Biography, Autobiography, Diary, and Blog Life Writing Biography, Autobiography, Diary, and Blog

Writer Medium Audience Life Writing Life Writing is writing that aims to record one’s life. Recall this diagram: Writer Medium Audience (play, short story, novel, poem) It is important to remember that the audience for Life Writing is sometimes the public (e.g. biography and autobiography), and sometimes is only the author himself/herself; that is, they don’t plan to show it to anyone else (i.e. diary). Keep this in mind, because it has a strong influence on the writing itself!

Biography bio – life graph – write …so “biography” means “writing about someone’s life”. The aim of biography is not only to relate events of a person’s life, but also to explain that person’s actions by making connections (to past events, to other people, to the person’s own past, etc.). Think of biography as “telling the subject’s story” rather than relating empty details of birth, employment, and death.

How to Write a Biography 1. Select a person you are interested in 2. Find out the basic facts of the person's life – birthdate, early years, schooling, employment, family, death. (Start with an encyclopedia, if you can.) 3. Think about what else you would like to know about the person, and what parts of the life you want to write most about. Some questions you might want to think about include: What makes this person special or interesting? What kind of effect did he or she have on the world? other people? What are the adjectives you would most use to describe the person? What examples from their life illustrate those qualities? What events shaped or changed this person's life? Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks? Get lucky? Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn't lived? How and why?

Autobiography auto – self bio – life graph – write …so “autobiography” means “writing about your own life”. Autobiographies are written in the first-person perspective (using “I”). They give details about an individual’s life from his/her own perspective, and reveal insights that no one else could give. Think of it as the subject “telling his own story”, and choosing what details he/she thinks the reader wants to know.

How to Write an Autobiography Writing an autobiography is like writing a biography, except that the person who is writing is also the subject. Autobiography is very different from biography because the subject makes the decisions about what to put in or omit from the story of their own lives.

Title of entry (optional) Diary Diaries take many different shapes and forms, but there is a general format to them: Date of the entry Title of entry (optional) Details of entry. The details of the entry are sometimes very long and thoughtful, or very brisk and non-detailed. This depends on the diarist, and reflects his/her personality, generally. If you are taking on the role of someone else and writing his/her diary, imagine that the person is telling his/her real thoughts, with no intention of anyone ever reading it!

Title of entry (optional) Blog The word “blog” comes from the words “web log”, which was originally a diary that is written and published to the Internet (World Wide Web). Blogs take many different shapes and forms, but their general format is like a diary entry: Date of the entry Title of entry (optional) Details of entry. The details of the entry are sometimes very long and thoughtful, or very brisk and non-detailed. This depends on the blogger, and reflects his/her personality, generally. The biggest difference between a blog and a diary is that blogs are published online, and are open for audiences to read. Because of this, the content of the blog is notably different than that of a diary.

Assignment Choose a character from a book, film, or television show you enjoy. 1. Pre-writing: Brainstorm things that character might do and/or think about in an average day. 2. Drafting: Choose a life-writing format and write a one-page entry in that format.

Assignment Have someone else read your entry. 3. Revising: Consider whether you should add details or change something based upon who your audience is likely to be. 4. Editing: Read the piece over and indicate errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.