An autobiography is the testimony of a person's life, written by the protagonist himself. Many autobiographies consist of an entire book, but it is also possible to write a story of one's life on a smaller scale. The key to successful such an essay is to tell an engaging story about your life, rather than simply writing a full account of your past experiences.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Getting Started Convincingly
Step 1. Gather your ideas
This is the most important part in writing an autobiography. By reading some essays of similar content, you can get an idea of the variety of styles and genres in which autobiographies are written. From these readings you will be able to draw the aspects or elements you wish to employ in the creation of your own, and which will help you understand which decisions to make with respect to a given idea, as well as provide you with a large variety of organizational schemes.
Take note of your ideas in the form of notes, or start by recording the sudden inspirations you are caught by. It will help you immerse yourself in writing
Step 2. Start with an engaging sentence that grabs the reader's attention
Don't start with phrases like "Once upon a time", "I was born on …" or "In this essay, I will tell my life".
- Is it an autobiography that tells your entire life? In this case, you might start by saying "When I was young, my family and I lived in _", or "During the first few years of my life, things were good / bad / boring / exciting." A start like this might be fine.
- It starts with something like "I never thought I'd be as happy / sad / upset / angry / embarrassed as I was that day." Or, in the case of an autobiographical essay concerning a single event that concerns you, you could start like this: "In the course of my life many things have happened to me, but, of all, this was the most beautiful / ugly / sad / funny ".
- You could also start by saying "Looking back at this moment, I don't know where to start. My life…", or something like that. In other words, you can start from the present and go back in time.
Step 3. Write in a style you feel comfortable with
A good way to write the introduction can be to tell in the first person a specific event that reflects the theme of your essay, or describe a specific situation from a third-person point of view.
Step 4. Establish the transition from the introduction to the actual essay content
Conclude the introduction with a sentence that leaves the reader anxious to continue reading and to learn more about the subject.
Step 5. Tell your story
Introduce the main part of the essay. Avoid repetition and incoherent speech. Do not write the same things over and over and do not provide a cold and detached account: it would bore the reader and would not make the concepts clearer.
Step 6. Write in the first person
An autobiography is, by definition, an account of the author himself, so to make the essay more direct, keep a personal point of view and always use the first person.
Part 2 of 2: Be Creative
Step 1. Don't be limited by chronological order
It's not always the best way to successfully tell your story. Before choosing which perspective or organizational scheme to adopt, think about alternatives, remembering that the first idea you had may not be the best strategy.
Give it a few tries and try to think outside the box, to make sure you tell the story in the best possible way
Step 2. Add some dramatic moments
You could include a little dramatic action in the story to keep the reader's attention, or a few quotes related to your experience or topic.
Step 3. Be creative, always within the limits of the parameters dictated by your work
In some creative writing class, you may be given the task of writing an autobiography pretending to be another person, or a thing or an animal. In this case, put yourself in the shoes of an animal or an inanimate object, and imagine how he would see reality, what he would say or think if he were alive.
Don't make your story completely unlikely. For example, if an animal dies or an umbrella is completely destroyed, it is not possible that it will be able to tell about its own life. In other words, end the story before the animal or object dies
Step 4. Conclude with one or more inspired steps
When you write an autobiography, you give your life to someone else, telling them, "This is what happened to me and what I am, and maybe you can learn some lessons from all of this." Many autobiographies end with the author summarizing his insights into his life in a few paragraphs. The tone is often uplifting, and encourages the reader to have hope in life and the world in general.
Advice
- When writing a personal affirmation about your life, you better be simple and straightforward. Avoid using five words when three is enough.
- If you have to use a thesaurus, the reader may not know exactly the meaning of the words you might be using, so stick to a simple vocabulary.
- Be yourself, not what you think others would like you to be. An autobiography is a personal statement about your life, experiences, and impressions, so remember to tell the truth.
- Don't alter situations or add nonsense to tell a touching story.
Warnings
- Don't neglect your notes. It's easy to believe that you remember everything, but you may forget something while you are writing and remember it three paragraphs later, or when the essay has already been delivered. Take notes on the events you want to include, and then limit yourself to telling the ones that, in your opinion, have impressed you the most. You can use your ideas to determine what the relevant events are, or, conversely, find ideas starting from the most important points.
- Don't forget your audience. In most cases, this will be your teacher. Think about who will read you, the expectations they place in the task that has been entrusted to you and the ideas they are looking for. Among these, limit yourself to inserting what, in your opinion, is intended for your audience.
