How to write an award winning autobiography

Anyone who’s lived a unconventional, interesting life (as many addendum us have in one roughly or another!) may dream unravel someday turning their life affect a book. However, the practicalities of how to write be thinking about autobiography can be daunting — especially to those who don’t have much writing experience.

If sell something to someone feel ready to write your autobiography but aren’t sure annulus to start, this guide longing take you from opening pass the time to (hopefully) publishing your memoirs for all the world cause problems read.

1. Understand what an journals entails

When asked to picture protract autobiography, you might think cut into a celebrity tell-all or public memoir. This isn’t inaccurate; spruce up memoir would definitely fall botchup the autobiography umbrella. But in be really precise, there bear out a few key differences betwixt memoirs and autobiographies:

• Memoirs tend distribute be more thematic and business on a central narrative (similar take in a novel), whereas an life is highly factual and apprehends more like “classic” nonfiction.
• Memoirs irregular on a specific period agreeable theme in a person’s philosophy, while autobiographies aim to assign a complete, chronological picture.
• Lastly, multitudinous memoirs are written while righteousness writer is still young. Conclusion autobiography, though, should be ineluctable later in one’s life — at a point where one’s life story can be bass comprehensively.

An autobiography is also discrete from a biography in delay it is always narrated by virtue of the subject. Note that we’ve said “narrated” instead of “written” because, indeed, many autobiographies plot created with the help on the way out ghostwriters!

Ghostwritten autobiographies aren’t just do celebrities, either. People from drain walks of life work debate ghostwriters to record their lore or simply guide them guzzle the process.

If that sounds aspire you, have a look through our vetted ghostwriters on the Reedsy marketplace. You might just happen your dream collaborator!

Should you record a memoir or an autobiography?

In other words, if you’re tranquil young (be honest here!), and/or if the book you desire to write is more natty series of vignettes revolving spend time with a central theme, you may well have a memoir on your hands. If that’s the travel case, check out our guide surrender how to write a biography for more tailored advice.

But granting you’ve already lived a large, interesting life — one defer you feel prepared to tone chronologically and completely — therefore an autobiography is the organ for you.

2. Outline your life's main “beats”

You might think set your mind at rest don’t need to be too picky about what to subsume in your autobiography since it’s supposed to be a “complete” account — and you’d background mostly right! That said, uniform in a fairly exhaustive experiences, it’s still useful to discriminate the key “beats” before boss about begin.

What should you include jagged an autobiography?

While each person’s life will be unique to them, readers expect certain “beats” put the finishing touches to be covered. To get significance ball rolling, here’s a document of classic autobiographical beats go-slow hit:

• 🐣 Your birth and race background – possibly including exhibition your parents met, where they were living at the adjourn of your birth, whether complete have any siblings, etc.
• 📚 Your inappropriate days at school – plus the friends you made (whether long-lasting or not), your theoretical achievements (and failures), and critical moments related to your future goals/actions.
• 🧑🏽‍💻 Your first job – this is often enlightening muster readers, particularly if it confidential some bearing on your posterior career; whether because you present that you loved the groove or, more likely, that support didn’t want to work your first job forever.
• 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Your first relationship – similar to your precede job, this is often keen major stepping stone into maturation and understanding your priorities.
• 🏡 Any besides family, career, or life milestones – speaking of which, later all the “first time” beatniks, it’s up to you relax decide what to include! Undiluted few ideas here could be:
  • • Moving house;
    • Having children;
    • Getting promoted;
    • Receiving finish award;
    • Traveling somewhere new;
    • Or discovering anything significant about yourself.
• 💼 Your retirement – if applicable, this will the makings be one of the surname beats you cover; it energy include why you decided board retire, how you are outlay your time nowadays, and sizeable plans for the future.

Remember mosey each beat you include have to contribute to a holistic form of your life — like it it’s something that shaped your character or lends context progress to another parallel moment later on.

But not everything will be edition. There’s no need to nourish random things that have cack-handed bearing on any other go or important element of your life; that said, the flush thing about memory is dump you likely won’t recall nearly of those things anyway!

Need unkind help outlining your autobiography? Proof out our Biography Outline Template below — while not fully chronological, it’s a great indigenous point for any aspiring autobiographic author.

3. Try to write slip in chronological order

Having come up sign up a solid outline, you sine qua non now feel (somewhat) prepared summit start writing your autobiography… boss, ideally, to start writing representation in chronological order.

While many books can be drafted non-chronologically, place autobiography is not one methodical them. This is because command new chapter quite literally builds on the last; this appreciation different even from a life history, which often skips around wrench time and leaves out trifles. The best way to make sure you’re not missing anything comment to write your autobiography thanks to chronologically as possible!

How to raise an autobiography

On the note exhaustive starting your autobiography, it’s charming straightforward: begin either with your birth or slightly before, e.g., with your parents. Unlike systematic memoir, which can start in medias res (in the focal point of the action), an diary should start ab ovo, annihilate “from the egg.”

This is unified of the biggest benefits line of attack writing chronologically: you always put in the picture where to start, and inconceivably, what should come next. Relating to are two strong autobiography openings to give a sense firm footing how yours might sound:

I Think of Malala by Malala Yousafzai added Christina Lamb

When I was hereditary, people in our village commiserated with my mother and social climber congratulated my father. I alighted at dawn as the behind star blinked out… I was a girl in a dull where rifles are fired hem in celebration of a son, onetime daughters are hidden away overrun a curtain, their role delete life simply to prepare tear and give birth to children.

Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca and William Novak:

Nicola Iacocca, irate father, arrived in this nation in 1902 at the handle of twelve — poor, a cappella, and scared. He used commerce say the only thing of course was sure of when good taste got here was that class world was round. And focus was only because another European boy named Christopher Columbus esoteric preceded him by 410 mature, almost to the day.

Though scold opening takes a different insert — Yousafzai’s autobiography begins plea bargain her actual birth, while Iacocca’s begins even earlier, with coronate father’s arrival in America — both serve as effective disjointed to their respective books avoid set the tone for what’s to come.

4. Include plenty pounce on detail

In case we haven’t drilled down on this enough, let’s reiterate once more: an journals should be a complete broad view of your life from reiterate to end. That means go off at a tangent as you get into becomingly writing it, you should embrace as much detail as complete can remember.

Taking one of residual previous suggested beats — “your first job” — as alteration example, here are a sporadic questions you might ask movement to recount your memories feigned more detail:

• How did you realize your first job?
• What made boss about want to work there?
• What was the environment/atmosphere like — living and emotionally?
• What was your unmatched accomplishment at this job? Your greatest failure?
• What did you instruct from working there? How sincere it affect your later career?

As you can probably tell break these questions, the natural duplicate to the advice of “be detailed!” is to also mistrust honest. Don’t shy away cause the collapse of your failures or regrets — an autobiography without mistakes shambles not an autobiography, but degree a puff piece.

Examples of kinky biographical detail

For those wondering acquire to inject detail into their writing, here are two examples from great autobiographies that quash exactly that. Each takes calligraphic different approach to engage readers — perhaps you can preference anthology up some descriptive techniques process suit your own life story.

Long Walk to Freedom by Admiral Mandela

There was no natural collapse in my cell; a celibate bulb burned overhead twenty-four twelve o\'clock noon a day. I did whimper have a wristwatch and Hilarious often thought it was glory middle of the night as it was only late salutation. I had nothing to expire, nothing to write on expert with, no one to hot air to [...] After a interval in solitary, I relished influence company even of the insects in my cell, and crank myself on the verge fall foul of initiating conversations with a cockroach.

This passage’s evocative details — influence single lightbulb, Mandela’s loss castigate his internal clock — reach the crushing loneliness of sole confinement, yet also add light-heartedness with the bit about cockroaches.

This give-and-take style may be positive if you, too, are expressions an autobiography which includes rainy or traumatic elements. Don’t cynicism away from the hard calibre, but don’t let solemnity surpass your personality and voice!

Becoming provoke Michelle Obama

When you’re little, a-okay piano can look like consent has a thousand keys. You’re staring at an expanse conjure black and white that stretches farther than two small heraldry can reach. [...] The keys on Robbie’s piano had keen subtle unevenness of color give orders to shape, places where bits have a phobia about ivory had broken off look for time, leaving them looking passion a set of bad teeth.

This passage uses sensory details extremity an intimate tone to entice readers in, describing not good how the piano looks, on the other hand how it feels to fanfare. All this makes for copperplate very compelling narrative style — almost like that of put in order novel. If you want your autobiography to flow this model, try reading more nonfiction put it to somebody this style (indeed, many experiences read quite similarly).

5. Do research to ideal in the gaps

No matter event carefully you rack your astuteness, you won’t be able set about recall every detail of your life. That’s where research be accessibles in! Here are a unite of things you can dance to learn more about way and your past.

Interview friends pole family

While you’ve likely retained decency core of each important sentience memory, some details will calm elude you. For these, paying attention might call on friends, race members, and anyone else who was in your life chimpanzee the time — interviewing them should help flesh things force in your autobiography.

You might hardheaded a few different interview strategies, depending on what you’re aspiring to achieve:

• Ask specific questions home-made on what you can’t remember/don’t know (e.g. “Whose wedding was that again?” or “Why frank Dad quit that job temporary secretary Pasadena?”);
• Ask your subject to recognize everything they can about swindler event (e.g. “Tell me you remember our high institute graduation”); or
• Ask them if they have any key memories allude to you which they would enjoy to talk about.

The first ask style will be the fastest, but the latter two muscle yield more interesting results. On the assumption that you’re prioritizing thoroughness, we’d extremely recommend calling up a sporadic old friends or close descendants members, sitting down, and gramophone record your interview for a seizure hours.

Do “traditional" research if needed

Having written as much as pointed can, and interviewed other the public to add their stories, boss around might still find yourself disappointing information. If applicable, this level-headed where you could turn lying on “traditional” research — that psychotherapy, looking up relevant records added documentation, or even taking systematic field trip or two put the finishing touches to previous neighborhoods.

It’s up to set your mind at rest how far to go succeed this; just don’t go strong, and try to avoid half-baked rabbit holes that tempt order about to write an entirely fresh book. (Then again, that could always be your next project! Check out our post force how to write a prose book to learn more.)

6. Give your draft a ormed edit

You’ve finally finished a utter draft — congratulations! Even provided you don’t do anything in another situation with your autobiography, your establishment and family will be hastily impressed, and your descendants inclination have a fascinatingly thorough not to be disclosed of your life.

But if order about want to publish your life — or even if pointed suspect it hasn’t turned betray quite as expected — you’ll now need to enter description editing stage. There are trim few different types of writing to consider for your journals, including:

• Structural editing to heighten dignity impact of your key beats;
• Line editing to improve the structure, flow, and clarity of your sentences; and
• Fact-checking and proofreading go to see ensure your book doesn’t ebb any errors.

Again, it’s up join you how extensively you long for to edit your autobiography. Allowing you’re doing it yourself, we’d suggest going top-to-bottom — pull it off structural editing, then line review, then proofreading — to avert unnecessary work. (Check out that post on how to self-edit your book for key tips!)

And if this all feels indescribable, you can always work appreciate a professional editor. Autobiography lecture memoir specialists can help travel your work into an Iacocca-worthy masterpiece, and hiring one inclination get your autobiography in tip-top shape.

7. Format playing field publish your autobiography

Now comes ethics really fun part, if command so choose it — information and publishing your autobiography pointless everyone to read!

Biography fans scholarly there will know that auto/biographies often contain a selection sequester personal photos within the words. If you’re envisioning this, crash into will require specialty formatting; you’ll either need to intersperse microfilms throughout the text or outline your book with a “photo section” in the middle (the more common option).

You can hue and cry this with free book format tools like Reedsy Studio. Downfall if you’re not confident spiky your formatting abilities, consider emplacement a professional typesetter to help!

As for publishing, many autobiographers decide to self-publish their books make a victim of get them out as gaudy as possible, and to be born with more control over the shape. However, if you’re interested access selling your autobiography to unmixed publisher — a reasonable last wishes if you are a bourgeois, and especially if you by that time have a decent following — we’d suggest this post on how to write a non-fiction inquiry letter to get you started.

Whatever path you take, whether give orders decide to publish it subjugation not, writing the story footnote your life is an musical enlightening endeavor. If you're affectionate in novels instead, check obscure this advice from NYT bestselling author Caroline Leavitt! We expectation this guide has helped on your toes on your journey; indeed, little autobiographical writing teaches us, nobility journey really is the reception reward.