Diary of a Thirteen-year-old Jewish girl is still a classic autobiography after more than eight decades. You asked us the reason, so here it is.
The nearly century-old excavation of Anne Frank’s remarkable journal continues to be a treat for bibliophiles. The foremost reason is how powerfully the teenager describes the terror of war. She also championed paying a graceful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.
Her book, Diary of a Young Girl, shares her life experiences, including the cruelties of living in confined quarters and constant intimidation of attack. Hence, just like other life accounts, her spellbinding story also offers a repository of lessons waiting to be discovered. This inspired many authors to start writing their memoirs, but they failed because they did not have a plan. However, not anymore. We have the perfect guide that will help you navigate your journey.
Fascinating Autobiographies 101 – All There is to Know!
Speaking of this strenuous writing attempt, you first need to understand why anyone would want to read such a depressing autobiography. According to observations, people read all sorts of factual accounts for four main motives. Inspiration, eagerness to dig into history, empathetic connections and understanding of human experiences.
Now, going back to the topic of authors lacking a foolproof plan. To write a similar captivating autobiography, you have to have a blueprint because writing a historical account with an inclusive view is tough.
There is a lot that goes into the content, like brutal facts, soulful introspections, emotional honesty, painful obstacles and heaps of vulnerability. Hence, restressing the point that a well-thought-out blueprint is mandatory.
Phase #1 – Before You Start Writing
Just like how you marinate the meat before roasting and prime the skin before makeup, you have to start developing a structure before writing. This pre-writing phase includes:
- Brainstorming: bring all the ideas from the subconscious mind to the conscious without any extra tools. Think about why you want to do it and for whom. Then, write them down using the mind mapping techniques.
- Researching: now, use as many primary or secondary resources as you want to get better insights about your topic. You can even conduct interviews if it is required.
- Outlining: this phase is all about bringing the brainstormed and researched idea together in a suitable autobiography format. Moreover, plan a chronological order, establish an event timeline and develop a thematic structure.
- Freewriting: it is the zone of infinite possibilities where you start creating your first draft. It does not have to be perfect grammatically, so just let those creative juices flow.
- Scheduling: You must lock your writing process into a time-based boundary. Divide the whole thing into segments and set deadlines for motivation.
Now that you have planned everything make sure that the life events you make part of your content are extremely relevant. You could organise a catalogue of events, but do not forget to explore or reflect on all of them one by one. In addition, your outline must include challenges, valuable lessons, passion, hobbies, and relationship dynamics (with impacts) for genuine depth. This will also give the audience a fair chance to relate to your narrative.
Phase #2 – Add in Some Spices for Flavour
For penning down your life story, you need some spices, and we’ve got you covered on this. In the first place, there has to be some dialogue incorporated into the text because an engaging account is more than just the facts.
It is a perfect mixture of all the spices to pique the curiosity of the reader, which entices him to turn page after page. Your principal spice is that dialogue is the best way to give the audience a first-hand experience of every occasion.
Moving on, there is the magic of vivid descriptions and detailed narratives. Both of them are ideal tools for penning down an immersive account of life. It gives the reader a reflection of being present in the scene, but overdoing it can bore them.
Hence, moderation is necessary, and it requires great practice. Perhaps this is why many people hire an autobiography ghostwriter instead of making the effort themselves. You must also incorporate the following elements to produce an extraordinary script.
- Keep the title short and memorable
- Flashback of memories to add gravity
- Relevant historical and cultural context
- Include lessons that you learnt
- Colourful descriptive verbs
- Write in your voice
- Season with metaphors, similes and a bit of humour
- Talk about influential personalities, places and moments of your journey
- Create suspense by withholding key details
- End it with a reflective closure
Phase #3 – Maintaining Ethics & Finalising!
Now is the time to conclude the biographic account, but before that, you need to be certain about ethical considerations. Even the smallest mistake can leave a bad impression and affect sales. Therefore, here we are discussing the privacy and sensitivity issues of this slippery slope.
Your initial responsibility is to tell your part of the story without invading others’. For example, if you want to write about a teacher who made a great difference in your nurturing, then have her express the other side of the account. This will save you from biased writing. Moreover, before revealing about her, you need her consent and a non-objection certificate to avoid any later lawsuits.
Next, there will be several taboos and sensitive topics that your autobiography will touch on. Catering to them very thoughtfully is tough, as you have to balance between honesty, authenticity and sensitivity. This is more like an ethical dilemma where you cannot afford to hurt the sentiments of either side. Moreover, it is just a fair reminder that autobiographies are not there to settle score publically. So, be wise and look out for any mistakes during the editing!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the six types of autobiography writing?
The six types are – traditional, memoir, personal essay, psychological illness, overcoming adversity and confession-based autobiographies. You can pick any one of the types suiting to the type of story you have.
Q. What not to do when writing such an account?
The foremost instruction is not to be too involved in the narrative that you start adding your two cents. In addition, for such life story accounts, exaggerating is nearly a crime, so be vigilant as you pen down.
Q. What are a few perfect opening sentences?
Your content should start with a catchy introduction in the form of a rhetorical question, an extraordinary achievement or a quote. You can also start by giving a hint of the interesting part of your story, which comes later in the account.
Q. How do you keep the reader hooked on a story of life?
You would need a very powerful statement or establishment of an emotional connection to hold readers’ attention. Additionally, every page needs to have a hook that entices the reader to keep turning the pages.
Revisiting Key Points…
Writing an autobiography is analogous to painting a vivid picture of your life and framing it later on the exhibition wall. You have to prepare for it with more passion than you put in other writing projects because there are major ethical and privacy concerns involved. You need to address each one of them with great care.
Every year, a thousand aspiring writers start on this journey, but only a few successfully reach the end of the tunnel. The reason behind this is a lack of guidance, which is perhaps why many people hire ghostwriters to facilitate the process.
To make it a victory, you must keep hold of a few elements like genuineness, honesty, and authenticity. You have to be revealing and vulnerable to the world so that your personality can shine through the thickest of clouds. Finally, make sure that the conclusion leaves the readers with some food for thought and a deeper understanding of your life.