information from historical experts, people who knew the person (e.g., friends and family), or reading other older accounts from other people who wrote about the person in previous years. In biographies where the person is still alive, the writer can conduct several interviews with the target person to gain insight on their life.
The goal of a biography is to take the reader through the life story of the person, including their childhood into adolescence and teenage years, and then their early adult life into the rest of their years. The biography tells a story of how the person learned life’s lessons and the ways the person navigated the world. It should give the reader a clear picture of the person’s personality, traits, and their interaction in the world.
Biographies can also be focused on groups of people and not just one person. For example, a biography can be a historical account of a group of people from hundreds of years ago. This group could have the main person who was a part of the group, and the author writes about the group to tell a story of how they shaped the world.
Fictional biographies mix some true historical accounts with events to help improve the story. Think of fictional biographies as movies that display a warning that the story is made of real characters, but some events are fictional to add to the storyline and entertainment value. A lot of research still goes into a fictional biography, but the author has more room to create a storyline instead of sticking to factual events.
Examples of famous biographies include:
- His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
- Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald William Clark
- Princess Diana – A Biography of The Princess of Wales by Drew L. Crichton
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What is an Autobiography?
An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by that person. Because the author is also the main character of the story, autobiographies are written in the first person. Usually, an autobiography is written by the person who is the subject of the book, but sometimes the autobiography is written by another person. Because an autobiography is usually a life story for the author, the theme can be anything from religious to a personal account to pass on to children.
The purpose of an autobiography is to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author. Therefore, most autobiographies are typically written later in the subject’s life. It’s written from the point of view of the author, so it typically uses first person accounts to describe the story.
An autobiography often begins during early childhood and chronologically details key events throughout the author’s life. Autobiographies usually include information about where a person was born and brought up, their education, career, life experiences, the challenges they faced, and their key achievements.
On rare occasions, an autobiography is created from a person’s diary or memoirs. When diaries are used, the author must organize them to create a chronological and cohesive story. The story might have flashbacks or flashforwards to describe a specific event, but the main storyline should follow chronological order from the author’s early life to their current events.
One of the main differences between an autobiography vs. a biography is that autobiographies tend to be more subjective. That’s because they are written by the subject, and present the facts based on their own memories of a specific situation, which can be biased. The story covers the author’s opinions on specific subjects and provides an account of their feelings as they navigate certain situations. These stories are also very personal because it’s a personal account of the author’s life rather than a biography where a third party writes about a specific person.
Examples of famous autobiographies include:
- The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
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What is a Memoir?
Memoir comes from the French word mémoire , meaning memory or reminiscence. Similar to an autobiography, a memoir is the story of a person’s life written by that person. These life stories are often from diary entries either from a first-person account or from a close family member or friend with access to personal diaries.
The difference between a memoir vs. an autobiography is that a memoir focuses on reflection and establishing an emotional connection, rather than simply presenting the facts about their life. The author uses their personal knowledge to tell an intimate and emotional story about the private or public happenings in their life. The author could be the person in the story, or it can be written by a close family member or friend who knew the subject person intimately. The topic is intentionally focused and does not include biographical or chronological aspects of the author’s life unless they are meaningful and relevant to the story.
Memoirs come in several types, all of which are written as an emotional account of the target person. They usually tell a story of a person who went through great struggles or faced challenges in a unique way. They can also cover confessionals where the memoir tells the story of the author’s account that contradicts another’s account.
This genre of writing is often stories covering famous people’s lives, such as celebrities. In many memoir projects, the celebrity or person of interest needs help with organization, writing the story, and fleshing out ideas from the person’s diaries. It might take several interviews before the story can be fully outlined and written, so it’s not uncommon for a memoir project to last several months.
Memoirs do not usually require as much research as biographies and autobiographies, because you have the personal accounts in diary entries and documents with the person’s thoughts. It might require several interviews, however, before the diary entries can be organized to give an accurate account on the person’s thoughts and emotions. The story does not necessarily need to be in chronological order compared to an autobiography, but it might be to tell a better story.
Examples of famous memoirs include:
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant
Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir Comparison Chart
An account of a person’s life | An account of one’s own life | A personal account of a specific time or experience |
Written in the third person | Written in the first person | Written in the first person |
Objective | Subjective | Subjective |
Presents information collected from the subject, their acquaintances, or from other sources | Presents facts as they were experienced by the person | Presents facts as they were experienced by the person |
Written to inform and establish a context | Written to inform and explain the motivation and thoughts behind actions and decisions | Written to reflect on and explore the emotion of an experience |
Has restricted access to the subject’s thoughts and feelings | Offers access to personal thoughts and feelings | Offers access to personal thoughts, feelings, reactions, and reflections |
Can be written anytime | Usually written later in life | Can be written anytime |
Check out some of our blogs to learn more about memoirs:
- What is a memoir?
- 5 tips for writing a memoir
- Your memoir is your legacy
Ready to get started on your own memoir, autobiography, or biography? Download our free desktop book-making software, BookWright .
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Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir: Understanding the Differences
Autobiography, biography, and memoir are three genres of literature that share similarities but are also distinct from one another. While they tell stories about people’s lives, they differ in scope, perspective, and purpose. Understanding the differences between these genres is vital for readers, writers, and researchers alike.
So, what exactly makes them different from each other?
In this article, we’ll compare autobiography vs. biography vs. memoir, discover the definitions of each, and see the best examples of each genre.
But before we dive deep into the topic and learn about these three book genres, let’s see a quick overview of what an autobiography, a biography, and a memoir are for those in a hurry!
An autobiography is a book written by the person whose life is being described. It is a first-person narrative that covers the author’s entire life, from birth to the present day. On the other hand, a biography is a book written about a person’s life by someone else. It is a third-person narrative that covers the subject’s life in a factual and objective manner.
Meanwhile, a memoir is similar to an autobiography, but instead of describing the person’s entire life, it focuses on a particular event or a specific period and delves deeper into the author’s state of mind at the time.
Now that you have a rough idea of what an autobiography, a biography, and a memoir mean, let’s move ahead and explore all these book genres in much more detail.
What is an Autobiography?
An autobiography is a book written by an individual about their own life. It covers the author’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings throughout their life.
Autobiographies are typically written in the first person and are subjective in nature. They can cover many topics, including personal experiences, family history, career achievements, and more.
An autobiography aims to provide readers with an in-depth look into the author’s life. It can be a way for the author to share their story, inspire others, or leave a legacy. Autobiographies can also be used as a form of therapy, allowing the author to reflect on their life experiences and gain a deeper understanding of themselves.
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Autobiographies can be both subjective and objective. While they are written from the author’s point of view, they can still provide an accurate account of events. However, it is essential to note that autobiographies are not always completely accurate, as memories can be flawed and biased.
Autobiographies can cover a wide range of events and information. Some may focus on a specific period or event in the author’s life, while others may cover their entire life from birth to the present day.
Autobiographies are often written by famous people, such as politicians, athletes, and celebrities, who want to tell their life stories in their own words. They can be insightful and revealing, but they can also be self-serving and biased.
Here are a few famous autobiographies:
- “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank
- “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah
- “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
- “An Autobiography” by Agatha Christie
- “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X
- “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela
What is a Biography?
A biography is a non-fictional account of someone’s life written by another person. It provides an objective understanding of the person’s life, covering various aspects such as their upbringing, education, career, achievements, and personal life.
The author of a biography is not the subject, and their interpretation of the subject’s life is not expected to be included in the text.
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Biographies can be written about anyone, from historical figures to ordinary people who have made a significant impact on society. They are often researched and written by scholars, journalists, and other experts who want to provide a comprehensive and accurate account of a person’s life. And so, they are generally considered to be objective, as the author is expected to present a factual account of the subject’s life without any personal bias.
Biographies cover various events and information about the subject’s life. They may include details about the subject’s childhood, education, family life, career, and personal relationships. Biographies may also provide insights into the subject’s personality, beliefs, and values.
Here are some popular biographies and their authors:
- “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
- “A Beautiful Mind” by Sylvia Nasar
- “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand
- “Mao: The Unknown Story” by Jung Chang
- “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot
- “Einstein: His Life and Universe” by Walter Isaacson
What is a Memoir?
A memoir is a form of autobiographical writing that focuses on a specific period, theme, or series of events in the author’s life. It is much similar to an autobiography; the only difference is that an autobiography covers the author’s entire life while the memoir is focused on a particular period or event.
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Memoirs are personal narratives that typically include the author’s reflections, emotions, and thoughts about their experiences. They are often considered to be subjective, as they are based on the author’s memories and perceptions of events, rather than objective facts.
To be considered a memoir, a book must be a factual account of the author’s life, but it does not have to be a comprehensive chronicle of their entire life. Instead, it should provide insight into a particular aspect of their life, such as their childhood, career, or personal relationships.
Here are some popular memoirs that have resonated with readers:
- “Educated” by Tara Westover
- “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls
- “Heavy: An American Memoir” by Kiese Laymon
- “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed
- “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs
- “Night” by Elie Wiesel
These memoirs are just a few examples of the wide range of experiences and themes that can be explored through this genre of writing.
Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir – Key Differences:
When it comes to writing about someone’s life, there are three main options: autobiography, biography, and memoir. While they all share similarities, there are some key differences between them.
Autobiography
An autobiography is a factual and historical account of one’s entire life written by the person themselves. It is usually written in the first person and covers the author’s life from beginning to end. Although autobiographies are often written by famous people, they can be written by anyone.
A biography is the story of someone’s life written by someone else. It is usually written in the third person and covers the subject’s life from birth to death.
A memoir is a nonfiction narrative in which the author shares their memories from a specific time period or reflects upon a string of themed occurrences throughout their life. Memoirs tend to focus on a particular aspect of the author’s life rather than their entire life story.
Comparison Chart
Here is a comparison chart highlighting the key differences between autobiography, biography, and memoir:
Autobiography | Biography | Memoir | |
---|---|---|---|
Subject | Other | Subject | |
First Person | Third Person | First Person | |
Entire Life | Entire Life | Specific Time Period or Theme | |
Entire Life | Subject’s Life | Specific Aspect of Author’s Life | |
Tell Life Story | Inform and Entertain | Reflect on Specific Memories or Themes |
After examining the similarities and differences between autobiography, biography, and memoir, it is clear that each genre has its unique characteristics. While all three genres involve storytelling, they differ in their scope, focus, and style.
One notable difference between these genres is the level of objectivity. Biographies are often the most objective, as they are written by a third-party author who is not emotionally invested in the subject. In contrast, memoirs and autobiographies can be highly subjective, as they are written from the author’s perspective and often include their emotions and opinions.
Another difference is the audience. Autobiographies and biographies are usually intended for a broader audience, while memoirs are often more personal and may only appeal to a specific group of readers.
Overall, each genre has its strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the reader to decide which genre best suits their interests and preferences.
Also Read: What is the Fantasy Genre?
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The Difference between Memoir and Autobiography
The words 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are both used to describe written accounts of a person's life that are written by the person themselves. Sometimes the words are used interchangeably to mean "a written history of a person's life." Sometimes 'memoir' is used to mean something different.
An autobiography is an account of a person's entire life, but a memoir usually is only about one part of a person's life. A memoir might be about a person's struggles with homelessness or addiction, or about their adventures traveling the world, or about their experience becoming an actor.
A narrative about a person's life from birth or early childhood is usually called an autobiography. A narrative about a specific period of a person's life or a specific experience is usually called a memoir.
I hope this helps.
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Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir: What’s the Difference?
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Autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs. These are the three main formats that tell a real person’s life story.
But unless you’re in the know, it can be a little confusing to tell the difference between each one. While they all serve a similar purpose, they each have distinctions that set them apart from one another.
In this post, I’ll explain the differences between autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs. And to clear up any confusion, I’ll provide some famous examples of each one.
Table of Contents
Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir
Autobiographies.
An autobiography is an account of a person’s life, written by that person. The word originates from the Greek’ auto’, ‘bios’ and ‘graphein’, meaning ‘self,’ ‘life,’ and ‘to write.’
Since the narrator is also the subject of the story, autobiographies tend to be written in the first person.
The majority of autobiographies begin by documenting childhood experiences, working their way chronologically upwards through the decades. The author will include major and minor events that have shaped their lives and stood out to them on their journey.
A detailed autobiography will cover things like a person’s earliest memories, early family life, and upbringing. They might share stories from their education, their careers, and their relationships, as well as triumphs and challenges they’ve faced along the way.
Since an autobiography is a life story, most people wait until their later years before they pen their own, but this isn’t always true. There are plenty of autobiographies written by younger people too. Anyone that has led an interesting life can write an autobiography.
Here’s a few examples of autobiographies written by famous people:
- Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography from 1771 to 1790. It tells the fascinating tale of his rise to power, from a boy born into a lower-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts, to becoming one of America’s founding fathers.
- Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf, meaning ‘my struggle,’ gives us a raw and eye-opening look into the unseen life of this mass-murdering dictator. It’s not an easy or lighthearted read by any means. Still, it gives the reader a fascinating insight into his early life, his rise to power, and his own justifications behind his monstrous genocidal policies.
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
This is a more unusual example of an autobiography, but it’s an autobiography non the less. Ann Frank’s real-life diary documents her experience as a Jewish teenager who was forced into hiding during World War II.
Biographies
Just like an autobiography, a biography tells a person’s life story. But in this case, it is written by another author, rather than the person themselves.
Biographies are most often written about famous, notable people who have led interesting lives. They usually include factual details, such as their birthplace, their education, their partners and relationships, and facts about their career.
But a good biography will also cover how key events have shaped a person’s life. Biography authors will compile information from a wide range of sources, including interviews with the person in question or their friends, colleagues, and family members. They may also source information from letters, diaries, past interviews, and periodicals.
Here are a few examples of famous biographies:
- Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert
Many authors over the year have written biographies about his iconic British prime minister. Still, it’s Martin Gilbert’s work which has been by far the most successful and celebrated.
Through years of in-depth research, Gilbert gives readers a comprehensive and honest insight into the life of the man who led Britain through the Second World War.
- Frida: Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
Hayden Herrera wrote this eye-opening biography of celebrated painter Frida Kahlo back in 1983, and it has since become the most authoritative account of her life in print.
The book documents Kahlo’s struggles and pain, but it also tells of her artistic prowess and her determination to leave a positive influence on the world.
- Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson
Rather than focusing on Sylvia Plath’s painful struggles with mental health and her turbulent marriage to English poet Ted Hughs, this biography tells of Plath’s earlier life, before the pair ever met. Taking information directly from her detailed diary entries, Wilson has complied an insightful picture of the American writer’s early experiences before she found fame.
Taken from the French word for ‘memory,’ a memoir is a non-fiction, self-written account of a person’s life. But unlike an autobiography, a memoir focuses much more on the emotional journey rather than chronologically recounting facts and events.
Memoirs are essentially a collection of memories that are important to the author, and they paint an intimate portrait of what it was like to be in their shoes.
Due to the similar nature of memoirs and autobiographies, it’s sometimes hard to denote the difference between the two, especially in the modern era when genres are often blended, and new ways of writing become commonplace.
One key thing to remember is that a memoir is usually less of a timeline of events and more an informal, emotional picture of a person’s life. Memoirs will often focus on things like past regrets and life lessons learned along the way, whereas autobiographies concentrate on facts and things that happened.
Here are a few examples of famous memoirs:
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote a total of seven autobiographies and memoirs during her lifetime, but this is the most notable one of them all.
This famous memoir documents the first seventeen years of her life as a young African American woman, and all of the struggles and turmoils she faced and overcame during that time.
- Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
This travel memoir written by the New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert was subsequently turned into a blockbuster movie starring Julia Roberts.
It documents Gilbert’s personal journey of rebirth following a painful divorce and invites the reader to share the valuable and life changing lessons she learns along the way.
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt’s moving memoir takes us on an in-depth journey through his childhood years when he lived a profoundly impoverished life in Ireland during the midst of the Great Depression.
It won a 1997 Pulitzer Prize and has also been adapted to the silver screen.
Autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs all do one job: they tell a person’s non-fictional life story. But as you can see, each one is unique in its own way.
Do you have a favorite autobiography, biography, or memoir?
Let us know in the comments below.
Check out these other great articles!
- 7 Essential Tips for Writing Poetry
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- 11 Extraordinary Stephen King Writing Tips
- 6 Tips for Writing a Book All Writers Must Know
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The Differences between Memoir, Autobiography, and Biography - article
Creative nonfiction: memoir vs. autobiography vs. biography.
Writing any type of nonfiction story can be a daunting task. As the author, you have the responsibility to tell a true story and share the facts as accurately as you can—while also making the experience enjoyable for the reader.
There are three primary formats to tell a creative nonfiction story: memoir, autobiography, and biography. Each has its own distinct characteristics, so it’s important to understand the differences between them to ensure you’re writing within the correct scope.
A memoir is a collection of personal memories related to specific moments or experiences in the author’s life. Told from the perspective of the author, memoirs are written in first person point of view.
The defining characteristic that sets memoirs apart from autobiographies and biographies is its scope. While the other genres focus on the entire timeline of a person’s life, memoirs structure themselves on one aspect, such as addiction, parenting, adolescence, disease, faith, etc.
They may tell stories from various moments in the author’s life, but they should read like a cohesive story—not just a re-telling of facts.
“You don’t want a voice that simply relates facts to the reader. You want a voice that shows the reader what’s going on and puts him or her in the room with the people you’re writing about.” – Kevan Lyon in Writing a Memoir
Unlike autobiographies and biographies, memoirs focus more on the author’s relationship to and feelings about his or her own memories. Memoirs tend to read more like a fiction novel than a factual account, and should include things like dialogue , setting, character descriptions, and more.
Authors looking to write a memoir can glean insight from both fiction and nonfiction genres. Although memoirs tell a true story, they focus on telling an engaging narrative, just like a novel. This gives memoir authors a little more flexibility to improve upon the story slightly for narrative effect.
However, you should represent dialogue and scenarios as accurately as you can, especially if you’re worried about libel and defamation lawsuits .
Examples of popular memoirs include Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.
Key traits of a memoir:
- Written in 1 st person POV from the perspective of the author - Less formal compared to autobiographies and biographies - Narrow in scope or timeline - Focused more on feelings and memories than facts - More flexibility to change the story for effect
Autobiography
Like a memoir, an autobiography is the author’s retelling of his or her life and told in first person point of view, making the author the main character of the story.
Autobiographies are also narrative nonfiction, so the stories are true but also include storytelling elements such as a protagonist (the author), a central conflict, and a cast of intriguing characters.
Unlike memoirs, autobiographies focus more on facts than emotions. Because of this, a collaborator often joins the project to help the author tell the most factual, objective story possible.
While a memoir is limited in scope, an autobiography details the author’s entire life up to the present. An autobiography often begins when the author is young and includes detailed chronology, events, places, reactions, movements and other relevant happenings throughout the author’s life.
“In many people’s memoir, they do start when they’re younger, but it isn’t an, ‘I got a dog, then we got a fish, and then I learned to tie my shoes’…it isn’t that kind of detail.” – Linda Joy Meyers in Memoir vs. Autobiography
The chronology of an autobiography is organized but not necessarily in date order. For instance, the author may start from current time and employ flashbacks or he/she may organize events thematically.
Autobiographers use many sources of information to develop the story such as letters, photographs, and other personal memorabilia. However, like a memoir, the author’s personal memory is the primary resource. Any other sources simply enrich the story and relay accurate and engaging experiences.
A good autobiography includes specific details that only the author knows and provides context by connecting those details to larger issues, themes, or events. This allows the reader to relate more personally to the author’s experience.
Examples of popular autobiographies include The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
Key traits of an autobiography:
- Written in 1 st person POV from the perspective of the author, occasionally with the help of a collaborator - More formal and objective than memoirs, but more subjective than biographies - Broad in scope or timeline, often covering the author’s entire life up to the present - Focused more on facts than emotions - Requires more extensive fact-checking and research than memoirs, but less than biographies
A biography is the story of events and circumstances of a person’s life, written by someone other than that person. Usually, people write biographies about a historical or public figure . They can be written with or without the subject’s authorization.
Since the author is telling the account of someone else, biographies are always in third person point of view and carry a more formal and objective tone than both memoirs and autobiographies.
Like an autobiography, biographies cover the entire scope of the subject’s life, so it should include details about his or her birthplace, educational background, work history, relationships, death and more.
Good biographers will research and study a person’s life to collect facts and present the most historically accurate, multi-faceted picture of an individual’s experiences as possible. A biography should include intricate details—so in-depth research is necessary to ensure accuracy.
“If you’re dealing principally with historical figures who are long dead, there are very few legal problems…if you’re dealing with a more sensitive issue…then the lawyers will be crawling all over the story.” – David Margolick in Legal Issues with Biographies
However, biographies are still considered creative nonfiction, so the author has the ability to analyze and interpret events in the subject’s life, looking for meaning in their actions, uncovering mistakes, solving mysteries, connecting details, and highlighting the significance of the person's accomplishments or life activities.
Authors often organize events in chronological order, but can sometimes organize by themes or specific accomplishments or topics, depending on their book’s key idea.
Examples of popular biographies include Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Key traits of a biography:
- Written about another person, often a celebrity or public figure, and told in 3 rd person point of view - More formal and objective than both memoirs and autobiographies - Broad in scope or timeline, often covering the subject’s entire life up to the present - Focused solely on facts - Requires meticulous research and fact-checking to ensure accuracy
- Biographies and Memoirs
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Met you this morning briefly and just bought your book on Amazon. Congratulations.
Very helpful. I think I am heading down the path of a memoir.
Thank you explaining the differences between the three writing styles!
Very useful article. Well done. Please can we have more. Doctor's Orders !!!
My first book, "Tales of a Meandering Medic" is definitely a Memoir.
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What’s the Difference Between a Memoir and an Autobiography?
By ellen gutoskey | jan 5, 2022.
![Unclear whether this is a memoir or an autobiography. Unclear whether this is a memoir or an autobiography.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/654084-gettyimages-1296687683-d31b083b7a0dcf1ac165e9483f36c588.jpg)
On the literary genre spectrum, memoirs and autobiographies are right next to each other. They’re both nonfiction accounts of the author’s personal experience, usually written in first person (i.e. using I , me , and other first-person pronouns). But despite their similarities—and the fact that memoir and autobiography are often used interchangeably—they’re technically separate genres.
Since an autobiography is essentially just a biography written by the person it’s about, it has pretty much all the characteristics of a regular biography. As MasterClass explains , the narrative typically progresses chronologically and covers the subject’s whole life (thus far), with a focus on facts. That’s not to say autobiographies by default have bare-bones prose or a lack of emotion—the story of someone’s life will likely feature some fascinating formative memories and the feelings that came with them.
But those elements are much more integral to a memoir than an autobiography. According to Book Riot , a memoir doesn’t usually cover the author’s entire life, but instead a specific period or themes within it. Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking , for example, centers on the year after her husband, John Gregory Dunne, died of a heart attack in late 2003. It’s just as much a discourse on grief as it is an account of what happened in Didion’s life that year—and you might pick it up to read about grief rather than to learn about the author herself. Though Didion was, by that point in her career, famous enough that people would be interested to read about her experiences in particular, that’s not always the case with memoirists. Sometimes, it’s the subject matter that attracts readers, not the name of the author.
If you crack open an autobiography, on the other hand, it’s probably because you want to learn about the person who wrote it. Autobiographers are usually celebrities, from activists like Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela to athletes like Andre Agassi —people who’ve achieved such success and/or have lived such high-profile lives that you’d want to read their full stories, starting from the cradle.
All that said, the differences between memoirs and autobiographies are more general trends than definitive guidelines. There’s no rule that says your memoir can’t be chronological, or that your autobiography must include your year and place of birth in order to be considered a true autobiography.
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Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir
Telling the difference between an autobiography, a biography, and a memoir is easier said than done. They're generally about a person's life (often a famous person or public figure), but they each go about telling the story in different ways. They have different expectations and often cover different facets of the subject's life. But once you know what differentiates these three types of books, you'll be able to tell them apart with ease.
- The difference between autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs
- What defines each type of nonfiction book
- Famous examples of each type
Table of contents
- The Difference Between Autobiographies, Biographies, and Memoirs
- What is an Autobiography?
- What is a Memoir?
- What is a Biography?
An autobiography is a book written by the subject him or herself, detailing the important events of their life. Similarly, a memoir is also written by the subject, but focuses more on the emotional aspects of their life story, rather than the events themselves. Lastly, a biography is an account of a person's life written by someone other than the subject, usually relying on many different sources for factual accuracy.
That’s the broad view. Now let's get a little more in depth to make these differences a little clearer.
Reading an autobiography is reading a first-person account of a person's life. You get to walk a mile in the subject's shoes, seeing the world through their eyes as they share their experiences.
Since most autobiographies detail an interesting life lived, they're often written by the subjects in their later years. However, there are always exceptions to this. Some people have written autobiographies while they were still young because their younger years were interesting or extraordinary. The three most famous examples of autobiographies written by young people include:
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
Since autobiographies are about the author's life as told by them, they can be biased, since everyone sees the world a little differently and human memory isn't always the most accurate thing.
Most autobiographies work chronologically through the subject's life, including stories from their childhood and early years, their career, and any other milestones throughout their life.
Although autobiographies are ostensibly written by the subjects, it's not uncommon for a professional ghostwriter to be involved in the project. A ghostwriter can bring a flow and cohesive narrative to the subject's life story.
Some other famous autobiographies, written later in the subject's life, include:
- Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
- Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
An “event” autobiography is less common, but there are some famous examples. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a first-person account of a Mount Everest climb that went terribly wrong, costing the lives of eight people.
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Since a memoir is considered a type of autobiography, it's best to cover it now before we dive into biographies. Like an autobiography, a memoir is written by the subject — usually in the first person. It's a personal narrative that focuses more on the feelings, emotions, and memories that are important or impactful to the author.
While key events may be present in the memoir, they're generally there in relation to the emotional journey the author experienced. They focus more on the life lessons learned, regrets, and those things the subject was grateful for over their life.
While both autobiographies and memoirs are nonfiction, you're more likely to get a chronological sequence of life events and professional achievements in an autobiography . In a memoir, you're more likely to get a collection of personal details and life experiences in terms of how they affected the subject emotionally and influenced their personality and decisions.
(Interested in publishing a memoir? Check out our step-by-step article on publishing a memoir !)
Some famous memoirs include:
- The Liars' Club by Mary Karr
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Another good example is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. It's half memoir and half writing tips from one of the masters of fiction. The memories King shares give you an insight into his upbringing, his family, and his first successes as an author. But it's all in service of talking about writing fiction.
A biography is a nonfiction account of a person's life similar to an autobiography, with the major difference that it's not written by the subject. For this reason, biographies can be written any time. In fact, new biographies about famous historical figures are often released when new information comes to light.
Biographers use a number of different sources to piece together the information they need to give the reader a look into the subject's life. They may use interviews with those who were close to the subject (such as a family member or friend) and interviews with the subject him or herself. They'll use photos, news articles, diaries, and many other sources to present a cohesive, and usually chronological, biographical sketch of the person's life.
Sometimes, the author is someone who was close to the subject. Other times, it's a professional writer who didn't know the subject personally. A biography will usually cover childhood, professional experience, personal information, accomplishments, and key events in the person's life.
Some examples of famous biographies include:
- Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson
- Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
- His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
A good example of a biography written by a relative is Virginia Woolf: A Biography , written by her nephew, Quentin Bell.
Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs are all different ways to write about a person's life. Memoirs and autobiographies differ in their presentation and focus, but both are written by the subject. A biography is written by someone aside from the subject, who relies on various sources to present a thorough and (usually) chronological book of the subject's life story.
Although memoirs and autobiographies are “straight from the horse's mouth,” so to speak, they do allow room for some unconscious (or conscious) bias. Biographies are generally more objective because of the extensive research required to write about another person's life and accomplishments.
Now you know the difference between these three types of nonfiction books (not to mention some great recommendations for new books to read). Enjoy!
Dave Chesson
When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.
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What is a Memoir? An Inside Look at Life Stories
A memoir is a narrative written from the author's perspective about a particular facet of their own life. As a type of nonfiction , memoirs are generally understood to be factual accounts — though it is accepted that they needn't be objective, merely a version of events as the author remembers them.
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The term comes from the French word “mémoire,” which means “memory,” or “reminiscence.” To give you a touchstone before we go any further, here are a couple of famous memoir examples , some of which you might recognize:
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau;
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt;
- Becoming by Michelle Obama;
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; and
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
You’d be forgiven for mistaking any of these popular memoirs for a novel — since, just like novels, they have a plot, characters, themes, imagery, and dialogue . We like to think of memoirs as nonfiction by name and fiction by nature.
A quick biography of the memoir
To trace the memoir back to its origins, we’ll need to don our best togas and hitch a chariot ride back to ancient Rome. That’s right, memoirs have been around since at least the first century BC when Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic Wars offered not only a play-by-play of each battle but a peek into the mind of one of Rome’s most dynamic leaders.
![define biography and memoir What is a memoir | Early memoirs](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/attachments/large_The-history-of-the-memoir-d6203a.jpg)
“I came, I saw, I conquered, my dudes!”
During the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, memoirs continued to be written by the ruling classes, who interpreted historical events they played a role in or closely observed. The gentry — who had the luxuries of free time, literacy, and spare funds — would document the events and machinations of court, as well as the many military crusades. It was the French who particularly excelled, with diplomats, knights, and historians, such as Philippe de Comminnes and Blaise de Montluc, seizing the opportunity to cement their legacy.
From the 17th century, memoirs began to revolve around people rather than events, though typically, the focus was not on the author’s own life but on the people around him. Once again, the French took the lead — namely, Duc de Saint-Simon, who has received literary fame for his penetrating character sketches of the court of Louis XIV. (Think diary entries packed with petty intrigue and rumor-mongering.)
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From Julius Caesar to Julia Roberts
As time wore on, this elite posse of memoirists came to include noted professionals, such as politicians and businessmen (it was still always men), who wanted to publish accounts of their own public exploits. The exception to this model was Henry David Thoreau's 1854 memoir Walden — an account of his two years in a Massachusetts cabin, finding fulfillment in the wilderness.
In his book Memoir: A History , Ben Yagoda sketches a family tree pinning Walden as a precursor to the modern success of spiritual and “schtick lit” memoirs like Eat, Pray, Love and Gretchen Ruben’s The Happiness Project , as well as the long literary tradition of “My year of…” memoirs that gave us Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking . Yagoda also traces the roots of these spiritual memoirs back even further to The Confessions of St Augustine written in A.D. 397, in which Augustine admits to a sinful youth spent munching stolen pears ( gasp) before finding the path to Christianity.
![define biography and memoir What is a memoir | Eat, Pray, Love](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/attachments/large_Memoirs-in-the-modern-day-154039.jpg)
“I ate, I prayed, I loved, my dudes!” (image: Sony Pictures)
Yagoda’s point? Once a memoir type emerges, it’ll keep spawning subgenres. For example, traces of the professional memoir and the fragmentary diary can be found in Adam Kay’s medical bestseller This is Going to Hurt. One thing that all memoirs have in common, however, is that they allow us to get to know a stranger on an intimate level — a prospect that appeals to our nosy side and will likely never get old.
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Is a memoir the same as an autobiography?
Memoirs and autobiographies are usually found on the same shelves of the bookstore, and so are often conflated in the minds of authors. But we’re here to tell you they’re not the same thing. While both are accounts of the writer's experiences, autobiographies span their entire life, providing the who-what-where-when-why of each stage, in chronological order.
Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom is an example of an autobiography: it details his childhood, his years as a freedom fighter, as well as those spent in prison, and finally, the complex negotiations that led to his release and the beginning of the end of apartheid.
![define biography and memoir The difference between a memoir and an autobiography](https://blog-cdn.reedsy.com/directories/admin/attachments/large_Why-is-a-memoir-not-an-autobiography--163772.jpg)
A memoir, on the other hand, is more selective with its timeline. The constraints of the autobiography are loosened, and authors can intimately explore a pivotal moment or a particular facet of their life, allowing their thoughts and feelings to take control of the narrative. For example, journalist Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill chronicles his investigation leading up to the #MeToo movement, while William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days is a soaring ode to his one great love and obsession — surfing.
Memoir’s emphasis on storytelling is sometimes said to differentiate it from autobiography, but there are much more important differences to be aware of. After all, a good autobiography ought to weave a narrative, too.
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They’re not just for celebrities
These days, most bestselling memoirs tend to be written by celebrities (or their ghostwriters ). Naturally, publishers are keen to capitalize on a well-known person's platform and existing fanbase to sell books — but that doesn't mean you need to be a reality star or a newsmaking criminal to tell your story.
"You have to give people a reason to care about you," says Paul Carr, the author of three published traditionally published memoirs . "They need a reason to relate to your story — for your story to resonate with them."
While most people reading this article are probably not household names, there may be some aspects of your life that can be told in a way that touches on universal human experiences. Or perhaps your story is something that can help people improve their lives in big and small ways.
Even if your memoir doesn't have broad commercial potential, there can be other reasons for writing one:
- To recall and cement the memory of a certain time in your life;
- To leave behind an important story or lesson for your family;
- To document your travels or a once-in-a-lifetime trip;
- To open up about something painful or difficult; or simply,
- To tell a powerful story that will resonate with readers.
If there's someone out there who will benefit from reading your story — whether it's millions of fans or your immediate family — you may find that to be enough of a reason to pick up your pen and start to write.
In the next article in our series about memoirs, we offer up 21 examples of memoirs that might inspire you to write your own.
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Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir: Differences of Each Type
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- autobiography
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Do you ever get confused when trying to differentiate between an autobiography, biography, and memoir? If so, you’re not alone—these three genres are often used interchangeably, but each one actually requires its own unique approach. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the differences of each type and provide some handy tips on how best to write them all!
Introducing the different genres of writing—autobiography, biography, and memoir
Three genres that often get jumbled together are autobiography, biography, and memoir. While they may seem similar at first glance, each genre has its own unique characteristics. An autobiography, for example, is a first-person account of someone’s life, typically written by the subject themselves. A biography, by contrast, is a third-person account of someone’s life, written by someone else. And a memoir is a focused, often thematic account of a particular period or experience in someone’s life. Knowing the distinctions between these genres can help you decide which approach is best for telling your own story or for crafting a compelling biography or memoir.
Understanding the differences between autobiography, biography and memoir
Autobiography, biography, and memoir are often confused with each other. An autobiography is a book written by the author about their own life experiences. In contrast, a biography is a book written by someone else about another person’s life experiences. Finally, a memoir is a book written about a specific time or event in the author’s life. These three genres require different approaches to writing and reading. Autobiographies are generally more personal, while biographies generally intend to provide a more objective view of a person’s life. Memoirs allow for a deeper exploration of a specific period of time or event.
Exploring the benefits of writing an autobiography
Writing an autobiography can serve as a time capsule for one’s life experiences and also act as a vehicle for personal growth and self-reflection. Through the process of writing, individuals have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. Additionally, an autobiography can be an invaluable resource for future generations by providing them with a window into the past and the inner workings of their ancestors. If you’re looking for a way to capture your life story and leave a meaningful legacy, writing an autobiography might be a good idea.
Discovering the advantages of writing a biography
A biography records the life and accomplishments of a person. A biography can provide insight into the individual’s beliefs, accomplishments, and experiences that shaped their life. Writing a biography requires research , attention to detail, and a thorough understanding of the individual’s life. It takes time and effort. By capturing a person’s story in writing, we can learn from their life experiences and be inspired to pursue our own passions and dreams. Writing a biography can be challenging, but the end result is a rewarding tribute to a person.
Examining the unique aspects of writing a memoir
Writing a memoir is an incredible way to tell your story and leave a lasting legacy. What makes a memoir unique is that it is not just about recounting facts or events. It is more so about exploring the deeper meaning and emotions behind those experiences. It requires a delicate balance of vulnerability and objectivity, as you must be willing to share personal details while also maintaining a sense of clarity and purpose. To truly connect with your audience, it is important to infuse your writing with your own voice and personality, making the story feel authentic and relatable.
Making efficient use of resources when writing your story
Making an efficient use of resources will help create a compelling story that resonates with readers. Whether it’s time management, research, or even word choice, every decision plays an integral role in crafting a well-structured narrative. One useful tool for maximizing your efficiency is outlining your story beforehand, allowing you to flesh out characters and plot points in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, don’t be afraid to take advantage of resources such as writing groups, online tutorials, and feedback from industry professionals who can provide valuable perspective and insight into your work.
As you now know, autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs each have their own unique focus, purpose, and advantages. Writing your life story can be rewarding and fulfilling. Having a writing partner experienced with these genres to guide you on your journey can be invaluable in producing the story you want to tell. If it is time to tell your story―whether fact or fiction―contact Elite Authors today! We will help you choose the genre that best fits your project goals while helping you craft a stunning personal account that is sure to capture the imagination of readers everywhere.
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Autobiography vs Memoir: Which One Should You Write?
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There is often a lot of confusion when it comes an autobiography vs memoir. While both are true stories about an individual, they share different story arcs and structures.
If you want to write a story about your life, it's important to understand the difference between memoir and autobiography, which is what we will delve into today. After you read our article on autobiography vs memoir, you'll be able to write your life story with clarity and confidence.
Maybe your life story is unique. You want to share it and leave a lasting legacy behind. Well, it’s time to start the process. It’s time to write your story.
Before sitting down to write, it’s important to articulate to yourself what you specifically want to share and why. Just as writing a fiction book demands planning and deciding exactly where to start and what theme to write about, so does writing your life story.
Whatever your story is, it will likely fall under the category of memoir or autobiography.
The most important choice to make prior to writing your opening sentence is deciding which genre (in the giant list of book genres ) you are going to share your story through.
It’s crucial to choose the correct genre in which to tell your story. Autobiographies vs memoirs each have different purposes.
Using an autobiography when you want to communicate your memoir is similar to filming a documentary when you want to film a drama.
Documentaries usually cover many details of a specific time period and are told through a linear fashion. They start at a single point in time and work their way to the end of a time period or to the present day.
Dramas focus on a theme and use specific aspects of a person’s life to articulate and highlight this theme.
Autobiographies vs memoirs are much the same.
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Autobiography vs memoir: the difference explained.
While both genres are personal stories, the difference between memoir and autobiography is distinct.
According to Merriam-Webster, a memoir is, “A narrative composed from personal experience” and an autobiography is, “The biography of a person narrated by that person, a usually written account of a person's life in their own words.”
In the publishing world, a memoir is a book about you that is focused on the reader. In other words, it’s pieces of your life story written with the intention of communicating a specific message to a specific audience.
An autobiography is your life story from birth to present day, including all major events, without too much thought for theme.
The purpose of an autobiography is simply to communicate your life story .
The purpose of a memoir is to communicate a theme, and use stories from your life to do so.
This is the main difference between memoir and autobiography.
Both memoirs and autobiographies should be written with the focus on the reader, however. Writing succeeds because of readers. Whether you’re covering your life from birth to now, or sharing specific stories, keep the reader at the forefront of your mind at all times.
The more you think “reader first” the better your writing will be, regardless of whether you are writing an autobiography vs memoir.
When should I write an autobiography vs memoir?
![define biography and memoir YouTube video](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9QCak6eEVnA/hqdefault.jpg)
Celebrities and well-known figures often communicate their life stories through autobiographies, while lesser known individuals communicate a theme through specific stories from their lives.
The public wants to know the details of celebrities’ lives and is willing and eager to read through all the details of their growing up years, young adult successes and failures, and all the way to the present day.
Individuals with less of a public presence who still have valuable stories, information, or an important theme to share, may want to do so through memoirs. This way they can still communicate their message, but use life stories that directly apply to this message to do so.
Learning how to write a memoir allows you to use anecdotes from your life to communicate your theme. Remember, if you aren’t a household name, readers are unlikely to be interested in your stories if they don’t provide some type of value.
Always think reader-first with these questions:
- Is your theme focused on helping the reader?
- What stories contribute to the power of your theme?
- What stories distract from your theme and shift the focus to you?
- Will your reader walk away feeling empowered or inspired?
When writing an autobiography, it’s still important to think of the reader first. But readers are more likely to expect stories that focus on your life and the interesting things you’ve done in an autobiography vs memoir.
If you are a celebrity or household name, writing your autobiography is likely the way to go. Otherwise, you should use creative nonfiction writing skills to make your memoir as interesting and impactful as possible.
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Two things to remember when writing your life story
Whether you are writing an autobiography vs memoir, here are two important things to consider:
1. Portray the basic essence of life events
While autobiographies and memoirs are about your life and your interactions, achievements, goals, failures, etc., it’s impossible to remember every word of dialogue you and others have spoken. Readers understand that exact wording has been written to the best of your memory, but is not exact.
Be careful to write in a way that reflects the attitudes and intentions of the dialogue in that moment, however many years ago it took place, but rest assured the dialogue in memoirs and autobiographies cannot be completely accurate.
Sharing your story with the world is a bold step. It’s brave to think through your life and write it all down for hundreds (if not millions) to read.
As you plunge into your story, whether it be autobiography vs memoir, writing, editing, and eventually self-publishing it will take time. Don’t get discouraged if you need to rearrange parts, chop large portions, or add stories when you think you are finished.
Writing your story takes time . It’s your life, after all! Just make sure you capture the basic essence of your life events in an authentic manner.
2. Change names of people and locations
While I just said to be authentic, it's also important to have some protections in place.
Whether you write an autobiography vs memoir, protect yourself and others by changing names, locations, and any other detail as you see fit. You can make a simple note at the front of your book explaining that some details have been changed to protect individuals. The last thing you want is to be accused of libel or slander the week your book comes out.
As you work towards your book launch , enjoy the process. Writing your story is something many dream of, few start, and even less complete. You didn’t just have the dream, you saw it through to its completion.
You took a big step. Whether you chose to embark on an autobiography vs memoir, you are writing your story and putting it out into the world. Your legacy will have the possibility of impacting countless individuals around the world for years to come – and that's extremely exciting!
If you're still not certain on the difference between an autobiography vs memoir (or if what you are writing is an autobiography vs memoir) let's take a look at some examples of each.
Examples of memoirs
If you plan to write your memoir, reading other successful memoirs is a great place to start.
Here are some examples to get you started:
- O n Writing: A Memoir of the Craft , by Stephen King
- The Glass Castle , by Jeannette Walls
- Writing For the Soul , by Jerry B. Jenkins
- All Over but the Shoutin’ , by Rick Bragg
- Running for My Life , by Lopez Lomong
As you read, focus on what the theme is, what stories the author uses to illustrate this theme, and how the story isn’t focused just on the author, but on you, the reader.
Again, think reader first.
It may be helpful to take notes so that when it’s time to write your own memoir, you have examples to refer back to as needed. This will help you when you feel stuck or unsure of which stories to use.
You can also reference our memoir outline to help you in your writing process.
Examples of autobiographies
If, on the other hand, you decide to write your autobiography vs memoir, you’ll want to brush up on autobiographies and biographies instead.
Whether you pick up an autobiography or a biography, the same lessons can be learned:
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave , by Frederick Douglass
- Autobiography of Mark Twain , Samuel Clemmons
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men , by James Agee
- Churchill: A Life , by Martin Gilbert
As you write your autobiography, remember that although it is about you, you should still think reader first. Write in a way that readers will be able to easily understand and follow. Starting at birth and moving forward chronologically will likely work well when writing an autobiography vs memoir.
Share your story with the world
Now that you know the difference between an autobiography vs memoir, it’s time to start the writing process.
Regardless of which you decide to write, take some time to think back over your life, years or weeks that affected you in a particularly positive or negative way, people who influenced you, the themes you see tracing through your story, and dreams or goals you worked for.
Once you have the big moments at the forefront of your mind you can start planning your creative autobiography or memoir ideas . If you need more inspiration on how to share your story, you can use our nonfiction book outline below.
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How to Write a Biography: 11 Step Guide + Book Template
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Biography vs autobiography vs memoir: Which Genre Best Tells Your Story?
As a writer, it’s essential to choose the right genre to tell your story effectively. However, distinguishing between memoir, autobiography, and biography can be confusing. In this article, we’ll clarify the core differences between these genres and provide insights to help you choose the one that best fits your unique story. Whether you’re interested in exploring your own experiences or delving into the lives of others, understanding the difference between a memoir and a biography and autobiography is critical to crafting a compelling narrative. So let’s get started and discover which genre will best tell your story.
The Power of Biographies: Discovering Lives and Learning Lessons
A biography is a personal story narrated from real life. The biographies come in different sub-genres, but what they have in common is the factual loyalty. Biographies provide an in-depth look into the lives of individuals, whether they’re still alive or historical figures. For a collection of famous biographies, you might want to explore Biography.com .
Professional bio writers usually conduct a great deal of research. They can describe the life events of someone still alive or a famous person who lived years ago. The author focuses his attention significantly on childhood, relationships, and ups and downs to create a complete picture of a person’s life.
The distinct feature of the story is the writer’s presence. That’s where you don’t align memoir vs biography: while people write memoirs alone, biographies require professional writers.
The main types of biographies include:
- Contemporary biography: a story of a person who’s alive and usually at the peak of their success. It can be about well-known entrepreneurs, musicians, or politicians. It can also include the people who are especially valuable at the moment or have done something great that you have to commemorate.
The examples are: “His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra” (written by Kitty Kelley) and “Robin” (Dave Itzkoff’s intimate look at the life and career of Robin Williams).
- Historical biography: provides in-depth information on the life of historical figures or people who died without the recognition they deserved.
The examples are: “Alexander Hamilton” (an epic 800+ page biography created by Ron Chernow) and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” (written by Rebecca Skloot).
- Group biography: the authors apply this type of biography quite rarely. One of the first examples is “A General History of the Pirates,” narrated by Captain Charles Johnson in 1724. One of the latest group biographies includes an account of the life stories of famous British royals, “HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style,” written by Elizabeth Holmes.
Autobiographies: Understanding the Genre, Types, and Significance
An autobiography is someone else’s story that doesn’t involve a third party. A memoir writing service puts it differently because autobiography is the first person’s account of events.
Autobiographies have been vital throughout history. They provide invaluable stories and thoughts, giving the audience an accurate impression of historical leaders and the value they represent. Also, they allow individuals to tell their own stories in their own words. For examples of famous autobiographies that have captivated readers, check out this list on Goodreads .
The main difference between autobiography and biography is that the last one provides a person’s story written by someone else. The peculiar advantage that autobiographies provide is decreasing the number of discrepancies or mistakes. Hiring cheap ghostwriters for hire may be incorrect in describing significant events.
The types of autobiography include:
- Traditional: a complete story narrated from the first person, discussing all significant events from birth, throughout childhood, and up to the present time. It’s a challenging genre since a life story should be captivating and exciting to engage the reader.
- Overcoming adversity: on the contrary, many people don’t have as shiny lives. Some survived a series of challenging circumstances, such as assaults, murders, or other life-threatening situations. Sharing the story of the “survivor” might heal people undergoing a similar journey.
- Intellectual: focus on critical events or experiences that have changed someone’s perspective on life. Prominent examples include the “Autobiography” of the philosopher John Stuart Mill and “The Education of Henry Adams.”
- Fictionalized is a story that uses made-up characters to represent an author’s experience. This autobiography reflects on actual events vs. serving as an accurate retelling of what happened. Some of the interesting examples are “The Way of All Flesh” (by Samuel Butler) and “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” (by James Joice).
Memoir vs autobiography: what’s the catch?
If you’re wondering what does a ghostwriter do when writing a memoir, let’s explore its main features.
Memoir highlights the essential part of someone’s life. It can describe the critical historical period or a breakdown, focusing on the events that led to the collapse. That’s where memoirs vs autobiography differ: the first ones only focus on particular excerpts instead of telling the whole story.
- A memoir is a factual story in which the author reflects on a series of related events from their life or recounts memories from a particular period.
- An autobiography is a chronological description of a person’s life.
Although the memoir can be subjective, it must lean on facts. The authors choose a pivotal moment they’d like to shed light on and recreate the event using storytelling tools.
There’s not a specific number of memoirs in a professional book writing history. Nevertheless, we will explore the most prominent types of memoirs to let you dive into the industry:
- Transformation memoirs: tell about the most significant challenges authors These stories lead with the topic of redemption, whether you achieved it or you’re trying to gain it.
The examples are “Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares” (by Aarti Namdev Shahani), “Educated” (by Tara Westover), and “Finding Freedom” (by Erin French).
- Confessional memoirs: reveal the painful or dirty secrets about authors or their families and how the particular series of events has affected them.
The examples are: “Confessions” (by Jean-Jacques Rousseau) and “Running with Scissors” (by Augusten Burroughs).
- Professional or celebrity memoirs: describe the road to fame and success. Famous people often think about how to find a ghost writer to talk about their lives and significant events in a more professional tone.
The examples are: “I Am Malala” (by Malala Yousafzai) and “Just Kids” (by Patti Smith).
- Travel memoirs: focus on exciting adventures that happen while traveling. These memoirs are often the most pleasant, allowing readers to escape everyday reality.
The examples are “Wild” (by Cheryl Strayed) and “A Year in Provence” (by Peter Mayle).
Autobiography vs biography vs memoir: where’s your match?
You don’t need to be a writing professional to comprehend the difference between memoir and autobiography and biography. Let’s take a look at some of the key points to consider.
|
|
|
Subjective | Objective | Subjective |
A story of one’s own life | An account of another person’s life | An account of specific experience or event |
The person presents facts as they were experienced, from one point of view | The author collects information from the subject, their families, friends, and co-workers | Presents facts as the person described them, without third party interfering |
Explains the motivation behind certain decisions | Establishes a context | Reflects the emotional experience |
The person writes it later in life | The author can write it anytime, including after the death of the subject | The author can write it anytime |
Provides access to one’s feelings | Doesn’t have access to personal thoughts and feelings | Provides access to emotional reactions and reflections |
The Bottom Line
Writing a book about your life is a challenging process. It requires lots of patience and a great deal of memory to recall the most significant events. Meanwhile, it allows you to look at your life and experiences from a whole new perspective.
If you need any help with writing a biography vs autobiography vs memoir, Penfellow will gladly assist! Our professional writers have years of experience completing similar tasks and will do the job for you. We will ensure the final paper meets your requirements and writing standards. Get in touch with us today to get your biography done in no time!
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What Are the Major Differences Between Memoir and Autobiography?
Rebecca Hussey
Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes
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Feeling confused about the difference between memoir and autobiography? You’re not the only one. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and there is a lot of overlap between the two, so confusion is understandable. But there are some basic differences that will help you distinguish between them and make sure you are using the most appropriate word. Knowing the difference will help you choose what to read, as well: you should know what you are getting into when you pick up a book labeled memoir vs. autobiography.
First, let’s discuss similarities between the two. Both autobiography and memoir are first-person accounts of the writer’s life. This means the writer is describing her or his life using “I” and “me” (“I did this, then this happened to me,” etc.) One exception to this is that sometimes autobiographies are written in the third person (where the author refers to him or herself as “he” or “she”), but this is not common and rarely seen in contemporary writing. Mostly, both genres are about writers telling readers about their lives in their own voice.
That’s pretty simple. What’s trickier is figuring out what makes these genres different. So here’s a breakdown of the difference between memoir and autobiography, that I’ll discuss more below.
![define biography and memoir Difference Between Memoir and Autobiography infographic](https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Difference-Between-Memoir-and-Autobiography.jpg.webp)
Memoir vs. Autobiography Basics
1. autobiography usually covers the author’s entire life up to the point of writing, while memoir focuses only on a part of the author’s life..
There are going to be exceptions to every point on this list, but generally speaking, autobiography aims to be comprehensive, while memoir does not. Autobiographers set out to tell the story of their life, and while some parts will get more detail than others, they usually cover most or all of it.
Memoirists will often choose a particularly important or interesting part of their life to write about and ignore or briefly summarize the rest. They will sometimes choose a theme or subject and tell stories from different parts of their life that illustrate its significance to them.
As examples, The Autobiography of Malcolm X covers the major points of Malcolm X’s life, while Abandon Me: A Memoir by Melissa Febos focuses mainly on two significant relationships (with her father and with a lover).
2. In autobiography, authors usually tell their life stories because they are famous and important. A memoirist can be anybody, famous or not.
Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, is a good example: he was an important person whose personal account of his life matters because of who he was and everything he accomplished.
For memoir, Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club is not the story of a famous person; instead, it’s an account of a regular person’s childhood. Her childhood was especially eventful, but it doesn’t stand out because she was famous. Memoirists do sometimes become famous, but usually it’s for writing memoirs.
3. People read autobiographies because they want to know about a particular (probably famous) person. They read memoirs because they are interested in a certain subject or story or they are drawn to the writer’s style or voice.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a book people might read because they want to learn about an important historical figure. They may also have heard it’s exceptionally interesting and well-written, but the desire to learn about a person who shaped U.S. history is probably the main motivation.
On the other hand, readers may pick up Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body because they want to read about food, weight, and body image. Or they may admire Gay’s essays available online and want to explore more of her work. The motivation here is more about subject and style and less about the writer as a historical or cultural figure.
4. Autobiographies tend to be written in chronological order, while memoirs often move back and forth in time.
When readers pick up an autobiography, they expect it to begin with the author’s childhood (or perhaps even with the author’s parents’ lives), to proceed through young adulthood and middle age, through to the time of the writing. Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano does just that, opening with his childhood and proceeding in a straightforward manner through time.
Memoirs, on the other hand, can be much looser in their treatment of time. Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot shifts back and forth in time and has a structure more focused on theme than chronology. We finish the book with a sense of the major events of Mailhot’s life, but not necessarily their order.
5. Autobiography places greater emphasis on facts and how the writer fits into the historical record, while memoir emphasizes personal experience and interiority.
Autobiographies are sometimes thought of as a form of history and they are used as source material for historians. While it’s possible for both autobiographers and memoirists to get their facts wrong, the stakes are higher for the autobiographer who made history or witnessed historically-important events.
Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is important in part because of Douglass’s work as an orator, statesman, and abolitionist. His historical stature adds to the significance of his book.
The facts matter in memoir, but it’s understood that memoirists select and shape the facts of their lives to explore their chosen theme. Darin Strauss’s Half a Life: A Memoir is rooted in a real-life event—a car crash in which Strauss accidentally hit and killed a classmate—but it focuses on the emotional aftereffects of this event rather than the historical context of Strauss’s life.
And there you have it! Again, these distinctions are loose ones, but hopefully they have helped you understand the different connotations of the two words.
Want to read more about memoir? Check out this list of 100 must-read memoirs , this discussion of how to define the term “memoir,” and this post on short memoirs .
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- Key Differences
Know the Differences & Comparisons
Difference Between Autobiography and Memoir
![define biography and memoir Autobiography vs memoir](https://keydifferences.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/autobiography-vs-memoir2.jpg)
While an autobiography covers the entire life of the writer, the memoir is about a part of life of the writer. Read the article provided below, in which substantial differences between autobiography and memoir are explained in detail.
Content: Autobiography Vs Memoir
Comparison chart, similarities.
Basis for Comparison | Autobiography | Memoir |
---|---|---|
Meaning | Autobiography refers to that form of literature in which a person writes or narrates his own life story. | A literary genre, containing memories, written by the individual on the incidents and events occurred to him in his life, is called memoir. |
What is it? | An account of life. | An account from life. |
Nature | Detailed | Centralized |
Covers | Entire life of the author. | Particular section of life of the author. |
Protagonist | First or third person | First person |
Focuses on | All events of the life of the leading character. | Exploring significant event or incident in depth, in the memorist's life. |
Order | Follows a chronological order. | Can begin anywhere. |
Definition of Autobiography
Autobiography is a detailed account of an individual’s life, written or told by that individual himself. It is an abbreviated summary written in chronological order, that tells one’s experience in life, like the highs and lows, in different phases like childhood, adulthood and so on. Usually, they are written in the first person, ‘I’ and in this way the writer can easily express his views on the life events.
An autobiography can be written by the subject or the subject may hire a ghost writer, to write for them. It can be in the form of books, audio recording, drama, skit, documentaries or movies.
Definition of Memoir
The word ‘memoir’ is a French term which refers to reminiscence or remembrance. It is a memory written by the subject himself, in real time that presents a moral or message to the readers. It aims to explain how the subject learned a lesson from his experience or how he changed himself. The author of the memoir is called memorist. It covers a specific section, stage or time of the author’s life, that cause him to change like a turning point or a failure, etc.
A memoir is a less formal, often friendly work, which is supposed to cover the details that are accurate and facts based. It is structure-less i.e. it can begin at any point.
Key Differences Between Autobiography and Memoir
The significant differences between autobiography and memoir are described in the points given below:
- A form of literature, in which the subject writes or narrates his own life story, is known as Autobiography. The memoir is a literary genre, which is a collection of memories, written by the individual on the incidents and events occurred to him in his life.
- An autobiography contains intricate details about the life events of the subject. On the other hand, a memoir is more centralised in nature which focuses on the specific events that happened to the author.
- An autobiography covers the entire life of the subject, but a memoir spans a particular section or time or stage, of the memoirist’s life.
- An autobiography is written in first or third person, whereas a memoir is written in the first person.
- An autobiography focuses on all events of the life of the protagonist. In contrast, memoir, focuses on exploring any particular event or incident in depth, which is important to the memorist.
- An autobiography follows a chronological order while a memoir is structure-less i.e. it does not follow any order like a novel, it can start at any point.
- Nonfictional literary genre.
- Written by the subject himself.
- Written in the first person.
A memoir is recognised as a subgenre of the biography and autobiography. The basic difference between these two literary forms is that an autobiography is a story of a life that contains all the details of the life of the main character like birthplace, education, work, relationship, etc. of the subject. On the other hand, memoir focuses on a specific aspect of the lead character’s life.
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September 23, 2019 at 7:10 pm
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Table of Contents
Memoir vs. Autobiography: The Difference Is a Lie
Famous authors vs. not-famous authors, a whole life vs. part of a life, chronological order vs. moving back-and-forth, facts vs. emotional experience, what’s the difference between a memoir and an autobiography.
![define biography and memoir feature image memoir and autobiography books side by side](https://scribemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Whats-the-Difference-Between-a-Memoir-and-an-Autobiography-700x406.jpg)
What’s the difference between an autobiography and a memoir? I’ll tell you right now:
Memoirs are autobiographies without the elitist attitude.
Even though people say they’re distinct, there’s no real difference between these two terms. Especially once you start diving into what people claim the differences are.
It’s like saying a dog is different from a canine. Or a car is different from an automobile.
It’s completely bogus.
Literary distinctions like this are made up by English professors who want to sound superior.
For most nonfiction Authors, there’s no meaningful difference between an autobiography and memoir .
You don’t have to choose which one to write.
The whole idea of having to choose between them is ridiculous. This post will show you why.
Let’s start with the similarities between a memoir and an autobiography( since everyone agrees that they’re very similar):
- Both are books that you write about your own life.
- Both are written from the first-person point of view, a.k.a., the “I” perspective. Because you’re writing about your life story, that’s a no-brainer.
- Both are based entirely on real-life experiences. The Author might get creative with the style, but it’s a true story.
Now, let’s look at the commonly accepted differences.
Some people will tell you that anyone can write a memoir about their personal experiences.
But then they’ll say autobiographies can only be about famous people. They argue that people read them to learn about a famous person just because they’re famous.
That distinction is obviously made up by stuck-up literati assholes.
Who in their right mind would argue that we need to have two entirely separate genres of first-person books just because some people are famous and others aren’t?
That’s ridiculous.
Every person’s life is important. Everyone has a story to tell. And everyone who wants to write a book should.
Anyone who says otherwise is an elitist prick.
Literature professors will tell you that an autobiography covers the Author’s entire life, from birth to publication. Memoirs, on the other hand, only cover part of a life. It might be about a specific event or a set of specific dates from the Author’s life.
Again, that’s ridiculous.
First of all, no book covers an ENTIRE life.
Is there a difference between writing about your childhood, teenage years, and all the way through your big invention, versus just writing about the development of the big invention?
Maybe. But this decision isn’t about whether you want to write an “autobiography” or a “memoir.” It should be about what will be most interesting to the reader .
Making some artificial distinction between an autobiography and memoir puts the focus on the wrong thing. It makes the book more about the Author or the book itself than about the reader.
No one writes a book entirely for themselves. If they do, it’s not a book. It’s a diary.
I don’t mean that in a bad way. Diaries are great. But there’s no reason to publish a diary.
Even if you’re writing a memoir to tell your story to your friends and family, you’re writing for someone else. A small audience is still an audience.
That means that you should always keep your readers in mind when you write a book.
Readers don’t care whether your book is a “memoir” or “autobiography.” They care whether it’s entertaining, helpful, or enlightening.
These just get dumber and dumber.
Most other websites will tell you that autobiographies and memoirs are both written mostly in chronological order.
But genre purists insist that autobiographies are strictly chronological, whereas memoirs are mostly chronological but might have some flashbacks or move around in time.
So, here’s a philosophical question: if a famous person writes the book, but it jumps around, is it an autobiography or a memoir?
Nobody knows!
That’s because the whole distinction is completely made up.
Tell your story in the order that makes the most sense and that’s most entertaining to the reader. Period.
Whoever decided that an autobiography contains facts while a memoir focuses on emotional truths is full of crap.
This “distinction” ties back to the idea that only famous people write autobiographies. So, naturally, their readers picked up the book to learn FACTS about the famous person.
That might sound a tiny bit logical until you actually start to think about it.
When have you ever picked up a book that only listed facts about someone and actually read the whole book?
They were born here.
They grew up there.
They liked pancakes.
They didn’t like beets.
Be honest. You wouldn’t read that. No one would read that nonsense.
Lists of facts are dull, and no one is going to read a book that’s just a list of facts (that, in itself, is a fact).
People connect with stories about people. All great books about anyone’s life are the stories about the emotional experience of that life.
People read memoirs and autobiographies to learn something about their own lives through the life experiences of others.
When you break it down, there’s no difference between a memoirist and an autobiographer. They’re both writers sharing real-life stories in order to make an impact on a reader’s life.
Anyone who tells you there’s a difference has an elitist attitude.
![define biography and memoir](https://scribemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/20_social_501_501-150x150.jpg)
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Definition of Biography
Common examples of biographical subjects.
As a literary device, biography is important because it allows readers to learn about someone’s story and history. This can be enlightening, inspiring, and meaningful in creating connections. Here are some common examples of biographical subjects:
Famous Examples of Biographical Works
Difference between biography, autobiography, and memoir, examples of biography in literature, example 1: savage beauty: the life of edna st. vincent millay (nancy milford).
One of the first things Vincent explained to Norma was that there was a certain freedom of language in the Village that mustn’t shock her. It wasn’t vulgar. ‘So we sat darning socks on Waverly Place and practiced the use of profanity as we stitched. Needle in, . Needle out, piss. Needle in, . Needle out, c. Until we were easy with the words.’
This passage reflects the way in which Milford is able to characterize St. Vincent Millay as a person interacting with her sister. Even avid readers of a writer’s work are often unaware of the artist’s private and personal natures, separate from their literature and art. Milford reflects the balance required on the part of a literary biographer of telling the writer’s life story without undermining or interfering with the meaning and understanding of the literature produced by the writer. Though biographical information can provide some influence and context for a writer’s literary subjects, style, and choices , there is a distinction between the fictional world created by a writer and the writer’s “real” world. However, a literary biographer can illuminate the writer’s story so that the reader of both the biography and the biographical subject’s literature finds greater meaning and significance.
Example 2: The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens (Claire Tomalin)
The season of domestic goodwill and festivity must have posed a problem to all good Victorian family men with more than one family to take care of, particularly when there were two lots of children to receive the demonstrations of paternal love.
Example 3: Virginia Woolf (Hermione Lee)
‘A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living’: so too with the biography of that self. And just as lives don’t stay still, so life-writing can’t be fixed and finalised. Our ideas are shifting about what can be said, our knowledge of human character is changing. The biographer has to pioneer, going ‘ahead of the rest of us, like the miner’s canary, testing the atmosphere , detecting falsity, unreality, and the presence of obsolete conventions’. So, ‘There are some stories which have to be retold by each generation’. She is talking about the story of Shelley, but she could be talking about her own life-story.
In this passage, Lee is able to demonstrate what her biographical subject, Virginia Woolf, felt about biography and a person telling their own or another person’s story. Literary biographies of well-known writers can be especially difficult to navigate in that both the author and biographical subject are writers, but completely separate and different people. As referenced in this passage by Lee, Woolf was aware of the subtleties and fluidity present in a person’s life which can be difficult to judiciously and effectively relay to a reader on the part of a biographer. In addition, Woolf offers insight into the fact that biographers must make choices in terms of what information is presented to the reader and the context in which it is offered, making them a “miner’s canary” as to how history will view and remember the biographical subject.
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Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms
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A memoir is a form of creative nonfiction in which an author recounts experiences from his or her life. Memoirs usually take the form of a narrative ,
The terms memoir and autobiography are commonly used interchangeably, and the distinction between these two genres is often blurred. In the Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms , Murfin and Ray say that memoirs differ from autobiographies in "their degree of outward focus. While [memoirs] can be considered a form of autobiographical writing, their personalized accounts tend to focus more on what the writer has witnessed than on his or her own life, character, and developing self." In his own first volume of memoirs, Palimpsest (1995), Gore Vidal makes a different distinction. "A memoir," he says, "is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research , dates, facts double-checked. In a memoir it isn't the end of the world if your memory tricks you and your dates are off by a week or a month as long as you honestly try to tell the truth" ( Palimpsest: A Memoir , 1995).
"The one clear difference," says Ben Yagoda, "is that while 'autobiography' or 'memoirs' usually cover the full span of [a] life, 'memoir' has been used by books that cover the entirety or some portion of it" ( Memoir: A History, 2009).
See Examples and Observations below. Also see:
- Autobiography
- Eudora Welty's Sketch of Miss Duling
- Family Sketches in Kate Simon's "Bronx Primitive"
- First-Person Point of View
- Harry Crews's Sketch of His Stepfather
- Hypotaxis in James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son"
- Letting Go by Phoebe Yates Pember
- Literary Nonfiction
- Pete Hamill on Stickball in New York
Etymology From the Latin, "memory"
Examples and Observations
- "[O]nce you begin to write the true story of your life in a form that anyone would possibly want to read, you start to make compromises with the truth." (Ben Yagoda, Memoir: A History . Riverhead, 2009)
- Zinsser on the Art and Craft of Memoir "A good memoir requires two elements—one of art, the other of craft. The first is integrity of intention. . . . Memoir is how we try to make sense of who we are, who we once were, and what values and heritage shaped us. If a writer seriously embarks on that quest, readers will be nourished by the journey, bringing along many associations with quests of their own. "The other element is carpentry. Good memoirs are a careful act of construction. We like to think that an interesting life will simply fall into place on the page. It won't. . . . Memoir writers must manufacture a text, imposing narrative order on a jumble of half-remembered events." (William Zinsser, "Introduction." Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir . Mariner, 1998)
- Rules for the Memoirist "Here are some basic rules of good behavior for the memoirist : - Say difficult things. Including difficult facts. - Be harder on yourself than you are on others. The Golden Rule isn't much use in memoir. Inevitably you will not portray others just as they would like to be portrayed. But you can at least remember that the game is rigged: only you are playing voluntarily. - Try to accept the fact that you are, in company with everybody else, in part a comic figure. - Stick to the facts." (Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction . Random House, 2013)
- Memoir and Memoirs "Like many people today, I confused 'the memoir' with 'memoirs.' It was easy to do back then, when the literary memoir was not basking in the popularity it currently enjoys. The term memoirs was used to describe something closer to autobiography than the essay -like literary memoir. These famous person memoirs rarely stuck to one theme or selected out one aspect of a life to explore in depth, as the memoir does. More often, 'memoirs' (always preceded by a possessive pronoun : 'my memoirs,' 'his memoirs') were a kind of scrapbook in which pieces of a life were pasted. Of course, the boundary between these genres was not—and still is not—as clearly delineated as I have made it sound." (Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art , 2nd ed. Eighth Mountain, 2002)
- Roger Ebert on the Stream of Writing "The British satirist Auberon Waugh once wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph asking readers to supply information about his life between birth and the present, explaining that he was writing his memoirs and had no memories from those years. I find myself in the opposite position. I remember everything. All my life I've been visited by unexpected flashes of memory unrelated to anything taking place at the moment. . . . When I began writing this book, memories came flooding to the surface, not because of any conscious effort but simply in the stream of writing. I started in a direction and the memories were waiting there, sometimes of things I hadn't consciously thought about since. . . . In doing something I enjoy and am expert at, deliberate thought falls aside and it is all just there . I think of the next word no more than the composer thinks of the next note." (Roger Ebert, Life Itself: A Memoir . Grand Central Publishing, 2011)
- Fred Exley's "Note to the Reader" in A Fan's Notes : A Fictional Memoir "Though the events in this book bear similarity to those of that long malaise, my life, many of the characters and happenings are creations solely of the imagination. . . . In creating such characters, I have drawn freely from the imagination and adhered only loosely to the pattern of my past life. To this extent, and for this reason, I ask to be judged a writer of fantasy." (Fred Exley, A Fan's Notes: A Fictional Memoir . Harper & Row, 1968)
- The Lighter Side of Memoirs "All those writers who write about their childhood! Gentle God, if I wrote about mine you wouldn't sit in the same room with me." (Dorothy Parker)
Pronunciation: MEM-war
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Q. What's the difference between an autobiography, biography or a memoir?
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Answered By: Jeffrey Orrico Last Updated: Jul 18, 2023 Views: 46890
While each of these forms of writing illuminates the life, work, and worldview of an individual, they are differentiated by the degree of objectivity and factual content, as well stylistic approaches and perspectives.
Note: The below definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary [electronic resource.]
Autobiography, n. –
Typically in book form, an autobiography is an account of a person’s life told by the himself or herself. An autobiography tends to be a more general history, while a memoir focuses on a specific piece of the author's life.
Title | Autobiography : I wonder as I wander / edited with an introduction by Joseph McLaren. |
Author | Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. |
Biography, n. –
A biography is a written account (although it may come in other forms such as recorded or visual media) of events and circumstances of another person’s life. Most commonly written about a historical or public figure, it profiles a person’s life or life’s work.
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What is a Memoir? Memoir comes from the French word mémoire, meaning memory or reminiscence. Similar to an autobiography, a memoir is the story of a person's life written by that person. These life stories are often from diary entries either from a first-person account or from a close family member or friend with access to personal diaries.
It is a first-person narrative that covers the author's entire life, from birth to the present day. On the other hand, a biography is a book written about a person's life by someone else. It is a third-person narrative that covers the subject's life in a factual and objective manner. Meanwhile, a memoir is similar to an autobiography, but ...
The key difference between memoir vs biography is that biographies document an individual's life from start to finish, or start to present day. Memoirs focuses on a specific theme that threads throughout key events in an individual's life. Readers are not usually interested in reading the everyday occurrences of the average person.
An autobiography is an account of a person's entire life, but a memoir usually is only about one part of a person's life. A memoir might be about a person's struggles with homelessness or addiction, or about their adventures traveling the world, or about their experience becoming an actor. A narrative about a person's life from birth or early ...
An autobiography is an account of a person's life, written by that person. The word originates from the Greek' auto', 'bios' and 'graphein', meaning 'self,' 'life,' and 'to write.'. Since the narrator is also the subject of the story, autobiographies tend to be written in the first person. The majority of ...
Like a memoir, an autobiography is the author's retelling of his or her life and told in first person point of view, making the author the main character of the story. Autobiographies are also narrative nonfiction, so the stories are true but also include storytelling elements such as a protagonist (the author), a central conflict, and a cast ...
A memoir ( / ˈmɛm.wɑːr /; [1] from French mémoire [me.mwaʁ], from Latin memoria 'memory, remembrance') is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. [2] [3] The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or ...
fullscreen. On the literary genre spectrum, memoirs and autobiographies are right next to each other. They're both nonfiction accounts of the author's personal experience, usually written in ...
Learn the key comparison points of a memoir and an autobiography, as well as tips for writing in both formats. In the literary world, first-person accounts are often categorized into two main genres: autobiography and memoir. Learn the key comparison points of a memoir and an autobiography, as well as tips for writing in both formats.
An autobiography is a book written by the subject him or herself, detailing the important events of their life. Similarly, a memoir is also written by the subject, but focuses more on the emotional aspects of their life story, rather than the events themselves. Lastly, a biography is an account of a person's life written by someone other than ...
An Inside Look at Life Stories. A memoir is a narrative written from the author's perspective about a particular facet of their own life. As a type of nonfiction, memoirs are generally understood to be factual accounts — though it is accepted that they needn't be objective, merely a version of events as the author remembers them. In his ...
An autobiography is a book written by the author about their own life experiences. In contrast, a biography is a book written by someone else about another person's life experiences. Finally, a memoir is a book written about a specific time or event in the author's life. These three genres require different approaches to writing and reading.
While both genres are personal stories, the difference between memoir and autobiography is distinct. According to Merriam-Webster, a memoir is, "A narrative composed from personal experience" and an autobiography is, "The biography of a person narrated by that person, a usually written account of a person's life in their own words.".
A memoir is a factual story in which the author reflects on a series of related events from their life or recounts memories from a particular period. An autobiography is a chronological description of a person's life. Although the memoir can be subjective, it must lean on facts.
1. Autobiography usually covers the author's entire life up to the point of writing, while memoir focuses only on a part of the author's life. There are going to be exceptions to every point on this list, but generally speaking, autobiography aims to be comprehensive, while memoir does not. Autobiographers set out to tell the story of their ...
Memoir Definition. A memoir (MIM-wahr) is a literary form in which the author relates and reflects on experiences from their own life.Memoirs and autobiographies share many similarities, as both are types of self-written biographies.But while an autobiography provides a comprehensive account of someone's life, a memoir is a series of formative or notable memories or events that impacted the ...
Memoir falls under the category of autobiography, but is used as its sub-genre.The major difference between memoir and autobiography is that a memoir is a centralized and more specific storytelling, while an autobiography spans the entire life of a person with intricate details such as the childhood, family history, education, and profession.
An autobiography differs from a memoir in a sense that an autobiography covers all the events of the narrator's life in chronological order, whereas a memoir is a real-life experience of the author, that has a lesson or message to share with the readers. Due to many similarities between these two, many people get a bit confused and don't understand, which form of literature is an ...
A Whole Life vs. Part of a Life. Literature professors will tell you that an autobiography covers the Author's entire life, from birth to publication. Memoirs, on the other hand, only cover part of a life. It might be about a specific event or a set of specific dates from the Author's life. Again, that's ridiculous.
Biography, autobiography, and memoir are the three main forms used to tell the story of a person's life. Though there are similarities between these forms, they have distinct differences in terms of the writing, style, and purpose. A biography is an informational narrative and account of the life history of an individual person, written by someone who is not the subject of the biography.
Definition. A memoir is a form of creative nonfiction in which an author recounts experiences from his or her life. Memoirs usually take the form of a narrative , The terms memoir and autobiography are commonly used interchangeably, and the distinction between these two genres is often blurred. In the Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary ...
Note: The below definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary [electronic resource.] Autobiography, n. - Typically in book form, an autobiography is an account of a person's life told by the himself or herself. An autobiography tends to be a more general history, while a memoir focuses on a specific piece of the author's life.
Whether you are a fan of poetry, mystery, horror, romantic fiction, memoirs or autobiographies, there is a writer for every type of reader on this list of the 101 greatest authors of all time.
In his memoir, the roots of Vance ... Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said of Vance in a biography written by The Atlantic's McKay Coppins. ... "Politics doesn't drive or define J.D. Vance ...