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How to craft an engaging and insightful biography essay that captivates your readers.
Writing a biography essay can be a challenging task, as it requires capturing the essence of a person’s life in a concise and engaging manner. Whether you are writing a biography for a school assignment or for publication, there are several key tips to keep in mind to ensure that your essay is compelling and well-written.
Research is key: Before you start writing, make sure to thoroughly research the person you are writing about. This includes gathering information about their life, accomplishments, and the historical context in which they lived. The more you know about your subject, the better equipped you will be to craft a detailed and accurate biography.
Focus on the narrative: A biography is a story, so make sure to structure your essay in a way that captures the arc of your subject’s life. Start with an engaging introduction that sets the stage for the rest of the essay, then move on to the main body where you explore key events and experiences in the person’s life. Finally, conclude with a strong ending that ties everything together and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
Expert Tips for Writing
When crafting a compelling biography essay, consider these expert tips to make your writing stand out:
1. | Start with a captivating introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the essay. |
2. | Research thoroughly to gather accurate information and interesting anecdotes about the subject. |
3. | Focus on key moments and events in the subject’s life that highlight their character and achievements. |
4. | Show, don’t tell â use descriptive language and vivid imagery to bring the subject to life on the page. |
5. | Structure your essay effectively with clear transitions between paragraphs and sections. |
By following these expert tips, you can create a biography essay that will engage readers and leave a lasting impression.
A Captivating Biography
Writing a captivating biography requires a combination of skill, creativity, and attention to detail. To truly captivate your readers, you must delve deep into the subject’s life story, highlighting key events, challenges, and triumphs that shaped their journey. It’s essential to portray their essence and character through vivid anecdotes, engaging descriptions, and powerful storytelling techniques.
By weaving together facts with emotions, you can create a rich tapestry of narratives that bring the subject to life on the page, allowing readers to connect with them on a personal level. Remember to balance the narrative with well-researched information and ensure that the biography flows smoothly, keeping the reader engaged from start to finish.
Ultimately, a captivating biography is more than just a retelling of events; it’s a celebration of a life lived, a tribute to the extraordinary qualities that make the subject unique and inspiring. Through your writing, you have the power to immortalize their story and leave a lasting impact on those who read it.
Research Your Subject
To craft a compelling biography essay, thorough research on your subject is essential. Dive deep into all available resources, including books, articles, interviews, and any other materials that offer insights into the life of the person you are writing about. Take note of key events, experiences, achievements, and significant moments that shaped their life. By conducting extensive research, you will be able to provide a detailed and accurate portrayal of your subject in your essay.
Gather Key Information
Before you start writing a biography essay, it is crucial to gather all the key information about the person you are writing about. This includes their background, early life, education, career achievements, notable events in their life, personal traits, and any other relevant details that will help paint a clear picture of who they are.
- Research their life history thoroughly, using reputable sources such as biographies, interviews, articles, and documentaries.
- Take note of important dates, locations, and events that shaped their life and career.
- Interview people who knew the person personally to get insights into their character, motivations, and impact on others.
By collecting all this key information, you will be able to create a comprehensive and compelling biography that truly captures the essence of the person you are writing about.
Create a Strong Narrative
One of the key elements of a compelling biography essay is a strong narrative that engages the reader from start to finish. Consider the chronological order of events in the subject’s life and how they connect to form a coherent story. Start by introducing the subject and setting the stage for the narrative to unfold.
Use vivid descriptions and details to bring the subject to life and make their story more relatable to readers. Highlight key milestones, challenges, and achievements in the subject’s life that showcase their character and resilience. Include anecdotes and personal insights that provide a deeper understanding of who the subject is and what drives them.
Structure the narrative in a way that keeps the reader engaged and eager to learn more about the subject’s journey. Consider using storytelling techniques such as foreshadowing, flashbacks, and cliffhangers to maintain suspense and build anticipation. Ultimately, a strong narrative will help bring the subject’s biography to life and make it a memorable read for your audience.
Engage Readers with Stories
One of the most effective ways to make your biography essay compelling is to engage readers with stories. People are naturally drawn to narratives, and weaving personal stories into your biography can create a powerful connection with your audience.
Share anecdotes, experiences, and pivotal moments from the subject’s life that showcase their character, challenges, triumphs, and growth. These stories humanize the subject and help readers relate to them on a personal level.
Remember to use descriptive language, vivid imagery, and emotional detail to immerse readers in the story. By painting a vivid picture of the subject’s life through compelling stories, you can capture the reader’s attention and keep them engaged from start to finish.
Show Your Subject’s Growth
One of the most captivating aspects of a biography is witnessing the growth and development of the subject. Highlight the key milestones, challenges, and transformative moments that shaped your subject’s journey. Show how they evolved as a person, overcame obstacles, and learned from their experiences.
Include details about pivotal moments that influenced their beliefs, values, and decisions. Whether it’s personal growth, professional success, or emotional development, showcasing your subject’s growth adds depth and complexity to their story. Use anecdotes, quotes, and reflections to illustrate their evolution over time.
- Explore how their early experiences shaped their future path.
- Discuss how they dealt with setbacks and challenges along the way.
- Show how they adapted, learned, and grew from their experiences.
- Highlight moments of self-discovery, transformation, and personal growth.
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Highlight Personal Development
One of the key elements to include in a compelling biography essay is the individual’s personal development over time. Highlighting the growth, challenges, and experiences that have shaped the person into who they are today can add depth and authenticity to the narrative. Consider including anecdotes or specific examples that demonstrate how the individual has evolved and overcome obstacles in their journey.
Illustrate how the individual has grown professionally, personally, or intellectually over the years. | |
Showcase the obstacles or setbacks the person has faced and how they have persevered through them. | |
Describe impactful experiences or pivotal moments that have influenced the individual’s development. |
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How to Write a Biography in 8 Steps (The Non-Boring Way!)
Compelling biographies help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding. Discover the steps to write one that captivates your audience!
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Have you ever been captivated by someoneâs life story? From the ancient tales of great conquerors to the modern accounts of influential figures, biographies have enchanted readers and viewers for centuries.
The stories of real people’s lives not only entertain and educate but also provide a unique window into the human experience. In fact, according to research 1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8796048/ , human stories like biographies can help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding.
In this article, letâs dive into how to write a compelling biography, from the research phase to delivery.
What Are the Key Elements of a Biography?
The key elements of a well-written biography bring characters to life. They include thorough research, relevant interviews, clear structure, captivating prose, compelling themes, and a balance between objectivity and empathy.
- Thorough research: Helps create an accurate portrayal of your subject
- Relevant interviews: Insights help provide a deeper understanding of your subject
- Clear structure: Helps you outline your ideas for a compelling narrative
- Captivating prose: Provides descriptive language to paint a picture of your subject
- Compelling themes: Showcases the motivations and desires behind your subject
- A balance between objectivity and empathy: Keeps biases in check and allows your subject to shine for who they are
As you develop your biography, remember that these stories hold an enduring appeal because they offer people an opportunity to explore the depths of the human psyche, unravel extraordinary accomplishments, and discover the vulnerabilities and triumphs of individuals who have left their mark on the world.
Here are the topics a biography typically covers:
- Early life and background : Provide context about the subject’s upbringing, family, and cultural influences.
- Achievements and milestones: Highlight notable accomplishments, contributions, and significant events throughout their life.
- Challenges and struggles: Explore the obstacles they faced, the lessons learned, and how they overcame adversity.
- Personal characteristics: Describe their personality traits, values, beliefs, and motivations that shaped their actions and decisions.
- Impact and legacy: Discuss the lasting influence and contributions of the subject, both during their lifetime and beyond.
Ready to start crafting your biography? Find greater success with this helpful goal-setting resource!
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Letâs look at the six key elements of a well-written biography more closely and the steps you can follow to develop your own.
How to Write a Biography in 8 Steps Using Key Elements
Choose your presentation format.
Presenting your biography can take on various forms, the most traditional being written form. The basis for this article assumes you’re writing a conventional biography; however, this foundation can also help you create a multimedia presentation or website as well.
Consider these various formats to present your biography:
- Traditional Written Biographies: This classic approach provides a comprehensive account of a person’s life through the written word. Traditional biographies can be published in print or ebooks , allowing readers to engage deeply with the subject’s story.
- Multimedia Presentations: In the digital age, multimedia presentations offer a dynamic way to present biographies. Incorporate audio, video, photographs, and interactive elements to enhance the audienceâs experience.
- Online Platforms: Online platforms, such as blogs or dedicated biography websites, provide accessible avenues for sharing biographies. They allow for easy updates, reader engagement, and the incorporation of multimedia elements.
Choose your subject and conduct research
To create a vivid and accurate portrayal of a person’s life, conduct extensive research. Dive into archives, read letters, examine diaries, explore photographs, and immerse yourself in the historical and cultural context surrounding your subject. This will help you unearth the small details that breathe life into your biography.
Whether youâre writing a biography about a historical figure, contemporary icon, or everyday individual, youâll want to consider the different factors to focus on. Here are some examples of three types of individuals and the kind of research that will be most helpful.
- Historical Figures: When writing about historical figures, immerse yourself in their era. Understand the social, political, and cultural forces that shaped their lives. I recommend visiting your local library and connecting with a research librarian for support. Otherwise, other tools for historical research include Google Scholar. Analyze primary sources and multiple perspectives to present a well-rounded account.
- Contemporary Icons: Biographies of modern icons offer a chance to delve into their ongoing impact. Conduct interviews or gather insights from their close associates to understand their present-day influence. Stay current with the latest developments, and be prepared to update your work as the subject’s story unfolds.
- Everyday Individuals: Biographies need not be reserved for the famous. Every day individuals possess stories that can be just as compelling. Uncover the extraordinary within the ordinary, highlighting the struggles, triumphs, and personal growth of individuals who might otherwise remain unsung.
- Yourself! Want to write a biography on yourself? Autobiographies are a great way to explore who you are. Get ready to do some serious self-reflection with the steps below.
Pro Tip: Compile your research digitally using helpful cloud filings systems like Google Drive , OneDrive , or Dropbox . Organize your files by category, including information about their youth, family, achievements, and life lessons. You may also choose to write down research references or collect paper clippings on note cards, categorizing your physical files of research along the way.
Develop compelling themes and motifs
Identify overarching themes or motifs that emerge from the subject’s life. These could be resilience, ambition, love, or societal change. Weave these elements into the narrative, highlighting their significance and impact on the person’s journey. Here are some examples:
- Overcoming Adversity: These biographies feature perseverance, resilience, and determination. Examples include Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai.
- Pursuit of Excellence: These biographies highlight people who have worked tirelessly to achieve their goals. Examples include Steve Jobs, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan.
- Quest for Knowledge: These biographies focus on the curiosity that led to significant contributions to our world. Examples include Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Charles Darwin.
- Personal Transformation: These biographies explore a change in beliefs, values, or priorities. Examples include Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, and Maya Angelou.
- Legacy and Impact: These biographies examine a body of work that made a lasting contribution to society. Examples include Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi.
Conduct relevant interviews
Whenever possible, seek firsthand accounts from those who knew or interacted with the subject. Conduct interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, or experts in the field. Their insights and anecdotes can provide a deeper understanding of the person’s character and experiences.
When conducting interviews for a biography, consider the following tips to ensure a productive and insightful conversation:
- Familiarize yourself with the interviewee’s background and accomplishments.
- Develop a list of well-thought-out questions that cover key aspects of their lives and experiences, including questions about your subjectâs youth, family, achievements, and life transitions or struggles.
- Begin the interview by establishing a comfortable and friendly atmosphere to put the interviewee at ease.
- Show genuine interest in their story and listen actively to their responses.
- Ask open-ended questions encouraging detailed and reflective responses.
- Avoid yes/no questions and ask for their insights, memories, and personal perspectives.
- Some topics you might consider for your questions include early life, achievements, challenges, motivations, values, relationships, lessons learned, and advice.
- Pay close attention to the interviewee’s answers, body language, and tone of voice.
- Ask follow-up questions to clarify or delve deeper into specific topics.
- Show empathy and understanding, creating a safe space for the interviewee to share personal or sensitive information.
- Remain flexible during the interview, allowing the conversation to flow naturally.
- Be prepared to deviate from your prepared questions if unexpected but relevant topics arise.
- Respect the interviewee’s boundaries and be mindful of any topics they may not wish to discuss.
- Take thorough and organized notes during the interview to capture important details.
- Consider recording the interview (with permission) to ensure accurate quotes and references.
- Ask for permission to follow up with additional questions or for clarification.
- Doing a biography on yourself? Ask yourself deep questions to harvest new stories and anecdotes.
Remember, the goal of the interview is to gather valuable information and personal perspectives that will contribute to the authenticity and depth of your biography. Approach the interview process with sensitivity, respect, and genuine curiosity about the interviewee’s life and experiences.
Develop a clear structure
Outline your biography, ensuring a logical and engaging narrative flow. Consider the chronological order, significant milestones, and turning points in the subject’s life. Organize your gathered information to capture the essence of their journey while maintaining a compelling rhythm throughout.
A good outline for a biography can vary depending on the specific subject and the desired structure of the narrative. However, here’s a general outline that can serve as a starting point:
A. Introduction
a) Hook or engaging opening to capture the reader’s attention
b) Background information (birthplace, date, family, etc.)
c) A brief overview of the subject’s significance or why they are worth exploring
B. Early Life and Background
a) Childhood and upbringing
b) Influences, such as family, education, or cultural factors
c) Formative experiences or events that shaped the subject’s character or interests
C. Major Achievements and Milestones
a) A chronological exploration of the subject’s notable accomplishments, contributions, or milestones
b) Focus on key moments or achievements that highlight their impact or significance.
c) Provide context and details to paint a vivid picture of their achievements
D. Challenges and Obstacles
a) Discussion of the challenges, setbacks, or adversities the subject encountered
b) How they overcame obstacles or grew through difficult experiences
c) Insights into their resilience, determination, or problem-solving abilities
E. Personal Life and Relationships
a) Exploration of the subject’s relationships, such as family, friends, or romantic partners
b) Insights into their personal joys, struggles, or transformative experiences
c) How their personal life intersected with their professional or public achievements
F. Legacy and Impact
a) Examination of the subject’s lasting influence, contributions, or impact on society
b) Discuss how their work or actions continue to resonate or shape the world today
c) Reflection on their legacy and the lessons we can learn from their life story
G. Conclusion
a) Summarize the key aspects of the subject’s life and their significance
b) Provide a final reflection or insight on their overall journey or impact
c) Leave the reader with a lasting impression or call to action
Pro Tip: Looking for help drafting an outline to get you started? Use free tools like ChatGPT to jumpstart your outline by putting in a prompt request like, âWrite an outline for a biography about X, including any relevant details on the subject that should be included.â
Craft captivating prose
Employ descriptive language to transport readers into the subject’s world. Paint vivid portraits of their physical appearance, mannerisms, and surroundings. Use sensory details to evoke emotions and create a strong connection between the reader and the subject.
Here are some examples:
- “She was a force of nature, with a fierce determination and an unwavering commitment to justice.” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg)
- “His piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through you, and his voice had a commanding presence that demanded attention.” (Winston Churchill)
- “She moved with a grace and elegance that belied her inner strength and resilience.” (Audrey Hepburn)
- “His rugged features and piercing gaze made him a natural leading man, but it was his depth and vulnerability that set him apart.” (Marlon Brando)
- “She had a contagious energy and a magnetic personality that drew people to her like a moth to a flame.” (Princess Diana)
- “His quiet intensity and unwavering dedication to his craft made him one of the greatest artists of his time.” (Leonardo da Vinci)
Action Step: While writing descriptive prose takes some practice, it’s an art you can master with little creative writing skills. To help you write descriptive prose, practice closing your eyes and imagining your subject.
- What expression is on their face?
- How are they dressed?
- What does their body language express?
- How do they smell?
- How do they make you feel?
- How do they make others feel?
- Whatâs in their surroundings?
- What are they doing with their hands?
- What do you imagine they’re thinking about?
With questions like these, youâll start to use descriptive language to bring your subject to life.
Build a balance of objectivity and empathy
Strive for an objective portrayal while infusing empathy and understanding into your writing. Remain aware of biases and preconceived notions, giving your subject the space to shine in their unique light.
To check yourself, filter your writing and interviewing with these tips:
- Verify Information: Cross-reference information from various sources to ensure accuracy. Use tools like Fact Check Explorer to fact-check claims, dates, and events to avoid errors or inaccuracies that could skew the narrative.
- Multiple Perspectives: Seek out different viewpoints on the subject. This includes interviewing or reaching out to people with significant interactions or relationships with the subject. Incorporating diverse perspectives can counterbalance biases and provide a broader understanding.
- Empathetic Listening: During interviews or conversations, practice active listening and empathize with the interviewee’s experiences and emotions. This allows you to understand the subject’s perspective and incorporate their insights and feelings into the narrative.
- Contextualize Emotions: When sharing the subject’s emotional experiences or personal struggles, provide sufficient context and background. This helps readers understand the motivations and circumstances behind their actions and allows for empathetic understanding without veering into excessive sentimentality.
- Credible Interpretation: While interpreting the subject’s thoughts, motives, or intentions, be clear about what is factual and what is speculative. Clearly distinguish between evidence-based information and your interpretations to maintain objectivity.
- Respect Boundaries: Be mindful of the subject’s privacy and any requests they may have regarding sensitive or personal information. Respecting their boundaries shows empathy and allows for a respectful portrayal while maintaining the necessary level of objectivity.
- Acknowledge Limitations: Recognize that achieving complete objectivity in a biography is challenging. Biases can inadvertently seep into the narrative. However, by being aware of your biases and consciously presenting a fair and balanced account, you can mitigate their influence.
Respect truth, privacy, and sensitivity
Remember, writing biographies carries ethical responsibilities. It’s important to maintain accuracy through credible research and gain consent while being sensitive to controversial or difficult topics. Here are some considerations:
- Accuracy: Maintain a commitment to truth and accuracy. Verify facts and corroborate information from multiple sources to ensure the reliability of your narrative. Cite your sources and be transparent about any uncertainties or gaps in knowledge.
- Privacy and Consent: Respect the privacy of living individuals mentioned in your biography. Seek consent when sharing personal details or sensitive information. Balance the subject’s right to privacy with the importance of honesty and transparency.
- Sensitivity: Approach sensitive or controversial topics with care and empathy. Consider the potential impact of your words on the subject’s loved ones or affected communitiesâpresent differing perspectives without sensationalism or bias.
Writing a Biography FAQs
The length of a biography can vary greatly, depending on the subject and the depth of exploration. Some biographies span a few hundred pages, while others extend to multiple volumes. Focus on capturing the subjectâs lifeâs essence rather than strictly adhering to a predetermined length.
Some common mistakes to avoid when writing a biography include the following: Lack of thorough research or reliance on a single source. Inaccurate or misleading information. Excessive personal bias or projection onto the subject. Neglecting to verify facts or failing to cite sources. Poor organization or a disjointed narrative flow. Neglecting to balance objectivity with empathy. Overloading the biography with irrelevant details or digressions. Failing to respect privacy or ethical considerations.
While chronological order is commonly used in biographies, it is not required. Some biographers employ a thematic approach or explore specific periods or events in the subject’s life. Experiment with different structures to find the most engaging way to tell your subject’s story.
The purpose of writing a biography is to capture and share an individual’s life story. Biographies provide insights into a person’s experiences, achievements, and challenges, offering readers inspiration, knowledge, and understanding. They preserve the legacy of individuals, contribute to historical records, and celebrate the diversity of human lives.
When choosing a subject for your biography, consider someone who inspires you, interests you, or has significantly impacted society. It could be a historical figure, a contemporary icon, or even an everyday individual with a remarkable story. Choose a subject with sufficient available information, access to primary sources or interviews, and a narrative that resonates with you and potential readers.
Key elements to include in a biography are: Early life and background: Provide context about the subject’s upbringing, family, and cultural influences. Achievements and milestones: Highlight notable accomplishments, contributions, and significant events throughout their life. Challenges and struggles: Explore the obstacles they faced, the lessons learned, and how they overcame adversity. Personal characteristics: Describe their personality traits, values, beliefs, and motivations that shaped their actions and decisions. Impact and legacy: Discuss the lasting influence and contributions of the subject, both during their lifetime and beyond.
Including personal anecdotes can add depth and humanize the subject of your biography. However, be selective and ensure that the stories are relevant, contribute to understanding the person’s character or experiences, and align with the overall narrative. Balancing personal anecdotes with factual information is critical to maintaining accuracy and credibility.
Conducting research for a biography involves exploring a variety of sources. Start with primary sources such as personal papers, letters, journals, and interviews with the subject or people who knew them. Secondary sources such as books, articles, and academic papers provide additional context and perspectives. Online databases, archives, libraries, and museums are valuable resources for finding relevant information.
Consult a wide range of sources to ensure a comprehensive and accurate biography. Primary sources, such as personal documents, letters, diaries, and interviews, offer firsthand accounts and unique insights. Secondary sources provide broader context and analysis, including books, articles, scholarly works, and historical records. Remember to evaluate the credibility and reliability of your sources critically.
Organize the information in your biography logically and engagingly. Consider using a chronological structure, starting with the subject’s early life and progressing through significant events and milestones. Alternatively, adopt a thematic approach, grouping related information based on themes or significant aspects of their life. Use clear headings, subheadings, and transitions to guide readers through the narrative flow.
Writing Biographies Key Takeaways
In summary, take note of these ideas and tips before you start writing your biography:
- Biographies hold enduring appeal, offering a glimpse into the human experience across time.
- Thorough research, interviews, and captivating prose are essential for crafting compelling biographies.
- Ethical considerations, such as accuracy, privacy, and sensitivity, are crucial when writing about real people’s lives.
- Choose subjects that genuinely inspire and resonate with you.
- Immerse yourself in the subject’s world to understand their motivations and challenges.
- Develop strong research skills and utilize a wide range of sources.
- Craft a compelling narrative that engages readers from the very first page.
- Seek feedback from trusted sources to refine your writing and storytelling abilities.
- Continuously explore new biographies to broaden your understanding of different styles and approaches.
- Embrace the unique voice and perspective you bring to the storytelling process.
Writing a biography book? Check out this helpful article, How to Write a Book: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing !
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How to Write a Biography: A 7-Step Guide [+Template]
From time to time, nonfiction authors become so captivated by a particular figure from either the present or the past, that they feel compelled to write an entire book about their life. Whether casting them as heroes or villains, there is an interesting quality in their humanity that compels these authors to revisit their life paths and write their story.
However, portraying someoneâs life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If youâre looking to write a biography yourself, in this post weâll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow.Â
How to write a biography:Â
1. Seek permission when possibleÂ
2. research your subject thoroughly, 3. do interviews and visit locations, 4. organize your findings, 5. identify a central thesis, 6. write it using narrative elements, 7. get feedback and polish the text.
FREE RESOURCE
Biography Outline Template
Craft a satisfying story arc for your biography with our free template.
While you technically donât need permission to write about public figures (or deceased ones), that doesn't guarantee their legal team won't pursue legal action against you. Author Kitty Kelley was sued by Frank Sinatra before she even started to write His Way , a biography that paints Ol Blue Eyes in a controversial light. (Kelley ended up winning the lawsuit, however). Â
Whenever feasible, advise the subjectâs representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, youâll get a green light to proceed, or potentially an offer to collaborate. It's a matter of common sense; if someone were to write a book about you, you would likely want to know about it well prior to publication. So, make a sincere effort to reach out to their PR staff to negotiate an agreement or at least a mutual understanding of the scope of your project.Â
At the same time, make sure that you still retain editorial control over the project, and not end up writing a puff piece that treats its protagonist like a saint or hero. No biography can ever be entirely objective, but you should always strive for a portrayal that closely aligns with facts and reality.
If you canât get an answer from your subject, or youâre asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The ârebellious actâ of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though itâll likely bring more headaches with it too.Â
â Please note that, like other nonfiction books, if you intend to release your biography with a publishing house , you can put together a book proposal to send to them before you even write the book. If they like it enough, they might pay you an advance to write it. Â
Book Proposal Template
Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.
Once youâve settled (or not) the permission part, itâs time to dive deep into your characterâs story. Â
Deep and thorough research skills are the cornerstone of every biographer worth their salt. To paint a vivid and accurate portrait of someone's life, youâll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources.Â
Start with the information already available, from books on your subject to archival documents, then collect new ones firsthand by interviewing people or traveling to locations.Â
Browse the web and library archives
Put your researcher hat on and start consuming any piece on your subject you can find, from their Wikipedia page to news articles, interviews, TV and radio appearances, YouTube videos, podcasts, books, magazines, and any other media outlets they may have been featured in.Â
Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find ä¸ even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them.Â
Depending on their era, you may find most of the information readily available online, or you may need to search through university libraries for older references.Â
For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia Universityâs library , reading through the Hamilton family papers, visiting the New York Historical Society, as well as interviewing the archivist of the New York Stock Exchange, and so on. The research process took years, but it certainly paid off. Chernow discovered that Hamilton created the first five securities originally traded on Wall Street. This finding, among others, revealed his significant contributions to shaping the current American financial and political systems, a legacy previously often overshadowed by other founding fathers. Today Alexander Hamilton is one of the best-selling biographies of all time, and it has become a cultural phenomenon with its own dedicated musical.Â
Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in.Â
Try to understand their time and social environment
Many biographies show how their protagonists have had a profound impact on society through their philosophical, artistic, or scientific contributions. But at the same time, itâs worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their lifeâs path and work.
An interesting example is Stephen Greenblattâs Will in the World . Finding himself limited by a lack of verified detail surrounding William Shakespeare's personal life, Greenblatt, instead, employs literary interpretation and imaginative reenactments to transport readers back to the Elizabethan era. The result is a vivid (though speculative) depiction of the playwright's life, enriching our understanding of his world.
Many readers enjoy biographies that transport them to a time and place, so exploring a historical period through the lens of a character can be entertaining in its own right. The Diary of Samuel Pepys became a classic not because people were enthralled by his life as an administrator, but rather from his meticulous and vivid documentation of everyday existence during the Restoration period.
Once youâve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, youâll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.
With all the material youâve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But youâll surely have some curiosities and missing dots in their character arc to figure out, which you can only get by interviewing primary sources.
Interview friends and associates
This part is more relevant if your subject is contemporary, and you can actually meet up or call with relatives, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors, or any other person related to them.Â
In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobsâs family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.
đ Read other biographies to get a sense of what makes a great one. Check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time , or take our 30-second quiz below for tips on which one you should read next.Â
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When you conduct your interviews, make sure to record them with high quality audio you can revisit later. Then use tools like Otter.ai or Descript to transcribe them ä¸ itâll save you countless hours.Â
You can approach the interview with a specific set of questions, or follow your curiosity blindly, trying to uncover revealing stories and anecdotes about your subject. Whatever your method, author and biography editor Tom Bromley suggests that every interviewer arrives prepared, "Show that youâve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.âÂ
Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. âYou may want to interview different members of the family or friends first, to get their perspective on something, and then go directly to the main interviewee. You'll be able to use that knowledge to ask sharper, more specific questions.âÂ
Finally, consider how much time you have with each interviewee. If you only have a 30-minute phone call with an important person, make it count by asking directly the most pressing questions you have. And, if you find a reliable source who is also particularly willing to help, conduct several interviews and ask them, if appropriate, to write a foreword as part of the bookâs front matter .
Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your characterâs journey.
Visit significant places in their life
A place, whether thatâs a city, a rural house, or a bodhi tree, can carry a particular energy that you can only truly experience by being there. In putting the pieces together about someoneâs life, it may be useful to go visit where they grew up, or where other significant events of their lives happened. It will be easier to imagine what they experienced, and better tell their story.Â
In researching The Lost City of Z , author David Grann embarked on a trek through the Amazon, retracing the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett. This led Grann to develop new theories about the circumstances surrounding the explorer's disappearance.
Hopefully, you wonât have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subjectâs environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible.Â
Once youâve researched your character enough, itâs time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far.Â
Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents youâve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline.Â
Create a chronological timeline
It helps to organize your notes chronologically ä¸ from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subjectâs life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits.Â
You should be able to divide their life into distinct periods, each with their unique events and significance. Based on that, you can start drafting an outline of the narrative you want to create. Â
Draft a story outlineÂ
Since a biography entails writing about a personâs entire life, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can pick where you want to end the story, depending on how consequential the last years of your subject were. But the nature of the work will give you a starting character arc to work with.Â
To outline the story then, you could turn to the popular Three-Act Structure , which divides the narrative in three main parts. In a nutshell, youâll want to make sure to have the following:
- Act 1. Setup : Introduce the protagonist's background and the turning points that set them on a path to achieve a goal.Â
- Act 2. Confrontation : Describe the challenges they encounter, both internal and external, and how they rise to them. Then..
- Act 3. Resolution : Reach a climactic point in their story in which they succeed (or fail), showing how they (and the world around them) have changed as a result.Â
Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?
Think about why youâre so drawn to your subject to dedicate years of your life to recounting their own. What aspect of their life do you want to highlight? Is it their evil nature, artistic genius, or visionary mindset? And what evidence have you got to back that up? Find a central thesis or focus to weave as the main thread throughout your narrative.Â
Or find a unique angle
If you donât have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subjectâs story can also help you distinguish your work from other biographies or existing works on the same subject.
Plenty of biographies have been published about The Beatles ä¸ many of which have different focuses and approaches:Â
- Philip Norman's Shout is sometimes regarded as leaning more towards a pro-Lennon and anti-McCartney stance, offering insights into the band's inner dynamics.Â
- Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head closely examines their music track by track, shifting the focus back to McCartney as a primary creative force.Â
- Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews.Â
- Mark Lewisohn's monumental three-volume biography, Tune In , stands as a testament to over a decade of meticulous research, chronicling every intricate detail of the Beatles' journey.
Finally, consider that biographies are often more than recounting the life of a person. Similar to how Dickensâ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britainâs fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth â be it social, political, or human â beyond the immediate subject of the book.Â
Once youâve identified your main focus or angle, itâs time to write a great story.Â
While biographies are often highly informative, they do not have to be dry and purely expository in nature . You can play with storytelling elements to make it an engaging read.Â
You could do that by thoroughly detailing the setting of the story , depicting the people involved in the story as fully-fledged characters , or using rising action and building to a climax when describing a particularly significant milestone of the subjectâs life.Â
One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong footâŚ
Hook the reader from the start
Just because you're honoring your character's whole life doesn't mean you have to begin when they said their first word. Starting from the middle or end of their life can be more captivating as it introduces conflicts and stakes that shaped their journey.
When he wrote about Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild , author Jon Krakauer didnât open his subjectâs childhood and abusive family environment. Instead, the book begins with McCandless hitchhiking his way into the wilderness, and subsequently being discovered dead in an abandoned bus. By starting in medias res , Krakauer hooks the readerâs interest, before tracing back the causes and motivations that led McCandless to die alone in that bus in the first place.
You can bend the timeline to improve the readerâs reading experience throughout the rest of the story tooâŚ
Play with flashbackÂ
While biographies tend to follow a chronological narrative, you can use flashbacks to tell brief stories or anecdotes when appropriate. For example, if you were telling the story of footballer Lionel Messi, before the climax of winning the World Cup with Argentina, you could recall when he was just 13 years old, giving an interview to a local newspaper, expressing his lifelong dream of playing for the national team.Â
Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue doesâŚ
Reimagine conversations
Recreating conversations that your subject had with people around them is another effective way to color the story. Dialogue helps the reader imagine the story like a movie, providing a deeper sensory experience.Â
One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobsâ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: âYou've got to make the back of the fence just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. And that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.â
Unlike memoirs and autobiographies, in which the author tells the story from their personal viewpoint and enjoys greater freedom to recall conversations, biographies require a commitment to facts. So, when recreating dialogue, try to quote directly from reliable sources like personal diaries, emails, and text messages. You could also use your interview scripts as an alternative to dialogue. As Tom Bromley suggests, âIf you talk with a good amount of people, you can try to tell the story from their perspective, interweaving different segments and quoting the interviewees directly.â
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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once youâve finished your manuscript, itâs a good idea to ask for feedback.Â
If youâre going to self-publish your biography, youâll have to polish it to professional standards. After leaving your work to rest for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and self-edit your manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs.Â
Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. Theyâll look at the structure and shape of your manuscript and tell you which parts need to be expanded on or cut. As someone who edited and commissioned several biographies, Tom Bromley points out that a professional âwill look at the sources used and assess whether they back up the points made, or if more are needed. They would also look for context, and whether or not more background information is needed for the reader to understand the story fully. And they might check your facts, too.â Â
In addition to structural editing, you may want to have someone copy-edit and proofread your work.
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Importantly, make sure to include a bibliography with a list of all the interviews, documents, and sources used in the writing process. Youâll have to compile it according to a manual of style, but you can easily create one by using tools like EasyBib . Once the text is nicely polished and typeset in your writing software , you can prepare for the publication process. Â
In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, youâll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individualâs life experience. Whether thatâll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy ä¸ and thatâs something not to take lightly.Â
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How to Write a Biography
Last Updated: May 28, 2024 Fact Checked
This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,866,077 times.
Writing a biography can be a fun challenge, where you are sharing the story of someoneâs life with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write one as a personal project. Once you have identified the subject of the biography, do your research so you know as much about them as possible. Then, dive into the writing of the biography and revising it until it is at its finest.
Researching Your Subject
- If the subject does not give you permission to write the biography, you may want to choose a different subject. If you decide to publish the biography without the subjectâs permission, you may be susceptible to legal action by the subject.
- If the subject is no longer alive, you obviously do not need to ask permission to write about them.
- You may create research questions to help focus your research of the subject, such as, What do I find interesting about the subject? Why is this subject important to readers? What can I say that is new about the subject? What would I like to learn more about?
- For in person interviews, record them with a tape recorder or a voice recorder on your computer or phone.
- You may need to interview the subject and others several times to get the material you need.
- You may also want to visit areas where the subject made a major decision or breakthrough in their life. Being physically in the area can give you a sense of how the subject might have felt and help you write their experiences more effectively.
- When researching the time period ask yourself: What were the social norms of that time? What was going on economically and politically? How did the social and political climate affect the subject?
- You may also include historical events or moments that affected the subject on the timeline. For example, maybe there was a conflict or civil war that happened during the personâs life that affected their life.
Writing the Biography
- You may end up focusing on particular areas of the personâs life. If you do this, work through a particular period in the personâs life chronologically.
- For example, you may have a thesis statement about focusing on how the person impacted the civil rights movement in America in the 1970s. You can then make sure all your content relates back to this thesis.
- Flashbacks should feel as detailed and real as present day scenes. Use your research notes and interviews with the subject to get a good sense of their past for the flashbacks.
- For example, you may jump from the personâs death in the present to a flashback to their favorite childhood memory.
- For example, you may focus on the personâs accomplishments in the civil rights movement. You may write a whole section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometown.
- For example, you may notice that the personâs life is patterned with moments of adversity, where the person worked hard and fought against larger forces. You can then use the theme of overcoming adversity in the biography.
- For example, you may note how you see parallels in the personâs life during the civil rights movement with your own interests in social justice. You may also commend the person for their hard work and positive impact on society.
Polishing the Biography
- Revise the biography based on feedback from others. Do not be afraid to cut or edit down the biography to suit the needs of your readers.
- Having a biography riddled with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can turn off your readers and result in a poor grade if you are handing in the text for a class.
- If the biography is for a class, use MLA , APA , or Chicago Style citations based on the preferences of your instructor.
Biography Help
Community Q&A
- Be careful when publishing private or embarrassing information, especially if the person is not a celebrity. You may violate their "Right of Privacy" or equivalent. Thanks Helpful 31 Not Helpful 5
- Have the sources to back up your statements about the subject's life. Untruthful written statements can lead to litigation. If it is your opinion, be clear that it is such and not fact (although you can support your opinion with facts). Thanks Helpful 16 Not Helpful 15
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- â https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-bio
- â https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/3-tips-for-writing-successful-flashbacks
- â https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/
- â https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
- â https://www.plagiarism.org/article/how-do-i-cite-sources
About This Article
Before you write a biography, gather as much information about the subject that you can from sources like newspaper articles, interviews, photos, existing biographies, and anything else you can find. Write the story of that personâs life, including as much supporting detail as you can, including information about the place and time where the person lived. Focus on major events and milestones in their life, including historical events, marriage, children, and events which would shape their path later in life. For tips from our reviewer on proofreading the biography and citing your sources, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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How to Write a Biography: 11 Step Guide + Book Template
So youâd like to know how to write a biography. We can help with that! Learning how to write a biography doesn't have to be intimidating. In fact, it can be a lot of fun!
In this guide, we show you how to write a biography from the initial book idea all the way through to publishing your book , and we throw in a free template to help you on your way.Â
Ready to learn how to start a biography? Letâs jump right in.Â
Get Our 6âł x 9âł Pre-Formatted Book Template for Word or Mac
We will send you a Book Template for US Trade (standard paperback size).
How to Write a Biography in 11 Simple Steps
Here are the steps you need to take to learn how to write a biography:
1. Read other biographiesÂ
Austin Kleon, Author of Steal Like an Artist , says âthe writer tries to master words. All of these pursuits involve the study of those who have come before and the effort to build upon their work in some way.”
In other words, if you want to learn how to write a biography, you need to read the best biographies written by other excellent authors!
In this case, it would behoove you to read several biographies – whether historical or celebrity biographies is up to you and your sub-genre.
A good author to start with? Walter Isaacson . Heâs written highly acclaimed biographies on everyone from Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs to Leonardo Da Vinci and Elon Musk.Â
Once you've read some well-crafted biographies, you'll have a better idea of how to start a biography of your own.
2. Identify your subject
In order to learn how to start a biography, you need to choose who youâd like to write about – if you donât already have someone in mind. Â
The most important factor will be, of course, your interest in the person youâre planning to write about. Youâll spend months (or even years) deep-diving into this personâs history, so you want to choose someone who youâre unlikely to tire of.
When learning how to write a biography, here are few factors to consider:Â
- How impactful has your potential subjectâs life been? In other words, will people care to learn more about this person?Â
- How readily available is information about your potential subject? Biographies require extensive research, so itâs critical to choose someone who has enough information out there to dig into! Consider whether your subject has done interviews, written journals, has family or a partner willing to speak with you, and more.Â
- Are there already books written about your potential subject? Just because thereâs an existing biography about the person youâre interested in doesnât (necessarily) mean you canât write another one. But if there are two or three biographies, you may want to reconsider. If you do choose to write about someone who has already been well-documented, be mindful about approaching the topic with a new angle or perspective. For instance, there are several biographies about George Washington, but author Alexis Coe wrote one about how Washington isnât âquite the man we remember.â This brilliant iteration has over 12,000 ratings on Goodreads .
- Is there a market demand for a book about your potential subject? If youâre learning how to write a biography, you need to be mindful of whether folks will want to read it. Do some research to determine if readers will be receptive to a book about the person youâre interested in.Â
Related: Is a Biography a Primary Source?
3. Get permission to write about your subject
Weâll start by stating the obvious. Itâs a good idea to get permission to write about your subject, even if youâre not legally required to. For one thing, itâs just good manners. Plus, youâre much more likely to get unfettered access to the information and sources you need to write your book.
But do you have to get permission? It depends.
In some cases, if your subject is considered a âpublic figure,â permission may not be required. The definition of a public figure varies depending on your jurisdiction, so you should always consult a lawyer before writing a biography.
If you do decide to proceed without permission, be mindful of how your book will be received and any legal issues that may arise. That's why we always recommend asking permission from your subject when learning how to write a biography.
Related : Difference Between A Memoir and Biography
4. Create an outline
The next step of learning how to write a biography is to outline your story. Itâs critical to outline your biography before you begin writing it. Among other things, it helps ensure you cover every topic youâd like to and get the book in the correct chronological order. It also helps you identify themes that emerge as you organize your ideas.Â
Need help creating your outline? Learn how to do it (and take advantage of free templates!) in our guide to outlining a book .
5. Select a working title (using a title generator)Â
Now is the fun part of learning how to write a biography! Itâs time to create a working title for your book. A working title is just what it sounds like: itâs a title that works – for now.Â
Of course, itâs helpful to have something to call the book as youâre working on it. And it encourages you to think about the message youâd like your book to convey. When your biography is complete, you can always do a little more research on how to write book titles for your specific sub-genre and update your working title accordingly.
Or, you can decide you still love your initial title and publish your book with that one!
Weâve made it easy for you to develop a working title – or multiple – using our book title generator .
Don't like it?
6. Write a rough draftÂ
Okay, now itâs time to start writing your rough draft. Donât be intimidated; just focus on getting something down on the page. As experts on all things writing and self-publishing, weâve got a rough draft writing guide to help you get through this phase of writing a biography.
Remember to be as balanced and objective as possible when learning how to write a biography.
Make good use of your primary and secondary sources, and double-check all of your facts. Youâve got this!
7. Self-edit
There are several different types of editing that we recommend each manuscript undergo. But before you give your rough draft to anyone else to review, you should edit it yourself.
The first step to self-editing?
Take a break! Itâs essential to give your mind some time to recuperate before you go over your work. And never self-edit as you go!
After youâve completed your break, here are a few things to consider as you edit:
- Grammar. This one is self-explanatory and usually the easiest. You can use an AI editor to make a first pass and quickly catch obvious spelling errors. Depending on prompts and your experience with the tool, you can also use AI to catch some grammar and syntax issues as well.
- Content and structure . This is the time to make sure the bones of your piece are good. Make sure your content flows logically (and in chronological order), no important pieces of information are missing, and there isnât redundant or unhelpful information.Â
- Clarity and consistency. Keep an eye out for any confusing copy and ensure your tone is uniform throughout the book.
- Try reading your draft aloud. Youâd be surprised at how many errors, shifts in tone, or other things youâd like to change that you donât notice while reading in your head. Go ahead and do a read-through of your draft out loud.
8. Work with an editor
Once youâve created the best draft you can, itâs time to hire an editor. As we mentioned, there are multiple types of book editing, so youâll need to choose the one(s) that are best for you and your project when learning how to write a biography.Â
For instance, you can work with a developmental editor who helps with big-picture stuff. Think book structure, organization, and overall storytelling. Or you might work with a line editor who focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and the like.
There are also specialized copy editors, content editors, fact-checkers, and more.
Itâs in your best interest to do a substantial amount of research before choosing an editor since theyâll have a large impact on your book. Many editors are open to doing a paid trial so you can see their work before you sign them on for the entire book.
9. Hire a book cover designer
Once youâve worked with your editor(s) to finalize your book, itâs time to get your book ready to go out into the world. So the nest step in learning how to write a biography is to hire a book cover designer to create a cover that grabs readersâ attention (pssst: did you know that all SelfPublishing authors get done-for-you professional book design? Ask us about it !).
10. Get an ISBNÂ
The next step in learning how to write a biography is getting an ISBN number for your book – or an International Standard Book Number. Itâs a unique way to identify your book and is critical for ordering, inventory tracking, and more.Â
Bear in mind that each rendition of your book – regardless of when you publish them – will need their own ISBN numbers. So if you initially publish as a softcover and hardcover book and then decide to publish an ebook with the same exact content, you'll need 3 total ISBN numbers.
To get an ISBN, head to ISBN.org and follow the steps they provide. Or reference our guide right here for step-by-step instructions (complete with photos) on how to get an ISBN number for self-published books.
11. Create a launch planÂ
Now is the most exciting part of learning how to write a biography. Itâs time to get your book out into the world! Youâll need to map out your plan, schedule events , finalize your pricing strategy, and more.Â
And you can't just launch your book in a single day. When you go through all the work of learning how to write a biography, you want your book to succeed – and that requires a strategic marketing plan. Luckily, we have an entire guide to launching a book to help you figure it out.Â
Get your free book template!
Learning how to write a biography can be challenging, but when you have a clear plan and guidance, the process is much easier. We've helped thousands of aspiring authors just like you write and self-publish their own books. We know what works – and how to become a successfully published author faster.
Take the first step today and down the book template below!
And, if you need additional help with learning how to write a biography, remember that weâre standing by to assist you. Just schedule a book consultation and one of our team members will help answer any of your questions about the writing or self-publishing process.
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How to Write a Biography
Biographies are big business. Whether in book form or Hollywood biopics, the lives of the famous and sometimes not-so-famous fascinate us.
While it’s true that most biographies are about people who are in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. Primarily, though, famous or not, the person who is written about has led an incredible life.
In this article, we will explain biography writing in detail for teachers and students so they can create their own.
While your students will most likely have a basic understanding of a biography, it’s worth taking a little time before they put pen to paper to tease out a crystal-clear definition of one.
What Is a Biography?
A biography is an account of someone’s life written by someone else . While there is a genre known as a fictional biography, for the most part, biographies are, by definition, nonfiction.
Generally speaking, biographies provide an account of the subject’s life from the earliest days of childhood to the present day or, if the subject is deceased, their death.
The job of a biography is more than just to outline the bare facts of a person’s life.
Rather than just listing the basic details of their upbringing, hobbies, education, work, relationships, and death, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of the subject’s personality and experience of life.
Full Biographies
Teaching unit.
Teach your students everything they need to know about writing an AUTOBIOGRAPHY and a BIOGRAPHY.
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Features of a Biography
Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of a Biography. An excellent way to determine how well they understand these essential elements is to ask them to compile a checklist like the one-blow
Their checklists should contain the items below at a minimum. Be sure to help them fill in any gaps before moving on to the writing process.
The purpose of a biography is to provide an account of someone’s life.
Biography structure.
ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Open your biography with a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention
SEQUENCING: In most cases, biographies are written in chronological order unless you are a very competent writer consciously trying to break from this trend.
COVER: childhood, upbringing, education, influences, accomplishments, relationships, etc. – everything that helps the reader to understand the person.
CONCLUSION: Wrap your biography up with some details about what the subject is doing now if they are still alive. If they have passed away, make mention of what impact they have made and what their legacy is or will be.
BIOGRAPHY FEATURES
LANGUAGE Use descriptive and figurative language that will paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read. Use time connectives to link events.
PERSPECTIVE Biographies are written from the third person’s perspective.
DETAILS: Give specific details about people, places, events, times, dates, etc. Reflect on how events shaped the subject. You might want to include some relevant photographs with captions. A timeline may also be of use depending upon your subject and what you are trying to convey to your audience.
TENSE Written in the past tense (though ending may shift to the present/future tense)
THE PROCESS OF WRITING A BIOGRAPHY
Like any form of writing, you will find it simple if you have a plan and follow it through. These steps will ensure you cover the essential bases of writing a biography essay.
Firstly, select a subject that inspires you. Someone whose life story resonates with you and whose contribution to society intrigues you. The next step is to conduct thorough research. Engage in extensive reading, explore various sources, watch documentaries, and glean all available information to provide a comprehensive account of the person’s life.
Creating an outline is essential to organize your thoughts and information. The outline should include the person’s early life, education, career, achievements, and any other significant events or contributions. It serves as a map for the writing process, ensuring that all vital information is included.
Your biography should have an engaging introduction that captivates the reader’s attention and provides background information on the person you’re writing about. It should include a thesis statement summarising the biography’s main points.
Writing a biography in chronological order is crucial . You should begin with the person’s early life and move through their career and achievements. This approach clarifies how the person’s life unfolded and how they accomplished their goals.
A biography should be written in a narrative style , capturing the essence of the person’s life through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes. Avoid dry, factual writing and focus on creating a compelling narrative that engages the reader.
Adding personal insights and opinions can enhance the biography’s overall impact, providing a unique perspective on the person’s achievements, legacy, and impact on society.
Editing and proofreading are vital elements of the writing process. Thoroughly reviewing your biography ensures that the writing is clear, concise, and error-free. You can even request feedback from someone else to ensure that it is engaging and well-written.
Finally, including a bibliography at the end of your biography is essential. It gives credit to the sources that were used during research, such as books, articles, interviews, and websites.
Tips for Writing a Brilliant Biography
Biography writing tip #1: choose your subject wisely.
There are several points for students to reflect on when deciding on a subject for their biography. Let’s take a look at the most essential points to consider when deciding on the subject for a biography:
Interest: To produce a biography will require sustained writing from the student. That’s why students must choose their subject well. After all, a biography is an account of someone’s entire life to date. Students must ensure they choose a subject that will sustain their interest throughout the research, writing, and editing processes.
Merit: Closely related to the previous point, students must consider whether the subject merits the reader’s interest. Aside from pure labors of love, writing should be undertaken with the reader in mind. While producing a biography demands sustained writing from the author, it also demands sustained reading from the reader.
Therefore, students should ask themselves if their chosen subject has had a life worthy of the reader’s interest and the time they’d need to invest in reading their biography.
Information: Is there enough information available on the subject to fuel the writing of an entire biography? While it might be a tempting idea to write about a great-great-grandfather’s experience in the war. There would be enough interest there to sustain the author’s and the reader’s interest, but do you have enough access to information about their early childhood to do the subject justice in the form of a biography?
Biography Writing Tip #2: R esearch ! Research! Research!
While the chances are good that the student already knows quite a bit about the subject they’ve chosen. Chances are 100% that they’ll still need to undertake considerable research to write their biography.
As with many types of writing , research is an essential part of the planning process that shouldn’t be overlooked. If students wish to give as complete an account of their subject’s life as possible, they’ll need to put in the time at the research stage.
An effective way to approach the research process is to:
1. Compile a chronological timeline of the central facts, dates, and events of the subject’s life
2. Compile detailed descriptions of the following personal traits:
- Physical looks
- Character traits
- Values and beliefs
3. Compile some research questions based on different topics to provide a focus for the research:
- Childhood : Where and when were they born? Who were their parents? Who were the other family members? What education did they receive?
- Obstacles: What challenges did they have to overcome? How did these challenges shape them as individuals?
- Legacy: What impact did this person have on the world and/or the people around them?
- Dialogue & Quotes: Dialogue and quotations by and about the subject are a great way to bring color and life to a biography. Students should keep an eagle eye out for the gems that hide amid their sources.
As the student gets deeper into their research, new questions will arise that can further fuel the research process and help to shape the direction the biography will ultimately go in.
Likewise, during the research, themes will often begin to suggest themselves. Exploring these themes is essential to bring depth to biography, but we’ll discuss this later in this article.
Research Skills:
Researching for biography writing is an excellent way for students to hone their research skills in general. Developing good research skills is essential for future academic success. Students will have opportunities to learn how to:
- Gather relevant information
- Evaluate different information sources
- Select suitable information
- Organize information into a text.
Students will have access to print and online information sources, and, in some cases, they may also have access to people who knew or know the subject (e.g. biography of a family member).
These days, much of the research will likely take place online. It’s crucial, therefore, to provide your students with guidance on how to use the internet safely and evaluate online sources for reliability. This is the era of ‘ fake news ’ and misinformation after all!
COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON INTERNET RESEARCH SKILLS USING GOOGLE SEARCH
Teach your students ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF THE INFORMATION ERA to become expert DIGITAL RESEARCHERS.
⭐How to correctly ask questions to search engines on all devices.
⭐ How to filter and refine your results to find exactly what you want every time.
⭐ Essential Research and critical thinking skills for students.
⭐ Plagiarism, Citing and acknowledging other people’s work.
⭐ How to query, synthesize and record your findings logically.
BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip #3: Find Your Themes In Biography Writing
Though predominantly a nonfiction genre, the story still plays a significant role in good biography writing. The skills of characterization and plot structuring are transferable here. And, just like in fiction, exploring themes in a biographical work helps connect the personal to the universal. Of course, these shouldn’t be forced; this will make the work seem contrived, and the reader may lose faith in the truthfulness of the account. A biographer needs to gain and maintain the trust of the reader.
Fortunately, themes shouldn’t need to be forced. A life well-lived is full of meaning, and the themes the student writer is looking for will emerge effortlessly from the actions and events of the subject’s life. It’s just a case of learning how to spot them.
One way to identify the themes in a life is to look for recurring events or situations in a person’s life. These should be apparent from the research completed previously. The students should seek to identify these patterns that emerge in the subject’s life. For example, perhaps they’ve had to overcome various obstacles throughout different periods of their life. In that case, the theme of overcoming adversity is present and has been identified.
Usually, a biography has several themes running throughout, so be sure your students work to identify more than one theme in their subject’s life.
BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip: #4 Put Something of Yourself into the Writing
While the defining feature of a biography is that it gives an account of a person’s life, students must understand that this is not all a biography does. Relating the facts and details of a subject’s life is not enough. The student biographer should not be afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with the reader throughout their account of their subject’s life.
The student can weave some of their personality into the fabric of the text by providing commentary and opinion as they relate the events of the person’s life and the wider social context at the time. Unlike the detached and objective approach we’d expect to find in a history textbook, in a biography, student-writers should communicate their enthusiasm for their subject in their writing.
This makes for a more intimate experience for the reader, as they get a sense of getting to know the author and the subject they are writing about.
Biography Examples For Students
- Year 5 Example
- Year 7 Example
- Year 9 Example
“The Rock ‘n’ Roll King: Elvis Presley”
Elvis Aaron Presley, born on January 8, 1935, was an amazing singer and actor known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Even though he’s been dead for nearly 50 years, I can’t help but be fascinated by his incredible life!
Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a tiny house with his parents and twin brother. His family didn’t have much money, but they shared a love for music. Little did they know Elvis would become a music legend!
When he was only 11 years old, Elvis got his first guitar. He taught himself to play and loved singing gospel songs. As he got older, he started combining different music styles like country, blues, and gospel to create a whole new sound – that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!
In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis recorded his first song, “That’s All Right.” People couldn’t believe how unique and exciting his music was. His famous hip-swinging dance moves also made him a sensation!
Elvis didn’t just rock the music scene; he also starred in movies like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But fame came with challenges. Despite facing ups and downs, Elvis kept spreading happiness through his music.
Tragically, Elvis passed away in 1977, but his music and charisma live on. Even today, people worldwide still enjoy his songs like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Elvis Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll will live forever.
Long Live the King: I wish I’d seen him.
Elvis Presley, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend born on January 8, 1935, is a captivating figure that even a modern-day teen like me can’t help but admire. As I delve into his life, I wish I could have experienced the magic of his live performances.
Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis faced challenges but found solace in music. At 11, he got his first guitar, a symbol of his journey into the world of sound. His fusion of gospel, country, and blues into Rock ‘n’ Roll became a cultural phenomenon.
The thought of being in the audience during his early performances, especially when he recorded “That’s All Right” at 19, sends shivers down my spine. Imagining the crowd’s uproar and feeling the revolutionary energy of that moment is a dream I wish I could have lived.
Elvis wasn’t just a musical prodigy; he was a dynamic performer. His dance moves, the embodiment of rebellion, and his roles in films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” made him a true icon.
After watching him on YouTube, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll never witness the King’s live performances. The idea of swaying to “Hound Dog” or being enchanted by “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in person is a missed opportunity. Elvis may have left us in 1977, but he was the king of rock n’ roll. Long live the King!
Elvis Presley: A Teen’s Take on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon”
Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935, was a revolutionary force in the music world, earning his title as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Exploring his life, even as a 16-year-old today, I’m captivated by the impact he made.
Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up in humble beginnings, surrounded by the love of his parents and twin brother. It’s inspiring to think that, despite financial challenges, this young man would redefine the music scene.
At 11, Elvis got his first guitar, sparking a self-taught journey into music. His early gospel influences evolved into a unique fusion of country, blues, and gospel, creating the electrifying genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1954, at only 19, he recorded “That’s All Right,” marking the birth of a musical legend.
Elvis wasn’t just a musical innovator; he was a cultural phenomenon. His rebellious dance moves and magnetic stage presence challenged the norms. He transitioned seamlessly into acting, starring in iconic films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.”
However, fame came at a cost, and Elvis faced personal struggles. Despite the challenges, his music continued to resonate. Even now, classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” transcend generations.
Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is undeniable. He was known for his unique voice, charismatic persona, and electrifying performances. He sold over one billion records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling solo artists in history. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Elvis’s influence can still be seen in today’s music. Many contemporary artists, such as Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake, have cited Elvis as an inspiration. His music continues to be featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials.
Elvis left us in 1977, but his legacy lives on. I appreciate his breaking barriers and fearlessly embracing his artistic vision. Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is timeless, a testament to the enduring power of his artistry. His music has inspired generations and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Teaching Resources
Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.
BIOGRAPHY WRITING TEACHING IDEAS AND LESSONS
We have compiled a sequence of biography-related lessons or teaching ideas that you can follow as you please. They are straightforward enough for most students to follow without further instruction.
BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 1:
This session aims to give students a broader understanding of what makes a good biography.
Once your students have compiled a comprehensive checklist of the main features of a biography, allow them to use it to assess some biographies from your school library or on the internet using the feature checklist.
When students have assessed a selection of biographies, take some time as a class to discuss them. You can base the discussion around the following prompts:
- Which biographies covered all the criteria from their checklist?
- Which biographies didn’t?
- Which biography was the most readable in terms of structure?
- Which biography do you think was the least well-structured? How would you improve this?
Looking at how other writers have interpreted the form will help students internalize the necessary criteria before attempting to produce a biography. Once students have a clear understanding of the main features of the biography, they’re ready to begin work on writing a biography.
When the time does come to put pen to paper, be sure they’re armed with the following top tips to help ensure they’re as well prepared as possible.
BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 2:
This session aims to guide students through the process of selecting the perfect biography subject.
Instruct students to draw up a shortlist of three potential subjects for the biography they’ll write.
Using the three criteria mentioned in the writing guide (Interest, Merit, and Information), students award each potential subject a mark out of 5 for each of the criteria. In this manner, students can select the most suitable subject for their biography.
BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 3:
This session aims to get students into the researching phase, then prioritise and organise events chronologically.
Students begin by making a timeline of their subject’s life, starting with their birth and ending with their death or the present day. If the student has yet to make a final decision on the subject of their biography, a family member will often serve well for this exercise as a practice exercise.
Students should research and gather the key events of the person’s life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.
They can present these to the class when they have finished their timelines.
BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 4:
Instruct students to look over their timeline, notes, and other research. Challenge them to identify three patterns that repeat throughout the subject’s life and sort all the related events and incidents into specific categories.
Students should then label each category with a single word. This is the thematic concept or the broad general underlying idea. After that, students should write a sentence or two expressing what the subject’s life ‘says’ about that concept.
This is known as the thematic statement . With the thematic concepts and thematic statements identified, the student now has some substantial ideas to explore that will help bring more profound meaning and wider resonance to their biography.
BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 5:
Instruct students to write a short objective account of an event in their own life. They can write about anyone from their past. It needn’t be more than a couple of paragraphs, but the writing should be strictly factual, focusing only on the objective details of what happened.
Once they have completed this, it’s time to rewrite the paragraph, but they should include some opinion and personal commentary this time.
The student here aims to inject some color and personality into their writing, to transform a detached, factual account into a warm, engaging story.
A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING BIOGRAPHIES
Teach your students to write AMAZING BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES using proven RESEARCH SKILLS and WRITING STRATEGIES .
- Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
- Explore the language and perspective of both.
- Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
- Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
- Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
- A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.
FREE Biography Writing Graphic Organizer
Use this valuable tool in the research and writing phases to keep your students on track and engaged.
WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE
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To Conclude
By this stage, your students should have an excellent technical overview of a biography’s essential elements.
They should be able to choose their subject in light of how interesting and worthy they are, as well as give consideration to the availability of information out there. They should be able to research effectively and identify emerging themes in their research notes. And finally, they should be able to bring some of their personality and uniqueness into their retelling of the life of another.
Remember that writing a biography is not only a great way to develop a student’s writing skills; it can be used in almost all curriculum areas. For example, to find out more about a historical figure in History, to investigate scientific contributions to Science, or to celebrate a hero from everyday life.
Biography is an excellent genre for students to develop their writing skills and to find inspiration in the lives of others in the world around them.
HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY TUTORIAL VIDEO
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Human lives are intricate tapestries woven with experiences, emotions, challenges, and triumphs. Biographies and autobiographies serve as windows into these remarkable stories, offering insight into the lives of individuals who have left their mark on history or those who wish to chronicle their own journeys.Â
I n this guide, we will explore the art of writing biographies and autobiographies, delving into the nuances of both genres and providing valuable tips on how to craft compelling narratives.
Understanding Biography and Autobiography
- Biography: Exploring Lives Beyond the Surface A biography is a literary exploration that unveils the intricate layers of a person’s existence, transcending the mere listing of events. It provides a comprehensive account of an individual’s life, offering insights into their achievements, struggles, societal impact, and distinct qualities that define them. These narratives serve as windows into history, allowing readers to traverse time and understand the legacy left by remarkable individuals. Biographies are usually crafted by biographers, individuals skilled in research and storytelling. They undertake a meticulous journey of gathering information from diverse sources, such as historical records, interviews, letters, and secondary literature. The biographer’s role is to curate these fragments of information into a coherent narrative, painting a vivid portrait of the subject. This comprehensive approach lends credibility and depth to the portrayal, enriching the reader’s understanding of the subject’s contributions and character. Example: Â Consider the biography of Mahatma Gandhi. A biographer compiling his life story would explore not only his role in India’s fight for independence but also his principles of nonviolence, his experiments with truth, and his impact on the world’s political landscape. By presenting a holistic view of Gandhi’s life, the biography reveals the nuances of his personality, beliefs, and the larger context in which he operated.
- Autobiography: The Intimate Dialogue of Self-Discovery An autobiography is a narrative journey undertaken by the subject themselvesâa profound sharing of one’s life experiences, emotions, and reflections. This genre provides readers with an intimate insight into the subject’s psyche, allowing them to witness their life’s trajectory through personal recollections. Autobiographies carry a unique authenticity, as they are composed from the vantage point of the person who lived those moments, providing a firsthand account of their journey. Autobiographies draw from the subject’s reservoir of memories, emotions, and introspections. This self-exploration leads to a narrative that is often more than a linear chronicle; it becomes a tapestry woven with the threads of emotions, thoughts, and personal revelations. By directly communicating with the reader, the autobiographer creates a powerful connection, allowing readers to step into their shoes and experience their story from within. Example: Â A notable example of an autobiography is “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank. Written during her time in hiding during World War II, the book offers a candid portrayal of Anne’s life, fears, hopes, and dreams. Through her own words, readers gain a deep understanding of the challenges faced by Jews during the Holocaust, as well as the resilience and humanity that Anne exudes even in the face of adversity.
Writing a Biography:
Research: The Foundation of a Compelling Biography Thorough research is the cornerstone of a captivating biography. Delve into reputable sources like books, articles, interviews, and archives to gather a comprehensive view of your subject’s life. By immersing yourself in these materials, you gain insights into their experiences, motivations, and contributions. Scrutinise the historical context to understand the era’s impact on their journey. Successful research forms the bedrock of your biography, enabling you to present an accurate and nuanced portrayal that resonates with readers. It’s through meticulous research that you uncover the hidden stories and connect the dots, allowing the subject’s essence to shine through the pages.
Selecting a Focus: Defining the Narrative Scope Choosing a focal point is essential for a well-structured biography. Decide whether to cover the subject’s entire life or concentrate on specific periods or achievements. This decision shapes the narrative’s trajectory, preventing it from becoming overwhelming or disjointed. A focused approach allows you to delve deeply into pivotal moments, providing a more profound understanding of the subject’s journey. By clarifying the scope, you enable readers to follow a coherent storyline, making it easier for them to engage with the subject’s life in a meaningful way.
Structuring the Biography: Chronology and Themes The organisation of your biography greatly impacts its readability. Structure your work into logical sections or chapters, employing either a chronological or thematic arrangement. Begin with an engaging introduction that captures readers’ attention and provides essential context. A chronological structure follows the subject’s life in sequential order, offering a clear timeline of events. Alternatively, a thematic structure groups events by themes, allowing you to explore different facets of the subject’s life. A well-structured biography guides readers smoothly through the subject’s experiences, fostering a deeper connection and understanding.
Show, Don’t Tell: Evocative Storytelling Vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes breathe life into your biography. Rather than merely listing facts, employ descriptive language to recreate scenes and emotions, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the subject’s world. Use anecdotes to illustrate key moments, capturing the essence of the subject’s character and the impact of events on their journey. Integrating quotes from the subject, contemporaries, or relevant sources adds authenticity and depth. Through this technique, you transport readers into the subject’s experiences, enabling them to witness the moments that shaped their lives.
Balanced Perspective: Portraying Strengths and Flaws A balanced portrayal adds credibility and depth to your biography. While it’s tempting to focus solely on accomplishments, a well-rounded view includes the subject’s strengths and flaws. This authenticity humanises the subject, making it relatable and multidimensional. By acknowledging both successes and challenges, readers gain a more honest understanding of their journey. Balancing positives and negatives helps readers empathise with the subject, connecting them on a deeper level and offering a more genuine insight into their lives.
Engaging Emotions: Creating Emotional Resonance Emotions are a potent tool in biography writing. Delve into the subject’s feelings, struggles, and aspirations to create an emotional connection with readers. By tapping into their emotional experiences, you make the narrative relatable and engaging. Sharing personal challenges and triumphs allows readers to empathise and reflect on their own lives. This emotional resonance elevates the biography from a mere factual account to a compelling and moving story that lingers in readers’ minds, leaving a lasting impact.
Citing Sources: Ensuring Accuracy and Credibility Accurate information is vital in biography writing. Properly cite your sources to maintain credibility and integrity. Clear citations not only lend authority to your work but also provide readers with the opportunity to explore further if they desire. Accurate referencing safeguards against misinformation and ensures that your portrayal is based on reliable evidence. In addition to enhancing your credibility, thorough citations demonstrate your commitment to thorough research and ethical writing practises, contributing to the overall trustworthiness of your biography.
Complete Guide to Write a Biography. Start Writing Your Biography Now
Writing an Autobiography:
Reflecting on Significant Moments and Experiences Initiating an autobiography involves introspection into your life’s pivotal moments. Delve into memories that have influenced your journey, such as turning points, challenges, relationships, and achievements. Reflect on these experiences, dissecting their impact on your personal growth and development. By contemplating these key events, you gain insight into the narrative threads that weave your life story together. This reflective process sets the foundation for an authentic autobiography that resonates with readers on a profound level.
Developing Your Unique Voice and Tone Crafting an autobiography demands a consistent voice and tone that reflect your personality. Write in a way that feels true to you, capturing your unique perspective and emotions. Authenticity is key, as it allows readers to connect with your narrative on a personal level. Whether your tone is introspective, humorous, or contemplative, ensure it aligns with the essence of your experiences. By embracing your genuine voice, you create an autobiography that not only tells your story but also conveys the essence of who you are.
Structured Storytelling for Engagement While autobiographies can be more flexible in structure compared to biographies, organising your narrative into coherent sections or themes enhances its readability. By grouping related experiences together, you provide readers with a clearer understanding of the themes that have shaped your life. This structure helps maintain their engagement by guiding them through your journey in a logical and compelling manner. While allowing for creativity, a structured approach ensures that your autobiography remains focused and accessible.
Embracing honesty and authenticity Honesty is the bedrock of an impactful autobiography. Share not only your triumphs but also your mistakes and failures. Authenticity creates relatability, allowing readers to connect with your humanity and vulnerabilities. Your journey’s challenges and setbacks are just as integral to your story as your successes. By being candid about your experiences, you demonstrate resilience and growth, inspiring readers to reflect on their own paths. This level of authenticity fosters a deeper connection, making your autobiography a source of empathy and encouragement.
Adding Depth Through Reflection Incorporate reflection to imbue your autobiography with depth and meaning. Explore the lessons you’ve learned from your experiences and the transformations they’ve prompted. Delve into how these moments shaped your beliefs, values, and perspective on life. By offering insights gained from introspection, you provide readers with wisdom and a broader understanding of your journey. Reflection transforms your autobiography from a chronicle of events into a thoughtful exploration of personal growth and the profound impact of life’s moments.
Creating vivid details for immersion Immerse readers in your world by employing sensory details and vivid descriptions. Paint a picture with words, allowing readers to visualise the scenes and emotions you’re describing. By incorporating sensory elements like sights, sounds, smells, and feelings, you transport readers into the moments you’re recounting. This immersive experience draws them closer to your story, fostering a stronger connection. Vivid details not only make your autobiography more engaging but also enable readers to forge a deeper connection with your experiences and emotions.
In the realm of literature, biographies and autobiographies stand as powerful testaments to the diversity and richness of human existence. Whether you’re capturing the life of a historical figure or penning your own life story, the art of writing these genres involves meticulous research, introspection, and a keen understanding of human emotions.Â
Through carefully chosen words and evocative storytelling, biographers and autobiographers alike can craft narratives that resonate with readers and offer a deeper understanding of the human experience. So, whether you’re writing about the extraordinary or the everyday, embrace the challenge and privilege of narrating lives through the written word.
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How to Write a Biography: A Comprehensive Guide
- April 4, 2024
Writing a biography is a captivating endeavor that allows you to delve into the life and experiences of an individual, capturing their essence in words. Whether you're documenting the life of a historical figure, a family member, or even yourself, the process of writing a biography requires careful research, thoughtful organization, and skillful storytelling. This guide aims to provide aspiring biographers with practical tips and techniques to craft compelling and authentic biographies that resonate with readers.
Steps to Write a Biography
Choosing your subject.
Selecting the right subject is the first crucial step in writing a biography. Consider individuals whose lives have made a significant impact or whose stories resonate with you personally. Whether it's a historical figure, a family member, or a cultural icon, choose a subject whose life you are passionate about exploring and sharing with others.
Researching Your Subject's Life
Thorough research is essential to accurately portray your subject's life and experiences. Utilize a variety of sources, including biographies, autobiographies, archival materials, interviews, and historical records. Take notes on key events, significant milestones, and important relationships in your subject's life, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of their journey.
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Organizing Your Material
Organize your research material into a coherent structure that effectively chronicles your subject's life story. Consider using a chronological approach, starting from their early years and progressing through significant life events.
Alternatively, you may opt for a thematic approach, focusing on specific aspects of their life or achievements. Create an outline to guide the flow of your biography , ensuring a logical progression of events and themes.
Writing Style and Tone
Develop a writing style and tone that is both engaging and respectful of your subject's life and legacy. Aim for clarity and precision in your language, avoiding jargon or overly complex phrases that may alienate readers. Strike a balance between objectivity and empathy, presenting your subject in a nuanced and multidimensional light.
Capturing the Essence of Your Subject
Seek to capture the essence of your subject's personality, motivations, and impact on the world around them. Incorporate anecdotes, quotations, and vivid descriptions to bring your subject to life on the page. Pay attention to detail and context, providing readers with insights into the social, cultural, and historical forces that shaped your subject's life.
Editing and Revision
Editing and revision are essential steps in refining your biography and ensuring its clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Review your manuscript carefully, paying attention to grammar, punctuation, and syntax. Seek feedback from trusted readers or editors to gain fresh perspectives on your work and identify areas for improvement. Revise your biography iteratively, honing your narrative and sharpening your prose until it achieves its full potential.
Benefits of Writing a Biography
Writing a biography is a rewarding journey that allows you to explore the complexities of the human experience and celebrate the lives of remarkable individuals. By choosing your subject wisely, conducting thorough research, organizing your material effectively, and crafting a compelling narrative, you can create a biography that resonates with readers and stands the test of time.
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In conclusion , writing a biography requires dedication, patience, and a deep appreciation for the subject's life and legacy. By following the steps outlined in this guide and infusing your narrative with empathy, authenticity, and insight, you can create a biography that honors your subject's memory and inspires readers for generations to come.
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How to Write a Biography (Examples & Templates)
A biography is a written account of a person’s life that details their life in chronological order. Another person usually writes this detailed account, and it contains reports of their childhood, career, major life events, relationships, and social impact. It also details their relationships with their family, children, and life accomplishments.
The best way to find out more about a popular figure is through reading their biographies, so you need to make sure you get the correct information. Before writing a biography, you need to do a lot of research and interviews to represent a person’s life accurately.
Types of Biography
A biography is the story of someone’s life as written by another writer. Most biographies of popular figures are written years, or even decades, after their deaths. Authors write biographies of popular figures due to either a lack of information on the subject or personal interest.
A biography aims to share a person’s story or highlight a part of their life.
There are different types of biographies, depending on the story. Some biographies are written true to the story, while some are written as fictional works. Biographies can give you true understanding of a person on an internal as well as external level along with a lot of life lessons.
Autobiography
An autobiography is different from a biography because it is written by the subject of the story, themselves. The author writes in the first-person narrative, and it flows step-by-step like a story of their life. Autobiographies contain personal accounts of the subject’s life, along with their perspectives and opinions on events in their life.
How To Write a Biography
Pick a subject.
Picking a subject is the first step in writing a biography. You can pick an already famous person or a relatively unknown person with a great life story. If you already have a few in mind, you can start by asking yourself some questions such as;
- What has the subject accomplished that makes them a good subject?
- Have they had an impact on society?
- Is the subject a celebrity or a well-known personality?
- Will the biography appeal to a wide audience?
Get Permission
When you pick a subject, the next thing to do is to get permission from them or their family or rights owners. Although, with some historical figures, there may not be any need for permission. Getting permission from your subject makes it easier for you to get stories to put into your book. You can get the chance to obtain additional personal stories and anecdotes that will make your book more interesting by doing so as well.
Do The Research
Research is the most important part of a biography’s process as the entire content of the book is dependent on it. Irrespective of what you know about the subject, you need to carry out as much research as possible to get the story’s facts precisely.
Biography research comes from various sources, depending on the book’s subject. Firsthand reports from family, friends, or personal accounts from the subjects are primary sources. They are usually the most accurate and reliable, and they are crucial for a biography. Secondary sources come from other sources like magazines or documentaries.
Pick a Format
Biographies come in various formats, with each of them having their pros and cons. A typical biography will start at the beginning, usually with the birth and childhood of the subject. Yet, if the biography’s theme involves a different event in their life, the author may want to explore the flashback option or one with concurrent events from different times.
Usually, biographies have a theme or a general life lesson at the center. The author’s role is to tell the subject’s story leading up to the major event.
Which-ever format you choose should place the theme at the center, with the other events detailing the journey.
Create a Timeline Of The Story
Since a biography takes place in chronological order, there needs to be a timeline of the events in the right order. The timeline should contain the key events in the subject’s life, in the order the author plans on revealing them. A great way to declutter the story and keep it interesting is to use flashbacks . This way, the author can introduce past events and explain later events excluding the element of monotony.
Add In Your Thoughts
The good thing about biographies is that you don’t have to stick to the hard facts only. As the author, you can share your opinions and emotions in writing. The author has the freedom to do this by commenting on a significant action by the subject in a manner that describes why they feel the subject may have done what they did.
The author can also include commentary on events depicted in the biography â how it was influenced society or its impact on the lives around them. Recounting these events through a different perspective can make the biography more relatable and interesting to read.
FAQ’s
Why is a biography template important.
A biography template has an outline that makes the writing easier for the author. Biography templates usually contain a sample timeline, format, and questions that provide more information about the subject. With a great biography template, you can cut your writing time in half and spend less time coming up with an outline.
How are biographies better in comparison to autobiographies
Since a different person writes biographies, they tend to be more objective and somewhat accurate than autobiographies. An autobiography tells things from the author’s perspective, so their views and perspective cloud it. Thus, a biography will likely tell a more factual story.
These are the important steps you need to take to help you write a great biography. Now, to make things easier for you, we have a free customizable autobiography and biography template that you can use to start your first book. Get the template and start writing today
What are some of the most important elements to keep in consideration while writing a biography?
Any author looking to write a biography must consider the factors below. They aren’t the only important factors, but a biography isn’t complete without them. ⢠Date and place of their birth ⢠Academic background ⢠Professional expertise ⢠Death, if deceased ⢠Facts and anecdotes about the person ⢠Main accomplishments ⢠Detailed accounts of their child and adult life
Biographies tell the untold stories of some incredibly relevant people in the world. But biographies are not always strictly accurate. So, every biographer needs to follow the necessary steps to provide a biography with all the requirements.
Related Documents
How to write a biography: 7 life-writing ideas
Biography – literally ‘life writing’ – poses a variety of challenges. Balancing historical narration and day-to-day incident, for example. Or choosing what to include and what to leave out. Read 7 ideas on how to write a biography, with examples from biographical writing:
- Post author By Jordan
- 4 Comments on How to write a biography: 7 life-writing ideas
7 life-writing ideas:
- Create compelling voice
- Think about representation
- Decide on narrative style
- Use illustrative anecdotes
- Find interest in the mundane
- Avoid hagiography
- Fictionalize where necessary
First: What type of biography do you want to write?
There are many different types of biography, both in fiction and non-fiction.
Popular types of biographical books
If you want to write non-fiction, you may be working on either an autobiography (a book about your life) or memoir , or a biography of a public figure.
Biographies can straddle both fiction and non-fiction, too. Many authors have written semi-fictionalized biographical stories (such as Now Novel writing coach Hedi Lampert’s novel , The Trouble with My Aunt ) with the author themselves as a main or supporting character.
For example, in Ivan Vladislavic’s Portrait with Keys , the author invents a brother. This fictional addition allows for lively debates between him and this imaginary relative about urban spaces and race politics in the city of Johannesburg.
Novelized biographies (such as Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield or Charlotte BrontĂŤ’s Jane Eyre ) often follow a central character’s life arc in a linear way , from early life to later years or even death.
Other types of fictional biography include fictional letters and diaries. These allow you to play with other modes of representation.
For example, Sue Townsend’s popular Adrian Mole series (the first book being The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13ž ), presented as a British teenage boy’s diary.
Let’s examine 7 ideas about how to write a biography:
1. Create compelling voice
You could say that voice is a crucial ingredient of any story , especially in first person (where the narrator is the character).
In autobiography, in particular, you want your reader to form a clear sense of who is telling the story. Are they funny? Serious? Angry? Inventive? Philosophical? Just a little bit insane?
Consider the comical, self-aware voice that comes through from page 1 of Townsend’s novel. The first chapter, under the heading ‘THURSDAY JANUARY 1ST’, begins:
These are my New Year’s resolutions: 1. I will help the blind across the road. 2. I will hang my trousers up. 3. I will put the sleeves back on my records. 4. I will not start smoking. 5. I will stop squeezing my spots. 6. I will be kind to the dog. 7. I will help the poor and ignorant. 8. After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol. Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13ž (1982), p. 5.
Adrian Mole’s resolutions range from the virtuous to the droll (e.g. helping the ‘poor and ignorant’; scathing remarks on his parents’ drunken ‘disgusting noises’).
From the opening page there’s a clear sense of the voice of the subject of this diary-format biography. We form a sense of Mole’s desires, faults, attitudes and beliefs straight away.
2. Think about representation
Whether you’re writing fictional or non-fictional biography, how you represent events or tell the story is a creative decision.
Besides curating content (choosing what formative experiences, dramatic incidents, background details you include), there are different ways to approach representation , the way you tell the story.
As respected literary biographer Hermione Lee says, in an interview with James Rivington , there’s a difference between ‘autopsy’ and ‘portraiture’:
Autopsy, yes. There is a kind of biographical process that is, necessarily, cutting into the dead corpse, however ghoulish that can seem. You are as ruthlessly as possible trying to dissect and analyse the nature of the life. The other approach is more akin to portraiture: to see how the person looked from the outside, how they affected and influenced people, what their friendships were like, how they were one thing to one person and another thing to another person. I think you have get at both inside and outside if you can. Hermione Lee, interviewed by James Rivington for The British Academy
What Lee touches on is the issue of representation .
How will you mix biographical and historical facts (e.g. born here, raised there, had this key experience) with more painterly ways of revealing character ?
3. Decide on narrative style
Deciding how to write a biography means choosing between many available narrative modes or styles.
Will your story run from A to B to C, documenting each decade in a person’s life? Or will it be a crisscross portrait cutting back and forth in time?
A fragmentary style of narration may suit certain subjects and contexts better than a linear story. Says Lee:
I think that biography has to be watchful of making life seem too predictable, or determinist, or shaped, or ordered. Biographies go through fashions. There used to be a fashion for making the study run smoothly and look definitive â âthis leads to this leads to this.â I think life-stories are more bitty and piecemeal. Hermione Lee, interview for The British Academy
Example of inventive narrative style: Roland Barthes
As an example, Roland Barthes, a pioneer in semiotics (the study of signs and symbols and their interpretation), famously wrote an autobiography in fragments called Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes .
In this book, Barthes includes the preface ‘it must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel’.
What follows are captioned images from Barthes’ life, and then titled fragments where Barthes reflects on incidents, places, experiences and the development of his body of work.
For example, in a short section about the discomfort of writing called ‘Truth and Assertion’, Barthes refers to himself in third person , expressing discomfort in how words committed to paper express more than our original aims:
His (sometimes acute) discomfortâmounting some evenings, after writing the whole day, to a kind of fearâwas generated by his sense of producing a double discourse, whose mode overreached its aim, somehow: for the aim of his discourse is not truth, and yet this discourse is assertive. (This kind of embarrassment started, for him, very early; he strives to master it â for otherwise he would have to stop writing â by reminding himself that it is language which is assertive, not he). Roland Barthes, Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes , p. 48, available here.
Fragments provide a fitting choice of narrative style for an unconventional autobiography that is as much a self-portrait of Barthes as a questioner of seemingly self-evident truths, as it is the representation of his life.
Barthes’ use of third-person and questioning reflections on the act of writing creates the ‘looking from the outside’ effect Hermione Lee describes as ‘portraiture’ in biography. Even as Barthes creates a self-portrait, he resists the idea of the ‘assertive’ author, the ‘completeness’ of the ‘final report’.
4. Use illustrative anecdotes
An English professor once asked his third year class ‘What is an anecdote?’
A girl put up her hand and answered, ‘It’s what you give someone when they’ve been bitten by a snake’, to which he replied ‘Please don’t ask someone for an anecdote if you’re ever bitten by a snake, for they will talk and talk and you will die.’
This is an anecdote. These usually short, often humorous stories about events involving a particular person are great fodder for biographies. They may illustrate a person’s quick wit or surly, non-communicative demeanor .
In biography, a brief anecdote may be all the reader needs to develop a sense of a key figure – a parent, friend, lover, rival or other.
Example of illustrative anecdotes: Dorothy Parker
The writer, poet and satirist Dorothy Parker is known for her witty comebacks and phrases.
One anecdote illustrating this character gives an alleged exchange between Parker and a snooty woman at an event, where both were trying to enter through a door at the same time:
It is recorded that Mrs. Parker and a snooty debutante were both going in to supper at a party: the debutante made elaborate way, saying sweetly âAge before beauty, Mrs. Parker.â âAnd pearls before swine,â said Mrs. Parker, sweeping in. Dorothy Parker, attributed. More on this anecdote at Quote Investigator.
Parker’s clever comeback to the woman’s quip about her being the older (and the implication she is less beautiful) evokes Jesus’s sermon on the Mount in which he said ‘Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine…’
The anecdote is a brilliant illustration of Parker as a quick-witted person with a sharp tongue and an ear for comedy. An anecdotal exchange here conveys a good sense of personality.
5. Find interest in the mundane
When we think about how a biography is written, we might think in terms of grand, important or scandalous events. Yet a biography is not a gossip column.
Lee makes this important point in her interview, regarding Virginia Woolf’s eventual suicide.
In writing the author’s biography, Lee describes the pitfalls of writing it as though Woolf was thinking about suicide every day.
It would possibly be sensationalizing (rather than allowing multiple ‘Woolfs’ to come through) to assume this linearity:
When, as in the case of Virginia Woolf, you have a very important, much-read woman writer who kills herself, there is a powerful desire to make the story move towards that point. You see that also in the life of Sylvia Plath â perhaps even more, because she was so much younger. It becomes all about the suicide. […] So one of my motives in writing about Virginia Woolf was to get away from the determinist sense of a story that had to end that way. Lee, interview for The British Academy
How do we make the repetitive, ‘boring’ parts of life interesting in life-writing?
- Skip over them (e.g. ‘For the next 5 years she was busy establishing the Hogarth Press. Then…’)
- Show their interesting place within a wider arc (e.g. ‘With every manuscript the Press put out, she gained a keener understanding of X that would lead to …’)
6. Avoid hagiography
Hagiography, the term for the writing of the lives of saints, also means ‘to display a subject undue reverence’ in writing.
The British statesman Arhtur Balfour is alleged to have said ‘Biography should be written by an acute enemy.’
There’s truth in this, since an enemy would dissect their rival’s life without mercy. Perform a thorough autopsy, and paint a colourful (even if unflattering) portrait.
In deciding how to write a biography, make sure you choose incidents that reflect multiple dimensions of the subject’s life. Their glorious and inglorious moments.
For example, to write the story of a now-revered author as the story of success after success may ring false for readers who know about the 12 rejections their first manuscript received.
Plan the scenes and incidents of a biography the way you would build a character profile. Ask, ‘What are the subject’s…’
- Impressive moments?
- Cringe moments?
7. Fictionalize where necessary
Author and essayist Geoff Dyer has written books in many forms, from travelogues blending fiction and non-fiction to books about writing biography ( Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with DH Lawrence ).
Dyer’s book But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz is an example of his genre-defying approach.
Part biography of renowned jazz musicians (including Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk), part homage to the improvisational and playful language of jazz, it combines historical details, photography and discussion of music. Rather than tell a linear story of each musician’s life, Dyer captures fleeting moments and experiences in a manner evocative of jazz music’s ephemeral nature.
This approach naturally involves plenty of fictionalizing, filling in and describing unknown details.
For example, here Dyer imagines a road trip where Duke Ellington’s driver muses on their road-tripping and the impossibility of recording every detail:
He’d bought the car in ’49, intending just to hop around New York, but soon he was driving Duke all over the country. Several times he’d had an impulse to keep a notebook record of how far they’d traveled but always he came to thinking how he wished he’d done it right from the start and so, each time he thought of it, he gave up the idea and fell to calculating vaguely cumulative distances, remembering the countries and towns they had passed through. Geoff Dyer, But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz (1991), p. 4.
Adding fictionalized events, such as particular exchanges between Duke Ellington and a driver that may not have happened ‘exactly that way’, is a useful part of biography. Like the driver’s thought process, there are ‘vaguely cumulative distances’ you, the biographer, must calculate and recreate for your reader.
Writing a fiction or non-fiction (or semi-fictional) biographical novel? Get constructive, considere d feedback from a writing coach.
Related Posts:
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- Tags biography , life-writing , memoir
Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.
4 replies on “How to write a biography: 7 life-writing ideas”
This article is brilliant, useful and educational which I admired the most and I can’t wait to read more. Thanks for the topic you’ve shared!
Thank you, Rosella. Thanks for reading our blog and sharing your feedback.
I would like to write a biography of someone who is a brother to me. Inorder to be remembered forever.
That sounds wonderful. Have you started writing or planning it?
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How to Write a Biography: Who Tells Your Story
Writing someoneâs life story is a tremendous responsibility, filled with challenges. Learn how to write a biography that does your subject justice.
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At first glance, a biography might seem like nothing but a list of facts. So-and-so was born on this date, died on that date, and hereâs what happened in between . But whenâs the last time you read a biography that resembled anything like that? As it turns out, every biography has its own voiceâa point to make. In Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, the biographer sought out previously unknown details about Jobsâ mysterious childhood. In Laura Hillenbrandâs Unbroken , Hillenbrand covers more than just Zamperiniâs time as a prisoner of war, ultimately exploring how he was able to forgive his captors. Biography is part journalism , sure. But itâs also an art form. And if you want to tell a story worth sharing, youâll have to know both parts when you write a biography. Hereâs how to write a biography that does more than report the facts.
Quick Links
Biography structure: you donât have to start at the beginning.
- How to Outline a Biography
Conducting Biographical Interviews
Fact-checking your interviews, arriving at a point of view, telling the story of a lifetime.
Conventional wisdom says your biography structure should start at the beginning and end at the end. But thatâs not how every biographer does it. Consider how David McCulloughâs Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of John Adams begins:
âIn the cold, nearly colorless night of a New England winter, two men on horseback traveled the coast road below Boston, heading north. A foot or more of snow covered the landscape, the remnants of a Christmas storm that had blanketed Massachusetts from one end of the province to the other. âŚ. The older, stouter of the two did most of the talking.
He was John Adams of Braintree and he liked to talk.â
Itâs a fascinating bit of narrative writing . McCullough sets the scene with an adult Adams, already a farmer and a lawyer, already married to Abigail. We skip straight to the Boston Massacre and Adamsâ role in defending the British redcoats as their lawyer. Scenes from Adamsâ (relatively uneventful) childhood only come in minimal flashbacks.Â
This all comes back to a core question: How can you structure your biography to tell the story as best you can? The way you go about using your narrative writing skills will be up to you. But depending on the angle youâre taking to write a biography with a specific take in mind, you may want to experiment with different structures:Â
- Conventional structure: Charlie Chaplinâs My Autobiography begins at the beginning: âI was born on 16 April 1889, at eight oâclock at night, in East Lane, Walworth.â This springs out of the Victorian literary instinct to tell the whole story of a personâs life, from beginning to end. This is probably the most popular way to tell a biography, particularly if you donât want to highlight any particular quirk of the subject, but rather tell a comprehensive story.
- Cutting straight to the good stuff: McCulloughâs John Adams is an example of a biography that cuts to the chase as soon as possible. After McCullough lands us in colonial Boston and lays some contextual groundwork, he then unfolds the rest of the revolutionary narrative in a conventional chronological style.
- Partial biography: Some biographies donât attempt to tell an entire story, but highlight one series of key events. Bret Baierâs Three Days at the Brink doesnât start with FDRâs childhood, but isolates FDRâs critical conference with Churchill and Stalin at the Tehran Conference.
- Parallel stories: The Lost City of Z is simultaneously a meditation on the disappearance of archaeologist Percy Fawcett and David Grannâs own Amazonian explorationsâeight decades later. McCulloughâs John Adams also serves as a sort of simultaneous biography of John Adamsâ influential wife, Abigail, who serves as the focus of entire sections.
Think of your biography as a partially finished sculpture. You canât sculpt anything you want; youâre restricted to the limits of the stone in front of you.Â
And like a sculptor selecting their stone, you canât achieve a great biography without taking some time to select your subject. Hereâs how to choose a subject for your biography.
Choose a Subject for Your Biography
A biographerâs job is a long one. Research alone could take years. If you donât choose a subject that provides ample materialâa subject that motivates you to work every dayâthen you may find it difficult to finish.
The great biographers know that any choice they make is ultimately a long-term commitment, so they do it carefully. And when you read their interviews, youâll find they only take on a new biography when they feel inspired by:
- A new story to tell: Ron Chernow focused nearly a thousand pages on Ulysses S. Grant , a man who already wrote his own memoirs. Why? What else was there to say? A lot, as it turns out: Chernowâs long biography challenged modern-day perceptions of Grant as a bottom-tier president and a general who only won a war that the Union was always going to win. Grant is a familiar name; Chernowâs take is new.
- Someone with a deeper story built right in: Ruth Franklinâs Shirley Jackson : A Rather Haunted Life takes on a fresh approach, detailing how Jacksonâs own troubles mirrored her fiction. There is enough material to make Jackson more than a straightforward biography; it feels imbued with hints from Jacksonâs own work.
- A theme: Victor Davis Hansonâs The Savior Generals is not one biography, but five: the story of âsavior generalsâ and the common themes that led to game-changing military campaigns throughout history. The result is a work that spans thousands of years of military history without losing its sense of consistency.
But where do you start? Here are some places you can look for biographical subjects:
Historical Figures
This one is easy. History is full of stories: generals, poets, writers, entertainers, political leaders. Here is where you can say the most about the past and its relevance to the future. Look at the most recent winners of the biographical Pulitzer Prize and youâll see biographies of historical figures: Malcolm X, Susan Sontag, Alain Locke.
Celebrities
People canât get enough of behind-the-scenes stories from celebrities. From celebrity chefs to reality show stars, one glance at the local supermarket shelves will show you how much interest there is in todayâs celebrities. The challenge is to research someone still living, respecting their rights while also digging up the insights that people want to read.
âRe-writesâ on Icons
You wonât be the first one to write about Abraham Lincoln. But fresh takes are always appreciated. Doris Kearns Goodwinâs Team of Rivals served simultaneously as a Lincoln presidential biography and a fresh take on what made Lincoln such an effective leader.Â
You donât have to limit yourself to biographies of lesser-known people. If you can deliver new insights, people want to hear fresh takes on even the most celebrated lives.
Learn How to Write Nonfiction
Creative Nonfiction: Write Truth With Style
Want to know how to outline a biography? You first need to know what story youâre going to tell. That means conducting biographical interviews to get insights into your subject.
The subject of your biography may or may not be living at this point. You can still reach out to people who knew them and experienced many of the events youâll write about. But this isnât a free-form conversation. Remember that the person youâre interviewing may only give you one chance at this. That means you need to know what to ask long before you ask it.
Consider the famous âFrost/Nixonâ interviews in the late 1970s. British TV journalist David Frost interviewed disgraced former President Richard Nixon in dozens of sessions for weeks. How would those interviews have gone if Frost went into them âcold,â only asking broad, vague questions, expecting Nixon to do the work himself?Â
As an interviewer, youâre taking on the journalistâs role. Your job isnât to transcribe what an interviewee says. Theyâre not writing the biography for you. Your job is to know which questions to ask. Your job is to probe. Remember: a biography isnât just about telling a story, but about finding the fresh story buried somewhere under the surface.
In Walter Isaacsonâs biography of Steve Jobs, Isaacson received Jobsâ permission to interview people who had been close to him throughout his life. It was the quality of these interviews that created the insights that readers hadnât heard before.Â
Said one review : âthe nuance brought to the events by the wide array of characters Isaacson spent time with, and Jobsâs candid and original perspective, never fail to bring well-known events into sharp and personal focus.â
The biographical interviews you conduct are going to form the meat of your story. If you were writing an original work of fiction, this part would be like brainstorming: coming up with the story ideas and the twists and turns that will keep people on their toes. But since you have to stick to the facts, your job here isnât to invent those twists and turns. Itâs to find them through well-researched, incisive questioning.
For a biographer, the real work is in the research. When David McCullough sat down to write about John Adams, he couldnât interview eyewitnesses and talk to Adams himself. But he could focus on the written record: the thousands of letters Adams sent and received throughout his life.Â
After painstaking research, McCullough was able to not only see how Adams felt about the events of his life, but what else was going on at the time. He noted the differences in how Jefferson signed his letters to Adams (formal, professional), and Adams to Jefferson (friendly, warm). He told the reader when Adams was unaware of historical events around him by conducting research as to what everyone else at the time knew.
As a biographer, your job is to do more than provide a single point of view. When Isaacson tackled Steve Jobs , the book was more than the sum of its parts. It wasnât merely the transcriptions of interviews with Jobs and people he knew. It was Isaacsonâs total accounting of the interviews and the facts behind them.
At some point, a biography can feel less like a strict re-telling of events. You can start to feel like a prosecutor or defender, making the case for their client.Â
In Ron Chernowâs Grant , Chernow retold events as factually as he could, but took special note to highlight when the Civil War did not seem like an inevitable victory for the Union. This was in contrast to some of the prevailing historical theories. Chernow made a cogent, well-researched case that the war was still very much undecided as Grant rose to prominence.
As a biographer, youâre going to have a point of view as well. Itâs inevitable. Whatâs important is that you have the facts and research to back up that point of view:
- Provide detailed sourcing: A good biographer wonât go on long tangents of their personal opinions without sourcing some research to back it up. They may quote a letter that the person in question wrote. They may quote someone from an interview. But if you ever feel that your own opinions are coming across too much in the writing, always back it up with detailed, specifically sourced research.
- Donât start with a point of view in mind: Itâs possible to have an inkling and let the research take you where it will. But if you begin with a specific ironclad point of view in mind, itâs going to color the rest of your research. Strive to be as open-minded as possible as you gather facts. Then let the facts begin to tell their own story.
From here, you should have the information you need to settle on your structure. This will give you an idea of which outline best serves the facts. From that outline, you can begin organizing each of the sources and facts youâve gathered until youâve assembled a blueprint of how the final biography will look.
If a biography were simply a list of events, it would be too dull to read. The art is in finding the balance between the factual story you have to tell and the subjective human experience behind those facts.Â
To tell the âstory of a lifetimeââto learn how to write a biographyâdonât consider yourself merely a third-person observer, or merely a writer. Youâre a reporter in a nonfiction story, and itâs your job to find the lead.
Learn the Art of Nonfiction Narrative!
Creative Nonfiction: How to Craft a Personal Narrative
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How to Write a Biography in 8 Easy Steps
by Bennett R. Coles
This article will provide you with the basic building blocks required to write a biography starting from a blank page. Before we get into the nuts and bolts, let’s define what a biography is:
A biography is the full account of another person’s life (unlike an autobiography, which is the account of the author’s own life). For a biography to work, it must tell the story of an extraordinary or otherwise captivating life.
For this reason, most popular biographies center around famous people, be they politicians, artists, entrepreneurs, entertainers, or other well-known individuals. But this isn’t a must. Many biographies are also written about ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives outside the public spotlight.
Now, there are two main categories of biographies: authorized and unauthorized.
Authorized biographies are written with the explicit permission of the subject of the biography. The main advantage of authorized biographies is that they provide easy access to family members, friends and acquaintances â and even the subject themselves â during the very important research phase.
Unauthorized biographies, on the other hand, are written without the permission of the subject and therefore the authors usually have no access to their inner circle. As a result, authors must draw all of their information from sources that are at arms-length of the subject and therefore may be less reliable or truthful.
Let’s now begin to outline the process for creating a biography from the ground up.
Step 1: Choose the Biography’s Subject
The first thing you need to do is to choose the subject of your biography. In most cases this will be an obvious choice – that is, you’ll select someone you’ve been following and have admired for a long time.
You’ll already know their life story and will therefore know the aspects of their life that will be inspiring and compelling to your readers. In essence, you’ll be writing your biography for an audience of like-minded people who admire your subject as much as you do and who already have a deep thirst for any information about them.
Your subject might be a public figure, a politician, a business person, a scientist, an academic, or as stated in the introduction, an ordinary person who’s lived an extraordinary life. In every case, I advise that you seek their permission to write and publish the biography.
If granted, you’ll be able to gain immediate access to the subject and also family members and friends, who in many cases will provide you with exclusive details not published anywhere else.
Now, if you do get your subject’s permission, it’ll likely come accompanied with a first right of refusal for any information that they deem is not accurate as written and you’ll have to allow for the possibility of people changing their minds about certain aspects of your work as you go on.
You’ll just have to be flexible and accommodating, and sometimes this will be frustrating. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s a small price to pay for almost unlimited access to credible and in many cases unpublished information.
If you’re unsuccessful in obtaining your subject’s permission, you can still write an unauthorized biography, but there are some caveats you should be aware of:
- Stay away from writing unauthorized biographies about private persons (no matter how extraordinary their lives may be) because you’ll risk breaching privacy laws with serious legal consequences â in other words, those people may wish to remain private and will certainly not appreciate someone writing an unauthorized biography of their private lives.
- If you write about public figures, make sure you stick to publicly available information and that you don’t publish any private, sensitive or otherwise embarrassing information that is not in the public domain or that was illicitly obtained (e.g. through hacked or stolen information)
- If you choose to write a biography about some well-known figure in the public domain who you despise and you want to expose their “bad” side to the world, I advise that you consult with an attorney before you proceed, since you’ll be embarking on a journey potentially fraught with expensive litigation
Step 2: Study Popular Biographies
Before you proceed to the writing stage, you’ll be well-served to learn valuable lessons from those who’ve walked this path this before you, especially those who’ve found success in the marketplace.
Find 2-3 biographies about similar subjects to yours that have made it to the bestseller lists. For example, if you’ll be writing about a tech CEO, then find bestselling biographies of two or three other tech CEOs. Also, ensure that those biographies are of the same type as yours (i.e. authorized or unauthorized).
If cost is an object, get those books from the library but, if you can, purchase them instead so that you can make notations and underline text right on the page.
Next, read them twice cover-to-cover â first as a reader and then as a writer.
In your first reading pass, put on your audience hat and enjoy the read. Don’t pause to make notes yet so as not to disrupt the experience. In your second pass, however, make frequent stops to take notes about how the author uses literary devices, such as storytelling, hooks, descriptive techniques, and so on to drive their narrative.
If you read a story or passage that you deeply connect with, analyze it and try to figure out what it is about it that makes it work so effectively. Make note of the author’s literary choices, their use of language, the flow of the story, etc.
When you’re done with this initial genre research, you’ll be ready to start working on your biography!
Step 3: Choose Your Central Theme
Biographies are not unlike any other nonfiction book: you need to know who the target audience is before you write them (in this case it’ll be you and people like you). But just as importantly, you need to have a central theme that permeates the book.
In most cases, the central theme of your biography will be the aspect that has personally attracted you to your subject, such as:
- Their sense of urgency in enacting change in their personal lives and around them, which your readers will find inspiring
- Their wisdom and brilliance in their specific approach to life, business, etc., which will inform your readers about proven strategies that they’ll be able to use themselves
- Their prophetic power about certain world events, which could help readers make better choices about their investments, their choice of careers, etc.
- Or just their raw courage in the face of extreme adversity, a quality many people strive to achieve in their own lives
You always need to have a clear central theme your biography, an essence that goes beyond a strictly chronological account of someone life (which doesn’t make for a particularly engaging read).
Step 4: Research Your Subject
Now it’s time to begin your research about your subject and their lives.
There are two types of sources of information that you’ll need to rely on for your biography:
1) Primary sources, which originate from your subject and their close circle, and 2) Secondary sources, which originate from people at arm’s length to your subject. Here are some examples:
Primary sources:
- Anything publicly written or recorded by the subject
- Anything privately written or recorded by the subject (you’ll need their written consent to publish this information)
- Anything publicly written or recorded by direct witnesses to events that involved the subject
- Anything privately written or recorded by direct witnesses to events that involved the subject (again, you’ll need their permission to publish this information)
A Note on Privacy:
Whenever you publish information about a subject that’s not already in the public domain, particularly if the subject is not a public figure, you must ensure that you have their written permission to do so.
If you don’t and choose to publish anyway, you’re opening yourself to expensive litigation. People are entitled to their privacy and if you reveal unauthorized information that they deem to be embarrassing or injurious to their reputation in any way, expect them to seek financial damages through libel litigation and other legal remedies.
Secondary sources:
Writings or recordings by people who don’t know the subject personally and who haven’t directly witnessed events involving the subject. Examples are:
- Documentaries
- Magazine articles
- Online articles or recordings
A Note on Secondary Sources:
Before you use these sources, you’ll need to establish their credibility and the veracity of their accounts. Whenever you do refer to secondary sources in your biography, make sure to include the proper citations so that your readers can access the original information if they desire.
Also, make sure that you don’t infringe the copyright of your secondary sources by reproducing entire passages from their works, unless you obtain their written permission first (which usually carries a financial cost).
Step 5: Organize the Information
Once you’ve collected all the relevant information for your project, it’s time to put it into perspective by first creating a timeline for your subject’s life. You want to be able to see where it all fits chronologically so that you can begin to draw a through-line in relation to your biography’s central theme.
Your timeline will allow you to see the sequence of events that formed the character, ability or special circumstances that led your subject to live an extraordinary life. Also, this through-line will allow you to draw inspiration to choose specific time periods and past events should you wish to use flashbacks as a device in your narrative.
Once you’ve defined the proper chronology of events in your subject’s life, you can begin to draft a general outline for your biography, driven by your central theme. Begin by choosing the main milestones on your subject’s journey. These are the building blocks of your central theme. Then, break them down further into as many layers as necessary.
Finally, label your outline entries and, looking at your timeline, allocate your research materials throughout the outline by assigning them to the relevant label.
Step 6: Write Your Manuscript
You now have a fleshed-out timeline, an outline that aligns with your central theme, and lots of well-researched notes. In other words, you’re ready to begin the writing process ! But first, you’ll need to develop a clear writing routine.
When it comes to book writing , there’s no substitute for rubber to the road and this means that you’ll need to get into the habit of writing for a set amount of time every day. Like professional authors do, you’ll need to budget this time religiously and have clear boundaries.
Consistency is key, especially if you’ve never done a project like this before. What you don’t want to do is to write for 4-5 hours straight one day and then take a break for the next day or two.
How long should you write each day? I recommend between 2 and 3 hours but no longer than that â you don’t want to end up creatively spent by the end of a writing session.
Now, it’s critically important during this time that you have no disruptions such as phone calls, notifications from electronic devices, people walking in and asking you for help, etc.
So, enlist the help of those around you to keep you undisturbed, turn your smartphone and tablet to airplane mode, and mute the sound of your laptop.
Step 7: Hire a Professional Editor
When you complete the first draft of your manuscript, take a break to re-calibrate before you begin the re-writing process. Then revisit your manuscript from top to bottom as many times as necessary. This should take you a few weeks.
Keep in mind that the revision process is as creative as your original writing process but in a different way. While your initial writing is more like a stream of consciousness, the revision process is much more clinical and measured. What you’re looking for here is attention to detail, not the broad strokes.
But at some point, you’ll begin to experience diminishing returns for your efforts and here’s when you’ll need to hire the services of a professional editor. In fact, professional editors are paramount to the success of all authors, not just first-time authors but also those with long and illustrious careers.
No author worth their salt would dare publish an unedited book and neither should you. Your biography will be your calling card as an author and you never want to present a less than professional image. So, make sure you budget for a professional editor to take your diamond in the rough and make it shine!
Step 8: Hire a Professional Book and Cover Designer
Now that you have a fully edited manuscript, it’s time to focus on book design. Biographies need to not only be well-edited, but also to be well-produced. That means, they need to have a professional cover design that reflects your central theme, and a book interior as well-designed as your traditionally published competitors.
Don’t fall for the temptation to use free layout templates and book cover maker apps. As sharp as they may look on the surface, they’ll appear amateurish in comparison to what a professional can do and you don’t want to be judged by decision makers and gatekeepers on your path in a less-than-ideal light.
For example, some colors and visual patterns on your book cover may look great to you but won’t work in the market . The same goes for font styles, font sizes and font treatments. Leave this important work to the pros and you’ll never regret your decision.
Best of luck on the journey to your first biography!
If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide , drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access .
Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address â I operate an author services firm  that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.
Here are some related posts I highly recommend:
How to write a compelling book in 12 steps: a must-read guide for nonfiction authors, what to look for in a top book self-publishing company, the 7 most effective book promotion ideas for nonfiction authors.
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How to Write an Interesting Biography
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A biography is a written account of the series of events that make up a person's life. Some of those events are going to be pretty boring, so you'll need to try to make your account as interesting as possible!
Every student will write a biography at some point, but the level of detail and sophistication will differ. A fourth grade biography will be much different from a middle school-level biography or a high school or college-level biography.
However, each biography will include the basic details. The first information you should gather in your research will include biographical details and facts. You must use a trustworthy resource to ensure that your information is accurate.
Using research note cards , collect the following data, carefully recording the source for each piece of information:
Including Basic Details
- Date and place of birth and death
- Family information
- Lifetime accomplishments
- Major events of life
- Effects/impact on society, historical significance
While this information is necessary to your project, these dry facts, on their own, don't really make a very good biography. Once you've found these basics, you'll want to dig a little deeper.
You choose a certain person because you think he or she is interesting, so you certainly don't want to burden your paper with an inventory of boring facts. Your goal is to impress your reader!
Start off with great first sentence . It's a good idea to begin with a really interesting statement, a little-known fact, or really intriguing event.
You should avoid starting out with a standard but boring line like:
"Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774."
Instead, try starting with something like this:
"Late one afternoon in October, 1809, Meriwether Lewis arrived at a small log cabin nestled deep in the Tennessee Mountains. By sunrise on the following day, he was dead, having suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
You'll have to make sure your beginning is motivating, but it should also be relevant. The next sentence or two should lead into your thesis statement , or main message of your biography.
"It was a tragic end to a life that had so deeply affected the course of history in the United States. Meriwether Lewis, a driven and often tormented soul, led an expedition of discovery that expanded a young nation's economic potential, increased its scientific understanding, and enhanced its worldwide reputation."
Now that you've created an impressive beginning , you'll want to continue the flow. Find more intriguing details about the man and his work, and weave them into the composition.
Examples of Interesting Details:
- Some people believed that Lewis and Clark would encounter elephants in the western wilderness, having misunderstood the wooly mammoth bones discovered in the United States.
- The expedition resulted in the discovery and description of 122 new animal species and subspecies.
- Lewis was a hypochondriac.
- His death is still an unsolved mystery, although it was ruled a suicide.
You can find interesting facts by consulting diverse sources.
Fill the body of your biography with material that gives insight into your subject's personality. For instance, in a biography about Meriwether Lewis, you would ask what traits or events motivated him to embark on such a monumental exercise.
Questions to Consider in Your Biography:
- Was there something in your subject's childhood that shaped his/her personality?
- Was there a personality trait that drove him/her to succeed or impeded his progress?
- What adjectives would you use to describe him/her?
- What were some turning points in this life?
- What was his/her impact on history?
Be sure to use transitional phrases and words to link your paragraphs and make your composition paragraphs flow . It is normal for good writers to re-arrange their sentences to create a better paper.
The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim about your subject. It should point out your main points, re-name the person you're writing about, but it should not repeat specific examples.
As always, proofread your paper and check for errors. Create a bibliography and title page according to your teacher's instructions. Consult a style guide for proper documentation.
- Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
- 10 Steps to Writing a Successful Book Report
- How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
- The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right
- How to Write a Personal Narrative
- How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
- How to Help Your 4th Grader Write a Biography
- How to Write a Research Paper That Earns an A
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- Overused and Tired Words
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7 Different Ways to Write a Great Biography
Ever considered writing a biography? Individual decisions and circumstances shape life stories, but so do biographers. By adapting set patterns, writers determine public opinion of their subjectâs lives. Draw inspiration for a future project from this roundup of common approaches.
Journalists and media outlets love biographies, particularly when relatives or academics dispute the most controversial claims.
Some of the favorite topics are instantly familiar: Napoleonâs downfall, Churchillâs leadership, Dianaâs letters and her lovers, Sylvia Plathâs relationship with Ted Hughes, the genius of Steve Jobs, and Alan Turingâs sexuality. Each worthy of separate, in-depth discussion. Each a delicate balance between sensationalism and historical interest.
Of course, the trademark combination of gossip and mythmaking has given biography a bad reputation. For some, it seems too much like rummaging through the paper bin, looking for someoneâs bank statements or the shreds of a discarded missive.
Or else it seems like a dubious exercise in trying to draw life lessons from someone elseâs fame and success, which might have been coincidental or undeserved.
Laying the Groundwork
Researching a biography involves a lot of borrowing and persuading. Anecdotes, interviews, letters and public records are the standard ingredients of every book biography, film biopic, or feature âbased on a true storyâ. Getting hold of information may be difficult.
Relatives of the deceased may block access to the diary, friends of the family may demand cash for answering your questions, and obtaining permission to reproduce images will give you grey hairs. You may be overwhelmed by the quantity of books to plough through, or frustrated by the lack of data at your disposal.
âComposing the life requires speculation and interpretation. At times, youâll marvel at what your subject achieved. Sometimes youâll be disappointed by their actions, maybe even shocked.â
Composing the life requires speculation and interpretation. At times, youâll marvel at what your subject achieved. Sometimes youâll be disappointed by their actions, maybe even shocked. If youâre writing about a dictator or a criminal, you may struggle to strike a balance between humanizing and demonizing them.
If youâre lucky, youâll stumble across something no-one else has found before and hope it makes waves. If youâre underhand, youâll make an unverifiable claim and wait for the public outrage.
But letâs assume that youâve been principled. Youâve found a worthy subject, done the laborious work of searching through the archives and ringing through the phone book, read the relevant literature and thought about the ethical dilemmas. Now itâs time to write, but where should you begin? How do you bring order to the chaos of a life?
1. Cradle to Grave
If in doubt, the âcradle to graveâ approach is your fallback option. Put your notes in order, get the chronology sorted, and start work. One by one, tick off the following from your list: birth, family background, childhood influences, schooling and education, early career, professional successes and setbacks, twilight years, death. Choose a first sentence a bit like this:
âNapoleon Buonaparte was born at Ajaccio in the island of Corsica, on the fifteenth day of August, 1769. He was the son of Charles Buonaparte, an advocate in the royal court of assize, and of Letitia Ramolini, a Corsican lady of great beauty, and of a good family, descended from that of Colalto at Naples.â William Hazlitt, The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte , 1828
As the conventional approach in Western book biographies for hundreds of years, this may sound like the easy option. Yet a chronological biography has its pitfalls. Expect gaps in the story, mysteries youâll never solve, and conflicting accounts.
Establishing causality is another dilemma and not only because itâs tricky to prove links between particular experiences and later events. Strands of the story developing in parallel, encounters that only obtain significance many years later, and the after-effects of major turning points all pose a challenge to the apparent simplicity of this approach – also see our biographical piece on Emmeline Pankhurst for an example of the pitfalls and opportunities of a âcradle to graveâ story.
2. The Deathbed Departure
Like Agatha Christie, many biographers hold off checking the birth certificate by beginning at the end. Opening with a deathbed scene or the public announcement of the death is a ubiquitous variation on the âcradle-to-graveâ structure.
Think of the exaggerated public mourning in a Buenos Aires cinema at the beginning of the film adaptation of Evita , followed immediately by sepia-coloured evocations of Evaâs provincial childhood.
By contrasting a dramatic demise with humble beginnings, you can immediately establish both suspense and a narrative arc.
3. Trace Your Steps
If your research process deserves a book of its own, or if your subject was hard to track down, you may want to put the biographical mechanics on display. Documenting the process of biographical research also allows you to write someone elseâs story in the first-person. By revealing your techniques and the problems you faced, you can mitigate for the inevitable causal leaps or puzzling gaps.
Literary historians like to cite A. J. A. Symonsâs The Quest for Corvo (1934), but itâs a technique found in other genres, such as documentary theatre. For example, Ivna Ĺ˝icâs play Blei (2017) sees a young woman enlist her friends to reconstruct her grandfatherâs experience of the disputed Bleiburg repatriations of 1945, including video interviews, excerpts from books, and taped phone calls.
4. Make It Up
Plenty of would-be historical biographies contain made-up stories impossible to verify, such as the wholly speculative story of Shakespeareâs encounter with Elizabeth I at Kenilworth, enthusiastically mythologized by nineteenth-century biographers.
âA short time previous to this, when our poet was in his twelfth year, and in the summer of 1575, an event occurred which must have made a great impression on his mind; the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the magnificent Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle.â Nathan Drake, Shakespeare and His Times , 1838
Given biographyâs tendency to improvise with anecdotes and dodgy causal connections, critics say itâs a kind of fiction masquerading as history.
You can make a virtue of a necessity by augmenting the historical sources, as in Edmund Morrisâs Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999). Or else turn the practice of biography on its head by writing it as historical fiction, as in Hilary Mantelâs bestselling Wolf Hall (2009). Familiar representatives of the genre include the films Amadeus (1984) and Shakespeare in Love (1998), both inspired by long-standing myths associated with the lives of Mozart and Shakespeare.
If you aim to popularize a life or just to convey the atmosphere of the times, then so-called âbiofictionâ allows you to indulge your imagination and free the life story from the strictures of the historical record.
5. Change the Received Wisdom
Myths and legends proliferating? Promise a glimpse behind the scenes and unmask your subject with a revisionist biography. Celebritiesâ public personas â historical or contemporary â can easily deceive. By deconstructing appearances and identifying discourses, you can add academic sobriety to fiercely contested terrain, as in Sarah Churchwellâs The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (2004).
You can also throw caution to the winds with a thorough debunking. This is the kind of biography that likes to offend. You can do damage to the subjectâs reputation (and possibly your own) by focusing on character flaws or allegations of a moral nature. Youâll need persuasive evidence and a biographee long since deceased â that or a good lawyer.
âNo man knew better than Johnson in how many nameless and numberless actions behaviour consists: actions which can scarcely be reduced to rule, and which come under no description. Of these he retained so many very strange ones, that I suppose no one who saw his odd manner of gesticulating, much blamed or wondered at the good ladyâs solicitude.â Hester Lynch Piozzi [Hester Thrale], Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson , 1786
6. The Life of the Mind
Select a scientist or a philosopher for your project and chances are youâll be writing an âintellectual biographyâ.
Following the development of ideas across a life, biographies of great minds can play an important role in public understandings of science. Youâll also be looking at how institutions or cultural and historical contexts influenced your subject, how networks champion or resist particular ideas, and how even the best ones are greeted with scepticism.
Challenges include making the material comprehensible for a non-specialist and turning the genesis of complex thoughts into a compelling narrative. Feel free to do something inventive â Darwinâs great-great-granddaughter Ruth Padel wrote a biography of her forebear in poems.
âIn the brown-black gloam of closing-time he meets his future colleague, a published entomologist. âI had no idea! So many thousand different beetles within ten miles of home!â Ruth Padel, Darwin: A Life in Poems , 2009
7. A Single Chapter
Very often, society values a given life for a single episode within it. In âHistory as a Poetessâ (1943), Stefan Zweig calls these historyâs âheroic, poetic momentsâ.
Reducing a life course to a representative year or two may depart from the genreâs established conventions. But as James Shapiro has demonstrated in two books on Shakespeare, it gives you the chance to focus on what was most important in a life â or at least to make that case.
Collective biographies can do the same for groups. As in Lara Feigelâs The Love Charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War (2013), seeing how peopleâs lives interweave and diverge enables a more personal and unexpected take on familiar historical events.
[Title Image by Ehud Neuhaus  via Unsplash]
Edward Saunders
Edward Saunders was Deputy Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, Vienna until August 2017. His research interests are in biography and life writing, as well as urban history and cultural memory. Learn more about him on his website.
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Writing a Professional Bio for Your Website
By David Shannon
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One essential component to making an impact with your site and showing visitors what makes you unique is a professional bio. These short, powerful summaries tell your audience who you are and more importantly, why they should care.
Letâs go over what an About Me page can do for your website, how to write an impressive bio that puts you in the best light possible, and tips to make yours truly shine. From length and layout to customizing for your target audience , itâs best to cover it all to make your site one to bookmark.
Hereâs how you introduce yourself onlineâand make sure you get noticed.
Why you need an About Me page
Whether you own a business, create content or art, need to get your portfolio online, or just want people to read your personal blog, an About Me page is crucial for establishing your authority and building trust and familiarity with visitors. It allows you to share your story in an authentic way and connect on a personal level with your audience.
A captivating About Me page also gives you a perfect opportunity to talk about your mission and values . It provides the platform to dig into why you do what you do and the impact you hope to have. That helps visitors determine if you're the right fit for them and attracts people with similar values.
Your About Me page can be a powerful tool for turning visitors into loyal customers, readers, brand advocatesâin short, it helps build your community. They'll see you as the go-to expert in your industry or area of interest and a person they want to work with or stay informed about.
4 elements of a strong professional bio
An effective bio is an important tool for promoting your expertise and services. Your bio is one of the most important parts of your online presence because it establishes your credibility and convinces people you're worth their time. With the right look and a good balance of professionalism, personality, and optimization for your audience, you'll make a strong impression and turn readers into clients, customers, or followers.
1. A layout they canât look away from
Letâs start with what your bio page looks like. A professional yet personable photo of yourself is key. Your visitors want to put a face to your name.
Avoid thumbnail-size or low-quality images that make visitors squint to see who you are. This is all about youâgive them a headshot that shows your personality or photos of you at work doing what you love. Whatever you do, your images should match the overall style and tone of your website.
As for words? Keep your bio concise, around two to three short paragraphs for easy reading. Use active language and avoid repetition.
Those are the basics. But there are a few other elements that can go a long way towards creating the effect you want.
Font design: Think about using an attractive, legible font that jibes with your brand or personal look.
Text and page design: Add visual interest with bold text, bulleted lists, and spacing that gives the words room to breathe.
Accomplishments: Depending on your goals, including snapshots of key accomplishments could also be appropriate.
Simplicity: Use plenty of white space and align everything neatly. Avoid crowding too much onto the page. If your bio is longer, use clear headings to provide structure.
Your bio should have a clean, uncluttered feel thatâs easy to navigate. And maximum visibility is critical: Place your bio prominently on your website (like in the navigation menu) so your audience canât miss it.
2. Clear experience and expertise
Your visitors need to know why they should keep coming back to your site or use your services, so itâs important to share your story in an authentic way that connects with readers. Youâll want to cover:
Your relevant work experience
Relevant education or certifications
Mission or business goals
Accomplishments
Awards or key successes
Share details about your areas of expertise and how you can help clients or customers. Relate your passion for the work you do and how you came to start your business. Your visitors want to know what motivates and inspires you and get a feel for what it's like to work with you.
This is your chance to highlight what makes you and your business unique. Any interesting facts and details that set you apart? Including these critical pieces gives followers a reason to check out your product or service, keep reading, or sign up for your mailing list .
While listing accomplishments and skills shows your expertise, keep things light and avoid being too self-promotional. It can be a delicate balance, but trust your instincts to find the right mix.
3. Your personality
While professional, your bio should also reflect your distinctive personality and voice. Share some personal details about your passions or interests outside of work to help readers connect with you. Do you have an unusual combination of skills or experience? Let them know about it.
The tone you use should be a reflection of your own personality or your brand personality . Should it be an enthusiastic and friendly tone, something informal and conversational to make it inviting and accessible? Or should it be more businesslike and formal, with terminology and language that underscore how versed you are in your industry? Whichever tone you settle on, be sure youâre speaking directly to your audience and what theyâre most likely to respond to.
This space is designed to share what makes you, you.
4. Optimization, optimization, optimization
Customizing your professional bio for your target audience is key to making the best impression. Think about your desired audience, who youâre trying to attract, and how you can shape your bio to have the widest appeal. This is for your website, so focus your bio on how your service, product, or content helps visitors and brings value . What type of language or tone will they respond to? What accomplishments or skills would make them trust you more?
Looking to rank in search results ? Including keywords that optimize your site for search engines, even in your bio, will help people find you organically. Again, consider what your target audience might be searching when looking for someone like you. Find ways to naturally weave similar phrases into your copy.
Think about including links to your social media profiles or other websites. This gives readers an easy way to connect with you and learn more about what you do. Place links at the end of your bio paragraph or in a "Connect with Me" section at the bottom of the page.
A website bio example
Letâs say you own a food truck that specializes in natural ingredients and healthy, homemade alternatives to takeout. Youâre garnering some glowing reviews and itâs time to create a website that takes your business to the next level. One of the big questions youâll need to answer: how to write an About Me bio.
One way to introduce yourself is to share your history with the type of cuisine you prepare. That context will give visitors a relatable, authentic story they can connect with.
For example: âMy friends and family loved when I cooked for them, always asking me to cater their parties or bring a dish to share. Their positive feedback fueled my motivation to keep improving my craft.â
You could then go on to briefly describe your path to owning a food truck and living your dream. How did you turn your hobby into a thriving business, develop your recipes, and cultivate a following? Whatâs your goal for the future? Lessons learned along the way?
For example: âI started to get requests from friends of friends, and found myself planning recipes on my way home from my 9-5. As word spread, I decided to invest some savings in the truck we work out of today and give it a try full-time. Weâre now happily on the road six days a week, and one day, we hope to bring our recipes to a brick-and-mortar location for the community.â
Include a photo of yourself in the kitchen doing what you love or in front of your food truck, with a line of customers waiting to sample your recipes. Or consider showcasing a few flattering, professional images of your dishes.
You might even include a personal touch like sharing a recipe for one of your dishes to show how the magic is created and illustrate the quality ingredients you use. The possibilities are endless, so get creative to bring something a little different than your competitors.
With these tips on how to write a professional bio, you're on your way to crafting a website that leaves an indelible first impression and gives readers a sense of what you do and why they should do business with you. An engaging yet professional About page is one of the most important elements of any website, so take your time, consider how you want to present yourself, and show the world who you are.
Ready to create your professional bio?
Posted on 14 Jun 2024
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How to Write a Short Bio: 5 Examples and Templates
By Status.net Editorial Team on June 16, 2023 â 12 minutes to read
- How to Write a Short Bio Part 1
- What to Include in a Short Professional Bio Part 2
- Example of a Formal Short Bio Part 3
- Example of a Casual Short Bio Part 4
- Examples of Well-Written Short Bios Part 5
- Short Bio: Best Templates Part 6
- Tips for Writing a Short Bio Part 7
- Optimizing Your Bio for Different Platforms Part 8
A short bio is a concise and informative summary of your professional background, accomplishments, and personal interests. It’s an opportunity for you to introduce yourself to others, whether it’s for networking, job applications, or social media profiles. By writing a short bio, you allow others to quickly understand your expertise, strengths, and personality.
As you write your short bio, consider your audience and tailor the content accordingly. You might want to have different versions of your bio for varying contexts, such as a professional conference, a job application, or a social media platform. Regardless of the situation, strive to be authentic and maintain a tone that reflects your personality while also adhering to professional standards.
Part 1 How to Write a Short Bio
When writing a short bio, first focus on being concise and relevant. A short bio should be approximately 4-6 sentences or about 150 words. Be sure to highlight your achievements, experience, and expertise with confidence and clarity.
To start, introduce yourself briefly, including your name, title, and current role or profession. Next, mention your most significant accomplishments in your field thus far. This can include awards, certifications, publications, or any other relevant milestones. Discuss your current work and projects, providing the reader with a snapshot of your professional life. Make sure to emphasize your unique strengths and specialties. Then, touch upon your education or any other credentials that showcase your expertise.
“Jeremiah Smith, an award-winning graphic designer, specializes in creating visually stunning websites and marketing materials for a diverse clientele. With over 10 years of experience, Jeremiah has led branding projects for major corporations and small businesses alike, receiving accolades for his innovative design solutions. Currently, he serves as the Creative Director at X Design Studio, where he is dedicated to helping clients grow their digital presence. Jeremiah holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago.”
For a stronger impact, customize your short bio by tailoring it to the specific platform, audience, or purpose. By prioritizing information and emphasizing the most relevant points, you can create a brief, engaging bio that showcases your unique skills and accomplishments.
Part 2 What to Include in a Short Professional Bio
- Your job title and current role : Start by mentioning your current role and the industry you’re working in. This helps to establish your expertise and gives readers an immediate understanding of your professional focus.
- Career accomplishments and milestones : Highlight a few significant achievements in your career thus far. These can be successful projects, promotions, or awards you’ve received. Be specific about what you’ve accomplished and how it demonstrates your expertise.
- Skills and qualifications : Briefly mention the key skills and qualifications you possess that make you an expert in your field. This can include technical abilities, soft skills, certifications, or degrees.
- Interests and personal touch : Add a few personal details that showcase your interests and passions outside of work. This can humanize your professional persona and help you connect with readers on a more personal level. However, be careful not to share too much personal information.
- LinkedIn and networking opportunities : Include a link to your LinkedIn profile or other professional social media accounts. This provides readers with an opportunity to connect with you and discover more about your background.
To present this information effectively, write your short professional bio in the third person and maintain a confident, knowledgeable, and clear tone of voice. Keep the content concise and easy to understand by breaking it into paragraphs and using formatting elements such as bullet points and bold text when necessary.
Here is one more example of a well-crafted short professional bio:
“John Smith is a seasoned marketing manager with over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He currently leads product marketing efforts at X Company, where he has successfully launched new products and significantly increased market share.
John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is certified in digital marketing. His expertise includes strategic planning, content creation, and driving brand awareness through innovative campaigns.
In his free time, John enjoys hiking, photography, and volunteering at the local animal shelter. Connect with him on LinkedIn to learn more about his professional experience and accomplishments.”
Taking Into Account Personal and Professional Aspects
Try to strike a balance between your personal and professional aspects:
- Make sure to mention any relevant professional accomplishments and skills that showcase your expertise in your field. If you are a student or a working professional, add details about your university, current position, or professional experiences that give readers an insight into your capabilities.
- Don’t forget to add a touch of personality to your bio. Including personal details, interests, and hobbies will make you more relatable and create a connection with your audience. However, try to keep these personal elements brief and relevant to your overall bio. For example, if you are writing a bio for a personal website or Twitter, you could mention that you are an avid painter or a dedicated volunteer at a local animal shelter.
When writing in the second person, use short paragraphs to make your bio easy to read and understand. For instance:
- Full name: Briefly mention your full name at the beginning of your bio.
- Professional skills: List your core skills and accomplishments in bullet points or a table format.
- Personal interests: Share some hobbies or interests related to your profession or that showcase your values.
- Personal goals or mission statement: Include a sentence or two about your professional philosophy and core values to give readers a sense of your personal brand.
Related: How to Write a Personal Mission Statement (20 Examples)
Be cautious with the contact information you provide, especially if your bio will be accessible to the public on your personal website or social media profiles. Make sure only the necessary details are included to avoid any privacy concerns.
In summary, your short bio should be a reflection of both your personal and professional self. Showcase your skills and accomplishments while adding personal touches to make it engaging and relatable. Keep the text concise, use appropriate formatting, and remember to maintain a confident, knowledgeable, neutral, and clear tone throughout your bio.
Related: What Are Your Values? How to Discover Your Values
Selecting the Tone for Your Short Bio
Selecting the right tone for your short bio is crucial to portraying yourself in the way you want to be perceived. Consider the context in which the bio will be read and choose a tone accordingly. There are two main tones you can adopt: formal and casual.
Part 3 Example of a Formal Short Bio
Formal Tone : If you’re writing a bio for a professional context, such as a job, conference, or publication, opt for a formal tone. This means using more sophisticated language, avoiding slang, and maintaining a professional vibe throughout the bio. To achieve this, write in complete sentences, utilize proper grammar and punctuation, and highlight your achievements and expertise. Be sure to remain confident and clear in your writing. Example: “Dr. Jane Doe is a renowned expert in the field of molecular biology, with over 15 years of research experience to her credit. As the recipient of several prestigious awards, Dr. Doe’s groundbreaking work has had a significant impact on the scientific community.”
Part 4 Example of a Casual Short Bio
Casual Tone : A casual tone works well for less formal situations, such as bios on personal websites, blogs, or social media profiles. Here, you can use more relaxed language and showcase your personality. However, it’s still important to sound knowledgeable and approachable. Feel free to use contractions, incorporate humor, and speak directly to your audience to create an engaging tone.
“Hey there! I’m John, a travel enthusiast who loves exploring new cultures and tasting exotic dishes. When I’m not backpacking across the globe, you can find me geeking out about the latest tech gadgets or sipping on a well-crafted cocktail.”
In both cases, whether formal or casual, always ensure that your voice is confident, neutral, and clear. Remember to keep it concise, avoid exaggeration or false claims, and maintain a second-person point of view.
Part 5 Examples of Well-Written Short Bios
Short bio example 1.
Jane Smith is a marketing expert with over 10 years of experience in helping brands elevate their online presence. With a passion for storytelling, Jane excels in creating content that engages and inspires. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, photography, and exploring her city’s local coffee shops. Connect with Jane on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter @JaneSmith.
Short Bio Example 2
John Doe is an experienced software engineer with a knack for developing cutting-edge applications. Specializing in full-stack web development, John’s expertise lies in JavaScript, Python, and Node.js. When he’s not coding, John can be found playing the guitar, tutoring local students in programming, or cheering on his favorite esports team.
Part 6 Short Bio: Best Templates
Short bio template 1.
[Your Name] is a [industry or profession] expert with [number of years] of experience in [specific skills or areas of expertise]. [He/She/They] specializes in [technical skills or industry knowledge] and has a passion for [relevant interests]. In [his/her/their] free time, [your name] enjoys [hobbies or activities]. Connect with [your name] on [social media platforms] or through [his/her/their] website.
Short Bio Template 2
As a [occupation or field], [Your Name] incorporates [unique qualities or skills] to produce [specific type of work]. With a background in [relevant experience], [He/She/They] has been able to [achievement or accomplishment] through [personal path or passion]. When not [working or creating], [Your Name] spends [his/her/their] time [hobbies or activities], always seeking new inspiration.
[Your name] is a [profession or role] with a background in [relevant expertise or industry]. [He/She/They] earned a [degree] in [field] from [institution]. [Your name] has [number of years] experience in [profession/industry], providing [valuable service or skill]. Outside of work, [your name] enjoys [hobbies or personal interests]. Connect with [your name] on [social media platform] or visit [your website or portfolio].
Customize these examples and templates to fit your own unique skills, experiences, and personality. Using a second person point of view, focus on the key aspects you want your audience to know about. Be confident and transparent about your achievements and interests, and let your short bio speak for itself. Happy writing!
Part 7 Tips for Writing a Short Bio
- Know your target audience : Consider the people who will be reading your bio and focus on the information that will be most relevant to them. Tailor your bio to best serve their needs and expectations.
- Highlight your accomplishments : Share information on your achievements, awards, and notable experiences. This will give your audience an understanding of your expertise and success in your field.
- Include your goals and mission statement : Tell your audience what drives you and what you hope to achieve. This can help create a connection with the reader and showcase your dedication to your work.
- Maintain a professional tone : Write in a clear and concise manner, avoiding casual language and slang. A confident and knowledgeable tone will convey your competence in your field.
- Keep personal information to a minimum : While you may choose to mention some personal tidbits, be mindful of what you share. Focus on information that enhances your professional image, rather than oversharing personal details.
- Promote your brand and company : If you represent a business or have a personal brand, mention your company name and mission statement. This can help reinforce your brand identity and make a stronger impression on your audience.
- Prioritize transparency and authenticity : Be honest about your experience and qualifications. Avoid exaggerating or making false claims in order to maintain trust with your audience.
- Limit self-promotion : While it’s important to show off your accomplishments, be sure to keep the focus on meaningful information rather than excessive self-promotion. This will help engage readers and build credibility.
- Use formatting to enhance readability : Break up your bio into paragraphs, use bullet points for lists, and bold text for important details. This will make it easier for your audience to read and understand your bio.
- Include contact information : Provide a way for your audience to get in touch with you, whether it’s an email address, phone number, or a link to your website.
Part 8 Optimizing Your Bio for Different Platforms
On LinkedIn , focus on your professional achievements and skills. Use bullet points or a table to highlight your most significant accomplishments. Feel free to include any relevant certifications, courses, or awards. Remember that LinkedIn is a professional networking platform, so maintaining a professional tone is crucial.
For a resume , your bio should be concise and focus on summarizing your career history and specific expertise. Make it easy for potential employers to grasp your main strengths quickly. Use bold text to emphasize crucial information, such as your job title, years of experience, or industry-specific skills.
On a personal website , you have more freedom to express your personality and showcase unique aspects of your life. Consider adding anecdotes, hobbies, or personal achievements to give visitors a glimpse of who you are outside of your professional life. You can also touch on your professional capabilities but keep it concise.
For Twitter , keep in mind the character limit for bios and make every word count. Capture your profession or industry, and maybe add a touch of your personality or interests through emojis or hashtags. It’s common to see authors and celebrities mention their latest projects, books, or achievements here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the essential elements of a short bio.
A short bio should include:
- Your name and current role or profession.
- Brief background information including education and relevant work experience.
- Notable accomplishments or skills relevant to your profession.
- Personal interests or ambitions that showcase your personality.
- A call-to-action, such as directing readers to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile.
How can I create a compelling short professional bio?
To create a compelling short professional bio, follow these steps:
- Start strong with a clear and concise introduction.
- Focus on your most relevant qualifications and experience.
- Highlight key achievements and successes.
- Provide a personal touch that showcases your unique attributes.
- Keep it brief and easy to read, aiming for around 100-150 words.
What are some tips to make my short bio stand out?
- Use vivid language and strong, active verbs.
- Tailor your bio to your audience, emphasizing information that is most relevant to them.
- Share a unique or unexpected personal interest to pique interest.
- Edit and proofread your bio carefully, ensuring it is free of errors and reads smoothly.
How can I tailor my short bio to different contexts?
Adjust your short bio for different contexts by:
- Focusing on relevant skills, experience, or accomplishments for each specific audience.
- Adjusting the tone or language to suit the platform (e.g., more casual for a social media profile or more formal for a conference bio).
- Emphasizing specific personal interests or accomplishments that align with the context or audience.
- Updating your call-to-action as needed to direct readers to relevant content or profiles.
Related: 150+ Awesome Examples of Personal Values
- How to Write a Personal Mission Statement (20 Examples)
- How to Live By Your Values
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Ann Powers was writing Joni Mitchellâs life story. She found her own.
- Deep Read ( 4 Min. )
- By Stephen Humphries Staff writer @steve_humphries
June 10, 2024
Ann Powers, music critic for NPR, is renowned for writing about female artists such as Kate Bush and Tori Amos. Their songs have given voice to her feminist awakening. But due to a generational gap, Ms. Powers had resisted writing about another icon: Joni Mitchell. That changed when a publisher commissioned her to write a biography.
âI didnât know that I needed Joni,â Ms. Powers says during a video call. âShe really did set the bar and set the template for what so many others have done.âÂ
Why We Wrote This
With her new biography about Joni Mitchell, NPR music critic Ann Powers says she wanted to challenge the idea that thereâs only one definitive story of a life.
Ms. Powersâ book âTraveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell,â available June 11, is about as conventional as her subjectâs alternate guitar tunings. It not only retraces the seldom-explored paths of the musicianâs travelogue, but also detours into Ms. Powersâ own experiences. The project offered a chance to explore Ms. Mitchellâs career â and rethink the form of biography.
âSheâs the perfect subject to make this argument that biography needs to be even more fluid,â the author says. âThat we need to look in surprising places for parts of the story.â
Early on, Ann Powers wasnât a fan of Joni Mitchell. The music critic for NPR is renowned for writing about female artists such as Kate Bush and Tori Amos. Their songs had given voice to her feminist awakening. But due to a generational gap, Ms. Powers had resisted the iconic songwriter who once called Bob Dylan her pace runner. That all changed when a publisher commissioned her to write a biography.
Ms. Powersâ book âTraveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell,â available June 11, is about as conventional as her subjectâs alternate guitar tunings. It not only retraces the seldom-explored paths of the musicianâs travelogue, but also detours into Ms. Powersâ own experiences. In a conversation with the Monitor, the author explains that music takes on additional meaning when we filter it through our own subjective perspectives. Ms. Powersâ autobiographical stories illustrate the universality of Ms. Mitchellâs songs. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Â
What makes Joni Mitchell extraordinary?
Itâs not that often that you have the combination of this restless mind that endlessly wants to move to a new place and this hyperbrilliant sui generis talent. She is both. Oftentimes, when you look at long careers, whether theyâre musicians or painters or filmmakers, many great artists kind of do one thing or maybe two things very well and offer variations on that. But with Joni, thereâs these distinct loops within loops within loops. As I say in the book, quoting Dan Wilson the songwriter, thereâs just this way she moves and changes and itâs never unrecognizable, but is always requiring us to go somewhere maybe we donât want to go with her.Â
I think another thing thatâs very rare about Joni Mitchell is that her musicality and her skill at writing lyrics and her physical vocal talent are all at this pinnacle. Hereâs someone whoâs the whole package.
Whatâs your pitch for why âTravelingâ isnât a run-of-the-mill biography?
I really tried to confront the edifice of biography, in a sense. Now is a great time for people experimenting with biography. You see books like âMy Autobiography of Carson McCullersâ [by Jenn Shapland], which won the National Book Award. So itâs not like it was unprecedented, what I was doing. But I welcomed the chance to challenge the idea that thereâs any definitive story of a life.
I had great help in that from my subject. Joni Mitchell is an artist who has told us her life story in many ways, from many perspectives, and ... constantly challenged her fansâ perceptions of what she can be as an artist and what her life means. I realized sheâs the perfect subject to make this argument that biography needs to be even more fluid. That we need to look in surprising places for parts of the story. That we do need to recount the official story, but we also have to recognize both the kind of minor moments in peopleâs lives and the way that our lives as listeners intersect with and kind of help build the meaning of the story of the artistâs work. Â
âTravelingâ isnât just about Joni Mitchell. Itâs also about you. Does that exemplify how Ms. Mitchellâs music perhaps invites listeners to see themselves in her songs?
One of her most famous early quotes is her saying, Donât look for me in my songs. Look for yourself.Â
I guess my reflecting on how I interact with her work and life are wanting to be open about that. Yeah, itâs a little maverick as far as doing a biography. But I think weâre living in a time when the idea of objectivity has been exposed as an idea, as an ideal, and not an achievable goal. So in my writing, I try to always acknowledge my own presence and hopefully without having that be overweening.
You interviewed just about everybody who has worked with Joni Mitchell. But you deliberately avoided interviewing the artist. Why?
Partly because I have read the wonderful books that grow from interviews with her and time spent with her. And I know that once youâre in Joniâs story with Joni, that your perspective is fixed on that telling of the story. I didnât want to get sucked into the vortex of her charisma. I didnât want to feel obligated to an official story.Â
I treasure the distance between myself and my subject because thatâs what all of us who are fans, who are music lovers, experience with artists we love the most. Itâs in that distance between their human reality, and our perception of them, that understanding grows and that opinions grow. Many of the people sheâs worked with, and people who were sort of on the path near her, did give me insight into who she is.
For someone who owns âBlueâ but wants to go deeper into her catalog, what would you recommend?
I would recommend âHejiraâ because while âBlueâ is the entryway for so many people, for so many generations, I want people to hear Joni with a band. To show the richness of her musical intelligence. The heartbreak journey of âBlueâ is really relatable. In some ways, the self-actualization journey or the journey into maturity of âHejiraâ is one that speaks to me very deeply and also just speaks to our moment. Itâs universal in a different way.Â
Iâm very attached to âNight Ride Home.â It does have maybe her greatest anthem, âCome in From the Cold,â which is just a song we all need to listen to once a month as a cleanser.
Why is that her greatest song?
Itâs the circularity of the song. Itâs the tidal force of the song. Itâs the way it goes from memories of adolescent or young love and heartbreak to ... a statement on human vulnerability and need. The way she builds it is, I think, whatâs beautiful. She does it in other songs, too, like âShine.â But âCome in From the Coldâ has that perfect blend of intimacy and oracular wisdom that Joni can get to.Â
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Memoir by Trumpâs Nephew Will Shed Light Into âDarker Cornerâ of Family
Fred C. Trump IIIâs âAll in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Wayâ will hit shelves July 30.
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By Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter
Fred C. Trump III, the nephew of former President Donald J. Trump and the older brother of Mary Trump, will publish a memoir about the Trump family, according to his publisher, Simon & Schuster.
The memoir, titled âAll in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way,â is set to come out on July 30 from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster â just a few months before the 2024 presidential election, in which former President Trump is running as the presumptive Republican nominee against President Joe Biden.
Gallery described the memoir as a âcandid and revealingâ account of what it was like to grow up in the Trump family, and noted that the book will include ânever-before-told storiesâ that shed âa light into the darker corner of the Trump empire.â The publisher also stated that Mr. Trump was motivated to tell his familyâs story because of the upcoming election, and suggested that his book could âshape the decision of a nation.â It was not clear to what extent âAll in the Familyâ would focus on former President Trump, or in what light. Gallery declined to share more information about the book beyond a brief description.
Fred Trump III, who has largely remained out of the public eye and has not been a vocal critic of the former president, declined to be interviewed, according to his publisher.
The memoir will add another layer to the complex and often combative Trump family saga. Fred and Mary Trump are the children of the former presidentâs older brother, Fred Trump Jr., who suffered from alcoholism and died of a heart attack in 1981. After their grandfather Fred Trump Sr.âs death in 1999, Mary and Fred Trump filed a lawsuit contesting his will , arguing that they had been cheated out of their inheritance by their fatherâs siblings.
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Wondering how to write a biography? We're giving you 11 simple steps to get from ideation to publish. Plus a free template to help you write.
Learn how to write a biography that intrigues readers using these tips and examples.
Master the skill of biography writing with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to write a biography, bios, access examples, and classroom resources.
Learn the art of writing a captivating biography or autobiography with our comprehensive guide. Explore biography formats, tips, and techniques for crafting compelling life stories.
Writing a bio that is professional, personable, accurate, and search-engine friendly can be tricky. But don't worry, we've got you covered.
In conclusion, writing a biography requires dedication, patience, and a deep appreciation for the subject's life and legacy. By following the steps outlined in this guide and infusing your narrative with empathy, authenticity, and insight, you can create a biography that honors your subject's memory and inspires readers for generations to come.
A biography is the story of someone's life as written by another writer. Most biographies of popular figures are written years, or even decades, after their deaths. Authors write biographies of popular figures due to either a lack of information on the subject or personal interest. A biography aims to share a person's story or highlight a ...
Learning how to write a biography means understanding aspects of life-writing such as representation, narrative style and more. Learn more.
Writing someone's life story is a tremendous responsibility, filled with challenges. Learn how to write a biography that does your subject justice.
Wondering how to write a biography? We've constructed a simple step-by-step process for writing biographies. Use our tips & tricks to help you get started!
This article will provide you with the basic building blocks required to write a biography starting from a blank page. Before we get into the nuts and bolts, let's define what a biography is: A biography is the full account of another person's life (unlike an autobiography, which is the account of the author's own life). For a biography to work, it must tell the story of an extraordinary or ...
Learn more about how to write a biography, including what types of biographies there are, how to properly format a biography and several tips for writing one.
Dry facts don't make a good biography. Here's how to dig a little deeper to make it interesting.
Ever considered writing a biography? Individual decisions and circumstances shape life stories, but so do biographers. By adapting set patterns, writers determine public opinion of their subject's lives. Draw inspiration for a future project from this roundup of common approaches.
The most important thing that you as a biographer can do is to write from the heart. You can take a number of approaches to writing from the heart. For example ...
Writing biography books made easier: How to write, structure, and outline a biography. You'll learn the different types of biographies, how to structure and organize them, some tips and strategies for writing, and how many chapters and how many words (word count) in a chapter and in a biography book.
An English article about the features of biographies and help with writing a short biography of your own.
Your website bio is an opportunity to connect, stand out to visitors, and build trust in your experience and personal branding.
Part 1 How to Write a Short Bio. When writing a short bio, first focus on being concise and relevant. A short bio should be approximately 4-6 sentences or about 150 words. Be sure to highlight your achievements, experience, and expertise with confidence and clarity.
When this acclaimed music critic sat down to write a biography of Joni Mitchell, she had immediate regret. Eight years later, here's what she learned
With her new biography about Joni Mitchell, NPR music critic Ann Powers says she wanted to challenge the idea that there's only one definitive story of a life.
Fred C. Trump III, the nephew of former President Donald J. Trump and the older brother of Mary Trump, will publish a memoir about the Trump family, according to his publisher, Simon & Schuster.
New TrialAssure LINKÂŽ AI 2.0 Medical Writing Technology Debuts to the Pharmaceutical Industry at the DIA Annual Conference in San Diego - read this article along with other careers information, tips and advice on BioSpace