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How to Write a Biography

Learn how to write a biography with our comprehensive guide.

Last updated on Dec 8th, 2023

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How to write a biography can be a fun challenge as you share someone’s life story with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write a biography as a personal project. Once you’ve identified the subject of your biography, do your research to learn as much as you can about them. Then, immerse yourself in writing the biography and revising it until it’s best. What I am going to share with you in today’s post is how to write a biography. If you want to know the rules of how to write a biography correctly then this post of ours is essential for you. 

Introduction

While it’s true that most biographies involve people in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. But most of the time, famous or not, the person we’re talking about has an incredible life. Although your students may have a basic understanding of How to write a biography, you should take some time before putting pen to paper to come up with a very clear definition of biography.

Before knowing how to write a biography, let’s first understand what a biography is. A biography is an account of a person’s life written by someone else. Although there is a genre called fictional biography, by definition biographies are mostly non-fiction. In general, biographies trace the subject’s life from early childhood to the present day or until death if the subject is deceased. 

Biography writing is not limited to describing the bare facts of a person’s life. Instead of just listing basic details about their upbringing, interests, education, work, relationships, and deaths, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of a person’s personality as well as that person’s life experiences.

Tips and Tricks For How To Write a Biography

1. ask the subject’s permission to write a biography.

Here are the first tips on how to write a biography. Before starting your research, make sure you get your subject’s consent to write their biography. Ask them if they’re ready to be the subject. Getting their permission will make writing a biography much easier and ensure that they are open to information about their lives.

If the theme does not allow you to write a bio, you can choose another theme. If you decide to publish a profile without the subject’s permission, you may be subject to legal action from the subject. 

If the topic no longer exists, you don’t need to ask permission to write about them. 

2. Research primary sources on the topic

Primary sources may include books, letters, photographs, diaries, newspaper clippings, magazines, Internet articles, magazines, videos, interviews, existing biographies, or autobiographies on the subject. Find these resources in your local library or online. Read as much as you can about the topic and highlight any important information you come across in your sources. 

You can create research questions to help you focus your research on this topic, such as: 

What do I find interesting about this topic? Why is this topic important to readers? 

3. Conduct interviews with subjects and their relatives

Interviewing people will turn your research into reality: the people you interview will be able to tell you stories you can’t find in history books. Interview the subject as well as people close to them, such as spouses, friends, business associates, family members, co-workers, and friends. Interview in person, over the phone, or via email.

For in-person interviews, record them with a voice recorder or voice recorder on your computer or phone. You may need to interview the subject and others multiple times to get the documents you need.

4. Visit places important to the topic

Whenever you want to know how to write a biography, to understand the history of the subject, spend time in places and areas that are significant to the subject. This may be the subject’s childhood home or neighborhood. You can also visit the subject’s workplace and regular meeting places. 

You may also want to visit areas where the subject made important decisions or breakthroughs in their life. Being physically present in the area can give you an idea of what your subjects may have felt and help you write about their experiences more effectively.

5. Research the time and place of the subject’s life

Contextualize your subject’s life by observing what’s going on around them. Consider the period in which they grew up as well as the history of the places they lived. Study the economics, politics, and culture of their time. See current events happening where they live or work.

When you studying how to write a biography, ask yourself about time and place: 

What were the social norms of this period? 

What happened economically and politically? 

How has the political and social environment influenced this topic?

6. Make a timeline of a person’s life

To help you organize your research, create a timeline of a person’s entire life, from birth. Draw a long line on a piece of paper and sketch out as many details about a person’s life as possible. Highlight important events or moments on the timeline. Include important dates, locations, and names. 

If you think about how to write a biography You can also include historical events or moments that affect the topic in the timeline. For example, a conflict or civil war may occur during a person’s lifetime and affect their life.

7. Focus on important events and milestones

Major events can include marriage, birth, or death during a person’s lifetime. They may also achieve milestones like their first successful business venture or their first civil rights march. Highlights key moments in a person’s life so readers clearly understand what’s important to that person and how they influence the world around them.

For example, you might focus on one person’s achievements in the civil rights movement. You could write an entire section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometowns.

8. Cite all sources used in  biography

Most biographies will include information from sources such as books, journal articles, magazines, and interviews. Remember to cite any sources that you directly quote or paraphrase. You can use citations, footnotes, or endnotes. If the biography is for a course, use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations according to your instructor’s preference.

9. Reread the biography

Check the biography for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Circle all punctuation marks in the text to confirm they are correct. Read the text backward to check for spelling and grammar errors. 

Having a biography full of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can frustrate readers and lead to poor grades if you submit your work to the class.

10. Show your biography to others to get their feedback

It is a momentous step of how to write a biography. Once you have completed your draft biography, show it to your colleagues, friends, teachers, and mentors to get their feedback. Ask them if they have a good understanding of someone’s life and if the biography is easy to read. Be open to feedback so you can improve the biography and make it error-free. Revise profile based on feedback from others. Don’t be afraid to trim or edit your biography to suit your readers’ needs.

11. Use flashbacks

Flashbacks happen when you move from the present to the past. You can start with the present moment, and then bring in a scene from the person’s past. Or you could have one chapter focusing on the present and one focusing on the past, alternating as you go.

The flashback scene must be as detailed and realistic as the present-day scene. Use your research notes and interviews with subjects to better understand their past to reminisce. 

For example, you can move from a person’s death in the present to reminiscing about their favorite childhood memory.

12. Outline Your Story Chronologically 

This is another important step in how to write a biography is to write an outline that describes your story in chronological order. An outline is a tool that helps you visualize the structure and key elements of your story. This can help you organize your story into chapters and sections. 

You can write your plan in a digital document or draw it with pen and paper. Remember to store your outline in an easily accessible place so you can refer to it throughout the writing process.

What citation style should I use for my biography?

Use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations based on your instructor’s preference when citing sources in your biography.

Should I include personal opinions in a biography?

No, a biography should be objective and based on facts. Avoid injecting personal opinions or bias into the narrative.

What’s the difference between a biography and an autobiography?

A biography is written by someone else about a person’s life, while an autobiography is written by the subject themselves about their own life.

Can I write a biography about a living person?

Yes, you can write a biography about a living person with their consent. Ensure you respect their privacy and follow ethical guidelines when writing about them.

Conclusion 

Other than creating a sense of closure, there are no set rules about how a biography ends. An author may want to summarize their main points about the subject of their biography. If the person is still alive, the author can inform the reader about their condition or circumstances. If the person has died, inheritance can be discussed. Authors can also remind readers how they can learn from the biographical subject. Sharing a closing quote or about a person can leave the audience with a point to consider or discuss in more detail.

For further insights into writing and to avoid common mistakes, check out our article on Most Common Mistakes in Writing . Additionally, explore the Best Writing Tools for Writers to enhance your writing skills and discover the tools that can assist you. If you’re looking to improve your typing speed and accuracy, our article on How to Type Faster with Accuracy offers valuable tips.

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We keep our articles up-to-date regularly to ensure accuracy and relevance as new information becomes available.

• Current Version
• Dec 8th, 2023
• Oct 22nd, 2023

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Posted on Jun 30, 2023

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 someone’s life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If you’re looking to write a biography yourself, in this post we’ll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow. 

How to write a biography: 

1. Seek permission when possible 

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.

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While you technically don’t 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).  

Whenever feasible, advise the subject’s representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, you’ll 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. 

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 can’t get an answer from your subject, or you’re asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The “rebellious act” of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though it’ll likely bring more headaches with it too. 

✋ 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.  

Book Proposal Template

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Once you’ve settled (or not) the permission part, it’s time to dive deep into your character’s story.  

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, you’ll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources. 

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. 

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. 

Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find 一 even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them. 

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. 

For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia University’s 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. 

Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in. 

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, it’s worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their life’s path and work.

An interesting example is Stephen Greenblatt’s 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 you’ve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, you’ll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.

With all the material you’ve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But you’ll 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. 

In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobs’s family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.

🔍 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. 

Which biography should you read next?

Discover the perfect biography for you. Takes 30 seconds!

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 一 it’ll save you countless hours. 

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 you’ve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.” 

Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. “You 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.” 

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 book’s front matter .

Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your character’s journey.

Visit significant places in their life

A place, whether that’s 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 someone’s 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. 

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 won’t have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subject’s environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible. 

Once you’ve researched your character enough, it’s time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far. 

Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents you’ve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline. 

Create a chronological timeline

It helps to organize your notes chronologically 一 from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subject’s life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits. 

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.  

Draft a story outline 

Since a biography entails writing about a person’s 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. 

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, you’ll 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. 
• 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. 

Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?

Think about why you’re 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. 

Or find a unique angle

If you don’t have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subject’s 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 一 many of which have different focuses and approaches: 

• 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. 
• 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. 
• Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews. 
• 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 Dickens’ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britain’s fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth — be it social, political, or human — beyond the immediate subject of the book. 

Once you’ve identified your main focus or angle, it’s time to write a great story. 

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. 

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 subject’s life. 

One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong foot…

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 didn’t open his subject’s 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 reader’s 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 reader’s reading experience throughout the rest of the story too…

Play with flashback 

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. 

Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue does…

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. 

One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobs’ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: “You'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.”

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, “If 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.”

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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback. 

If you’re going to self-publish your biography, you’ll 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. 

Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. They’ll 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 “will 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.”  

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. You’ll 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.  

In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, you’ll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individual’s life experience. Whether that’ll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy 一 and that’s something not to take lightly. 

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Interesting Topics For Biography And The Best Ways To Write Them

• March 18, 2022

A biography, or biography essay, is the written account of a person’s life, written by someone else. A biographical essay is often written about a famous person, although it does not have to be. Not to be confused with an autobiography , which is the story of your own life—a biography, at its simplest definition, is someone else’s life story.

When writing about a subject’s life, it is easy to hit the high points, the important dates, and the events that the person lived through. It is often focused on important events in someone’s adult life. So you can write a full and rich biography essay or story about someone’s life, there are undoubtedly important and interesting facts and topics that you should cover. This article will discuss these, specifically the best topics for biography. Your next biography essay should be entertaining and interesting rather than dry and incomplete.

Interesting Biography Topics

Biographical essays and biographies do not have to be boring. A subject’s life story is more than what they lived through or accomplished. For example, if you are writing a biography essay about Franklin D. Roosevelt , you do not only want to discuss his leadership during World War II. While the historical context and significant events of a person’s life should be discussed in a biography essay, you want to accomplish more than listing accolades. You want the reader or target audience to know your subject, relate to, feel something, or develop an opinion. You can do this by including interesting facts and topics.

1. Family Members

Did the subject of your biography essay grow up with a parent who had an extraordinary career, background, hobby, culture, or story of their own? Were they raised by their grandparents? Were they an orphan? Discussing and including family makes the subject’s life seem more real. None of us would tell our story without discussing the role of family, so why would we leave that out?

Telling readers about the background and family dynamic of the subject of your biography helps the reader understand the person your paper’s subject grew up to be. For example, suppose you wrote about a notable soldier from the Civil War. In that case, you might include his family story and factual information like his rank in the army, his responsibilities in the army, and which battles he was a part of.

If his family had moved to the South from the North just a few years before the war began, his loyalties would have affected the cause. If his family were enslavers, that would affect his involvement. If his family were outspoken abolitionists, that would affect which side he fought for.

2. How They Have Influenced Present Day Life

Most biographies tend to stay in the era in which the story occurred. They stick to the basic facts of a person’s life rather than giving us insight into how that person impacted the lives of other people who are alive right now, in this day and age.

For example, if someone made a great discovery of some sort of useful medicine or technology, how has it contributed to the advancement of the world as we know it now? If Alexander Graham Bell had not come up with the telephone, would we have smartphones? Rather than pondering this and discussing it, many biographers go only a bit further than 1876, when his invention was brought to life when there is a much bigger and more exciting story to tell .

3. The Subject’s Early Life

Suppose you are writing about the heroes of the American Revolution, such as George Washington or Alexander Hamilton. In that case, it is important to note who they were as a child, rather than as simply the first president and the founder of our banking system, respectively.

Writing about people who are important to our history should include a discussion of how that person grew up, where they grew up, and who they were before they made a significant contribution to the world. Similar to how it is important to write a biography that includes family to give the reader a sense of who the subject is, the younger life of a subject is also important to include.

It is odd to imagine such a heavy name as Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton ever having been a teenager, but they both were. In fact, Hamilton was an immigrant who lived through his family’s illnesses, suicides, and poverty before he was sent to America by his own country. This sort of information is important to include when writing the history of a famous person. First, it normalizes the person and makes them relatable. And second, it helps the reader understand that because of his difficult life and the fact that his people believed in him, Hamilton most likely felt that he owed it to the world to make something of himself.

How to Write a Biography About a Famous Person

If you have to write or are considering writing the story of someone’s life, there are several steps that you can take to make the process easier. First, decide what moves you personally and what interests you. Then, choose a person who fits within those parameters. For example, if you care deeply about the Civil Rights Movement, you might want to write about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks. If you are interested in the Civil War, you might consider writing about Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis. Staying in your wheelhouse as far as your interests and passions lie will make your job as a writer easy.

Steps to Write a Biography

You can follow and take the following steps if you are writing about someone else’s life. Depending upon the length of your writing, you may not include every step, but generally speaking, the following is a great guideline.

1. Basic Information

It is a good idea, when writing a biography, to start with the key points and basic information. This way, someone can get the major points of your writing in reading just the first paragraph or two.

This includes things such as:

• When and where was the subject born?
• Where did the subject spend his or her childhood?
• What contributions to society did the subject make?
• What career did the subject have?
• What struggles or major events did the subject experience? (Civil Rights Movement, wars, the Great Depression, Hurricane Katrina, etc.)
• What is or was the subject’s relationship with society? (recluses like Poe or an orator like Winston Churchill?)
• What personality traits is the subject known for? (Churchill’s cigars, Robin Williams’ charitable demeanor)
• When and how did the subject die?
• Is or was there a memorial erected in their honor?
• How did the subject make a difference in the world?

2. Expand on Each of the Different Topics

If you write a biography that addresses the key points and still have space to tell more about the subject to the readers, it is a great idea to expand on each topic, adding things like anecdotes, quotes, and stories from the person’s more personal life.

For example, in your biography, you can expand on the personality of someone like Albert Einstein by saying that the story about the science and mathematics genius being illiterate and not speaking until he was four is simply a myth. You could discuss the childhood of Abraham Lincoln as a regular boy in Illinois. This gives a sense of entertainment to the biography and a real personality to the subject.

Writers can go through the words they have already written, focus on each different key piece of information, and add something personal or entertaining to it. This will show that you did your research and that you, as the writer, are invested in telling a whole story that will help students or readers identify with the lives of the people you are writing about.

3. Inspiration and Challenges

Most worthy subjects of biography had personal challenges or relevant issues to overcome. There are very few people who reach greatness without facing a struggle. Do your research, find out your subject’s struggle, opposition, and inspiration, and include them.

For example, Helen Keller had many disabilities that made life difficult for her. She had to learn to identify things without sight or hearing. While she did not experience this from birth, she was just an infant when an illness took her sight and hearing, and she had to adapt to a dark and silent world. Her amazing progress and grace have inspired the lives of teachers, students, advocates, and people with disabilities. Reflecting on her legacy, the world is better because she existed in it.

Another example of inspiration is Martin Luther King, Jr. His death inspired numerous speeches, articles, movements, and law changes. When we talk about MLK, it is difficult to do so without mentioning his dream for the society that inspired equality and education on things like racial discrimination, diversity training, and equal pay.

4. Photos, Relevant Tips, and Articles of Interest

Sometimes it is appropriate to include photos in biographies. This is especially true when the biography covers an artist. It is difficult to tell the tragic life and death story of Vincent Van Gogh without including a picture of a few of his paintings, especially his self-portrait and Starry Night. Students are often more eagerly drawn to such biographies when they have photos, diagrams, articles, and other extras that are attention-grabbing.

Remember that your goal for writing biographies should not just be to enrich the reader’s education or students with your essay. You should also use your words creatively to draw in and then grab people’s attention so they can focus on the person as a human, rather than just a name they have heard in school or as a part of history.

When writers of biographies can make the students or audience care about the cause, life, or contributions to society made by the essay’s subject, you create and influence minds that encourage them to know more about the person. Your essay could spark enough interest for people to do their research to learn more about the person you have put your focus on.

Fact Check Your Information

When you set out to write a biography, make sure that everything from childhood to politics and the subject’s quotes is accurate. Do not fall victim to reporting hearsay, gossip, rumors, or false information simply because it seems interesting or you think it may make for an entertaining anecdote. Do your research and be sure to fact-check everything you can to ensure that students, peers, and your audience will be genuinely interested in the subject of your work.

You are not obligated to only write about people who made positive contributions to society. In fact, some would go so far as to say that the life story of villains should be told, as well. Writers often write these biographies as a cautionary tale of sorts to make the reader aware of where the person potentially went wrong.

For example, Hitler was rejected from art school, illegitimate, and power-hungry. Charles Manson was evil, deranged, and institutionalized to the point that he knew what he needed to say to authorities to make himself seem harmless and trustworthy. Any person who impacted society in some way, good or bad, is a free game for a research paper or biography.

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How to Outline a Biography

Last Updated: July 4, 2023 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 51,116 times.

Writing a biography can seem daunting, as you are trying to explore the entirety of someone's life on the page. The key to writing a good biography is outlining it before you dive in. A strong, detailed outline will work through key events chronologically. To outline a biography, start by discussing early life and childhood. Then, go into adulthood and current life, or later life and death if the person is no longer alive.

Discussing Early Life and Childhood

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul Andre Charles, born November 17, 1960 in San Diego, California.”

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul's mother, Ernestine Charles, was from Louisiana. RuPaul's father was Irving Charles. They divorced in 1967.”

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul grew up in San Diego, California and moved to Atlanta, Georgia with his sister when he was 15.”

• For example, you may write, “At 15 years old, RuPaul attended a performing arts school in Atlanta. After he graduated, he focused on his budding stage career, opting not to attend college.”

• For example, you may write about the person's experience with abuse at the hands of a parent. Or you may mention that the person struggled with a learning disability in middle school that would go undiagnosed until later in their life.

Outlining Adulthood

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham went to Brown University from 1967-1981, majoring in dance. She worked under famous dancers and choreographers in the performance industry at Brown. She graduated with honors.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham met choreographer Dash Nam in a dance class at Brown. They became romantic and professional partners, collaborating on a number of early performances. Nam would later play a major role in Graham's performing company in New York City.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham worked as a bartender while at Brown to support herself. She then created performances for a small stipend until she was able to open her own performing company in 1987 with the help of Dash Nam.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham was rejected from several major dance companies and was unemployed for several years. In frustration, Graham decided to open her own dance company and studio, using funds from friends and colleagues. It later became the premier dance company in America.”

Detailing Current Life and Impact

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul currently resides on a ranch in Wyoming with his partner of twenty years, Australian painter George LeBar. He continues to produce several successful television shows and is a continued advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

• For example, you may write, “In her later life, Graham fell into a depression and battled alcohol addiction. She died in 1991 at the age of 96 from pneumonia. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico.”

• You can also include your own opinions about the person's overall life. You may include a short section on the impact the person had, or continues to have, on you.
• For example, you may write about how the person influenced a generation of artists or how the person impacted the way we view technology in the 21st century.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://www.apsu.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/Biography-Outline.pdf
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/

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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 – 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.

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60 Biography Topics For Students

A biographical essay is a good opportunity to delve into a particular person's life story and tell about all the important facts of his activities. The main task of such an essay is to tell what a particular person is known for and what he or she has done for the whole world.

This is a good chance to learn more about the biography of famous people. However, there are some important things you need to know before getting started. Here are some important steps to take. Choosing an interesting personality will help you make a good biography report.

Choose Your Subject

First of all, you need to make sure that the historical person can be known and interesting to the general audience. It is best to choose those people who are of interest to you or who have made the most significant contribution to history. However, you shouldn't go for the classic biographies that every student knows. Be original in your choice. Search for biography ideas on the Internet for related resources.

Do Research

Explore everything you can find on a particular historical person. The first thing you need to find is why your chosen person is known in world culture or society. This will allow you to understand better how to write a biography and what to focus on. Your biography research paper should be comprehensive.

Write an Outline

Famous people biography is an opportunity to learn a lot, so a good outline will help you adhere to a standard that your instructor will appreciate. Create a structure that matches the life story of a particular person. You should also choose which ideas you want to immerse in each paragraph. Your biographical research paper will be complete if you study the smallest details of the life of your chosen person.

Write Your Introduction Paragraph

The beginning of the text should always be exciting and motivating to read. A good introduction paragraph can lead to a higher score. The best biography topics will help you make your choice. You can also describe the main achievements of a military leader, scientist, or whoever you choose.

Develop Your Thesis Statement

A thesis is a key aspect of any research paper that will help develop the general thought and narrative of all biographical paperwork. You should choose the right words to present the historical personality to your reader's point. Then, your paperwork will be rated much higher. Make creative biographies with little-known facts.

Body Paragraphs

This point is also very important. You should divide the time intervals in biographical paper works in such a way as to tell about the birth, life, and formation of a particular historical person. For example, you can talk about a person's hobbies or specific life interests or lifestyle. All of this can be important if you are talking about a politician, military leader, celebrity, or religious person. Good biography questions are an opportunity to do detailed research and get high marks. Was this historical person important, and what actions made him or her so? You should add this information to your body paragraphs.

You need to complete your geographic work with some relevant thesis or summarize everything that you wanted to convey to the reader. You also need to try to answer the questions: was it helpful to the reader and how relevant is the biographical sketch of a particular person. You can also mention why other people remember this person and what his legacy is.

Biographies

On the one hand, preparing a biography is a fairly simple process. Many researchers have taken years to piece together all the biographical facts about a particular person. This way, you can quickly find key information and add it to your paperwork. Nevertheless, it is better to delve deeper into the topic and find the most interesting and exciting sources that can provide new facts for the biography.

World Leaders

Choosing world leaders, you can tell about the historical figures that are no longer alive. For example, you can touch on the topic of the US Civil War, world wars, or any other conflicts that shook the whole world. Try to find those historical figures that will be as interesting as possible in various wars and political achievements.

• William I the Conqueror
• Julius Caesar
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Winston Churchill
• George Washington
• Abraham Lincoln

Explorers of the lands are a separate category of historical figures who are a very interesting point to build your essays based on each person's achievements and various geographical discoveries. It will be interesting in the context of cognitive information and any little-known facts about people.

• Fernand Magellan
• Vasco da Gama
• Christopher Columbus
• Miklukho Maklay
• Amerigo Vespucci
• Erofei Pavlovich Khabarov
• Robert Falcon Scott
• Leif Eriksson

If you want to write a biography of an artist, then you should delve into his works. You can also mention interesting facts about the price of paintings at present and the person's recognition during his or her lifetime.

• Pablo Picasso
• Vincent van Gogh
• Salvador Dali
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Claude Monet
• Paul Gauguin
• Andy Warhole
• Henri Matisse
• Gustav Klimt

Inventors and Scientists

Do you know who invented the bubonic plague vaccine? Or maybe you are interested in the person who invented penicillin? Choose the researcher or scientist who has done something for the whole world. Explain how the person went to success and why he had to overcome many obstacles.

• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein
• James Maxwell
• Louis Pasteur
• Charles Darwin
• Maria Curie
• Nikola Tesla
• Galileo Galilei

Historical Biographies

Historical biographies are very interesting because we know little about people who lived many centuries ago. That is why a detailed study of the various kings of antiquity's biography can be interesting for you and your readers. The right questions to ask for biography helps you create expert material, so you should make the correct web quarry.

Ancient Greece

The heyday of Ancient Greece is marked by many historical figures worth mentioning in your paperwork. Luckily many famous people ruled Greece. Some of them have become famous for forward-thinking political decisions and profitable alliances. A lot of the historical figures in this country are known for their conquests.

• Aristodemus
• Alexander I
• Alexander III of Macedon
• Queen Olympias
• Queen Theodora

Ancient Shina

The number of Chinese emperors and dynasties is so great that Hollywood could film more than 15 seasons as a TV series. That is why you can choose any of the most famous Chinese rulers to tell about his legacy and deeds during his lifetime.

• Ji Shao Hao
• Si Shao-kan

Middle ages

Students know a lot about the middle ages through history lessons. Nevertheless, many real rulers have biographical facts that you will not find in ordinary textbooks. Thanks to this, you can create a really interesting biography that will interest even your teacher.

• Philip IV the Handsome
• Alexander Nevskiy
• Louis IX Saint
• Richard I the Lionheart
• Salah ad-Din

How to Write Good Biography?

First of all, you need to adhere to the recommendations that your teacher gave you. The main questions for a biography should concern all time intervals in the life of a person. Do not forget that your work should be structured and correspond to the modern stage of forming a particular personality that you have chosen.

You should tell not only about well-known facts but also some exclusive moments from your chosen person's biography. Then you can not only create good work but also surprise your teacher. If you choose interesting biography topics, you can surprise your teacher.

Your work should also answer basic biography questions about why historical personality is important for a particular country. It applies to political or economic factors. Well-chosen biography questions for students contribute to the creation of dissertation writers . If you add proven facts and links to authoritative sources, it will lead to a high grade.

An Inspiration List:

• Biography.com
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• Literary Devices
• List of Top 100 Famous People
• Short-biography

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A Definitive Guide To Writing a Biography

• March 1, 2022
• 12 Comments

How to write your life story: 7 tips to start

Aspiring autobiographers often mail us asking, ‘how can I write my own story?’ Try these 7 life writing tips to start:

• Post author By Jordan
• 62 Comments on How to write your life story: 7 tips to start

Aspiring autobiographers often mail us asking, ‘how can I write my own personal story?’

How can I craft a compelling narrative?’ It can seem like a daunting task writing and researching your life experiences.

It can be a challenging writing project, but a valuable and creative one. It’s a chance to organise the narrative arc of your life, key impactful moments in your life, reappraise where you’ve been and where you’re going. You’ll also see what life lessons you have experienced and can share that with readers. It can be a rewarding creative writing project. 

There are several book genres to consider when writing a life story: autobiography (a whole sweep of a life), memoir (which tends to focus on a theme, or a particular time in one’s history), or an essay collection. 

Try these seven life writing tips to start:

1. Decide whether you’ll write non-fiction or fictionalize

There are many ways to approach life writing. You could follow a non-fiction approach and set down dates, facts and memories as close to events as they occurred as possible.

Another option is to fictionalize and blur the line between fact and fiction. This approach to life writing may be useful if you want to:

• Protect your identity or those of others while writing about trauma or difficult subject matter
• Experiment with elements of fiction and a playful approach even if you are wanting to write it as a nonfiction book of real-life events. 

Hedi Lampert, one of our writing coaches, takes this approach in her fictionalized memoir, My Life with my Aunt. Although it’s based on a true story, there are many fictionalised elements in it.

Although you might go with a non-fiction approach, add all the elements of fiction that you need to. For example, include strong characters (build them up in the reader’s mind), flesh out the supporting cast, include description, use the five senses as much as possible, include dialogue, and so on. 

Example of experimental life writing: Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes

The French theorist Roland Barthes begins his memoirs with a preface that reads:

It must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel. Roland Barthes,  Roland Barthes  (1977).

Barthes proceeds to give the reader fragments written in the third person , alternating with captioned photographs from his youth. For example, in one fragment titled ‘Arrogance’ he writes:

He has no affection for proclamations of victory. Troubled by the humiliations of others, whenever a victory appears somewhere, he wants to go somewhere else . Barthes,  Roland Barthes ,  p. 46.

Describing himself in the third person, Barthes gives the reader insights into his views and values, as an ordinary autobiography might . Yet in their fragmentary, third-person presentation (without narrative), they become like brief, philosophical musings, rather than a traditional linear ‘story’ with character development. The memoir is told very much in the voice of a theorist and scholar of language.

2. Choose an approach to time

Time is an interesting element to conside r when deciding how to write your life story.

For example, will your book cover birth to the present day? Or a few weeks or months spanning either side of a momentous life event?

First-person narrators in fiction give us examples of narrative approaches to time we can also adopt in writing about our lives.

For example, the title character of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield begins his story by describing the setting for his birth:

To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. Charles Dickens,  David Copperfield  (1850), p. 5 (1992 Wordsworth Editions).

After detailing the day and time of his birth, David goes into closer setting detail:

I was born at Blunderstone, in Suffolk, or ‘thereby,’ as they say in Scotland. I was a posthumous child. My father’s eyes had closed upon the light of this world six months, when mine opened on it. Dickens,  David Copperfield,  p. 6.

This approach to time gives a linear sense of the way a life progresses, from childhood. It’s a common narrative approach in many bildungsromans (coming-of-age stories).

You can also, however, experiment with time in writing your life story.

You could start with a significant event that happened later in adulthood, for example, and circle back to past scenes that illuminate backstory and help the reader to understand what led up to later events.

As you plan how you’ll write  time in your life story, ask, ‘What would provide the strongest dramatic effect?’

Begin Your Story with Confidence

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3. Do what you need to set aside any fear

Many writers feel daunted when embarking on a new project. This is often particularly acute when writing about more personal experiences or real life where you don’t have the protective veil of fictional characters.

When the acclaimed biographer of Virginia Woolf, Hermione Lee, was asked whether fear is a useful emotion for a biographer, she replied:

The fear has to be channeled somehow into the energy of the work. While you’re doing it, I think you have to feel that she is yours and you alone understand her. But in order to arrive at that feeling you have to deal with, and master, your apprehension. Hermione Lee, interview in ‘Hermione Lee, The Art of Biography No. 4’ for The Paris Review, available here . 

Lee goes on to describe how the biographer Richard Homes coped with this feeling. He said:

I get to my desk every morning and I hear these little voices saying, ‘He doesn’t know what he’s doing!’ and I raise my arm and I just sweep , I sweep them off the desk.’

Find your own way to silence any fear, be it changing key figures’ names or even fictionalizing your life entirely.

Personal Guidance on Your Journey

Writing your life story is a journey of discovery and reflection. Navigate it with an expert by your side. Our private coaching offers personalized feedback, encouragement, and the critical insights needed to transform your personal experiences into a captivating narrative. Let us help you tell your story with authenticity and emotional depth.

4. Summarize significant events to cover

Any one person’s life is a massive archive or trove of significant experiences and memories. As Hermione Lee says, the immensity of this ‘source material’ can feel overwhelming.

As a preparatory step in deciding how to write your life story, summarize key events you want to include. Try to write just two lines for each incident or scene you’re thinking of including (you can create and organize scene summaries in our Scene Builder tool ). This will help you plot the key points of your life story, and may even help you with arranging the story thematically. If not already apparent, the narrative arc of your story will become apparent.

You’ll also see what life lessons you have experienced and can share that with readers. Remember you don’t have to write your entire life story from year dot.

Another important point is to remember to describe in detail. Sometimes when we are writing from memory or the ‘mind’s eye’, because the landscape in our recollections is familiar to us, we sometimes don’t describe things. We might say, ‘We lived in that house for ten years.’ We can see the house, because it’s so deep in our memory, but the reader can’t. Describe the house: ‘It had redbrick and a red tiled roof and small windows that let in hardly any light.’ That tells the reader a lot more than ‘that house’.

At the heart of great life writing (as with great fiction), there’s often a main internal conflict and/or an external conflict. A key tension or experience the autobiographer confronts. Tweet This

For example:

• A moment of awakening or discovery of purpose
• Family or personal trauma
• Career or financial difficulties: retrenchment, having to sell your home 
• Relationship troubles
• A breakup or divorce 
• Birth of a child
• Death of someone significant

What core experience (or group of experiences) will your story frame?

5. Allow your authentic voice

As in fiction, in life writing the voice of the memoir author helps to create a distinct sense of character.

The acclaimed memoirist and poet Mary Karr gives excellent advice to aspiring life-writers on voice in her book The Art of Memoir (2015). Writes Karr:

Each great memoir lives or dies based 100 percent on voice. It’s the delivery system for the author’s experience—the big bandwidth cable that carries in lustrous clarity every pixel of someone’s inner and outer experiences. Mary Karr,  The Art of Memoir  (2015), p. 35.

Karr cautions against covering up aspects of your own voice to appear more palatable a person to readers. She says:

The voice should permit a range of emotional tones – too wise-ass, and it denies pathos; too pathetic, and it’s shrill. It sets and varies distance from both the material and the reader – from cool and diffident to high-strung and close. The writer doesn’t choose these styles so much as he’s born to them, based on who he is and how he experienced the past. Karr, p. 36.

6. Avoid telling the truth in oversimplified terms

In Karr’s chapter, ‘The Truth Contract Twixt Writer and Reader’, she discusses the value of telling the truth (rather than ‘pumping yourself up’ for your audience):

How does telling the truth help a reader’s experience, though? Let’s say you had an awful childhood – tortured and mocked and starved every day – hit hard with belts and hoses, etc. You could write a repetitive, duller-than-a-rubber-knife misery memoir. But would that be “true”? And true to how you keep it boxed up now, or to lived experience back then? Back then, those same abusers probably fed you something, or you’d have died. Karr, p. 2.

What Karr’s words strike at is that the ‘truth’ is often something more complex than what makes us look good (or others look bad).

One of the important lessons in learning how to write your life story is how to portray people not simply as heroes and villains. Indeed, to rather show the bits of life between people’s better and worse choices that flesh out more complex portraits, with more colours (and more shades of grey). As Karr says:

It’s the disparities in your childhood, your life between ass-whippings, that throws past pain into stark relief for a reader. Karr, p. 2.

Your Life, Your Story

Ready to write your life story but not sure where to start? Sign up for a Now Novel account. Brainstorm your story idea, create compelling character profiles, and share your work for community feedback. Begin crafting your life narrative today.

7. Get help pulling your life story into shape

Writing memoir or a fictionalized autobiography is challenging because you are dealing not only with the standard elements of story (conflict, narrative, voice and more) but also personal areas. Some of these may be more challenging to revisit (or capture in prose) than others.

Due to the many challenges involved (including the challenge of subjectivity), don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Karr writes about sending people she’s included in memoirs manuscript drafts to ensure embellishment does not disservice the person or the story. Beta readers may provide valuable input, more so if they were bystanders or active participants in the events you describe.

You can also get help from a writing coach who will help you begin weaving personal experience and anecdote into a better, fuller story.

Related Posts:

• How to write a biography: 7 life-writing ideas
• How to write memoir: 9 ideas for a vivid slice of life
• How do you write a dystopian story? 5 tips
• Tags how to start writing a 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.

62 replies on “How to write your life story: 7 tips to start”

am 15 yrs old I’m writing my own story.Thanks

Hi Desmond, good luck writing your story. Thank you for reading our articles!

Hello. I enjoyed reading your tips, in fact I am copying them off for reference if that is ok. I began the memoir/life story before and lost all my data with computer failure. Dumb me, lesson learned to back things up on a couple of flash drives so that doesn’t happen again. So, I am beginning again, after reading your notes here that may have been a blessing in disguise as I have learned so much reading your article. Thank you for publishing this, it will be invaluable as I begin again!! 🙂

Hi Jenny, thank you for reading! Please do feel free to copy anything for reference. I’m so sorry to hear about your data loss, that is frustrating. Glad you’re creating backups this time around, though. Have a creative, inspired 2021, from all of us at Now Novel.

Good day I don’t have a comment but I would love to write my life story as I know it could you help me on this matter thank you.

Hi Catherine, thank you for sharing that. Go for it! I would say start by creating a list of life events you feel would be important to include. Look within them for a good starting point, is there a specific, pivotal event out of which the rest of your life story could unfold in narrative?

If you share a little more about what aspect of your life is compelling you to write (you can email us at [email protected] ) I’m sure we can provide more detailed, specific help.

Hi Jordan, am happy that this morning i came across your article, the artcle mae a good start of writing my own life story. i have been thinking on how to start for a while but now i see my path. Thanks.

Hi Joyce, I’m happy to hear that this article was helpful and you can see the path ahead. I hope you make great progress and discover many moments of excitement and revelation as you proceed.

[…] https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-your-life-story/ […]

Hand written my not finished book of 350 A4 Pages

Hi Freda, that sounds like an epic, impressive to have written it by hand. Good luck with what remains of the process.

Hi, my son gave me an empty book pages cover with my childhood pictures.I started some lines. Actually I was searching a writer about my Sisters life story which is very interesting. You’re Tips are good.

Hi Cloty, that sounds a lovely gesture on your son’s part. It’s interesting that you’d like to write your sister’s life story, is there a reason you’d prefer to write about her life rather than your own? Good luck with it, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed our articles.

Very good guide lines

Thank you, Cloty!

I’ve given a lot of thought to writing my story, and haven’t been sure how to get started. I’ve finally been doing some digging, and came across this article. My experience to date is blogging, so a book seems intimidating, but broken down like this it’s a little less scary. I think I’ll create an account here, see what else you have to offer!

Hi Tara, thank you for sharing that. Being a blogger you already have some good writing experience, I’m sure. That is the trick, breaking it down into manageable, less daunting tasks. Please do, and thanks for reading our blog!

Hello Jordan. I am writing a life story but specifically the love interests and most memorable experiences. Your tips have been so helpful. My main problem is that I don’t know whether to write separate chapters for each or separate short stories for each because the timelines overlap a lot. Please help.

Hi Lindo, I’m so glad to hear that you’ve found the Now Novel blog helpful. It depends whether you have a running narrative thread (if the individual love stories add up to a specific outcome or growth or other arc) or each is more fragmentary/discontinuous (despite the timeline overlap).

If the latter, I would suggest short stories as if there’s no narrative end-point (for example, a new learning or insight these love interests and experiences lead to), then each might be more self-contained. Sending the stories as a collection to an editor would likely help, as this would firstly polish the individual pieces but an evaluation could also give insights into how to connect them all together.

I hope this is helpful, keep going!

Hello and thank you. I enjoyed reading your article. I am considering writing my life story however I am not sure of whether I would like to write an actual tell all/novel/biography-book or if I would actually like to write a screenplay instead. A lot of your methods can be translated the same way when writing a screenplay. I would eventually like my story to become a movie. Should I write the book 1st or just go straight to the screenplay? Which is a better route?

Hi Tony, thank you for your interesting question. Many screenplays are based on novels or biographies and I think it helps to write in book-from first, since you then have the shape of the story down, the research (if needed) and other elements such as characterization in place. From there you could whittle and carve the best possible use of mise en scene , dialogue etc. out of what you have. It would be an interesting way to build a sound framework for a tauter screenplay in other words, I’d say.

I need to write my life stories but is confused. I know it can change someone’s life or journey . I have been saying this for 20 years or more ….why am I not doing it ? ….

Hi Dawn, thank you for sharing that. All I will say is: Start! 🙂 And thank you for reading our blog.

I want to write my life stories very interesting, but some negative idea comes to my mind. That is my story is not so much important, i am not knowen person any field of work,…etc. But now i get clues ,so i am initate to write my own autobiography.

Hi Zenenbe, I’m glad you’re writing regardless of those doubts. It’s natural to have doubts, but there are stories worth telling and sharing in every life – whether the teller is famous/well-known or not ?. Good luck!

Your tips are very helpful. I have started entering short stories competitions (written in first person)for practice! Now starting on Fictional/factual life story and find Tip 1 and 3 helpful to give my characters fictional names and feel comfortable also using 3rd person i.e.she. Also more confident about introducing fictional events into my story to make it more compelling for the reader while still being authentic.

Hi Lyn, I’m glad you found this helpful. It’s great you’re entering short story competitions, that’s great practice. Absolutely, many non-fiction authors embellish for the sake of story. Good luck with your contest entries!

Wonderful article. Just wanted to let you know of a new service that helps you in putting together your life story. https://www.huminz.com/ It makes writing your story fun. And then brings your story to life

Hi Etan, thank you and thanks for sharing your web app for memoir-writing, it looks interesting.

It’s been long overdue, I’m 54 yrs old now. I finally have come to terms in writing an autobiography of myself. Life experiences I have encountered from my 1st memory as a child. At the age of 4yrs old, the year was 1971 Christmas Eve. First memory to my life awaken by the Jaws of life. My mind has been a camera through every moment in my life. What would be read on the publisher end, would be so intrigued to see all the drama, hardships. Caught up in how I survived my dilemmas, with all to be said, physically be right their with me. So consumed from your start of my life to relive my nightmare. Totally lost on how I still have so much compassion & love till this day. Never a dull moment adventure ,trauma, abuse, raped, child molesters. I’m ready to bring it all to an end to start a life I was expected to do as child in middle school. Looking forward to replaying the camera that has consumed my eyes & life experiences. Not sure where I will have to submit my book when I have achieved my story.

Hi Kathleen, thank you for sharing that. It’s never too late to share one’s life story (and from the subject matter you mentioned, I’m sure your courage in telling your story could greatly help others who’ve been through similar life experiences). I’m glad you’re looking forward to the process – go for it. Once you have a first draft you could think about submission (for now I’d say focus on the task at hand which is getting the first version of your story down).

I find the article really useful.Thank you so much for the enlightenment. I have more than twice in my lifetime thought of sharing my life story through a book,but have often felt like it was a load of work to do so. But reading through your article and also reading through the comment section,I feel like its the right time.Thank you so much for being an inspiration especially with me as a beginner.

Hi Mere, it’s a pleasure, thank you for reading our blog and for sharing that. Writing is a lot of work, but it’s rewarding work I’d say. I hope you enjoy the process. Feel free to join our writing groups where you can chat to others at a similar stage of the journey.

That is nice,and thanks for that

Ok,I need your help more

Hi Mary, thank you for reading our blog and a Happy New Year to you. What would you like help with? Please feel free to mail us any questions at help at now novel dot com.

Hi , i wanted to write my life story, how to start?? Any help?

Hi Hana, thank you for sharing your question. I would start by brainstorming a list of key/significant events in your life you want to include, as these you can then plan scenes and scene structure around; once you know what experiences in your life you want to tell most. As a guiding principle, I’d suggest brainstorming incidents that are:

• Emotionally impactful – wins, losses, trials, turning points
• Illustrative – of where you’re from, who you are, what you value and have learned or overcome

This is a loose starting point but I would say is a good preparatory process for sifting through memories and ideas and finding topics and subtopics to organize your life story around. I hope this helps!

Thank you sir Jordan for sharing these tips. I am planning to write my life story. However, I’ll write a story because of the problems and negative things that happened to me in the past and I’m a little bit shame about my experiences but I want to make a story that can inspire many and motivate them. I also ask on how to start writing. Is there any chapter? and how to divide some events of your life into writing a story.

Hi Joash, it’s a pleasure, and thank you for sharing this. Life-writing can be hard because of this – that there are often traumas and painful experiences one wants to write about but there is often fear attached as sometimes society tells us these areas are taboo; that we aren’t allowed to talk about them.

A writing teacher gave a writing circle I belonged to great advice once – ‘turn the family portraits to the wall’ (in other words, banish silencing figures and, ‘What would uncle so-and-so say?’ from your writing space, if possible). You can edit for sensitivity/intensity in the passages that are uncomfortable later if necessary, but the first draft is for telling yourself the story, and nobody else’s potentially shaming perspectives matter at this stage.

There are many places to start. One of the classic autobiographical starting points is when you were born (what year, place, era, political moment). I would suggest reading a few biographies and taking notes on the opening to see the many possibilities. Ask whether the beginning is effective, what information the author focuses on, whether they start with a description, a statement, or something else. A great biographer to read is Hermione Lee – she has written many acclaimed biographies of famous writers and artists.

THANKYOU FOR SHARING,SIR JORDAN

It’s a pleasure, Gladys! No need for honorary titles 😊 just ‘Jordan’ is fine. Thank you for reading our blog.

Hi Jordon it’s nice we can communicate with you and take ideas from you I want to start writing and I’m so pleased to know you !

Hi Randa, thank you for reaching out and for reading our blog – it’s good to meet you.

I have been mulling over writing my life story and being asked by many to do so, however, have no clue where to start. I could not write using my own name as the need for my protection for others is immense. What would you suggest?

Thank you for reading this article and for your question. I would suggest changing names if necessary and writing under your own name. You could also change a few fundamental details in the story arcs of the others you wish to protect (and make it so-called creative non-fiction) so as to further obscure their identity or the possibility of readers connecting the story back to the real people involved. If it is possible, you could also ask anyone who features whom you personally know for their permission to be included as a character in your memoir. If they wish to remain anonymous, then changing their name (and some details as suggested above) would help to protect their privacy.

I hope this helps.

Hi Jordan, have been difficulties on to start my life story,what is the best title for the story do i need to mention names.

Hi Gristone, it’s difficult to advise on a title not knowing anything about the scope or subject matter of your memoir. My suggestion would be to look at the memoir and autobiography titles currently selling well and study titles for ideas – where do the titles draw from? The person’s vocation or profession, a specific aspect of their personality, a specific life experience or struggle they overcame?

If you mean mentioning names in your title, not necessarily. It could be descriptive or it could be more straight-up, e.g. ‘[Name}: [Descriptive phrase]’. I hope this helps.

I been searching and collect some ideas how to start my life story which i think can give inspiration , for those who lost hope in life.

Thank you Jordan for this write-up. I plan to write the story of my life and I needed a guide as to how to start.

Hi Ogbu, it’s my pleasure. I hope it was helpful and wish you a good experience in writing your life story. Let me know if you have any further questions.

My book I have been working on for many years has been my life story of more trauma that seems unreal I started from birth of what I read from mom’s and grandma’s diaries in their words then what I remembered. From birth to 15 . Childhood secrets to motherhood at 16 domestic violence and drug abuse. Marriage 25 years of escaping after 9 attempts divorced never free. Stauked violated for years. Gas lighting still to this day and I am 59 years old soon. With the knowledge I know things I would have done differently and want to pass on that to anyone it may help. The name of my book is Broken -Post Vietnam untold stories of a military family what happened after the war. It’s a story of molestation, shame , guilt ,PTSD a lifetime of struggle . A mentally wounded father. And generational mentally wounded family. Most dysfunctional family hidden behind closed doors

Hi Patricia, I’m truly sorry to hear that you’ve been through such traumatic experiences and I commend you for wanting to help others through writing your life story. It’s important as a society we talk about these things and don’t just sweep them under the rug, but it is brave to confront them and bring them to light (and healing, I hope) too. Best of luck with your story. It sounds particularly interesting in that it touches on what it’s like being in a military family, as I know people who had similar experiences in military families. War is traumatizing on multiple levels and its deleterious impact is far-reaching.

hi Jordan, I have always been a bit of a story teller, all through my life in fact. I never really attended school but after my children I decided to go to college as part of an access course into nursing. one of the modules was English at A Level equivalent. I achieved a B in my written work But an A* in my Oral exam. I know this doesn’t make me a writer and I’m certainly not a reader but I can tell a good story, especially if its something factual happening in my life. I have got to an age in my life where I have lived so much love, loss, happiness and drama, not to mention how different things were back when I was a child to society today and I would like to reflect the stages of my life and how I feel emotionally and mentally. I would like to write my life story fictionally but based on true life events and experiences. This is to protect my identity and that of all the people involved due to the content. I don’t want to do it all in one book, 58 years of living my life couldn’t possibly be captured in one go. please can you advise me on where to start

Hi Lucy, Thanks for getting in touch. The article offers great tips for starting out, but one idea is to start by writing short stories inspired by the different stages in your life. You should reflect on any memories that stand out to you, the key points in your life story, then incorporate the details and the emotions that they evoke. If you need more advice, we can recommend our coach Hedi Lampert who has recently made more slots available in her schedule for new clients.

thank you Jordan for this article honestly it helps me so much and i have a lot to learn from it i am 16 and i am trying to write my life story cause i need to talk about a lot of things about like my trauma , absent father , strict mom that give me no freedom and always controlling , being pressure since 9th grade to get a scholarship and till now i am in 11th going to 12th still be pressure trying to be the perfect daughter , sacrifice happiness and mental health in order to get all A’s and whenever something happened to me i am the only that is always there for myself , whenever i cry i wipe my own tears and it has now get to the point i keep telling myself very soon i will old enough to live my life but every time i try to write the story i don’t know where to start from but reading this article just boost my knowledge and one things that bothered me is fear , i don’t know but every time i try to write something i always have fear or even before i started writing i will just start cry for no reason i think maybe cause i am not ready to write then i will give my self time but the same things will repeat it self so my fear and emotions is always holding me back and i don’t know why that happen but every time fear and emotions hold me back so i have now decided how will write it no matter what even though i will end up with red eyes from crying but i will not let my fear take over me , thank you so much for taking time to read this i will love to hear back

Dear Tee Tee, Thanks for writing in. I’m sorry to hear that it’s difficult for you to write your story. This can be something that stops you from starting. I think it’s useful to begin your story, as this is something you want to write about. If you’re not sure where to start, perhaps start by writing some ideas, an outline of what you’d like to write? Or, you could place ideas/themes that you would like to explore, eg: absent father as one theme, strict mother, another theme, and write some ideas of what you’d like to explore in relation to these themes. Hope these ideas resonate with you. Feel free to write in with any further questions.

I am 16 years old and I am starting to write a story about my life and this reading really helped me learn the steps on how to write it and the examples helped to! Thank you for making this reading. It has helped me so much!!

Hello Nevaeh,

That’s so wonderful to hear! Enjoy the writing process!

Great article, which I will share with my writers’ group. I am about two thirds of the way through the first volume of my memoir and conisdering submitting it to an agent with a proposal. I will get it read and edited by a mentor before I go ahead.

Thanks for your comment John! It’s wonderful that you’re writing a memoir. Good luck with it all!

Thanks so much John. Good luck with your memoir!

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🏆 good biography essay topic ideas, 🥇 interesting biography topic ideas for college, 📍 essay topics to write about biography, 📝 list of topics about biography.

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1. NerdySeal . "Biography." October 15, 2021. https://nerdyseal.com/topics/biography-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

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50 Eye-Catching Autobiography Titles (+ How to Write Your Own)

POSTED ON Oct 12, 2023

Written by Shannon Clark

You’ve written your life story. 

You’ve laid your heart bare before the world

So, what’s the best title for your one-of-a-kind masterpiece?

“____________: An Autobiography”?

Seriously, unless you’re a household name, using “autobiography” as part of your title might not work in your favor, but not to worry. You don’t have to be famous to write an autobiography , but you do need a title that will grab a buyer's attention, so they know your book is worth a second look.

Don't like it?

The purpose of this article is to break down what makes a standout autobiography title and the process for creating your own. 

Need autobiography titles? Let's dive in!

The secret sauce for writing an amazing book title.

The process of creating an autobiography book title that gets noticed starts with a marketer's mindset.

Yes, it all boils down to strategic book positioning in the marketplace. Creativity is a big part of it, but that’s a small part of the bigger picture. After all, if your book doesn't get in front of the people who would be most likely to read it, you can't change lives with the content inside!

Unlike fiction books or other types of nonfiction books (e.g. business books or textbooks) where there’s a specific category or genre expectation, autobiographies play by their own set of rules—the more creative the better. 

How to think like a marketer when creating your title

If you are self-publishing your book, then you’re probably already aware that marketing is a key component of your book’s success, but what is marketing exactly? 

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. 

When marketing your book, knowing how to write a good book title matters, because, along with your cover, it’s the first thing a potential buyer sees (reads) before making a buying decision. A casual search for “autobiography” on Amazon pulled up over 700,000 results. This doesn’t mean that every book belongs in the category, but it’s still a lot of books.

You might be asking how you get your book to rise to the top of search results.

Start with a great title. 

Here are some best practices:

• Make your title relevant – You can never go wrong with a title that reflects the theme of your book . This will clue buyers into what to expect. You can also go with a significant statement or quote drawn directly from your story. Clever titles also work, but try to stay away from the cheesy ones that confuse buyers.
• Appeal to your ideal audience’s needs – Every book is not for everyone. Target a specific reader type when creating your title. For example, meteorologist and television personality Ginger Zee titled her book Natural Disasters. This title works well for her because her book’s content is about the unpredictable “storms” of life she has faced and she also covers storms in her reporting. 
• Stay away from clickbait – Or anything that leads readers to believe your book is about one thing but it’s something else. This only frustrates readers and could potentially lead to bad reviews. 
• Use a primary keyword in your title if it fits – First Gen by Alejandra Campoverdi and Cooked by Jeff Henderson include keyword(s) that are relevant to buyer searches. 
• Invite the reader into your story – This can be done by asking a question like the autobiography title What Are You Doing Here? by Baroness Floella Benjamin. Or, create an image in their mind like The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson or The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish. 

Hint: Keep it short. According to Amazon, “Customers are more likely to skim past long titles (over 60 characters). There are exceptions to the rules. You’ll see some in the list that follows.

Don’t forget about writing a subtitle for your book . They are optional but a great way to add a splash of flavor. 

50 eye-catching autobiography titles that inspire

After an exhaustive search in the autobiography categories of the top online book retailers, I selected 50 incredible autobiography titles as a starting point for creating an amazing title for your autobiography. Note: Memoir titles listed under the autobiography category are included in the list.

Autobiography titles about celebrities

• What Are You Doing Here? – Baronness Floella Benjamin
• Tis Herself – Maureen O’Hara
• F inding Me by Viola Davis
• Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots By Reba McEntire
• Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories by Kelly Ripa
• Thicker than Water by Kerry Washington
• We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu
• Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today by Valerie Bertinelli
• Just as I am by Cicely Tyson
• A Promised Land by Barack Obama
• Making It So by Patrick Stewart
• Inside Out by Demi Moore
• In Pieces by Sally Field
• The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
• Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder by William Shatner
• Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini
• Look Out for the Little Guy! By Scott Lang
• I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart, Neil Strauss
• No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox
• Scenes from My Life by Michael K. Williams
• The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
• I Came as a Shadow – John Thompson

Autobiography titles about authors

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings  by Maya Angelou
• Lit by Mary Karr

Autobiography titles about family

• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Mott Street by Ava Chin
• The Girl in the Middle by Anais Granofsky
• All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
• The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson

Autobiography titles about immigration, culture, and race

• Good Morning, Hope: A True Story of Refugee Twin Sisters and Their Triumph over War, Poverty, and Heartbreak by Argita Zalli, and Detina Zalli 
• Negroland by Margo Jefferson
• First Gen by Alejandra Campoverdi
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
• Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story – Mazie K. Hirono
• The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clementine Wamariya, Elizabeth Weil

Autobiography titles about beating the odds

• Cooked by Jeff Henderson
• The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow
• Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Mann, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust by Michael Hingson and Susy Flory
• When the Tears Dry by Meredith Hawkins
• Reaching for the Moon by Katherine Johnson
• 80 Percent Luck, 20 Percent Skill: My Life as a WWII Navy Ferry Pilot by Ralph T. Alshouse

Autobiography titles about faith

• Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache by Granger Smith
• The Barn by David Hill
• All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore

Autobiography titles about journalists, reporters, and media

• Natural Disaster: I Cover Them. I am One by Ginger Zee
• Going There by Katie Couric
• Rough Draft by Kati Tur
• The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day

Use a free tool to generate your own autobiography title

You obviously can't use these published autobiography titles for your own book – but you can use our free book title generator to come up with suggestions that you could use.

It's really easy to use, and instantly gives you an unlimited amount of working titles – or even final titles – to use for your book!

1. Select nonfiction for the book’s genre in the drop-down menu

2. Fill in the details

For the next question, if you have a book description, type “yes” and add your description in the text box.

If you don’t have a description yet, answer “no” and fill out the questions. Eventually, you will need to write a book description , but this is often something our authors do after they complete their manuscript .

3. Click “generate”

That's it! Get ready for some unique autobiography book title suggestions. Remember, if you don't like the one that you see, you can continue to generate as many as you'd like.

Final thoughts

Your autobiography title can be the difference between someone scrolling past your book on Amazon or stopping to read a sample. Whatever title you choose, remember that it’s just as much about you as your reader. Make them want to read your story by giving them something unique that piques their interest. 

Are you ready to take the next steps with your autobiography? We have a professional publishing team ready to guide you through the book development process. 

Interested in self-publishing? Click below to find out more.

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Exploring 250 Essay Topics in Biographies: From Autobiographies to Cultural and Ethnic Stories

Biographies have long held a special place in the literary world, offering readers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of extraordinary individuals. From autobiographies and memoirs to celebrity biographies and historical accounts, these works provide us with a window into the experiences, achievements, and challenges of people from diverse backgrounds and fields. In this blog article, we will explore 25 essay topics for each of the following categories: autobiographies, memoirs, celebrity biographies, historical biographies, inspirational stories, political biographies, sports biographies, literary biographies, inspirational women, and cultural and ethnic biographies. Each category presents a unique opportunity to delve into the lives and stories that have shaped our world and influenced our understanding of humanity.

Autobiographies

Autobiographies are firsthand accounts of a person's own life journey, written by the individual themselves. They offer a unique perspective into the author's personal experiences, challenges, triumphs, and reflections, providing deep insights into their lives and the lessons they have learned along the way.

Autobiographies Essay Topics

• The Journey of Self-Discovery: Exploring Identity in My Autobiography
• Overcoming Adversity: My Triumphs and Struggles in Life
• Lessons Learned: Reflections on My Autobiographical Journey
• The Influence of Childhood: Shaping Who I Am Today
• From Rags to Riches: My Path to Success and Fulfillment
• An Unconventional Life: Breaking the Norms in My Autobiography
• Love and Loss: The Emotional Rollercoaster of My Life
• A Life of Service: My Autobiography as an Advocate for Change
• The Power of Resilience: Bouncing Back from Life's Challenges
• The Intersection of Cultures: Navigating Identity in My Autobiography
• Lessons from the Past: Wisdom Gained through Life Experiences
• An Extraordinary Journey: My Autobiography of Travel and Exploration
• Facing Fear: Confronting Personal Demons in My Autobiography
• Discovering Passion: Pursuing Dreams and Finding Purpose
• Lessons from Nature: Connecting with the Environment in My Autobiography
• Balancing Act: Juggling Personal and Professional Life in My Autobiography
• My Autobiography as a Trailblazer: Breaking Barriers and Inspiring Others
• The Healing Power of Art: Expressing Myself in My Autobiography
• Parenting Chronicles: The Joys and Challenges of Raising a Family
• Lessons in Leadership: My Autobiography as a Visionary and Influencer
• Through the Lens: My Autobi ography as a Photographer's Perspective
• Navigating Relationships: Love, Friendship, and Intimacy in My Autobiography
• Life on the Edge: Adventures and Risks in My Autobiography
• Autobiography of a Survivor: Overcoming Trauma and Rebuilding Life
• Lessons from Failure: Embracing Setbacks and Finding Redemption

Memoirs are similar to autobiographies but tend to focus on specific periods, events, or themes of the author's life rather than encompassing their entire life story. Memoirs often delve into personal experiences, emotions, and reflections, providing a more intimate and subjective exploration of the author's life.

Memoirs Essay Topics

• A Reflection on Memories: Exploring the Power of Memoirs
• Lessons Learned: Insights from My Memoir
• Revisiting the Past: Nostalgia and Reflection in Memoirs
• Life's Turning Points: My Memoir of Transformation
• Moments of Joy: Finding Happiness in the Pages of My Memoir
• Exploring Family Dynamics: My Memoir of Relationships and Heritage
• Memoirs of Resilience: Overcoming Challenges and Adversity
• Cultural Explorations: A Journey through Memoirs of Different Backgrounds
• The Art of Storytelling: Craft and Narrative in Memoirs
• The Power of Vulnerability: Sharing Personal Stories in Memoirs
• Memoirs of Travel: Discovering the World and Oneself
• Memoirs of Friendship: Celebrating Connections and Bonds
• Memoirs of Loss and Grief: Navigating Life's Darkest Moments
• Memoirs of Inspiration: Stories that Ignite Passion and Purpose
• Memoirs of Self-Discovery: Finding Identity and Acceptance
• Memoirs of a Changing World: Reflecting on Societal Shifts and Evolution
• Memoirs of Success: Lessons from Achievements and Triumphs
• Memoirs of Healing: Exploring Personal Growth and Recovery
• Memoirs of Parenting: Navigating the Joys and Challenges of Raising Children
• Memoirs of Adventure: Exploring the Thrills and Risks of Unconventional Paths
• Memoirs of Activism: Making a Difference through Personal Narratives
• Memoirs of Education: Lessons Learned Inside and Outside the Classroom
• Memoirs of Aging: Embracing Life's Transitions and Wisdom
• Memoirs of Resilient Women: Celebrating Female Strength and Empowerment
• Memoirs of the Human Experience: Stories that Illuminate the Shared Journey of Life

Celebrity Biographies

Celebrity biographies delve into the lives of well-known personalities from the realms of entertainment, sports, politics, or other public arenas. These biographies provide readers with a glimpse into the private lives, struggles, accomplishments, and influences of famous individuals, revealing the complexities behind their public personas.

Celebrity Biographies Essay Topics

• The Power of Influence: Analyzing the Impact of Celebrity Biographies
• Behind the Glamour: Exploring the Personal Lives of Celebrities
• Fame and Fortune: The Price of Celebrity in Biographies
• Celebrity Activism: Examining the Role of Celebrities in Social Change
• From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Tracing the Journey of Famous Personalities
• The Dark Side of Stardom: Unveiling the Challenges in Celebrity Biographies
• Celebrity Image and Identity: How Biographies Shape Public Perception
• Breaking Stereotypes: Challenging Conventional Notions through Celebrity Biographies
• Celebrities as Role Models: Assessing the Responsibility and Impact
• The Media's Role in Constructing Celebrity Narratives: A Critical Analysis
• The Evolution of Celebrity Culture: Insights from Biographies
• Celebrity Scandals and Redemption: The Complexities of Public Image
• Celebrity Biographies as Cultural Artifacts: Understanding Society through Personal Stories
• The Pursuit of Authenticity: Examining Truth and Fiction in Celebrity Biographies
• Celebrity Memoirs as Marketing Tools: Unraveling the Business of Personal Stories
• Celebrity Influence on Pop Culture: Exploring the Ripple Effect of Biographies
• The Intersection of Art and Celebrity: Analyzing Creative Lives in Biographies
• The Psychology of Fame: Insights from Celebrity Biographies
• The Celebrity Persona: Examining the Construction of Identity in Biographies
• Celebrity Biographies and the Art of Self-Branding
• The Biographer's Dilemma: Balancing Objective Narration with Sensationalism
• Celebrity Biographies and the Cult of Personality: Examining Fan Culture
• Celebrity Relationships and Love Lives: Intrigue and Intimacy in Biographies
• The Journey to Stardom: Success Stories and Strategies in Celebrity Biographies
• Celebrity Biographies as Historical Documentation: Capturing Moments in Time

Historical Biographies

Historical biographies shed light on the lives of notable individuals from the past, encompassing various fields such as politics, science, art, or exploration. These biographies explore the impact of historical figures on their respective societies, as well as their contributions, achievements, and the context in which they lived.

Historical Biographies Essay Topics

• Uncovering the Past: The Significance of Historical Biographies
• Illuminating Great Minds: Exploring Historical Figures through Biographies
• The Human Side of History: Personal Stories in Historical Biographies
• Courageous Leaders: Examining the Lives of Historical Icons
• Historical Biographies as Tools for Understanding Societal Transformations
• Forgotten Heroes: Resurrecting the Legacies of Overlooked Historical Figures
• The Power of Influence: Exploring Historical Figures' Impact on Society
• Historical Biographies and the Construction of National Identity
• Revealing Untold Stories: Unearthing Hidden Narratives in Historical Biographies
• Lessons from the Past: Extracting Wisdom from Historical Figures' Lives
• The Art of Historical Biographies: Balancing Facts and Narrative
• Historical Biographies and the Complexity of Human Nature
• Historical Women: Celebrating the Contributions of Remarkable Female Figures
• Historical Villains: Understanding the Motivations and Impact of Notorious Individuals
• Historical Biographies and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage
• Biographies of Revolutionary Figures: Examining Catalysts for Change
• The Historical Context: Analyzing the Influence of Time and Place in Biographies
• Historical Biographies and the Shaping of Historical Narratives
• The Intersection of Politics and Personal Lives in Historical Biographies
• Biographies of Scientists and Inventors: Unveiling the Minds that Changed the World
• Historical Biographies and the Representation of Diversity
• Examining Historical Figures' Legacy: Assessing Long-Term Impact
• Historical Biographies and the Exploration of Power and Authority
• Historical Biographies and the Preservation of Memory
• Historical Biographies and the Continuity of Human Experience

Inspirational Stories

Inspirational stories encompass a wide range of narratives that uplift, motivate, and inspire readers. These stories often highlight extraordinary individuals who have overcome challenges, achieved greatness, or made a positive impact on others. They serve as a source of encouragement and provide valuable life lessons.

Inspirational Stories Essay Topics

• The Power of Inspiration: Exploring the Impact of Inspirational Stories
• Overcoming Obstacles: Lessons from Inspiring Individuals
• Stories of Triumph: Inspiring Narratives of Personal Achievement
• The Ripple Effect: How Inspirational Stories Ignite Change in Others
• Finding Strength in Adversity: Inspiring Tales of Resilience
• Empowering Through Words: The Role of Inspirational Stories in Motivating Others
• Inspiring Women: Celebrating the Achievements and Stories of Remarkable Females
• From Tragedy to Triumph: Transformative Journeys in Inspirational Stories
• Inspirational Stories of Social Change: Individuals Making a Difference
• Lessons from Legends: Inspiring Stories of Iconic Figures
• Inspirational Stories of Perseverance: Rising Above Challenges
• Inspiring Acts of Kindness: Stories of Compassion and Humanity
• Breaking Barriers: Inspirational Tales of Overcoming Limitations
• Inspirational Stories of Creativity: Unleashing the Power of Imagination
• From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Inspiring Tales of Everyday Heroes
• Inspiring Stories of Empowerment: Encouraging Personal Growth and Fulfillment
• Inspirational Tales of Courage: Bravery in the Face of Adversity
• Inspiring Stories of Philanthropy: Making a Difference in the World
• From Setbacks to Success: Stories of Resilience and Achieving Dreams
• Inspiring Stories of Mentorship: Guiding and Inspiring Others to Succeed
• Lessons from Inspirational Sports Stories: Achieving Greatness through Determination
• Inspiring Stories of Environmental Stewardship: Protecting and Preserving our Planet
• Inspiring Stories of Academic Excellence: Nurturing Intellectual Achievement
• Inspiring Tales of Forgiveness: Healing and Moving Forward
• Inspiring Stories of Volunteerism: Making an Impact through Service

Political Biographies

Political biographies focus on the lives, careers, and ideologies of political figures. They provide insights into the motivations, accomplishments, and challenges faced by these individuals as they navigate the intricacies of the political landscape. Political biographies offer a deeper understanding of the historical and social contexts that shape political decision-making.

Political Biographies Essay Topics

• Political Biographies: Understanding the Lives and Legacies of Influential Leaders
• Exploring Political Ideologies: An Analysis of Political Biographies
• The Making of a Statesman: Tracing the Journey of Political Figures
• Leadership and Decision-Making: Insights from Political Biographies
• The Influence of Political Environment: Examining Context in Political Biographies
• Political Biographies and the Power of Persuasion
• Political Families: Examining Dynasties and Succession in Political Biographies
• The Role of Charisma in Political Biographies: A Comparative Study
• Political Scandals and Corruption: Unveiling Dark Secrets in Biographies
• Political Biographies and the Dynamics of Power
• Political Biographies as Instruments of Propaganda
• The Evolution of Political Movements: Insights from Biographies
• From Activism to Governance: The Transition in Political Biographies
• Political Biographies and the Art of Diplomacy
• The Personal and Political: Analyzing the Intersection in Biographies
• Biographies of Revolutionary Leaders: Catalysts for Political Change
• The Impact of Political Biographies on Public Opinion and Discourse
• Political Biographies and Nation-Building: Examining Leadership in Transitioning Societies
• Political Campaigns and Strategies: Lessons from Political Biographies
• The Role of Women in Politics: Exploring Female Political Biographies
• The Significance of Leadership Style: Lessons from Political Biographies
• Political Biographies and the Evolution of Democracy
• Political Rivalries and Alliances: Interactions in Political Biographies
• The Role of Personal Background and Experiences in Political Biographies
• The Legacy of Political Leaders: Assessing Impact and Historical Significance

Sports Biographies

Sports biographies delve into the lives and careers of athletes and sports personalities. These biographies showcase the triumphs, struggles, and dedication of individuals in the world of sports. They explore the physical and mental challenges faced by athletes, their achievements, and the impact they have on their respective sports.

Sports Biographies Essay Topics

• Sports Biographies: Insights into the Lives and Achievements of Sporting Legends
• From Athlete to Icon: Exploring the Journey of Sports Figures in Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Art of Perseverance: Overcoming Challenges and Adversity
• Breaking Boundaries: Inspirational Stories of Diversity in Sports Biographies
• Sportsmanship and Character: Lessons from Sporting Icons in Biographies
• The Psychology of Champions: Understanding the Mindset of Elite Athletes in Sports Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Evolution of Sports Culture
• Sports Biographies as Inspiration: Motivating Success in Athletes and Fans
• Exploring Athletic Rivalries: Insights from Sports Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Impact on Youth Development and Aspirations
• The Role of Coaches and Mentors: Influential Figures in Sports Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Economics of the Sporting World
• Gender and Sports: Unveiling the Stories of Female Athletes in Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Intersection of Politics and Sport
• Sports Biographies and the Ethics of Performance Enhancement
• Overcoming Injury: Inspiring Tales of Rehabilitation and Comebacks in Sports Biographies
• The Legacy of Sports Icons: Examining their Impact on Sports and Society
• Sports Biographies and the Influence on Sports Journalism and Media
• Exploring the Sporting Spirit: Camaraderie and Sportsmanship in Biographies
• The Cultural Significance of Sports: Insights from Sports Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Business of Sports Endorsements and Sponsorships
• Sports Biographies and the Representation of Athletes' Personal Lives
• The Evolution of Sports Training: Innovations Explored in Sports Biographies
• Sports Biographies and the Psychology of Team Dynamics
• The Journey from Amateur to Professional: Tales of Athletic Development in Sports Biographies

Literary Biographies

Literary biographies delve into the lives of writers, poets, and authors, providing insights into their creative processes, influences, and the experiences that shaped their works. These biographies shed light on the personal and professional lives of literary figures, examining their contributions to literature and their lasting impact.

Literary Biographies Essay Topics

• Literary Biographies: Insights into the Lives and Works of Literary Figures
• Unraveling Literary Genius: Exploring the Minds of Famous Authors in Biographies
• The Creative Process: Insights from Literary Biographies
• Literary Movements and Influences: Tracing the Pathways in Biographies
• The Impact of Personal Experiences on Literary Works: Lessons from Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies and the Construction of Literary Canons
• Love, Loss, and Inspiration: The Personal Lives of Literary Figures in Biographies
• Literary Rivalries and Friendships: Interactions Explored in Biographies
• The Role of Editors and Publishers: Influential Figures in Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies and the Historical Context of Literature
• The Art of Translation: Exploring the Impact of Translators in Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies and the Exploration of Literary Themes and Motifs
• The Writing Life: Challenges and Triumphs in Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies as Testaments to Literary Influence and Legacy
• Literary Biographies and the Cultural Significance of Literature
• Literary Biographies and the Impact of Critics and Literary Circles
• Literary Biographies and the Representation of Gender in Literature
• Literary Biographies and the Evolution of Writing Styles and Techniques
• The Intersection of Life and Art: Examining Personal Mythologies in Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies and the Examination of Literary Conflicts and Controversies
• Literary Biographies and the Influence of Travel and Exile on Writing
• Literary Biographies and the Exploration of Writer's Block and Creative Slumps
• The Role of Inspiration and Muse: Insights from Literary Biographies
• Literary Biographies and the Preservation of Literary Archives and Manuscripts
• The Literary Afterlife: Assessing the Posthumous Impact of Literary Figures in Biographies

Inspirational Women

Inspirational women profiles extraordinary females who have made significant contributions and achievements in various fields. These biographies celebrate the strength, resilience, and accomplishments of women, highlighting their roles as pioneers, leaders, and catalysts for change. They serve as sources of inspiration and empowerment for readers of all genders.

Inspirational Women Essay Topics

• Women Breaking Barriers: Inspirational Stories of Female Trailblazers
• The Power of Resilience: Stories of Inspirational Women Overcoming Challenges
• Shattering Glass Ceilings: Inspiring Women in Leadership and Professional Fields
• Empowering Women: Stories of Courage, Strength, and Empowerment
• Inspirational Women in Science and Technology: Pioneers and Innovators
• Inspiring Women in History: Lessons from Remarkable Female Figures
• Women as Agents of Change: Making a Difference in Society
• Inspiring Women in the Arts: Creativity, Expression, and Influence
• Inspirational Women in Sports: Breaking Records and Inspiring Generations
• Women as Advocates for Social Justice: Fighting for Equality and Rights
• Inspirational Women Entrepreneurs: Building Businesses and Inspiring Success
• Women in Politics: Trailblazers, Leaders, and Champions of Change
• Inspiring Women in Education: Empowering Minds and Nurturing Potential
• Women as Philanthropists: Making a Positive Impact on Communities and Causes
• Inspirational Women in Media and Journalism: Amplifying Voices and Shaping Narratives
• Women in STEM: Inspiring Future Generations in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
• Inspiring Women in Humanitarian Work: Dedication, Compassion, and Global Impact
• Women as Environmental Stewards: Protecting and Preserving our Planet
• Inspirational Women in Literature: Stories, Imagination, and Literary Legacy
• Women as Peacebuilders: Promoting Harmony and Conflict Resolution
• Inspiring Women in Health and Wellness: Transforming Lives through Care and Advocacy
• Women as Cultural Icons: Influence, Representation, and Identity
• Inspirational Women in Activism: Advocating for Change and Social Progress
• Women in Law and Justice: Upholding Rights and Equality under the Law
• Women as Mentors and Role Models: Guiding and Inspiring the Next Generation

Cultural and Ethnic Biographies

Cultural and ethnic biographies focus on the lives and experiences of individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. They explore the unique perspectives, traditions, struggles, and contributions of individuals within specific cultural or ethnic contexts. These biographies promote cultural understanding, celebrate diversity, and shed light on the richness of different cultural heritages.

Cultural and Ethnic Biographies Essay Topics

• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies: Exploring the Lives and Legacies of Diverse Individuals
• Cultural Icons: Celebrating the Contributions of Influential Figures in Cultural and Ethnic Biographies
• Identity and Belonging: Personal Narratives in Cultural and Ethnic Biographies
• Cultural Resilience: Inspiring Stories of Survival and Adaptation in Biographies
• Cultural Pioneers: Trailblazers and Innovators in Cultural and Ethnic Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies as Windows to Understanding Diversity and Inclusion
• Cultural Revival and Preservation: Examining the Role of Cultural Leaders in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies as Catalysts for Social Change and Advocacy
• Representation and Empowerment: Amplifying Voices in Cultural and Ethnic Biographies
• Cultural Influences on Art and Literature: Insights from Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Interplay of Tradition and Modernity
• The Impact of Migration and Diaspora: Stories of Cultural Identity in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: Examining Activism in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies as Tools for Historical and Societal Understanding
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Exploration of Intercultural Exchanges
• Cultural and Ethnic Icons in Music and Performing Arts: Expressions of Identity in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Intersection of Politics and Culture
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies as Testimonies of Struggle and Triumph
• Cultural and Ethnic Influences on Fashion and Style: Examining Icons in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Representation of Gender and Sexuality
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Preservation of Oral Traditions and Folklore
• The Role of Language and Linguistic Identity in Cultural and Ethnic Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies as Sources of Inspiration for Social Justice Movements
• Cultural and Ethnic Icons in Film and Entertainment: Shaping Popular Culture in Biographies
• Cultural and Ethnic Biographies and the Continuity of Cultural Heritage

The world of biographies is a treasure trove of inspiration, knowledge, and cultural understanding. Through autobiographies and memoirs, we can explore the personal journeys and self-reflections of individuals. Celebrity biographies grant us access to the private lives of public figures, revealing the complexities behind their fame. Historical biographies offer insights into the lives of notable figures who have shaped our societies. Inspirational stories remind us of the triumph of the human spirit and the power of resilience. Political biographies shed light on the lives and ideologies of influential leaders. Sports biographies celebrate the achievements and dedication of athletes. Literary biographies allow us to dive into the minds of renowned authors. Inspirational women biographies showcase the incredible contributions and achievements of remarkable females. Cultural and ethnic biographies provide a lens into the rich tapestry of diverse cultures and traditions.

In exploring these 25 essay topics for each category, we open ourselves to a world of captivating narratives, thought-provoking themes, and profound insights. Whether you are a literature enthusiast, history buff, sports fan, or someone seeking inspiration, the realm of biographies offers something for everyone. By studying the lives of individuals who have left indelible marks on their fields, we gain a deeper understanding of the human experience and our shared humanity. So, grab a biography that resonates with you, embark on a journey of discovery, and let these remarkable stories inspire, educate, and enlighten you.

Essay Titles and Topic Ideas for Biography

⭐ fascinating biography ideas to improve your writing, ✅ good biography topic samples to create your paper, ⚡ interesting biography ideas to write about, ️📚 biography writing prompts for students.

• Biography of dr.jose rizal At a time when all boys of his age went to school, Faraday was ngaged in menial work. Due to the crushingpovertyof his family, Faraday was forced to take up several odd Jobs that taught him how to fend for himself when he was still a minor. One fine morning, Faraday was going →
• Nelson mandela: biography and influences essay For a person to have a significant influence on me, he/ she would have to be somebody that has surpassed complicated tribulations and puzzles by going out of his/ her way with one strict ambition; to make this world a better place. My understanding of a significant influencer is based on such understanding because, →
• Biography of nelson mandela The group soon set out to try to change how the government was working and the laws of apartheid it was putting on the people. After all his ups and downs, and all the adversity he faced, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa.
• Charles dickens: a biography In his work Dickens largely reflected the political economic and social aspects of the society comprising of the poor, peasants, workers, landlords, the rich, and the state. Through his reflections Dickens presented powerful social and political views criticizing the rich and the state and arguing out the cause of the poor.
• The biography of barack obama He had questions for his father but he was not there to answer them. He was going to pursue a degree in one of his favourite subjects: political science.
• Georgy strait’s biography In 1985, George was announced Male Vocalist of The Year and had the Album of The Year for the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music. In 1986 he won Male Vocalist of The Year again for the CMA's. This paper to me had more meaning and I was →
• Janet laurence biography Janet Laurence uses the Australian landscape as a metaphor, as a warning regarding the fragility of our environment. Her work is symbolic of the fragility of nature, Janet Lawrence demonstrates this in a metaphorical way through her concern with the landscape and natural world. Janet Laurence has displayed the large endangered forest →
• Biography of nelson mandela essay It was not until Mandela was a young man and went to Johannesburg that he experiencedracismthe separation between whites in blacks in South Africa this was the very thing that sparked an outrage in him. He could not believe that people where treating people this way he felt that something had to →
• Angelina jolie biography Later on she was majored in film at New York University after she graduated from Beverly Hills High School at age 16. In the year of 1999, she starred in the film " Girl, Interrupted," which was both starred and produced by Winona Ryder, as Lisa Rowe, for which she received an →
• Jane addams- biography The school board maintained control over the school administration for many years. During which they restricted the types of children that were able to attend the public schools and they restricted the amount of freedom and authority the teachers were able to use in their classrooms. As a member of the school board, Addams tried →
• Annie leibovitz biography and image sample analysis Indirectly she also means that we should love what we take pictures of because what's the point of making others like a photograph you do not like. Photograph One " Where Romance is Celebrated" This is a photograph featuring Zac Efron as Prince Philip and Vanessa Hudgens as Princess Aurora in the Disney →
• Frida kahlo short biography However the important event in her life was the undergo of the miscarriage andabortion. In her paintings, a strong indigenous Mexicanculturewas shown in the use of intense color and primitive style.
• Big foot biography Cryptozoology is one as well all of these can be found on The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry website.Cryptozoology is the study of the unknown animal. The belief in the existence of Bigfoot is cryptozoology. A short film taken in 1967 by Roger Patterson and Bog Gimlin shows the alleged Bigfoot crossing a →
• Biography of eva beem When she was eight-years old, and she was in the school when the Germans invaded Holland in May of 1940. She was only 11 years old when she die in the gas chambers, and her brother was only 10 years old when he die with her sister Eva.
• Purvi patel’s biography reflection Her mother made her learn these things at a young age to know what to do later on in her life. Purvi was still in college and they were looking for a house, but the day Jasmine was born her husband, Amrish, had bought a million dollar lottery ticket which he ost by one number, →
• Vikram seth biography He then went on to study creative writing at Stanford and classical Chinese poetry at Nanjing University in China. Having lived in London for many years, Seth now maintains residences near Salisbury, England, where he is a participant in local literary and cultural events, having bought and renovated the house of the →
• Biography informative speech If you ever are In a situation where you need to Impress your grandma then, cook her a chocolate cookie with a kiss In the center.Ill. Cookies are easier to make than you think so I am going to show you the three steps in making cocoa kiss cookies: the ingredients, the mixing →
• Biography dato michelle yeoh At the age of 15, she moved with her parents to England, where she was enrolled in aboarding school. She represented Malaysia at the Queen of the Pacific 1983 beauty pageant which was held in Australia and won the crown.
• Johann wyss autor biography The famous story of Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe in 1719, inspired Wyss's idea of shipwrecked family but Wyss made sure that there were parents on his island too, to instruct and guide the younger children. Characters Father the narrator of the story. Father is a very knowledgeable man who knows almost everything →
• Character biography tom: the glass menagerie He has to work long hours in a warehouse to pay the bills and take care of his nagging mother and sister. Tom's truedreamsare to become a writer and he writespoetryin his spare time, this is what eventually gets him fired from his Job. In the movies he finds the adventure, thrill and →
• Biography of al capone A man who started as a mediocre Italian boy growing up in Brooklyn and becoming arguably the most popular Mob boss in the whole of the United States, Al Capone was a superstar of the crime world. But the most appropriate definition of Al Capone would be, is that he was a man of character.
• Biography of caroll lewis The same publish came only after years till his death. Until his death, the Victorian had a revolution which brought diversity in the religious and personal view autonomy which were engineered by the great test as well as the artistic character of the two fallen rhetorical heroes. This is through the →
• Short biography: carlos flores We as a party, a people, and a country cannot stand to watch Honduras become Venezuela when we have been democratic for so long; thus, I, along with others I hope, will do what is necessary within our respective areas to not only prevent this " poll" from happening but to reign in Zelaya in →
• Reflection on nelson’s mandela biography This paper critically examines the life and times of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela highlighting some of the examples of his contribution to the rise of his country and followers. Biographical Information Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. In 1991, Mandela was overwhelmingly elected the president of the ANC and his old friend Oliver Tambo became →
• Dr. mary mcleod biography Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator that founded Bethune Cookman College in the early 1900's, one of the first historical black colleges.Dr. Bethune because my grandmother was inspired at the age of 40 to obtain her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and taught for twenty nine years. She said that →
• A biography of the fish that changed the world
• Beethoven biography
• Biography of james wilson
• Biography of sir richard branson
• Oj simpson university biography
• Sexual biography
• Patricia bath biography
• Edgar allan poe biography
• Biography and philosophical legacy of mikhail bakhtin
• Biography on northern nanaimo vancouver island british columbia
• Lazaro cardenas president of mexico 1934-1940 biography
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• Corbin bleu reivers biography He is best remembered for his role in the Disney Channel Original film, High School Musical as Chad Danforth, the captain of the school's basketball team. The actor was born on the 21st of February, 1989 in Brooklyn, New York City to Martha and David Reivers. The film was about two friends of a girl →
• The biography of nikola kalinic Obviously, the coach had enough and made the bold move of sending the 6 feet forwarder home. Croatia's historic success at the world cup threw more attention to Nikola Kalini 's dismissal, as a result, he was dubbed the biggest loser of Russia 2018. Here is what we dug up on his family. Nikola Kalinic →
• Chris martin biography In 2017, Chris was made it on the list of the most influential people in the U.K. Does He Have A Girlfriend? Chris Martin's Net Worth The frontman of the English band has made a fortune for himself from his career as a songwriter, singer and record producer. After Martin and Paltrow announced their conscious →
• Biography of lucy sprague mitchell – a leader in the field of education in the early 1900s Her father was a very well-off merchant while her mother was one of the leaders to grow the cultural and social environment in Chicago. Then lastly she went to work with Julia Richman who was the principle of a high school.
• Biography of shirley jackson essay sample Jackson was born to an upper-class family in San Francisco, California. As a child, Jackson was a rebellious child because she disagrees with her parents' social standards and expectations of her. Shirley Jackson has various styles of writing, as her husband would explain, " she is a complex human being, confronting the world in →
• Biography of stephen david – an american producer and writer He started this in the mid-1980s, after graduating from the prestigious University of Sheffield. Stephen was a member of a theater group made up of the young people in Taunton. Certainly, he is a force to reckon with in the drama, theater and dance industry.
• The exciting life biography of travis pastrana, the stuntman In addition, he is also an actor and has appeared in the 2018 movie titled Action Figures 2 and Days of my Youth that was released in 2014. In addition to his stunts performing, Travis is also the executive producer of an action sport collective MTV series called the Nitro Circus.
• Lasisi elenu's biography, real name, & family In Nigeria, Lasisi Elenu stands out as a talented comedian who reaches out to his fans on his social media pages, especially on Snapchat and Instagram, where he disguises his face and voice for comic effect. If you are a Snapchat or Instagram user, you will agree that Elenu boasts a strong fan base, which →
• Mo farah's biography With a style that is best described as unique and different from what other competitors do, he has soared like an eagle and has won a lot of medals as an athlete. Mo Farah is an athlete best known for running in the 5, 000 and 10, 000-meter race even though he has also been →
• A biography of seyyed hossein nasr Professor Nasr is the authour of numerous books including Man and Nature: the Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man , Religion and the Order of Nature and Knowledge and the Sacred. Introduction Seyyed Hossein Nasr, currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University, Washington D.C.is one of →
• Biography and career of matt flynn – professional drummer The professional drummer has played the drums for the likes of Gavin DeGraw (best known for One Tree Hill theme song, I Do not Wanna Be), Gandhi, the rock band Chicago, and the new wave band, The B-52's. However, he is best known as the drummer for the hit pop-rock band Maroon 5. After the →
• Biography of steven seagal – one of the most famous actors of usa Steven Seagal who studied the aikido style of martial arts in Asia carries himself differently from other players in martial arts movies with his all-black Italian designer suits and his poise which usually appears gentle and harmless until the going gets tough. Unlike other known actors in the martial arts movies like Chuck Norris, Bruce →
• Short biography of adolf hitler Short before the end of the war in 1918, he was injured by an English gas attack. In 1936 he sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland, but France and the rest of the world did not react.
• Speaking truth to power: a rhetorical biography of elizabeth cady stanton The selfless decision of Stanton to devote her life to women's suffrage impacted the course of our nation's history and is deserving of our study. Unfortunately, Stanton did not live long enough to see her ultimate goal of the end of women's suffrage.
• Good the worship philosophy of john calvin biography example Because of his radical ideas, and the ways in which he implemented them, John Calvin became an immensely important figure during the Reformation and afterwards, as he was one of the most ardent advocates of Augustinian traditions including God's absolute sovereignty, and the doctrine of predestination. Born in Noyon in →
• Sara teasdale boigraphy biography examples The health of the lady was a problem and this is why she delayed attending school. This shows that Sara Teasdale was a great poet who had great efforts in fulfilling her dreams. Earnest who was he husband to Sara Teasdale was most of the times not close to the poet and this made her →
• Biography of ninoy aquino Following the expulsion of the Japanese, the U.S.jailed Igno in Japan, then extradited him to the Philippines to be tried for treason. She had two stipulations, however; Ninoy had to promise to return to the Philippines, and he had to swear not to denounce the Marcos regime while in the U.S.
• Example of ann moody biography book review The memories of the atrocities suffered by Blacks in America over the last 200 years going right back to the founding fathers of America. The African Americans, " the south" live in a state of perpetual fear of the whites like they had done for the past 200 years.
• Mary whiton calkins - women in psychology biography It was at this time when she was approached by a professor in the department of philosophy to consider teaching in the disciple of psychology.. With the help of her father and the president of Wesley College, she appealed against this decision. On the beginning of October in 1890, her petition was approved.
• Tecumseh biography example William Henry Harrison, Tecumseh's future nemesis fought their initial battle at the Fallen Timbers in 1794, a loss the Native countries that was conducive to theft of the vast majority of Ohio and additional financial and cultural decline. Tecumseh was cognizant of the fact that the infiltration of the Americans was leading to the decline →
• The meaning of rip van winkle biography examples In the instance of Rip's village, the people had remained the same, although they had aged significantly, and the land was the same. Changing regimes: The case of Rip Van Winkle.
• The scientific contributions of dian fossey biography sample Due to her extensive research and hand on approach she became one of the most renowned women scientists of the twentieth century. The Early Life of Dian Fossey Dian was born in 1932 in San Francisco, California. Her contributions to the scientific community have changed research methods and proved the gorillas were indeed a →
• Multidimensional approach to the group cohesion-group performance relationship biography The major reason of coming up with this work is to illustrate the importance of leadership and motivation in the overall performance of the organization. These authors study a broader approach of group performance in an organization. This therefore poses a need to concentrate on individual's motivation towards the success of an organization other than →
• Biography of galileo galilei – the scientific revolutionist He applied for the chair of mathematics at the university of bologna but he did not get it. In the fall of 1609 he began to study the moon and it phases.
• Free biography on the bad girl book essay Summary: The bad girl is a marvelous and suspenseful love story of a teenager girl and boy. On one hand the boy was very soft and polite while on the other hand the girl was very rude and repulsive.
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Famous People for Biography Topics

Fascinating Figures From History

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• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Are you looking for an interesting person to write about? You'll find that the more you are intrigued or inspired by your subject, the more time you'll give to this assignment.

This list may inspire you. Try to find a biography subject you enjoy reading about!

• Albert Einstein (scientist)
• Alexander Fleming (scientist)
• Alexander Graham Bell (inventor)
• Alexander the Great (leader)
• Amelia Earhart (aviation)
• Anne Frank (Holocaust)
• Benjamin Franklin (Founding Father)
• Betty Ford (inspirational)
• Carl Sagan (scientist)
• Charles Lindbergh (aviation)
• Clarence Birdseye (inventor)
• Eli Whitney (inventor)
• Elie Wiesel (Holocaust)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
• George Eastman (inventor)
• George Washington Carver (agricultural chemist)
• Henry Ford (industrialist)
• Isaac Newton (scientist)
• Jacques Cousteau (explorer)
• Jane Goodall (anthropologist)
• Johann Gutenberg (inventor)
• John Deere (inventor)
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About my family.

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From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: My family

Let me tell you about my family. I live with my mum, my dad and my big sister. We live in California. My mum’s name is Carmen. She’s Mexican and she speaks English and Spanish. She’s a Spanish teacher. She’s short and slim, she’s got long, brown hair and brown eyes. My dad’s name is David. He’s American. He’s tall and a little fat! He’s got short brown hair and blue eyes. He works in a bank. My sister Shania is 14 and she loves listening to music. She listens to music all the time! She’s got long brown hair and green eyes, like me. I’ve got long hair too. We’ve got a pet dog, Brandy. He’s black and white and very friendly.

Write soon and tell me about your family.

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"It was glorious technicolor": Memoir by Ziggy Stardust's hairdresser is an engrossing, raucous read

Suzi ronson first met a woman in her 50s, whose son turned out to be david bowie. from there, it's history . . ., by kenneth womack.

David Bowie didn’t invent Glam Rock. That sparkly honor is generally credited to T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, who created a sensation when he sang “Hot Love,” decked out in a flashy silver ensemble, on the BBC’s "Top of the Pops" in 1971. But the Thin White Duke wasn’t far behind. Within a matter of months, he would emerge as the movement’s standard-bearer in the form of his flamboyant alter ego Ziggy Stardust .

In "Me and Mr. Jones: My Life with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars,"  Suzi Ronson captures the origins of Bowie’s Ziggy persona in glittering detail. Fed up with school at age 15, she enrolled in the Evelyn Paget College of Hair and Beauty. Scant days after taking up hairdressing in a southeast London salon, she finds herself face-to-face with 57-year-old Peggy Jones. 

For Ronson, Mrs. Jones seems like just another client. “She’s a woman of about my mum’s age, wearing a tweed skirt with sensible shoes and the ever-present English cardigan. Her hair is thick and I’m sure it will take forever to dry. Like most other customers, she starts talking about her family the moment I get started. ‘My David is such an artistic boy,’ she says. ‘He’s always been that way, plays guitar and piano. He doesn’t have a lot of time to see me but I’m so proud of him.’”

And that’s when Mrs. Jones dropped a bombshell. “He was in the Top 10, you know.” The song was “Space Oddity,” the proud mother announces to Ronson with a smile. Her curiosity piqued, Suzi makes her way into the orbit of Bowie and his wife Angie.

In short order, Ronson is overseeing Bowie’s makeover from longhaired popstar into Ziggy Stardust. The musician once described the androgynous, otherworldly character as “my Martian messiah who twanged a guitar. He was a simplistic character . . . someone who dropped down here, got brought down to our way of thinking, and ended up destroying his own self. Which is a pretty archetype storyline” (Tim Morse, "Classic Rock Stories," 1998).

As it happened, Ronson’s makeover proved to be the icing on the cake when it came to establishing Ziggy’s alien image. Indeed, she would never forget the moment she caught a glimpse of the album cover for "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." “I gasp. My haircut is on the album cover,” she recalled. “David looks out of this world.”

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter , Crash Course.

Riding on Glam Rock’s satiny coattails —  and a new look, courtesy of Ronson — Bowie transformed himself into an international star. In the process, Ronson found herself traveling the world in Bowie’s touring party, an all-male affair that included her future husband, guitarist Mick Ronson . 

In her thoroughly engrossing memoir, Ronson shares one raucous episode after another as the globetrotting musicians and their fish-out-of-water hairdresser crisscross the globe. But that was then. These days, “my life flashes by in photographs,” she writes. “The day I met [Bowie’s] mother; the day I met Angie; the day I met him; the day I did that iconic Ziggy haircut; the first time I saw them play. My life was all black and white until I met David, and afterwards it was glorious technicolor, as bright as the hair on his head.”

about this topic

• Never forget David Bowie masterminded "the biggest art hoax in history"
• 50 years ago, David Bowie and Roxy Music made history
• That cover song at the end of "Stranger Things" Season 3 has its own backstory

Kenneth Womack is the author of a two-volume biography of the life and work of Beatles producer George Martin and the host of " Everything Fab Four ," a podcast about the Beatles distributed by Salon. He is also the author of " Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles ," published in 2019 in celebration of the album’s 50th anniversary, " John Lennon, 1980: The Last Days in the Life " and the authorized biography " Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans " (November 2023).  Womack is Professor of English and Popular Music at Monmouth University.

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Creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Program with Real Impact

• Emilio Marti,
• David Risi,
• Eva Schlindwein,
• Andromachi Athanasopoulou

Lessons from multinational companies that adapted their CSR practices based on local feedback and knowledge.

Exploring the critical role of experimentation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), research on four multinational companies reveals a stark difference in CSR effectiveness. Successful companies integrate an experimental approach, constantly adapting their CSR practices based on local feedback and knowledge. This strategy fosters genuine community engagement and responsive initiatives, as seen in a mining company’s impactful HIV/AIDS program. Conversely, companies that rely on standardized, inflexible CSR methods often fail to achieve their goals, demonstrated by a failed partnership due to local corruption in another mining company. The study recommends encouraging broad employee participation in CSR and fostering a culture that values CSR’s long-term business benefits. It also suggests that sustainable investors and ESG rating agencies should focus on assessing companies’ experimental approaches to CSR, going beyond current practices to examine the involvement of diverse employees in both developing and adapting CSR initiatives. Overall, embracing a dynamic, data-driven approach to CSR is essential for meaningful social and environmental impact.

By now, almost all large companies are engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR): they have CSR policies, employ CSR staff, engage in activities that aim to have a positive impact on the environment and society, and write CSR reports. However, the evolution of CSR has brought forth new challenges. A stark contrast to two decades ago, when the primary concern was the sheer neglect of CSR, the current issue lies in the ineffective execution of these practices. Why do some companies implement CSR in ways that create a positive impact on the environment and society, while others fail to do so? Our research reveals that experimentation is critical for impactful CSR, which has implications for both companies that implement CSR and companies that externally monitor these CSR activities, such as sustainable investors and ESG rating agencies.

• EM Emilio Marti is an associate professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. His research focuses on corporate sustainability with a specific focus on sustainable investing.
• DR David Risi is a professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences and a habilitated lecturer at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on how companies organize CSR and sustainability.
• ES Eva Schlindwein is a professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on how organizations navigate tensions between business and society.
• AA Andromachi Athanasopoulou is an associate professor at Queen Mary University of London and an associate fellow at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on how individuals manage their leadership careers and make ethically charged decisions.

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Never meet your heroes – unless your hero is Jah Wobble

A close encounter with the legendary bassist leaves me giddy and unsteady on my feet.

By Nicholas Lezard

So, how was your Easter? Because of the obligations and vagaries of magazine production, I’m writing this before it’s even happened. From where I’m sitting, and looking at the weather forecast, it looks like it’s going to be grim, and anyway the only good bit about Easter is when Lord Rees-Mogg tweets “He is risen” on the Monday and the nation bursts into a frenzy of religious ecstasy. Meanwhile, what else is there for me to write about? The endless rain? My endless poverty? My latest run-in with Vodafone? I’m sorry, I can’t this week, I really can’t. So instead I’ll tell you about something nice that happened to me during my week off.

What happened was that my friend J— invited me to a gig at the Prince Albert. J— is the one who teaches music journalism at — College, and is a gentleman of exquisite taste, so when he invites you along to a gig, you go along without asking who’s playing, because you know it’s going to be good. But a few days after I signed on the dotted line, I asked, “Who are we seeing anyway?” and he replied, “Jah Wobble,” and I fainted.

You might remember my having written about Mr Wobble a few months back, when I saw that he had followed me on Twitter. This put a spring in my step. For I had been a fan of his since October 1978, when Public Image Ltd’s first, eponymous single came out, with its simple but devastating bassline, played and conceived by Wobble himself. Since then he has released several groovy records, including collaborations with the late Sinéad O’Connor and the late Holger Czukay of Can – but now is not the time for a discography.

The thing about the Prince Albert is that not only is it an excellent pub downstairs, but upstairs it is a single-room venue generally used by budding noisy rock groups. The outside wall of the pub is painted with dozens of rock stars – Hendrix, Lennon, Marley etc – and also includes a portrait of John Peel with his headphones on, so you kind of get the idea of the sort of noise that bands playing at the Albert are going to make. And the point about the room the bands play in is that it is small. There is barely room to swing a cat in there, and that’s when it’s empty. But it is a proper music venue, and every time I have seen a band there I have enjoyed myself immensely.

Now as it happens J— knows Jah Wobble (he was christened John Wardle, but “Jah Wobble” is how a drunken Sid Vicious pronounced it once, and the name has stuck). As it also happens, I get a bit giddy in the company of musicians, especially in the company of musicians of whose work I approve. A girlfriend of mine once saw me in the company of Jim Reid from the Jesus and Mary Chain, and said she’d never seen me act like that ever before: simpering and giggling and gawping like a schoolkid with a crush. Writers don’t impress me nearly as much: I know their specious ways all too well. Artists can make me go a bit silly, but then I knew Marc Quinn at university and I thought “grifter” and “he’ll go far”. I did once meet Francis Bacon in the French House and I was deeply impressed and wondered if he’d paint me if I slept with him. But I was with another girlfriend at the time and couldn’t think of a way to drop it in to the conversation.

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The plan was to meet with JW at the pub before the gig. I got into a right tizzy thinking about this. I shaved and bathed and brushed the few remaining hairs on the top of my head. It turned out Spurs were playing Fulham that evening and Wobble, who is a huge Spurs fan, as is J—, wanted to see the match. Only there was some rugby nonsense going on that night, and the only pub playing the match was a cavernous pile mostly frequented by students. I was a bit anxious: I am not a Spurs fan, which I thought would put a spoke in the wheels of my friendship with JW before it had even got moving. As it happened, he couldn’t even make it into the pub: there was a queue and he thought sod that for a lark, and went back to the Albert to watch it on his phone.

As history records, Spurs barely even showed up either, and Fulham slaughtered them 3-0. After the match we went off to the Albert. “Hurry up,” I kept saying. “I want to meet Jah Wobble.”

“I’ve never seen him like this,” J— said to our mutual friend M—, who edited one of the glossy music mags and also knows Jah Wobble. Does everyone in this stupid town know Jah Wobble apart from me? (M– also supports Spurs, poor chap.)

So we finally made it to the Albert and went to see Jah Wobble in the dressing room, which is even tinier than the room he was about to play in. I was, by this stage, quivering with excitement. And so what did J— and M— and JW talk about? Football. Worse than that: Spurs football. I’ve never been so bored in my life. Never meet your heroes, I thought.

But the gig was brilliant, and as Mr Wobble came off stage he squeezed my arm and I’m in love all over again.

[See also: Toast or a shower? My great energy dilemma ]

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Stefon Diggs bids farewell to Buffalo: Four of the best years of my life

• Charean Williams ,
• Charean Williams

Four years ago, Stefon Diggs arrived in Buffalo in a ballyhooed trade from Minnesota. The Bills gave up a a2020 first-round pick, a 2020 fifth-round pick, a 2020 sixth-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick in exchange for Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round pick.

He played 66 games, caught 445 passes for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns and made four Pro Bowls.

On Wednesday, the Bills received far less for Diggs than they gave up to get him four years ago.

Diggs now is a member of the Texans , and he bid farewell to Buffalo after an up-and-down four seasons that never ended in the Super Bowl.

“I can’t begin to express the amount of love and respect I have for the city of Buffalo ♥️💙,” Diggs wrote on Instagram. “Four of the best years of my life, the city welcomed me with open arms. I’m forever grateful for you all and the @buffalobills organization! Something special was built over these years with some very special men, that will always have a place in my heart. Billsmafia, so many great memories created throughout the years. Those games were crazy because of you. Sadly good things come to an end until we meet again.”

His 10th season will be spent with his third team, and Diggs will try to lead the Texans where he couldn’t take the Bills or the Vikings.