Choose Your Subject Writing a biography is a big adventure Biographies tell true stories about real people Many subject of a biography has done great things Readers may want to know how the subject overcame obstacles Or they want to hear readers are curious about other the secret that drove the person people's lives They want to know how others are like them and how they are different Sometimes the to achieve so much Other times biographies cover people who have committed crimes or hurt others Readers want to know what led the subject to act in a certain way Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson People read and write biographies because they are curious about others But biographies also help us understand our own lives You might find things that you admire Biographies are about your often written about subject These well known people things might change the way you think about yourself and your goals Or maybe you don't want to be like your subject Writing O
A biography gives a glimpse into someone else's life Quick Tips the biography might motivate you to be different You might choose to write a true Biographies tell true stories about real people Biographies help readers learn about themselves In an autobiography the writer is the subject story about yourself This is called an autobiography You write down your own memories and feelings You also write down what others TRY IT OUT have to say about you Writing about your own life can help others get to know you better It can also get you to better know Make a list of people you would like to write about Whom are yourself you most curious about Maybe you want to know more about a famous person or a distant relative Or maybe you want to know more about your own childhood No matter who the subject each biography is a window into someone's life Whose true story would you like to
Map the scope of Your Story Every true story is unique because every person is unique There are billions of possible stories you not enough time or information to do so All biographers must choose what to include and what to leave out Many biographies start with a person's birth and end with the can tell But choose your subject carefully You will be spending a lot of time learning about your subject's life person's death Others focus on a smaller time frame or aspect of the Once you've picked someone to person's life For example imagine you want to tell the story of how an Olympic sprinter won her first gold write about you now need to think about what part of the person's life medal You would want to focus on you want to cover No biographer can tell everything her history as a runner The person a about someone's might also be a great singer But you would probably focus on her first life There is There are many potential subjects to choose
Athletes are often the subjects of biographies track and field meet instead of her your readers as much as he or she first choir concert interests you To do this find out what interests you the most about Your task as biographer is to your subject Read about the person recreate the subject in words The Take notes Begin to sketch an aim is to make your subject interest outline of the person's life What Quick Tips area are you most interested in It might be a short time frame that sticks out to you Or maybe it's one relationship or area of interest that stretches throughout the person's life Biographies cannot cover everything about a person's life Some biographies start with the person s birth and end at the person's death Some biographies focus on a specific time frame or theme Choose the time frame that will be most interesting to you and your readers TRY IT OUT Consider writing about yourself Describe at least three characteristics you think readers would be interested in knowing more about O
