What's your story? Anyone who has experienced life has something very interesting to share with the world. The best way to write an autobiography is to write it like any good story: there has to be a protagonist (you), a main conflict, and a set of interesting characters that will keep the reader going. Read on to learn how to tell your life story and hone your writing to sing.
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Method 1 of 4: Creating Your Life Map
Step 1. Write a timeline of your life
Start writing your autobiography by doing your own life research. Creating a timeline of your life is a great way to ensure you include the most important dates and events, and it also provides a structure for you to build on. You might think of this as a “seeking inspiration” phase, so feel free to write down whatever you remember, even if you don't think the memory will go into a book.
- Your autobiography doesn't have to start with your birth. You should also include family history. Write down information about your ancestors, your grandparents' lives, your parents' lives, and so on. Having information about your family history will help readers understand how you grew up to be who you are today.
- What happened when you were a teenager? What led you to make the decisions you made?
- Did you enter university? Write about those years too.
- Write about your career, relationships, children, and major events that have happened to you.
Step 2. Identify the main character
Each story has interesting characters, friends and foes that drive the plot. Who are the characters in your life? Surely your parents will play a role, along with your husband/wife and other immediate family members. Think beyond your family who has influenced your life and should have played a role in your autobiography.
- Teachers, coaches, mentors, and bosses greatly affect people's lives. Decide if someone is a role model (or vice versa) for you to include in your story.
- Ex-girlfriends may be an extra in some interesting stories.
- Do you have enemies in life? Your story may be boring if there are not some conflicts.
- Weird characters like animals, celebrities you'll never meet, and sometimes even points of interest in an autobiography.
Step 3. Choose the most interesting story
The story of your entire life will start to get very long, so you will have to make a decision about which anecdotes to include. Start drafting your script by writing down the main story that will be assembled into a picture of your life. There are a few key topics mostly written in autobiographies that interest readers:
- Childhood story. It doesn't matter if your childhood was happy or traumatic, you should include a few anecdotes that give you an idea of who you were and what you went through. You can tell your childhood story by breaking it down into a few anecdotes that illustrate your personality – your parents' reaction when you brought a stray dog home, the time you climbed the windowsill at school and ran away for 3 days, your good relationship with the homeless people living in the woods … develop your creativity.
- The story reaches maturity. This usually harsh and sometimes sensual time in human life is always interesting for the reader. Remember this is not about writing something unique; everyone reaches maturity. It's also about writing something that resonates with the reader.
- The story of falling in love. You could also write the opposite of this, a love story that was never found.
- Identity crisis story. This usually occurs in your 30s or 40s, and is sometimes called a midlife crisis.
- The story of dealing with a crime. Even if it's your struggle with addiction, a controlling lover, or a lunatic trying to kill your family, you should write about the conflict you've been through.
Step 4. Write in your own voice
People read autobiographies to gain insight into what it's like to be someone else. Just being yourself is a surefire way to keep people reading. If your writing is formal or stilted, or reads like a university thesis instead of a disassembly of your life, people will have a hard time reading the book.
- Write like you are opening your heart to a trusted friend, with clear, strong prose and not too much use of vocabulary that you rarely use.
- Write so that your personality shows. Are you humorous? Enthusiastic? Spiritual? Dramatic? Do not hide; Your personality should show through the way you tell your life.
Step 5. Be open
You don't have to be explicit, but it's important to be honest about yourself and your life in an autobiography. Don't let the book be your list of successes, with all the negativity tucked under the rug. Present yourself as a whole, share your strengths and weaknesses, and your readers will be able to identify you and hopefully support you while following your story.
- Don't always portray yourself in a positive light. You can have a weakness and still be the protagonist. Reveal mistakes you've made and times when you failed yourself and others.
- Express your inner thoughts. Share your opinions and ideas, including those that may create controversy. Always be true to yourself in your autobiography.
Step 6. Capture the spirit of the past
How is your story shaped from historical events that have happened? What wars affected your politics? What cultural events inspire you? Discussing what's going on in the world in your life is a great way to make your story more relevant and interesting to those who read it.
Method 2 of 4: Creating a Narrative
Step 1. Create a thorough flow
Once you know what content you want to include in your autobiography, think about how you want your book to be structured. Like any great book, your autobiography needs a good plot. Work with the materials you have at your disposal to create a compelling story that progresses to a climax and is eventually solved. Create a narrative arc by organizing and incorporating your written memories and anecdotes so that they flow together logically.
- What is your main conflict? What is life's biggest obstacle that took years to go through or accept? It might be an illness you experienced as a child, a relationship wracked with chaos, a series of career hurdles, a goal you've been pursuing for decades, or something else. Check out your favorite books and movies for more examples of conflict.
- Build tension. Structure the narrative so that you have a series of stories that lead to the climax of a conflict. If your main conflict is pursuing the goal of skiing in the Olympics, build some stories of small successes and many failures. You want your readers to ask, will it work? Can he do it? What will happen next?
- Tell the climax. You will reach a point in the story where the conflict ends. The day of the big competition is here, you meet your biggest enemy, the habit of gambling makes you lose all your money – you can understand that, right?
- End with a split. Most autobiographies end happily, because the person who wrote it is still alive to tell the story – and hopefully get published. Even if your ending is not happy, it should be very satisfying. You somehow achieved your goal or won the day. Even if you lose, you accept it and gain experience.
Step 2. Decide where the story begins
You can use a straight chronology of your life, starting with your birth and ending in the present, but mixing up chronology can make your story more interesting.
- You could string together an entire autobiography with reflections from the present, telling your story with a series of past memories.
- You can start with a sad story from your childhood, then step back to tell your legacy, then move on to your university days, then slide into your career story, with anecdotes from your childhood sprinkled in a little for relief.
Step 3. Create a theme
Use the main themes of your life as a way of combining stories, connecting the past and the present. Besides the main conflict, what themes have followed you in life? The love for one big day, your attraction to a place you've been to several times, the kind of guy you always fall in love with, the spiritual life you lean on time and time again. Bring up the theme several times to help build a unified story of your life.
Step 4. Take time to reflect
You record your life lessons, but what have you learned? Share your intentions, desires, feelings of loss, happiness, experiences you have gained, and other thoughts from that time in the book. Taking time out of the action in the story to reflect what it means is a great way to add depth to your autobiography.
Step 5. Use chapter divisions to give the book structure
Chapters are very useful because they allow you to move forward from discussing a period or life event. There's a reason we have the expression "close chapter" or "open chapter" in life, and it can even be used when discussing an autobiography. Chapters let you jump 10 years, go back in time, or start explaining a new theme without surprising the reader too much.
- Consider ending the chapter on a sad or tense note, so the reader can't wait to start a new chapter.
- The beginning of a chapter is a great place to describe your past, describe the setting of a place, and set the tone for what happened next.
Method 3 of 4: Editing a Book
Step 1. Make sure all the facts are correct
Double-check the dates, names, descriptions of events, and anything else you include in the book to make sure you write down all the facts correctly. Even if you are writing your own life story, you should not print false information about what happened.
- You can magnify the truth about your goals and intentions, but don't include fake conversations with real people, or distort what actually happened. Of course, you won't remember everything perfectly, but you should reflect reality as best you can.
- Ask permission to use someone else's name or quote if you include content about what someone did or said. Some people don't like being included as characters in other people's autobiographies, so you should appreciate that by changing the way you describe them or changing their names if necessary.
Step 2. Edit your writing
After completing the final paper, reread it carefully. Rearrange sections, paragraphs, and even chapters if necessary. Swap out the mundane words and make your phrases more catchy and clear. Improve spelling and grammar.
Step 3. Share with others
Submit your autobiography to your reading club or a friend for an outside opinion. Stories that you find very funny can be boring to other people. Ask for opinions from several people if you can, so you have a clearer idea of how other people found your book.
- If some people suggest removing a certain section, consider doing the cut.
- Try to get opinions from people outside your circle of friends and family. People you know may try to keep your feelings in check, or their views are biased – especially if they are part of the story.
Step 4. Hire a copyeditor
A good proofreader will clean up your writing and make boring sections shine through. Whether you intend to publish your book in a publishing company or on your own, there is nothing wrong with asking a professional to perfect your book at the end of the process.
Step 5. Define a title
The title should match the tone and style of your book, as well as capture attention and interest. Make sure the title is short and easy to remember, rather than long and hard to catch. You can title your name followed by “My Autobiography” or choose something less obvious. Here are some well-known autobiographies that capture the inside story perfectly:
- Bossy Pants, by Tina Fey.
- My Confession, by Leo Tolstoy.
- A Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela.
- The Sound of Laughter, by Peter Kay.
Method 4 of 4: Publishing Your Story
Step 1. Take steps to publish your own book
While you don't want to worry about trying to sell your book to the public, you may want it to be shaped and printed for your own preservation as well as for family members and other people in the book. Research companies that offer book arrangement, printing, and delivery services, and decide how many prints you'd like to order. Many companies that offer this service produce books that look just as professional as those published by actual printing companies.
If you don't want to spend money on a printing press, you can still print a neat book by taking it to a print shop and printing and binding it
Step 2. Consider finding a literary agent
If you want to publish your autobiography and share it with the world, enlisting the help of a literary agent can get you started. Find an agency that works for autobiographies and send a letter of request with information about your book, who you are, and how you want it to be sold.
- Start the request letter with a short description outlining the book's highlighting outline. Sit your book in the right style, or describe it in a way that makes it stand out from the crowd. Tell the agent why you think he or she is the right person to sell your book to a publisher.
- Send sample chapters to agents who show interest.
- Sign a contract with an agent you trust. Be sure to read the contract carefully and check the agent's history before signing anything.
Step 3. Send the request letter directly to the publisher
If you don't want to spend time looking for an agent, you can just write to the publisher and see if anyone is interested. Research publishers that publish books in a similar style. Do not submit the entire manuscript directly, wait until you get a request for a manuscript from the publisher.
- Most publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts or submissions. Make sure you only send letters to publishers who accept them.
- If the publisher decides to make a book deal with you, you'll need to sign a contract and schedule editing, structuring, reviewing, and finally publishing the book.
Step 4. Read about publishing your book online
This is an increasingly popular method of publishing books, and an excellent way to save on printing and shipping costs for all involved. Research online publishers that publish the same type of book, send a letter of request, and continue editing and publishing the text.
Tips
- Make your story clear but don't get bogged down in unimportant details. While you want your autobiography to be remembered, you don't want it to be boring. Too many details – writing down everyone who attended the party or trying to include all the events of each day – will trap the story.
- If your writing is particularly bad, or if you need help organizing your thoughts, consider hiring a “ghost writer” or a professional personal history writer. Celebrities do it a lot. There is also software that allows you to write all your answers in a writing outline on your computer, thereby solving the problem of imperfect writing. Many people also choose to write directly on the outline of an online autobiography.
- Your biography can also contain a dedication, introduction, vital statistics, chronology sheet, family tree, and epilogue.
- If the goal of your autobiography is to share stories with heirs, consider including memorabilia (eg photos, heirlooms, medals, keepsakes, letters, etc.) and write the story in notebook format. Of course, you may not be able to copy the memorabilia included in your autobiography, so you'll still have to think about what you want to do with your work and other things, like medals or bold heirlooms.
