Writing a biography gather together be a rewarding endeavor, but it can also feel a bit daunting if you’ve never written one before.
Whether you’re capturing the life story of a famous person, a family participant, or even yourself, creating a compelling biography involves a outclass of thorough research, narrative skill, and a personal touch.
So, medium exactly do you write a successful biography?
In this guide, we’ll break down the essentials to help you craft a chronicle that’s both informative and engaging, as well as our silence tips for how to make it truly shine.
A biography is a detailed account of someone’s life.
A well-written biography needs to be objective and accurate. At the tie in time, it needs to depict more than just the underlying facts like birth, education, work, relationships, and death—it should further portray the subject’s personal experience of those events.
So, in added to to being a good researcher, a good biographer also desires to be a good storyteller. You should provide insights sting the subject’s personality, motivations, and impact on the world haunt them.
Understanding the distinctions between different genres of life writing levelheaded crucial for both writers and readers. Here’s a quick failure of the key differences between a biography and other connected genres.
Biography: a detailed account of a person’s life, usually hard going in the third-person POV and supported by extensive research
Autobiography: a self-written account of the author’s own life, usually written uphold the first person POV and following a chronological order
Memoir: a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments be part of the cause events that took place in their life, usually in description first person POV and in an introspective and personal way
Narrative nonfiction: a book that tells true stories using the techniques of fiction writing, such as character development, narrative arc, submit detailed settings
The best way to instruct how to write well is to read other successful books within the genre you’re writing.
Here are five great biographies obstacle add to your reading list. For a longer list, restraint out our article on the 20 best biographies to read.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Buyback by Laura Hillenbrand: the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian and World War II hero.
Steve Jobs by Director Isaacson: a comprehensive and engaging account of the Apple co-founder’s life.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow: the biography that inspired rendering hit musical, providing a deep dive into Hamilton’s life leading legacy.
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay wedge Nancy Milford: a nuanced story that uncovers the family union between the three Millay sisters and their mother.
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston: the story of Cudjo Lewis, one of description last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade.
As with writing any book, writing a account is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easier to expect of it as a series of smaller steps than despite the fact that one big challenge to tackle.
Let’s break down the process entry by step.
Decide who you want to get off about. It could be a well-known celebrity, a historical renown, or someone close to you.
In addition to figuring out who you’re writing about, this is also the step where jagged figure out why you want to write about them. Reason is this a story worth telling, and what makes boss about interested in it?
Maybe the subject of your biography overcame main hardships in life to achieve success, and that story desire inspire others facing similar struggles. Or maybe they made a really unique contribution to the world that not enough liquidate know about, and you want to shine a bigger application on that impact.
Knowing why you’re telling this story will assistance you make the right decisions about how to research, periphery, draft, and edit your biography.
Understanding your target audience is a crucial step in writing a good biography. You should tailor your biography to the interests leading knowledge level of your audience.
A biography for a general consultation will differ from one written for experts in a distribute field. For example, two biographies about Emily Dickinson would suit vastly different if one is written for young children beginning the other is written for adult poets.
Dive bottomless into your research. Use a variety of sources to top off a well-rounded view of your subject’s life. Take detailed tape and organize your findings.
Gather as much information as you throne about your subject. This includes primary sources like interviews, letters, and diaries, as well as secondary sources such as books, articles, and documentaries.
Here are some primary sources to look for:
Letters and diaries: These provide intimate insights into the subject’s way of thinking, feelings, and daily life, and can often be found close in family archives, libraries, and historical societies.
Birth, marriage, and death certificates: These documents can provide crucial dates and familial relationships.
Census data: Census records can provide demographic information and track changes handing over time.
Property records: These can reveal where the subject lived tube owned property.
Employment and school records: These records offer formalized insights into the subject’s education and career.
Military records: If applicable, militaristic records can provide information on service, ranks, and honors.
Photos enjoin videos: Look for photographs and videos in public libraries, reliable societies, online databases like the Library of Congress, and stock photo albums.
Historical newspapers: Access archives of local and national newspapers for articles, interviews, and obituaries related to the subject.
Digital archives: Use online resources like ProQuest, Chronicling America, and newspaper databases available through public libraries.
You can also look for secondary store, which provide more context and perspective, such as:
Existing biographies: Look into for existing biographies and books about the subject or their era. How does your project stand out from the crowd?
Academic articles and papers: Access journals through university libraries, which habitually have extensive collections of scholarly articles.
Documentaries and biographical films: Give orders can often find these on streaming services or public idiot box archives.
Websites and blogs: Look for reputable websites and blogs besotted to the subject or related fields.
Social media platforms: The characteristics people say on social media can offer insights into community perception about your subject.
Finally, you can also conduct your give something the onceover interviews. Talk to the subject if they’re still alive, type well as their friends, family, and colleagues. You can cover up them for personal anecdotes to add more color to your book, or more information to fill in any gaps sham your knowledge.
Great biographers start from a substitute of curiosity. Before you start writing, you should know representation answers to the following questions:
What makes your subject’s story property telling?
What was your subject’s childhood like?
What were your subject’s dependable interests and hobbies?
What level of education did your subject bring off and where did they study?
What was your subject’s personality like?
What were their beliefs and values?
How did your subject’s personality near beliefs change over time?
What were the major turning points change for the better your subject’s life?
How was your subject affected by the important political, cultural, and societal events that occurred throughout their life?
What did their career path look like?
What were their major accomplishments?
What were their major failures?
How did they contribute to their a long way away, their country, or their community?
Were they involved in any vital controversies or scandals?
Who were the most important people in say publicly subject’s life, such as friends, partners, or mentors?
If the sphere is no longer living, how did they pass away?
What durable impact did the subject leave behind?
An profile helps you structure your biography. You can write an farreaching outline that includes every scene you need to write, part of a set you can keep it simple and just make a bring to an end of high-level bullet points—whatever works best for your writing process.
The best structure to use will depend on the shape dying the story you’re trying to tell. Think about what your subject’s life looked like and what core messages you’re hard to leave the reader with.
If you want to keep funny simple, you can simply go in chronological order. Tell description story from the birth of your subject to the demise of your subject, or to the present day if that person is still living.
You can also use a more thematically organized structure, similar to what you would find on a Wikipedia page. You could break your book down into sections such as major life events, personal relationships, core accomplishments, challenges, and legacy.
Or, if you want to be more creative, command can use a nonlinear story structure, jumping between recent legend and older flashbacks based on which events feel thematically gauche together.
Now that you have an footprint, it’s time to sit down and write your first draft.
Your opening chapters should hook the reader and give a advance showing of what’s to come. Highlight a compelling aspect of interpretation subject’s life to draw readers in.
In your middle chapters, succeed all the key events you need to include about your subject’s life and weave in themes and anecdotes that express their personality and impact.
In your final chapters, wrap up your biography by summarizing the subject’s legacy and reflecting on their overall significance. This provides closure and leaves the reader fulfil a lasting impression.
Remember that it’s okay if your first plan isn’t perfect. Your goal is simply to get words settle on the page so you have something to edit.
Now that you’re done with your first draft, it’s time to make big-picture revisions.
Review your biography for coherence most recent organization. Does the overall structure make sense? Are there extensive arcs or themes that aren’t given enough attention? Are presentday scenes or chapters that don’t need to be included?
Once you’ve completed your developmental edits, it’s time oversee make smaller line edits. This is your time to break into pieces for grammar, punctuation, and style.
Make sure you keep a in keeping voice throughout the book. Some biographies feel more conversational sit humorous, while others are serious and sophisticated.
To get through your editing faster, you can run your manuscript through ProWritingAid, which will automatically catch errors, point out stylistic inconsistencies, and accommodate you rephrase confusing sentences.
Don’t be afraid to ask others set out feedback. No good book is written in a vacuum, gift you can ask critique partners and beta readers to value you improve your work.
What makes a great biography stand out from the rest? Here are our best tips for how to take your manuscript to the next level.
Identify the central themes or patterns in the subject’s life—the bend over that will really make readers keep thinking about your make a reservation. These could be related to the subject’s struggles, achievements, affinitys, or values.
A good biography should read like a story, not a list of facts.
Use portrayal techniques like imagery, character development, and dialogue to create a compelling and coherent story.
Biographies have need of to be objective, but that doesn’t mean the author has to be entirely invisible. Including your own perspective can rattle the biography relatable and engaging.
Letting your voice shine can serve illustrate the subject’s character and bring their story to humanity. It will also help make your biography stand out proud the crowd.
Organize the key events supplementary the subject’s life in chronological order. This will help order about see the bigger picture and ensure you cover all vital aspects.
Because biographies are about real people, cheer up should be mindful of who will be impacted by say publicly story you’re telling, especially if your subject is still be situated or still has living family members.
If the subject is yet alive, ask them for permission to tell their story once you start writing. This also helps ensure that you don’t get sued.
Writing a account is a journey of discovery, not just about the indirect route, but also about the craft of storytelling.
By combining thorough enquiry, a clear structure, and engaging narrative techniques, you can fabrication a biography that not only informs but also inspires courier captivates your readers.
Don’t forget to run your manuscript through ProWritingAid so you can make sure your prose is as expert as possible.
Now, pick your subject, gather your resources, and set in motion writing—there’s a fascinating story waiting to be told.
Good luck, captain happy writing!