autobiography life story

How To Write an Autobiography 2024 (Tips, Templates, & Guide)

Your life story has value, merit, and significance. You want to share it with the world, but maybe you don’t know how .

Here’s how to write an autobiography:

Write an autobiography by creating a list of the most important moments, people, and places in your life. Gather photos, videos, letters, and notes about these experiences. Then, use an outline, templates, sentence starters, and questions to help you write your autobiography .

In this article, you are going to learn the fastest method for writing your autobiography.

We are going to cover everything you need to know with examples and a free, downloadable, done-for-you template.

What Is an Autobiography?

Table of Contents

Before you can write an autobiography, you must first know the definition.

An autobiography is the story of your life, written by you. It covers the full span of your life (at least, up until now), hitting on the most significant moments, people and events.

When you write your autobiography, you write an intimate account of your life.

What Should I Include In an Autobiography?

If you are scratching your head, baffled about what to include in your autobiography, you are not alone.

After all, a big part of how to write an autobiography is knowing what to put in and what to leave out of your life story. Do you focus on every detail?

Every person? Won’t your autobiography be too long?

A good way to think about how to write an autobiography is to use the Movie Trailer Method.

What do movie trailers include?

• High emotional moments
• The big events
• The most important characters

When you plan, organize, and write your autobiography, keep the Movie Trailer Method in mind. You can even watch a bunch of free movie trailers on YouTube for examples of how to write an autobiography using the Movie Trailer Method.

When wondering what to include in your autobiography, focus on what would make the cut for a movie trailer of your life:

• Most important people (like family, friends, mentors, coaches, etc.)
• Significant events (like your origin story, vacations, graduations, life turning points, life lessons)
• Emotional moments (When you were homeless, when you battled a life-threatening condition, or when you fell in love)
• Drama or suspense (Did you make it into Harvard? Did your first surgery go well? Did your baby survive?)

Autobiography Structure Secrets

Like any compelling story, a well-structured autobiography often follows a pattern that creates a logical flow and captures readers’ attention.

Traditionally, autobiographies begin with early memories, detailing the writer’s childhood, family background, and the events or people that shaped their formative years.

From here, the narrative typically progresses chronologically, covering major life events like schooling, friendships, challenges, achievements, career milestones, and personal relationships.

It’s essential to weave these events with introspective insights.

This allows readers to understand not just the what, but also the why behind the author’s choices and experiences.

Towards the end, an effective autobiography often includes reflections on lessons learned, changes in perspective over time, and the wisdom acquired along life’s journey.

Example of the Structure:

• Introduction: A gripping event or anecdote that gives readers a hint of what to expect. It could be a pivotal moment or challenge that defines the essence of the story.
• Childhood and Early Memories: Recounting family dynamics, birthplace, cultural background, and memorable incidents from early years.
• Adolescence and Discovering Identity: Experiences during teenage years, challenges faced, friendships formed, and personal evolutions.
• Pursuits and Passions: Describing education, early career choices, or any particular hobby or skill that played a significant role in the author’s life.
• Major Life Events and Challenges: Chronicles of marriage, parenthood, career shifts, or any significant setbacks and how they were overcome.
• Achievements and Milestones: Celebrating major accomplishments and recounting the journey to achieving them.
• Reflections and Wisdom: Sharing life lessons, changes in beliefs or values over time, and offering insights gained from lived experiences.
• Conclusion: Summarizing the journey, contemplating on the present state, and sharing hopes or aspirations for the future.

How To Write an Autobiography Quickly: Strategies & Templates

Want the quickest way to organize and write your autobiography in record time? You can literally write your autobiography in 7 days or less with this method.

The secret is to use done-for-you templates.

I have personally designed and collected a series of templates to take you from a blank page to a fully complete Autobiography. I call this the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint.

And it’s completely free to download right from this article. 🙂

In the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint, you get:

• The Autobiography Questions Template
• The Autobiography Brainstorm Templates
• The Autobiography Outline Template

Here is an image of it so that you know exactly what you get when you download it:

How To Write an Autobiography: Step-by-Step

When you sit down to write an autobiography, it’s helpful to have a step-by-step blueprint to follow.

You already have the done-for-you templates that you can use to organize and write an autobiography faster than ever before. Now here’s a complete step-by-step guide on how to maximize your template.

• Brainstorm Ideas
• Order your sections (from medium to high interest)
• Order the ideas in each section (from medium to high interest)
• Write three questions to answer in each section
• Choose a starter sentence
• Complete a title template
• Write each section of your by completing the starter sentence and answering all three questions

Brainstorm Your Autobiography

The first step in writing your autobiography is to brainstorm.

Give yourself time and space to write down the most significant people, events, lessons, and experiences in your life. The templates in the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint provide sections for you to write down your brainstormed ideas.

This will help you organize your ideas into what will become the major sections of your book.

These will be:

• Y our most significant events and experiences.
• The people who impacted you the most.
• The challenges you have overcome.
• Your achievements and successes.
• The lessons you have learned.

The “other” sections on the second page of the Brainstorm template is for creating your own sections or to give you more space for the sections I provided in case you run out of space.

As I brainstorm, I find asking myself specific questions really activates my imagination.

So I have compiled a list of compelling questions to help you get ideas down on paper or on your screen.

Order Your Sections (From Medium to High Interest)

The next step is to order your main sections.

The main sections are the five (or more) sections from your Brainstorm templates (Significant events, significant people, life lessons, challenges, successes, other, etc). This order will become the outline and chapters for your book.

How do you decide what comes first, second or third?

I recommend placing the sections in order of interest. Ask yourself, “What’s the most fascinating part of my life?”

If it’s a person, then write the name of that section (Significant People) on the last line in the How to Write an Autobiography Outline Template. If it’s an experience, place the name of that section (Significant Events) on the last line.

For example, if you met the Pope, you might want to end with that nugget from your life. If you spent three weeks lost at sea and survived on a desert island by spearfishing, that is your ending point.

Then complete the Outline by placing the remaining sections in order of interest. You can work your way backward from high interest to medium interest.

If you are wondering why I say “medium to high interest” instead of “low to high interest” it is because there should be no “low interest” parts of your autobiography.

But wait, what if you met the Pope AND spent three weeks lost at sea? How do you choose which one comes first or last?

First of all, I want to read this book! Second, when in doubt, default to chronological order. Whatever event happened first, start there.

Here is an example of how it might look:

Order The Ideas in Each Section (From Medium To High Interest)

Now, organize the ideas inside of each section. Again, order the ideas from medium to high interest).

Within your “Significant People” section, decide who you want to talk about first, second, third, etc. You can organize by chronological order (who you met first) but I recommend building to the most interesting or most significant person.

This creates a more compelling read.

Keep in mind that the most significant person might not be the most well-known, most famous, or most popular. The most significant person might be your family member, friend, partner, or child.

It comes down to who shaped your life the most.

So, if your “significant people list” includes your dad, a famous social media influencer, and Mike Tyson, your dad might come last because he had the biggest significance in your life.

Write Three Questions to Answer in Each Section

Ok, you’ve done the heavy lifting already. You have the major sections organized and outlined.

Next on your autobiography to-do list is to choose and write down three questions you are going to answer in each section. You can write your questions down in the provided “boxes” for each section on the template outline (or on another piece of paper.

This is easier than it might seem.

Simply choose one of the sample autobiography questions below or create your own:

• Why did I choose this person/event?
• What does this person/event mean to me?
• How did I meet this person?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?
• What is the most interesting part?
• How did I feel about this person or event?
• How do I feel now?
• Why does this person or event matters to me?
• How did this person or event change my life?
• What is the most challenging part?
• How did I fail?
• How did I succeed?
• What did I learn?

Questions are the perfect way to write quickly and clearly. I LOVE writing to questions. It’s how I write these blog posts and articles.

Choose a Starter Sentence

Sometimes the hardest part of any project is knowing how to start.

Even though we know we can always go back and edit our beginnings, so many of us become paralyzed with indecision at the starting gate.

That’s why I provided sample starter sentences in your How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint.

Here are the story starters:

• I began writing this book when…
• Of all the experiences in my life, this one was the most…
• I’ve been a…
• My name is…
• Growing up in…
• It wasn’t even a…
• It all started when…
• I first…
• I was born…

Keep in mind that you do not need to begin your book with one of these story starters. I provide them simply to get you going.

The key is to not get bogged down in this, or any, part of writing your autobiography. Get organized and then get writing.

Complete a Title Template

At the top of the How to Write an Autobiography Outline is a place for you to write your book title.

Some authors struggle forever with a title. And that’s ok. What’s not ok is getting stuck. What’s not ok is if coming up with your title prevents you from finishing your book.

So, I provided a few title templates to help juice your creativity.

Just like the story starters, you do not need to use these title templates, but you certainly can. All you need to do is fill in the title templates below and then write your favorite one (for now) at the top of your outline. Presto! You have your working title.

You can always go back and change it later.

How to Write an Autobiography Title templates:

• [Your Name]: [Phrase or Tag Line]
• The [Your Last Name] Files
• Born [Activity]: A [Career]’s Life
• The Perfect [Noun]: The Remarkable Life of [Your Name]

Examples using the Templates:

• Christopher Kokoski: Blog Until You Drop
• The Kokoski Files
• Born Writing: A Blogger’s Life
• The Perfect Freelancer: The Remarkable Life of Christopher Kokoski

Write Your Autobiography

You have your outline. You have your title, templates, and sentence starters. All that is left to do is write your autobiography.

However, you can use tools like Jasper AI and a few other cool tricks to craft the most riveting book possible.

This is the easy way to remarkable writing.

Check out this short video that goes over the basics of how to write an autobiography:

How To Write an Autobiography (All the Best Tips)

Now that you are poised and ready to dash out your first draft, keep the following pro tips in mind:

• Be vulnerable. The best autobiographies share flaws, faults, foibles, and faux pas. Let readers in on the real you.
• Skip the boring parts. There is no need to detail every meal, car ride, or a gripping trip to the grocery store. Unless you ran into the Russian Mafia near the vegetables or the grocery store is perched on the side of a mountain above the jungles of Brazil.
• Keep your autobiography character-driven . This is the story of YOU!
• Be kind to others (or don’t). When writing about others in your story, keep in mind that there may be fallout or backlash from your book.
• Consider a theme: Many autobiographies are organized by theme. A perfect example is Becoming . Each section of the book includes “becoming” in the title. Themes connect and elevate each part of the autobiography.
• Write your story in vignettes (or scenes). Each vignette is a mini-story with a beginning, middle, and end. Each vignette builds. Each vignette should be described in rich sensory language that shows the reader the experience instead of telling the reader about the experience. Each vignette is immersive, immediate, and intimate.
• Include snippets of dialogue. Use quotation marks just like in fiction. Show the dialogue in brief back-and-forth tennis matches of conversation. Remember to leave the boring parts out!
• Choose a consistent tone. Some autobiographies are funny like Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. Others are serious such as Open by Andre Agassi. Your story (like most stories) will likely include a mix of emotions but choose an overall tone and stick with it.
• Don’t chronicle, captivate . Always think about how to make each section, each chapter, each page, each paragraph, and each sentence more compelling. You want to tell the truth, but HOW you tell the truth is up to you. Create suspense, conflict, and mystery. Let drama linger until it becomes uncomfortable. Don’t solve problems quickly or take away tension right away.

How Do I Format an Autobiography?

Most autobiographies are written in the first person (using the pronouns I, me, we, and us).

Your autobiography is written about you so write as yourself instead of pretending to be writing about someone else.

Most autobiographies are also written in chronological order, from birth right up to your current age, with all the boring parts left out. That doesn’t mean you can’t play around with the timeline.

Sometimes it’s more interesting to start at a high moment, backtrack to the beginning and show how you got to that high moment.

Whatever format you choose, be intentional, and make the choice based on making the most compelling experience possible for your readers.

How Long Should an Autobiography Be?

There are no rules to how long an autobiography should be but a rough guideline is to aim for between 200 and 400 pages.

This will keep your book in line with what most readers expect for books in general, and will help get your book traditionally published or help with marketing your self-published book.

How To Write a Short Autobiography

You write a short autobiography the same way that you write a long autobiography.

You simply leave more out of the story.

You cut everything down to the bones. Or you choose a slice of your life as you do in a memoir. This often means limiting the people in your book, reducing the events and experiences, and shrinking your story to a few pivotal moments in your life.

How To Start an Autobiography

The truth is that you can start your autobiography in any number of ways.

Here are four common ways to begin an autobiography.

• Start at the beginning (of your life, career or relationship, etc.)
• Start at a high moment of drama or interest.
• Start at the end of the story and work backward
• Start with why you wrote the book.

Good Autobiography Titles

If you are still stuck on titling your autobiography, consider going to Amazon to browse published works. You can even just Google “autobiographies.”

When you read the titles of 10, 20, or 50 other autobiographies, you will start to see patterns or get ideas for your own titles. (HINT: the title templates in the Autobiography Blueprint were reverse-engineered from popular published books.

Also, check out the titles of the full autobiography examples below that I have included right here in this article.

Types of Autobiographies

There are several different kinds of autobiographies.

Each one requires a similar but slightly nuanced approach to write effectively. The lessons in this article will serve as a great starting point.

Autobiography Types:

• Autobiography for School
• Autobiography Novel
• Autobiography for a Job
• Short Autobiography
• Autobiography for Kids

Therefore, there is actually not just one way to write an autobiography.

Memoir vs. Autobiography: Are They The Same?

It’s common to feel confused about a memoir and an autobiography. I used to think they were the same thing.

But, nope, they’re not.

They are pretty similar, which is the reason for all the confusion. A memoir is the story of one part of your life. An autobiography is the story of your full life (up until now).

What Is the Difference Between an Autobiography and a Biography?

An autobiography is when you write about your own life. A biography, on the other hand, is when you write the story of someone else’s life.

So, if I write a book about the life of the President, that’s a biography.

If the President writes a story about his or her own life, that’s an autobiography.

What Not To Include In an Autobiography

Autobiographies are meant to be a snapshot of our lives that we can share with others, but there are some things that are best left out.

Here are three things you should avoid including in your autobiography:

1) Anything That Readers Will Skip

Your life may not be filled with non-stop excitement, but that doesn’t mean you need to include every mundane detail in your autobiography.

Stick to the highlights and leave out the low points.

2) Character Attacks on Others

It’s okay to discuss conflicts you’ve had with others, but don’t use your autobiography as a platform to attack someone’s character.

Keep it civil and focus on your own experiences and how they’ve affected you.

3) Skipping Highlights

Just because something embarrassing or painful happened to you doesn’t mean you should gloss over it in your autobiography.

These are the moments that shape us and make us who we are today, so don’t skip past them just because they’re uncomfortable.

By following these simple tips, you can ensure that your autobiography is interesting, honest, and engaging.

How To Write an Autobiography: Autobiography Examples

I have always found examples to be extremely instructive. Especially complete examples of finished products. In this case, books.

Below you will find examples of published autobiographies for adults and for kids. These examples will guide you, motivate you and inspire you to complete your own life story.

They are listed here as examples, not as endorsements, although I think they are all very good.

The point is that you don’t have to agree with anything written in the books to learn from them.

Autobiography Examples for Adults

• A Promised Land (Autobiography of Barack Obama)
• If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won’t) (Betty White)
• It’s a Long Story: My Life (Willie Nelson)
• Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography (Rob Lowe)
• Becoming (Michelle Obama)

Autobiography Examples for Kids

• This Kid Can Fly: It’s About Ability (NOT Disability) (Aaron Philips)
• Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid (Mikaila Ulmer)

Final Thoughts: How To Write An Autobiography

Thank you for reading my article on How to Write an Autobiography.

Now that you know all of the secrets to write your book, you may want to get it published, market it, and continue to upskill yourself as an author.

In that case, read these posts next:

• Can Anyone Write A Book And Get It Published?
• The Best Writing Books For Beginners 2022 (My 10 Favorites)
• Why Do Writers Hate Adverbs? (The Final Answer)
• How To Write a Manifesto: 20 Ultimate Game-Changing Tips

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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?’

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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.

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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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What Is an Autobiography?

What to Consider Before You Start to Write

• Writing Research Papers
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• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Your life story, or autobiography , should contain the basic framework that any essay should have, with four basic elements. Begin with an introduction that includes a thesis statement , followed by a body containing at least several paragraphs , if not several chapters. To complete the autobiography, you'll need a strong conclusion , all the while crafting an interesting narrative with a theme.

Did You Know?

The word autobiography  literally means SELF (auto), LIFE (bio), WRITING (graph). Or, in other words, an autobiography is the story of someone's life written or otherwise told by that person.

When writing your autobiography, find out what makes your family or your experience unique and build a narrative around that. Doing some research and taking detailed notes can help you discover the essence of what your narrative should be and craft a story that others will want to read.

Research Your Background

Just like the biography of a famous person, your autobiography should include things like the time and place of your birth, an overview of your personality, your likes and dislikes, and the special events that shaped your life. Your first step is to gather background detail. Some things to consider:

• What is interesting about the region where you were born?
• How does your family history relate to the history of that region?
• Did your family come to that region for a reason?

It might be tempting to start your story with "I was born in Dayton, Ohio...," but that is not really where your story begins. It's better to start with an experience. You may wish to start with something like why you were born where you were and how your family's experience led to your birth. If your narrative centers more around a pivotal moment in your life, give the reader a glimpse into that moment. Think about how your favorite movie or novel begins, and look for inspiration from other stories when thinking about how to start your own.

Think About Your Childhood

You may not have had the most interesting childhood in the world, but everyone has had a few memorable experiences. Highlight the best parts when you can. If you live in a big city, for instance, you should realize that many people who grew up in the country have never ridden a subway, walked to school, ridden in a taxi, or walked to a store a few blocks away.

On the other hand, if you grew up in the country you should consider that many people who grew up in the suburbs or inner city have never eaten food straight from a garden, camped in their backyards, fed chickens on a working farm, watched their parents canning food, or been to a county fair or a small-town festival.

Something about your childhood will always seem unique to others. You just have to step outside your life for a moment and address the readers as if they knew nothing about your region and culture. Pick moments that will best illustrate the goal of your narrative, and symbolism within your life.

Consider Your Culture

Your culture is your overall way of life , including the customs that come from your family's values and beliefs. Culture includes the holidays you observe, the customs you practice, the foods you eat, the clothes you wear, the games you play, the special phrases you use, the language you speak, and the rituals you practice.

As you write your autobiography, think about the ways that your family celebrated or observed certain days, events, and months, and tell your audience about special moments. Consider these questions:

• What was the most special gift you ever received? What was the event or occasion surrounding that gift?
• Is there a certain food that you identify with a certain day of the year?
• Is there an outfit that you wear only during a special event?

Think honestly about your experiences, too. Don't just focus on the best parts of your memories; think about the details within those times. While Christmas morning may be a magical memory, you might also consider the scene around you. Include details like your mother making breakfast, your father spilling his coffee, someone upset over relatives coming into town, and other small details like that. Understanding the full experience of positives and negatives helps you paint a better picture for the reader and lead to a stronger and more interesting narrative. Learn to tie together all the interesting elements of your life story and craft them into an engaging essay.

Establish the Theme

Once you have taken a look at your own life from an outsider’s point of view, you will be able to select the most interesting elements from your notes to establish a theme. What was the most interesting thing you came up with in your research? Was it the history of your family and your region? Here is an example of how you can turn that into a theme:

"Today, the plains and low hills of southeastern Ohio make the perfect setting for large cracker box-shaped farmhouses surrounded by miles of corn rows. Many of the farming families in this region descended from the Irish settlers who came rolling in on covered wagons in the 1830s to find work building canals and railways. My ancestors were among those settlers."

A little bit of research can make your own personal story come to life as a part of history, and historical details can help a reader better understand your unique situation. In the body of your narrative, you can explain how your family’s favorite meals, holiday celebrations, and work habits relate to Ohio history.

One Day as a Theme

You also can take an ordinary day in your life and turn it into a theme. Think about the routines you followed as a child and as an adult. Even a mundane activity like household chores can be a source of inspiration.

For example, if you grew up on a farm, you know the difference between the smell of hay and wheat, and certainly that of pig manure and cow manure—because you had to shovel one or all of these at some point. City people probably don’t even know there is a difference. Describing the subtle differences of each and comparing the scents to other scents can help the reader imagine the situation more clearly.

If you grew up in the city, you how the personality of the city changes from day to night because you probably had to walk to most places. You know the electricity-charged atmosphere of the daylight hours when the streets bustle with people and the mystery of the night when the shops are closed and the streets are quiet.

Think about the smells and sounds you experienced as you went through an ordinary day and explain how that day relates to your life experience in your county or your city:

"Most people don’t think of spiders when they bite into a tomato, but I do. Growing up in southern Ohio, I spent many summer afternoons picking baskets of tomatoes that would be canned or frozen and preserved for cold winter’s dinners. I loved the results of my labors, but I’ll never forget the sight of the enormous, black and white, scary-looking spiders that lived in the plants and created zigzag designs on their webs. In fact, those spiders, with their artistic web creations, inspired my interest in bugs and shaped my career in science."

One Event as a Theme

Perhaps one event or one day of your life made such a big impact that it could be used as a theme. The end or beginning of the life of another can affect our thoughts and actions for a long time:

"I was 12 years old when my mother passed away. By the time I was 15, I had become an expert in dodging bill collectors, recycling hand-me-down jeans, and stretching a single meal’s worth of ground beef into two family dinners. Although I was a child when I lost my mother, I was never able to mourn or to let myself become too absorbed in thoughts of personal loss. The fortitude I developed at a young age was the driving force that would see me through many other challenges."

Writing the Essay

Whether you determine that your life story is best summed up by a single event, a single characteristic, or a single day, you can use that one element as a theme . You will define this theme in your  introductory paragraph .

Create an outline with several events or activities that relate back to your central theme and turn those into subtopics (body paragraphs) of your story. Finally, tie up all your experiences in a summary that restates and explains the overriding theme of your life. 

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How To Write An Autobiography: A Detailed & Comprehensive Guide

• March 28, 2022

When contemplating how to write an autobiography, many people are led to assume that it’s simple. It’s just your own life story, put through the writing process. However, when writing your own autobiography, you may find that the writing process is a little more complicated than just starting with your birth and telling the story of your own life up to the present moment.

A person’s life is more than just the big events, and it’s seldom ever a solitary story. There are life lessons that need to be included. Family members and their impact on you are a part of autobiography writing as well. If you want to write an autobiography, you have to be conscious of your life story, as a tale that built the person you are, not just a string of events.

This article will help you figure out how to write an autobiography so that it’s not just the story of your own life but a personal story that others can relate to, find inspiration in, and learn from.

What is an Autobiography?

An autobiography is more than just the life story of someone. The person’s life being described is your own; therefore, it is far more personal than a novel or work of fiction. It is essential to stay truthful when recalling your own memories. The slightest deviation in honesty is a slippery slope and can quickly take you from autobiography writing to fiction writing.

How An Autobiography is Different from a Biography

A biography is the telling of someone else’s life. You choose someone, such as a family member, a friend, or a famous person, and you tell the story of his or her own life while leaving your own story out of it. A biography takes a large amount of research and expertise regarding the subject’s life story and events that they lived through. An autobiography works in the same fashion, but it’s the story of you. You are the ultimate expert in your own life. Therefore, there’s not much research to be done.

Another significant difference between autobiographical writing and biographical writing is the voice that is used. When you write an autobiography, you want to use first-person writing. You are telling the story of you. Therefore you should tell it from your own point of view.

On the other hand, biographies should always be written from a third-person point of view. Third-person is using “he, she, they, them.” You were not there, you did not witness the events you are writing about, and therefore, you should be telling the story from an outsider’s viewpoint.

How an Autobiography is Different from a Memoir

A memoir tells your own story, but not your entire life story. Often written to convey a specific message, a memoir includes snippets and anecdotes that occur throughout your entire life. Still, it’s not the detailed story of a life in its entirety. Both of these types of writing are done in the first-person point of view. First-person uses pronouns such as “I, we, and us.”

For example, if you were to write a memoir about how 9/11 affected you personally, you might write about your life the year that the attack occurred. You may even give some bits of information about your childhood, your career, or your family life from before the event. Then you would provide details and focus on 9/11 itself and what you did and were doing that day. Later, you might skip ahead and give stories from your life about how it changed you, but you wouldn’t tell the story of your entire life.

Future Tense in an Autobiography

The future tense is tricky when it comes to writing. Most autobiographies recall events that have already occurred in a step-by-step process. This process takes the reader from the beginning to another point in the not-so-distant past or right up to the present.

The end is often written in the present tense, but most of the time, the story stops there. Basic principles of tense apply if you decide to speculate or include your hopes, dreams, or fears for the future.

Tips on How to Write an Autobiography

Your own autobiography should include details that encompass your life from birth to the present. When the writing process begins, you should write in the past tense to let the readers know that the events you are writing about have already occurred.

When you get to the present day, remember to switch your tense to the present tense so that the readers understand that you are discussing where you are in your life now. Mistakes in tense usage can be fixed in the first draft revision, but it’s best to try to get yourself in the habit of switching tenses as you go from the past events to the present day when you write an autobiography.

The following are other important tips about what content to include that will help you learn how to write an engaging and well-executed autobiography.

Autobiography Questions

Below are some autobiography questions that can guide you when writing about your life story:

• What has motivated you to write an autobiography?
• Who made a significant impact or influence in your life?
• Who are the people who surround you?
• What are the remarkable memories you have? 
• Did anyone not support you on your journey and you proved them wrong?
• What inspires you?
• What demotivates you?
• What do you consider the best time in your life?
• What quote best depicts and summarizes your life?
• How would you describe yourself?
• What kind of family relationships do you have?
• What moments in life do you feel like you could be truly proud of yourself?
• What do you think are some of your flaws?
• What do you desire to have in the future/where would you like to be?
• What do you do to upskill, and in which field would you like to focus your energy?
• What are your set of principles and personal values?
• How have your values defined who you are today?
• What is your dream career path?
• Have you advocated for something?
• If there was one thing you wanted everyone to know about you, what would it be?

Your Background

It’s essential to start by telling your readers where you’re from, when you were born, and who your family members are when you write an autobiography. 

This does not mean that you need to include how long your mother was in labor (unless the story of your birth is a particularly interesting one), what the hospital room number was, how much you weighed, how long you were, and what you scored on the Apgar test. Those are details that are nice to include in your baby book, but almost no one is interested in those details but you and your mom.

What you should include is where you were born (city, state, country), a story or two about a family member who meant a lot to you when you were a child or teenager, what your educational background was like, what kind of kid you were, and what your family life was like.

Keeping it general and sticking to just a few personal stories and anecdotes is enough. If you want to know how to write an autobiography that doesn’t bore the reader to tears or sleep within the first few pages, keep the details specific to significant events in your childhood, and keep the more drab and general stories to yourself.

Write About Hardship or Failure

While it may not be the most glamorous of life events you have experienced, writing about hard times, failure, and times of struggle help the reader relate to you, feel empathy and care about the story of your life. 

Making your life seem perfect simply because writing about something that didn’t work out, hurt you, or made you unpopular because you see it as embarrassing will only hurt you in the long run because the reader will not be engaged.

When you go back and read your first draft, ask yourself if what you have written will touch anyone who has struggled similarly to you. If not, go back and rewrite it to include at least a few stories of hard times.

Come Up with a Catchy and Compelling Title

Autobiographical writing doesn’t have to be boring, and neither should your title. Steer clear of titles such as; Jane Doe: An Autobiography. Unless you’re famous, you’re not compelling anyone to pick it up and read it. Equally boring is; Jane Doe: The Story of my Life.

Try to come up with something catchy and engaging when you come up with the title. Readers are more likely to read an autobiography written by someone with a witty or smart title than someone who didn’t have the writing skills or creativity to create something more original.

Instead, try for something like; A Beautiful Disaster: The Story of Jane Doe. This title denotes that you don’t take yourself too seriously, but you respect and love yourself while admitting that your life can sometimes be a mess.

You don’t even need to have your name in your title if you have a catchy title. Take this example into consideration; Hot Mess Express: The Story of One Tired Mom. This sort of title is fun, funny, and will catch the attention of mothers, especially those with young children.

Significant Events

When considering how to write an autobiography, keep in mind that significant events in your life should always be included. When you write an autobiography, you are looking for points in your personal story that impacted you and helped to shape you into the person that you are now.

Maybe that was a move across the country, the death of someone close to you, finding love, or your first kiss. Perhaps it was being the first person in your family to go to college, starting your own business, or the birth of your first child.

Be sure to include the less wonderful but still significant events in your life, as well. Things like your first heartbreak, divorce, the loss of a job, poverty you experienced, or trauma that compelled you to rise above your station and seek help to gain self-improvement or lessons learned from these experiences.

Have a Central Idea

What is the most important thing you want to say to the reader with this story? Is it that you started out with nothing and rose up to success? Is it that you had success and lost it all? Maybe it’s that love and dedication to family are more important than success in a career or climbing a social ladder.

Whatever your central idea, identify it and then figure out how you can put it in autobiography format.

The Steps Involved to Write an Autobiography

When thinking of how to write an autobiography, consider that the writing process begins in much the same way that it does with any sort of writing. You should consider following the following steps if you want to learn how to write an autobiography effectively.

Create an Autobiographical Outline

Just like any literary work, you should have an outline. After you have taken some time to reflect on what you want to include, get it written down in autobiography outline form. Include all of the parts of your life that you think you might want to incorporate, and then separate them into categories, focusing on what you think will be of medium to high interest to a reader.

What is meant by “medium to high interest” is that the events are significant enough to garner enough interest for the reader. That they will feel compelled to continue reading to see what happened to you next or how you got through an event or part of your life that you describe.

Do Your Homework

Just because you know what happened to you, and you have the general information and experiences from things like your childhood, it doesn’t mean that you have the knowledge to write it well.

If you don’t know how to describe the setting, society in the era you’re writing about, and the culture, it will seem that you don’t know how to write an autobiography, and readers will start to lose interest.

Look into things like the area you grew up in and what life was like in that area when you were a child. Get a family history from members of your family, such as where your family originated from, what your parents and grandparents did for a living, and any other significant information you may need that you don’t know about the people from whence you came.

Complete the First Draft

Your first draft may not be very clean, and it will most likely have things in it that need to be cut out. You may get too wordy talking about specific periods of your life and may not supply enough story to others. You won’t know until you get that first draft under your belt.

Once you complete this draft, take some time off and let the work sit. Taking a break before revisiting puts distance between yourself and your story, and you’re far more likely to be able to come at the revision process in an open-minded matter once you have that distance.

Revise and Rewrite

As with any writing that you do, whether it’s an autobiography, novel, personal essay, research paper, or news article, you have to revise your work. Proofread, fix simple and obvious mistakes, and add to the things that need more description while cutting out the unnecessary parts.

Once you have fixed grammar mistakes and taken the story from what looks like a personal diary to a narrative account of your life experiences, you can start writing the next draft. Make sure to determine your desired writing style before you rewrite, and make sure that the content matches that style.

How to Properly Structure an Autobiography

Whether you’re writing a full-length book or an autobiographical essay, you still have to have structure to your writing. While an autobiographical essay is shorter, the structure is much the same. The following are some tips that will help you figure out how to write an autobiography format that works well.

Write in Chronological Order

While it’s perfectly fine for a novel to have a timeline that skips and jumps around, the best way to tell a good story of your own experiences and personal memories is to do so in chronological order or the order in which things happened.

The very beginning of your autobiography should cover your birth, then childhood, then education, then young adulthood, on up to the present moment. This creates a timeline of each significant personal experience that is easy to follow and doesn’t confuse the reader.

Don’t Fictionalize Names or Places

Professional writers of fiction often create characters based on people they know or even themselves. They give these characters fake names and personas and rename towns and businesses so as not to make the writing too personal. All the details of the real people may be present, but when you write fiction, you have the freedom to change things.

An autobiography covers actual events, so the writing needs to be honest. If you grew up in Toledo, Ohio, say that. Don’t make up the name of a town. If you grew up with a mother named Tess, say that. Don’t give her a fake name. Being truthful about your family and your life is essential. You’re not the only character in this story, and it’s unfair and not suitable to misrepresent a setting or person in your life.

Add Family Photos or Other Personal Touches

The most compelling television episodes are the ones in which there is a strong story and a strong visual to accompany it. You can create an effect very close to this by including photos, artwork, letters shared by people close to you, and more. Just be sure that you ask for and are granted permission before you do this, especially if the photos are used to identify weak moments in your life for any reason.

Be Thorough in Describing Pivotal Moments

Significant moments in life that occur, such as academic achievements, turning points, and the things that build up to a story arc for you, need to be built up in a way that creates both interest and intrigue for your reader. Include details like how negative experiences shaped your understanding or outlook on things or how you learned to be completely free of stress because of how stressful and frantic your life used to be.

These things make up the critical elements in what amounts to a full life. And being completely transparent and thorough in the telling of it gives the reader the freshest possible perspective, especially if you acknowledge as the writer that you are reflecting upon the story you’re telling, as you tell it.

The Final Draft When Writing an Autobiography

So you’ve completed all of the steps mentioned above, and you’ve worked out your outline, title, and other details that seem small but are incredibly important. Now it’s time to write the final draft so that your favorite story, the story of you, can become someone else’s favorite story.

The Last Revision

Once you have completed that final draft , you still need to go back and ensure that everything you wanted and needed to include is present and accounted for. Clarity is sometimes an issue when a person is trying to figure out how to write an autobiography. Try reading your story aloud, and if it makes sense to someone else or even to you as you read it with your own voice, then it’s probably thorough enough.

Make Sure the Title Agrees with the Content

The last thing you want is a misleading title. Make sure that the title goes along with your autobiography’s overall tone and message.

For example, if you wrote a sad story about heartache and loss of hope, don’t title your story: Little Miss Sunshine: The Story of One Woman from the Midwest. Be sure that the mood, message, and tone align with the title you have decided on. If they don’t fit, it’s much easier to change the title than the mood and tone of the story.

Autobiography Format

Below we have outlined the format that you can utilize when writing an autobiography:

• Title – It should reflect what your life story conveys or what it is like to be you.
• Dedication – This section states whom you would like to dedicate your autobiography.
• Table of Contents – It helps your readers to locate specific parts of your autobiography.
• Acknowledgments – This is where you express your gratitude to the people who have helped you on your journey.
• Foreword – It highlights the purpose of the autobiography.
• Introduction – This provides a glimpse of who you are as the author, and if this is effective, the reader will continue reading your book.
• Body Section – This is where the events in your life are chronologically narrated, along with all the necessary details. It can contain many headings and subheadings.
• Conclusion – This is where you share all your revelations and successes, while also referencing your own personal experiences.
• Memorabilia – You may include significant pictures or any other objects that have impacted your life.
• Index – It helps the reader browse through your autobiography by using main keywords or concept words.

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• Literary Terms
• Autobiography
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write Autobiography

I. What is Autobiography?

An autobiography is a self-written life story.

It is different from a  biography , which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Some people may have their life story written by another person because they don’t believe they can write well, but they are still considered an author because they are providing the information. Reading autobiographies may be more interesting than biographies because you are reading the thoughts of the person instead of someone else’s interpretation.

II. Examples of Autobiography

One of the United States’ forefathers wrote prolifically (that means a lot!) about news, life, and common sense. His readings, quotes, and advice are still used today, and his face is on the $100 bill. Benjamin Franklin’s good advice is still used through his sayings, such as “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” He’s also the one who penned the saying that’s seen all over many schools: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” His autobiography is full of his adventures , philosophy about life, and his wisdom. His autobiography shows us how much he valued education through his anecdotes (stories) of his constant attempts to learn and improve himself. He also covers his many ideas on his inventions and his thoughts as he worked with others in helping the United States become free from England.

III. Types of Autobiography

There are many types of autobiographies. Authors must decide what purpose they have for writing about their lives, and then they can choose the format that would best tell their story. Most of these types all share common goals: helping themselves face an issue by writing it down, helping others overcome similar events, or simply telling their story.

a. Full autobiography (traditional):

This would be the complete life story, starting from birth through childhood, young adulthood, and up to the present time at which the book is being written. Authors might choose this if their whole lives were very different from others and could be considered interesting.

There are many types of memoirs – place, time, philosophic (their theory on life), occupational, etc. A memoir is a snapshot of a person’s life. It focuses on one specific part that stands out as a learning experience or worth sharing.

c. Psychological illness

People who have suffered mental illness of any kind find it therapeutic to write down their thoughts. Therapists are specialists who listen to people’s problems and help them feel better, but many people find writing down their story is also helpful.

d. Confession

Just as people share a psychological illness, people who have done something very wrong may find it helps to write down and share their story. Sharing the story may make one feel he or she is making amends (making things right), or perhaps hopes that others will learn and avoid the same mistake.

e. Spiritual

Spiritual and religious experiences are very personal . However, many people feel that it’s their duty and honor to share these stories. They may hope to pull others into their beliefs or simply improve others’ lives.

f. Overcoming adversity

Unfortunately, many people do not have happy, shining lives. Terrible events such as robberies, assaults, kidnappings, murders, horrific accidents, and life-threatening illnesses are common in some lives. Sharing the story can inspire others while also helping the person express deep emotions to heal.

IV. The Importance of Autobiography

Autobiographies are an important part of history. Being able to read the person’s own ideas and life stories is getting the first-person story versus the third-person (he-said/she-said) version. In journalism, reporters go to the source to get an accurate account of an event. The same is true when it comes to life stories. Reading the story from a second or third source will not be as reliable. The writer may be incorrectly explaining and describing the person’s life events.

Autobiographies are also important because they allow other people in similar circumstances realize that they are not alone. They can be inspiring for those who are facing problems in their lives. For the author, writing the autobiography allows them to heal as they express their feelings and opinions. Autobiographies are also an important part of history.

V. Examples of Autobiography in Literature

A popular autobiography that has lasted almost 100 years is that of Helen Keller. Her life story has been made into numerous movies and plays. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has also had her life story written and televised multiple times. Students today still read and learn about this young girl who went blind and deaf at 19 months of age, causing her to also lose her ability to learn to speak. Sullivan’s entrance into Helen’s life when the girl was seven was the turning point. She learned braille and soon became an activist for helping blind and deaf people across the nation. She died in 1968, but her autobiography is still helping others.

Even in the days before my teacher came, I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges, and, guided by the sense of smell, would find the first violets and lilies. There, too, after a fit of temper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass. What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden! (Keller).

An autobiography that many middle and high school students read every year is “Night” by Elie Wiesel. His story is also a memoir, covering his teen years as he and his family went from the comfort of their own home to being forced into a Jewish ghetto with other families, before ending up in a Nazi prison camp. His book is not that long, but the details and description he uses brings to life the horrors of Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany during World War II. Students also read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” another type of autobiography that shows a young Jewish girl’s daily life while hiding from the Nazis to her eventual capture and death in a German camp. Both books are meant to remind us to not be indifferent to the world’s suffering and to not allow hate to take over.

“The people were saying, “The Red Army is advancing with giant strides…Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to…” Yes, we even doubted his resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century! And thus my elders concerned themselves with all manner of things—strategy, diplomacy, politics, and Zionism—but not with their own fate. Even Moishe the Beadle had fallen silent. He was weary of talking. He would drift through synagogue or through the streets, hunched over, eyes cast down, avoiding people’s gaze. In those days it was still possible to buy emigration certificates to Palestine. I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave” (Wiesel 8).  

VI. Examples of Autobiography in Pop Culture

One example of an autobiography that was a hit in the movie theaters is “American Sniper,” the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. According to an article in the Dallas, Texas, magazine D, Kyle donated all the proceeds from the film to veterans and their families. He had a story to tell, and he used it to help others. His story is a memoir, focusing on a specific time period of his life when he was overseas in the military.

An autobiography by a young Olympian is “Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith” by Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas. She had a writer, Michelle Burford, help her in writing her autobiography. This is common for those who have a story to tell but may not have the words to express it well. Gabby was the darling of the 2012 Olympics, winning gold medals for the U.S. in gymnastics along with being the All-Around Gold Medal winner, the first African-American to do so. Many young athletes see her as an inspiration. Her story also became a television movie, “The Gabby Douglas Story.”

VII. Related Terms

The life story of one person written by another. The purpose may to be highlight an event or person in a way to help the public learn a lesson, feel inspired, or to realize that they are not alone in their circumstance. Biographies are also a way to share history. Historic and famous people may have their biographies written by many authors who research their lives years after they have died.

VIII. Conclusion

Autobiographies are a way for people to share stories that may educate, inform, persuade, or inspire others. Many people find writing their stories to be therapeutic, healing them beyond what any counseling might do or as a part of the counseling. Autobiographies are also a way to keep history alive by allowing people in the present learn about those who lived in the past. In the future, people can learn a lot about our present culture by reading autobiographies by people of today.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

Autobiography

Definition of autobiography.

Autobiography is one type of biography , which tells the life story of its author, meaning it is a written record of the author’s life. Rather than being written by somebody else, an autobiography comes through the person’s own pen, in his own words. Some autobiographies are written in the form of a fictional tale; as novels or stories that closely mirror events from the author’s real life. Such stories include Charles Dickens ’ David Copperfield  and J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye . In writing about personal experience, one discovers himself. Therefore, it is not merely a collection of anecdotes – it is a revelation to the readers about the author’s self-discovery.

Difference between Autobiography and Memoir

In an autobiography, the author attempts to capture important elements of his life. He not only deals with his career, and growth as a person, he also uses emotions and facts related to family life, relationships, education, travels, sexuality, and any types of inner struggles. A memoir is a record of memories and particular events that have taken place in the author’s life. In fact, it is the telling of a story or an event from his life; an account that does not tell the full record of a life.

Six Types of Autobiography

There are six types of autobiographies:

• Autobiography: A personal account that a person writes himself/herself.
• Memoir : An account of one’s memory.
• Reflective Essay : One’s thoughts about something.
• Confession: An account of one’s wrong or right doings.
• Monologue : An address of one’s thoughts to some audience or interlocuters.
• Biography : An account of the life of other persons written by someone else.

Importance of Autobiography

Autobiography is a significant genre in literature. Its significance or importance lies in authenticity, veracity, and personal testimonies. The reason is that people write about challenges they encounter in their life and the ways to tackle them. This shows the veracity and authenticity that is required of a piece of writing to make it eloquent, persuasive, and convincing.

Examples of Autobiography in Literature

Example #1:  the box: tales from the darkroom by gunter grass.

A noble laureate and novelist, Gunter Grass , has shown a new perspective of self-examination by mixing up his quilt of fictionalized approach in his autobiographical book, “The Box: Tales from the Darkroom.” Adopting the individual point of view of each of his children, Grass narrates what his children think about him as their father and a writer. Though it is really an experimental approach, due to Grass’ linguistic creativity and dexterity, it gains an enthralling momentum.

Example #2:  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

In her autobiography, The Story of My Life , Helen Keller recounts her first twenty years, beginning with the events of the childhood illness that left her deaf and blind. In her childhood, a writer sent her a letter and prophesied, “Someday you will write a great story out of your own head that will be a comfort and help to many.”

In this book, Keller mentions prominent historical personalities, such as Alexander Graham Bell, whom she met at the age of six, and with whom she remained friends for several years. Keller paid a visit to John Greenleaf Whittier , a famous American poet, and shared correspondence with other eminent figures, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Generally, Keller’s autobiography is about overcoming great obstacles through hard work and pain.

Example #3:  Self Portraits: Fictions by Frederic Tuten

In his autobiography, “Self Portraits: Fictions ,” Frederic Tuten has combined the fringes of romantic life with reality. Like postmodern writers, such as Jorge Luis Borges, and Italo Calvino, the stories of Tuten skip between truth and imagination, time and place, without warning. He has done the same with his autobiography, where readers are eager to move through fanciful stories about train rides, circus bears, and secrets to a happy marriage; all of which give readers glimpses of the real man.

Example #4:  My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard

Reliving the success of his literary career through the lens of the many prizes he has received, Thomas Bernhard presents a sarcastic commentary in his autobiography, “My Prizes.” Bernhard, in fact, has taken a few things too seriously. Rather, he has viewed his life as a farcical theatrical drama unfolding around him. Although Bernhard is happy with the lifestyle and prestige of being an author, his blasé attitude and scathing wit make this recollection more charmingly dissident and hilarious.

Example #5:  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ” is written by one of the founding fathers of the United States. This book reveals Franklin’s youth, his ideas, and his days of adversity and prosperity. He is one of the best examples of living the American dream – sharing the idea that one can gain financial independence, and reach a prosperous life through hard work.

Through autobiography, authors can speak directly to their readers, and to their descendants. The function of the autobiography is to leave a legacy for its readers. By writing an autobiography, the individual shares his triumphs and defeats, and lessons learned, allowing readers to relate and feel motivated by inspirational stories. Life stories bridge the gap between peoples of differing ages and backgrounds, forging connections between old and new generations.

Synonyms of Autobiography

The following words are close synonyms of autobiography such as life story, personal account, personal history, diary, journal, biography, or memoir.

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• The Autobiography of Malcolm X

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autobiography

What is autobiography definition, usage, and literary examples, autobiography definition.

An  autobiography  (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written  biography . The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader.

Autobiographies have been a popular literary genre for centuries. The first Western autobiography is attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo for his 13-book work titled  Confessions , written between 397 and 400 CE. Some autobiographies are a straightforward narrative that recollects a linear chain of events as they unfolded. The genre has expanded and evolved to include different approaches to the form.

The word  autobiography  comes from the Ancient Greek  auto  (“self”) +  bios  (“life”) +  graphein  (“to write”) = “a self-written life.” It is also known as autography .

The History of Autobiography

Scholars regard Augustine’s  Confessions  as the first Western autobiography. Other autobiographical works from antiquity include Jewish historian Flavius Josephus’s  Vita  (circa 99 CE) and Greek scholar Libanius’s  Oration I  (374 CE). Works of this kind were called apologias, which essentially means “in my defense.” Writers approached these works not as acts of self-documentation but as self-defense. They represented a way to explain and provide rationale for their life, work, and escapades. There was also less focus on their emotional lives.

The Book of Margery Kempe , written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest known autobiography in English. (Though it didn’t see full publication until the 20th century.) Other early English-language biographies of note include:

• Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s 1764 memoirs
• John Bunyan’s  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners  in 1666
• Jarena Lee’s  The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee  (the first autobiography of an African American woman)

Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s  Confessions was published in 1782. It paved the way for the more thoughtful, emotionally centered autobiographies seen today. Autobiography as a literary genre emerged a few years later, when British scholar William Taylor first used the term to describe a self-written biography. He did so disparagingly, suggesting the form was  pedantic . In 1809, English Romantic poet Robert Southey used the term more seriously to describe self-written biographies.

Starting in the 20th century, more young people started writing autobiographies. Perhaps the most famous example is Anne Frank’s  The Diary of a Young Girl , about her time hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. The 21st century saw an increase in autobiographical essay collections and memoirs by younger celebrities, including:

• Anna Kendrick
• Mindy Kaling
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Mike Birbiglia
• Lena Dunham
• Chelsea Handler

Autobiographies are not immune to controversy. One notable scandal involved author James Frey’s  A Million Little Pieces . Originally billed as a memoir, evidence later emerged that Frey invented key parts of the story. This example underscores how easily authors can cross over into autofiction—fictional autobiography—and how seriously readers take authors’ responsibility to accurately and honestly market their books.

Types of Autobiographies

There are a few different types of self-written works that qualify as autobiography.

Standard Autobiographies

In the most traditional form, authors recount their life or specific formative events from their life. This approach often utilizes a chronological format of events, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. An author’s approach might include a framing device such as flashbacks, in which they move from the present to the past as they remember their lives. For example, Broadway star Patti LuPone’s self-titled autobiography begins on the opening night of  Gypsy  in 2004 before moving back in time to LuPone’s childhood. An author could take a more stream-of-consciousness style, in which one memory links to another by a common theme. Irish writer Seán O’Casey narrates his six-volume  Autobiographies  in this manner

This is a type of autobiography that is narrower in scope and focus. It places greater emphasis on particular memories, thoughts, and feelings. A standard autobiography can certainly cover some of this same ground—most do—but the memoir is more interested in individual events or defined portions of the author’s life and the emotions and lessons behind them.

Henry David Thoreau is a notable memoirist. In Walden , he reflects on his time spent living in solitude in the woods of Massachusetts and what he learned about life and nature throughout this experience. Another example is  The Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion, which relates the death of her husband and its impact on her life and work. Another is  Wild  by Cheryl Strayed, wherein Strayed remembers her time hiking the Pacific Crest Trail during a period of great change in her life.

Autofiction

The fictionalized autobiography, or autofiction, is another type of autobiography. The author presents their story not as fact but as fiction. This method gives them considerable space to take creative license with events and characters, thereby blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The overall goal is less about the author wanting to obscure facts and make things up and more a matter of taking another tactic to delve into their experiences in service of self-discovery.  Taipei  by Tao Lin is a work of autofiction. The central character, Paul, mirrors Lin’s own life and experiences, from the literary world of New York City to his ancestral roots in Taiwan.

Spiritual Autobiographies

These autobiographies center on the author’s religious or spiritual awakening and the subsequent journey their faith has taken them on. Common elements include struggles and doubt, a life-altering conversion, periods of regression, and sharing the “message.” These all act as endorsements of the author’s faith. Augustine’s  Confessions , Paramahansa Yogananda’s  Autobiography of a Yogi , and Augusten Burroughs’s  Toil & Trouble: A Memoir  are all spiritual autobiographies.

Autobiography vs. Biography

Both autobiographies and  biographies  are records of real lives, but there is one major distinction. A person other than the book’s subject writes a biography, while the subject themselves writes an autobiography. In this way, an autobiography is essentially a biography of the self. The biographer’s job is typically more involved, entailing detailed research into the life of the subject. The autobiographer, however, is usually not burdened by this because they lived through the events they write about. They may need only to confirm dates and stories to accurately relate the pertinent details.

The Function of Autobiography

An autobiography allows the author to tell the true story of their own life. This is the reason why autobiographies have always been written by famous people. History tends to remember notable individuals for just one significant contribution or event and, even then, the public’s perception of it may be inaccurate. Writing an autobiography allows the author to share the real story and put it into the larger context of their life and times.

Most readers pick up an autobiography expecting some degree of subjectivity from the author. After all, the events chronicled happened to the author, so the writing will of course have a biased  perspective . There are advantages to this subjectivity, though. The reader gets the real story directly from the person who lived it, unvarnished by others’ opinions or erroneous historical data.

One way this subjectivity is problematic is that the author may not possess the ability to see the story they’re telling from other perspectives. For example, they may not acknowledge any hurt they caused others, dangerous behaviors they engaged in, or the “other side” of a controversial event in which there are equally valid opposing viewpoints and experiences. Any of these deficiencies can result in a somewhat skewed narrative.

Writers Known for Autobiography & Autobiography Books

• Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,  Gather Together in My Name
• Jung Chang,  Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• Isak Dinesen,  Out of Africa ,  Shadows on the Grass
• Carrie Fisher,  Wishful Drinking ,  Shockaholic
• Anne Frank,  The Diary of a Young Girl
• Ernest Hemingway,  A Moveable Feast
• Karl Ove Knausgård,  My Struggle
• Frank McCourt,  Angela’s Ashes
• Anaïs Nin,  The Diaries of Anaïs Nin
• Marcel Proust,  Remembrance of Things Past
• Patti Smith,  Just Kids ,  M Train
• Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain
• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
• Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
• Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography 

Examples of Autobiographies

1. Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou’s autobiography is the first installment in a seven-volume series chronicling the life of the legendary poet, teacher, actress, director, dancer, and civil rights activist. Given all those roles, it’s easy to see why Angelou’s life story makes for interesting reading.

This volume centers primarily on her early life in Stamps, Arkansas, and the devastating effects of a childhood rape. It also explores racism in the American South. It discuses the important role reading plays in helping young Maya deal with the sexual assault and pervasive prejudice in her environment.

2. Helen Keller,  The Story of My Life

Keller’s autobiography details her first 20 years, starting with the childhood illness that caused her blindness and deafness. She discusses the obstacles she had to overcome and the life-changing relationship she shared with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who helped her learn to read and write. Keller also documents her friendships with several famous figures of her day, including Alexander Graham Bell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and First Lady Frances Cleveland.

3. Vinh Chung,  Where the Wind Leads

Chung’s autobiography recalls the harrowing story of a Vietnamese refugee and his journey to make the American Dream his own. Born in South Vietnam, Chung comes of age in a changing political climate that eventually compels his family to flee the country. Their voyage takes them through the South China Sea, run-ins with pirates, resettlement in Arkansas, and Chung’s graduation from Harvard Medical School.

How to Write an Autobiography

Autobiography is a truly universal art form and is accessible to anyone, whether you're in high school or 100 years old. Exploring the process of writing an autobiography deserves an article in itself, but the process should include these steps:

• Determine your "why." What lessons do you want to impart via your story, and why are they worth sharing with a broader audience?
• Draft an autobiographical outline. It should include information about your upbringing, impactful moments throughout your life, stories of failure and success, and meaningful mentors.
• Begin with the easiest sections. Getting started is often the greatest hurdle, so begin by writing the chapters that feel most accessible or enjoyable.
• Write your first draft. Once you write the first chapters, it will feel easier to write the rest. Capitalize on your momentum and write a full draft.
• Step away. As with anything, stepping away from your work will help foster fresh perspectives when you return.
• Edit and re-write your draft. Your first draft will probably benefit from thorough revisions, as will your second draft, and maybe your third. Continue to edit and revise until it feels right.
• Ask for help. Bring in a trusted family member or friend or professional editor to help with final edits.

Further Resources on Autobiography

ThoughtCo. shares some  important points to consider before writing an autobiography .

The Living Handbook of Narratology delves into the  history of the autobiography .

MasterClass breaks autobiography writing down into  eight basic steps .

Pen & the Pad looks at the  advantages and disadvantages of the autobiography .

Lifehack has a list of  15 autobiographies everyone should read at least once .

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50 Best Autobiographies of All Time

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

Top new autobiography books, best autobiographies of all time, most famous autobiographies, inspiring autobiographies, must-read autobiographies for athletes, top autobiographies about politics, good autobiographies about science.

Autobiographies allow us to experience other people’s lives from their own perspectives.

It can be really powerful to see the ways other people describe their own lives, especially when those people are inspiring figures or well-known celebrities.

So, what are some great autobiographies you can read?

This article will give you 50 fantastic autobiographies to add to your reading list across several categories: sports, politics, science, and more.

Let’s start our list with recent releases. Here are some great autobiographies that were published within the past five years.

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (2020)

In this powerful autobiography, President Barack Obama takes us on the journey that led to his presidency. He describes his time in the White House and how he handled issues like the global financial crisis and Operation Neptune’s Spear.

2. All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King (2021)

Billie Jean King writes about how she became the tennis legend she is today, with 39 Grand Slam titles and six years as the top-ranked female tennis player in the world. She incorporates her insights on leadership, activism, love, happiness, and more.

3. Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman (2022)

Alan Rickman, an actor famous for his roles in movies like Die Hard, Harry Potter, and many more, wrote these diaries from 1993 to 2016. These diaries are a rare peek into his inner world and all his real life stories from that time period.

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (2022)

Jennette McCurdy, famous for playing Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon show iCarly, writes about her troubled relationship with her mother and how that dictated her choices until her mom passed away. She writes about her early life, her mental health, her acting career, and her struggle for independence.

5. Finding Me by Viola Davis (2022)

Famous actress Viola Davis writes about how she built her successful career and how she grounded herself in self-love and radical honesty. Her writing is intimate, personal, and moving.

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Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

6. Spare by Prince Harry (2023)

Prince Harry tells the world about the loss of his mother, his time in the British Army, his relationship with Meghan Markle, and the tensions he’s faced with his older brother, the heir. Spare is raw and often heart-wrenching.

7. Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music by Henry Threadgill (2023)

Henry Threadgill, a Pulitzer Prize-winning saxophonist, flutist, and composer, writes about his childhood in Chicago in the 1960s, his service in Vietnam, and his devotion to the art of jazz music.

Now it’s time to turn to the classics. Let’s look at some famous autobiographies that have truly stood the test of time.

8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

Maya Angelou writes about her childhood from age 3 to 16. She underwent many traumatic experiences, including racism and sexual assault, but she overcame those hardships to become one of the greatest American poets of all time. 

The Collected Autobiographies continues her story if I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings leaves you hungry for more.

9. Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez (1993)

Luis J. Rodriguez writes about growing up immersed in L.A. gang culture. In the 1990s, Always Running was one of the most frequently banned books in the U.S. because of its graphic content and daring stance on police brutality.

10. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (1964)

Famous American writer Ernest Hemingway describes his experiences in Paris in the 1920s. He writes about his first wife Hadley, his son Jack, and his early experiments with the craft of writing.

11. An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (1977)

Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, invented some of the world’s most famous detectives, such as Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Her autobiography, published after her death, is considered by some to be one of her greatest literary masterpieces.

12. Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan (2004)

Award-winning musician Bob Dylan writes about his life and music in this famous autobiography. However, it’s worth mentioning that this book has been controversial for accusations of plagiarism, so read with discretion.

13. Bare by George Michael (1990)

George Michael, the lead singer of Wham!, writes about his rise to stardom. The people who knew George describe what happened behind the scenes, providing even deeper insight into what he was really like, not just as a performer but also as a person.

Many autobiographies have topped bestseller lists and even become household names. Here are some famous autobiographies that millions of people have read.

14. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl hiding from Nazi persecution throughout the Holocaust, tells her story in this heartbreaking diary. The Diary of a Young Girl is an absolute must-read if you haven’t read it already.

15. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 by Mark Twain (2010)

Mark Twain completed his autobiography by 1910 but asked that it not be published for another 100 years. In 2010, when it was finally published, it became an instant New York Times bestseller that provides an intimate portrait of this famous author’s experiences.

16. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X (1965)

Malcolm X was one of the most famous figures of the American civil rights movement. Alex Haley, an esteemed contributor to Reader’s Digest , compiled this autobiography using interviews and excerpts of Malcolm X’s writing.

17. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (1845)

Frederick Douglass, an esteemed abolitionist and orator, chronicles his life story as a former slave in this vivid autobiographical account. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is widely considered one of the best autobiographies of all time.

18. Just Kids by Patti Smith (2010)

Artist Patti Smith writes about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who later passed away due to AIDS. The book addresses sexuality, politics, and artistic expression in a moving and evocative way.

19. Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash (1997)

Johnny Cash is a famous American musician, known for songs like “Folsom Prison Blues.” In this definitive biography, he writes about his spirituality, memories, and relationships.

20. Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca (1984)

Lee Iacocca, the son of Italian immigrants, became the president of Ford Motor Company and also helped Chrysler turn its fate around. His book tells us, in his own words, how he faced obstacles with integrity and grit.

If you’re looking for inspiration to help you change your life or make a difference in the world, reading an autobiography can be a great place to start. Many people have done incredible things that are sure to motivate you.

Here are some great examples of inspiring autobiographies.

21. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (2013)

The Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai for defending the right for Pakistani girls to get an education. Now, she’s one of the most courageous and inspiring figures in the world, and her bestselling memoir describes her journey.

22. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (1946)

Paramahansa Yogananda is the man most often credited with making yoga popular in the U.S. In Autobiography of a Yogi, he writes about his life story as well as his life lessons for readers who want to learn about yoga and finding inner peace.

23. The Autobiography of Gucci Mane by Gucci Mane (2017)

Gucci Mane, a prolific trap and hip-hop artist, started writing this memoir while incarcerated. His autobiography tells us about his childhood in Alabama, living on the streets in Atlanta, and his experience making music while overcoming obstacles.

24. Living for Change: An Autobiography by Grace Lee Boggs (1998)

Grace Lee Boggs is a human rights activist who never stopped fighting for a more just society. She writes about how she dedicated her life to her beliefs and helped make the world a fairer place.

25. The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas K. Gandhi (1925)

Mahatma Gandhi, famous for his civil disobedience campaigns, wrote this autobiography in weekly installments, which he published in his journal Navjivan. Now, the completed book has been named one of the “100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.”

26. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (1902)

As a young child who was both blind and deaf, Helen Keller had no way to communicate with the world. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her learn how to rise above her disabilities. This compassionate memoir provides hope, courage, and faith for all of us.

27. Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock (2017)

Janet Mock is an award-winning writer, director, and producer, as well as a trans rights advocate. In this inspiring memoir, she writes about what she learned in her twenties and how she found her path.

28. Becoming by Michelle Obama (2018)

Former first lady Michelle Obama writes about her extraordinary life in this inspirational memoir. Becoming is structured in three parts: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More. She writes about her childhood growing up in Chicago, her relationship with her husband Barack Obama, and their experiences serving in the White House.

It’s not easy to become a record-breaking athlete. It takes a lot of training, grit, and determination.

Many world-famous athletes have written autobiographies explaining how they reached such high levels of accomplishment in their fields. Here are a few great books by successful athletes.

29. Flying Free: My Victory Over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team by Cecilia Aragon (2020)

Cecilia Aragon started out as a meek, bullied young girl, then rose to become one of the most acclaimed female aerobatic pilots of all time. She writes about her experience joining the U.S. aerobatic team and her lifelong love of math.

30. Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles (2016)

Simone Biles is an American gymnast who’s won seven Olympic medals. In Courage to Soar , she talks about how she overcame obstacles and trained incessantly to become the greatest in her sport.

31. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (2009)

Andre Agassi was raised to be a tennis champion from a young age by his exacting father. Though Agassi dominated on the court, he often resented the sport in his personal life, and Open documents his complicated feelings throughout his career.

32. The Game by Ken Dryden (1983)

The Game , which was named one of the “Top 10 Sports Books of All Time” by Sports Illustrated , tells the story of Ken Dryden, a legendary Canadian hockey player. He writes about his fellow players, his life on the road, and his worldview both on and off the ice.

33. Drive: The Story of My Life by Larry Bird (1989)

Larry Bird, who has won three NBA MVP awards, has often been viewed as one of the most private and mysterious basketball legends. In Drive, he reveals all the private feelings that he rarely shared publicly, including the story behind his failed marriage and his decision to transfer schools.

34. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (2015)

William Finnegan started surfing as a young child and went on to chase waves around the world: Australia, Asia, Africa, and more. His autobiography reads almost like an adventure story, showing how he mastered the art of surfing.

35. I Always Wanted to Be Somebody by Althea Gibson (1958)

Althea Gibson was the first African American tennis player to win at Wimbledon. Her autobiography explains how she triumphed over a difficult childhood to achieve athletic success.

36. Strongman: My Story by Eddie Hall (2017)

Eddie “The Beast” Hall is a British strongman who won the World’s Strongest Man competition. He writes about the training, nutrition, and dedication required to make it as a professional strongman.

Many politicians write autobiographies describing the ways their leadership impacted their communities.

Here are some famous political autobiographies, which might be well worth a read.  

37. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

Nelson Mandela, the first Black president of South Africa, tells his life story in Long Walk to Freedom. He writes about his experiences growing up, training as a lawyer, becoming an anti-apartheid activist, and getting sentenced to life in prison.

38. Madam Secretary: A Memoir by Madeleine Albright (2003)

Madam Secretary tells the story of Madeleine Albright, who served as U.S. Secretary of State during Bill Clinton’s presidency. She writes about how she approached peace in the Middle East, NATO’s interventions abroad, and many other prominent global affairs issues.

39. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (2013)

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, writes about growing up in a low-income Puerto Rican immigrant family and how her childhood shaped her rise to success. This inspiring story will remind you that anyone with enough dedication can achieve their dreams.

40. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin (1909)

Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography in the 1770s–1790s, but it wasn’t published until 1909. Now you can read about the life of one of America’s Founding Fathers and his moral views on the society he lived in.

41. An Autobiography by Jawaharlal Nehru (1936)

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, wrote this book while in prison from 1934–1935. He writes about his vision for modern India and his views on both history and the present.

42. Daughter of the East: An Autobiography by Benazir Bhutto (1988)

Benazir Bhutto’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was a prime minister of Pakistan who was executed in 1979. In Daughter of the East, Benazir Bhutto writes about how she took up her father’s mantle and began leading the Pakistan People’s Party.

43. The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (2019)

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris writes about her upbringing in an immigrant family in California, her passion for justice, and her rise to one of the highest leadership roles in the U.S. She also reckons with the truths that define her country and how we can face them.

Finally, let’s finish our list with some autobiographies written by incredible scientists. These people made discoveries that changed the world, and it’s fascinating to hear about the life events that led them to those discoveries.

44. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson (1968)

James Watson writes about how he and his partner Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA. This tremendous breakthrough won them a Nobel Prize and revolutionized the future of biology.

45. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman (1985)

In this witty and lighthearted autobiography, Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, recounts his life in physics. His voice shines through in this book, which is simultaneously eccentric, funny, and brilliant.

46. My Brief History by Stephen Hawking (2013)

Stephen Hawking writes about how he triumphed over Lou Gehrig’s Disease to become one of the most famous scientists of all time. He also explains his breakthrough research into black holes and quantum gravity.

47. Letters from the Field, 1925–1975 by Margaret Mead (1977)

Margaret Mead sent letters to her family and friends while she was conducting field research in Samoa, New Guinea, Bali, and more. These smart, lyrical, and insightful letters show us the inner world of a wonderful scientist.

48. Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe: A Tribute to Five Decades of Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation by Jane Goodall (2013)

Dr. Jane Goodall tells us about her groundbreaking studies of chimpanzee behavior and her philanthropic work across five decades. Photos accompany her writing to make this book come to life. 

49. An Appetite for Wonder: The Makings of a Scientist by Richard Dawkins (2013)

Richard Dawkins, a renowned evolutionary biologist, writes about his personal evolution as a scientist. An Appetite for Wonder covers his childhood in colonial Kenya, his education at Oxford, and his work championing a gene-centered perspective on evolution.

50. On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks (2015)

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a British neurologist who authored many bestselling books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. In On the Move , he writes about his childhood, his experience coming out as a gay man, his drug addiction, and many more personal experiences in a moving and incisive way.

There you have it—our picks for the top autobiographies of all time.

Good luck, and happy reading!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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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.

FREE BOOK OUTLINE TEMPLATE

100% Customizable For Your Manuscript.

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A Warhol Superstar, but Never a Star

Cynthia Carr’s compassionate biography chronicles the brief, poignant life of the transgender actress Candy Darling, whose “very existence was radical.”

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By Alexandra Jacobs

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CANDY DARLING: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar, by Cynthia Carr

Never mind soup-can paintings and portraits of the famous — what Andy Warhol keeps on giving is books . He’s like Mother Ginger in “The Nutcracker” : Smaller people keep running out from under his capacious skirts to bow or curtsy.

The latest is Candy Darling, the transgender actress who succumbed to cancer at 29 in 1974 , after being immortalized in a famous photograph by Peter Hujar and in the Lou Reed song “ Walk on the Wild Side .” She had lived fast — indeed frequently on speed — died young, and left a mutable corpse, with considerable dissent among family and friends about whether she should be buried and eulogized as a man or a woman.

The first full-length biography of her, by Cynthia Carr, a longtime staff writer for The Village Voice — quite the Mother Ginger itself, of late — is compassionate and meticulous, reconstructing its brittle, gleaming subject as one might a broken Meissen figurine.

Born the day after Thanksgiving in 1944, Candy Darling was christened James Lawrence Slattery in Queens, soon moving to the ticky-tacky conformist hamlets of North Merrick and then Massapequa Park, Long Island, which she’d later euphemize as her “country home” but which was then an apparent cesspool of toxic masculinity.

Her father, John, was a cashier for the New York Racing Association who gambled, drank and was violent: the ultimate Daddy Dearest for a child with effeminate tendencies. Her mother, Terry, a receptionist and bank teller, was more supportive and loving — but still, hamstrung by shame. Candy’s half brother, Warren, babysat for her as a child but did not accept her as a woman.

As a child, “Jimmy,” as Candy was known then, was shunned socially and bullied terribly, once ushered onto a box and into a noose by two teenagers in a neighbor’s backyard. Understandably, she avoided regular school as much as possible; her education was in magazines, cosmetology and, of course, movies — she was a Kim Novak superfan, later emulating her.

She worked briefly at a beauty parlor, whose sympathetic owner she took on adventures like horseback riding. “We can always imagine we’re out in the wide-open spaces,” she said dreamily. “And if you imagine it strong enough, you will be.”

Like Ada Calhoun, the daughter of the art critic Peter Schjeldahl who took over his unfinished biography of the poet Frank O’Hara with sparkling results , Carr gets a boost from someone else’s abandoned legwork. Darling’s close friend Jeremiah Newton interviewed many of her intimates before they died — he features prominently in a 2011 documentary, “ Beautiful Darling ” — and shared copious photos, letters and the diaries that Darling began keeping at 13 (some previously published ). One is titled “The Worst Years of My Life.”

Carr spares us the ponderous establishing shots that weigh down many books of this genre. Though “Worst Years” covers the early ’60s, for example, the only mention of John F. Kennedy in Carr’s book comes via a fan taking a picture of Marilyn Monroe the night she sang for his birthday. Candy Darling was apolitical, the author writes — she had a wistful incandescence more than a “fire in the belly” (as Carr titled a previous book about the artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz) — “yet her very existence was radical.”

She and the future Holly Woodlawn, another Warhol favorite, both toiled as file clerks and got out of the draft, Holly by showing up in hot pants and rouge; Candy by bursting into tears.

Stardom was Darling’s absolute raison d’être. You might argue that she was not only transgender but trans-era, longing to be a product and protectorate of the studio system. Alas, Warhol was no Louis B. Mayer, his films mostly art-house experiments — Carr is heroic at summarizing them — and when Darling finally gets to Los Angeles, for the premiere of his movie “ Women in Revolt ” (titled “Sex” at the time), the closest thing she gets to a break is broken promises from a drunk Ed McMahon needing roadside assistance. She does appear for about 15 seconds, uncredited, in the nightclub scene of “Klute, ” and for a while dated Roger Vadim.

Starring in Tennessee Williams’s late-career work “Small Craft Warnings” off Broadway was another high point — though even then neither the male nor the female actors wanted her in their dressing room, and she was consigned to a broom closet. She appeared in a Warhol-staged fashion show for Halston, but was only allowed to wear a maid’s costume.

Darling kept her chin up despite these humiliations, but again and again the rest of her body betrayed her. (Poverty and drugs didn’t help.) By 18, she’d lost almost a third of her teeth. She agonized about what she called “my flaw” — the pesky penis — but vacillated on what the publicist R. Couri Hay, one of those who eulogized her using the masculine pronoun, termed “the final cut.”

The massive quantities of unregulated female hormones she took, doctors and others thought, probably killed her — and yet dying young was in keeping with her fantasy of kinship to platinum-haired idols like Jean Harlow. Sardonic to the end, she joked that the presumed tumor hardening her belly was some kind of immaculate conception.

In a society ill equipped to accept her, Candy Darling’s short life was one of couch-surfing and cadging, which can make for some weird and grotty pages — oh, there’s a desiccated chicken under the bed. Many of those who remember her are unreliable narrators. But, as Carr notes: “All of them so delightful!” Bob Colacello, the O.G. Warhol chronicler, wrote that news of her fatal illness led to the only time he’d seen the artist cry.

There wasn’t really vocabulary to describe the territory Darling was exploring back then — maybe there’s too much vocabulary now, but that’s a different conversation — and her biographer extends a sure hand across the breach. To push her from the Warhol wings to center stage, at a moment when transgender rights are in roiling flux, just makes sense.

And you have to cheer when Tennessee Williams is asked by some rude person whether his star is a transsexual or a transvestite, and he roars back: “What a question to ask a lady!”

CANDY DARLING : Dreamer, Icon, Superstar | By Cynthia Carr | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | 432 pp. | $30

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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James Bond’s creator lived a life to rival the spy’s

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Ian Fleming: The Complete Man

By Nicholas Shakespeare Harper: 864 pages, $45 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

In Nicholas Shakespeare’s new biography of author Ian Fleming, James Bond arrives on the scene rather late. But there’s a good reason to delay focusing on the secret agent Fleming created: His life before Bond is far more interesting than what followed, and much of it would find its way into the books like “bullion,” Shakespeare writes, “to be cut into slices.”

Fleming didn’t publish “Casino Royale” — the novel that introduced Bond to the world — until 1953, when Fleming was 43. By that time, he had already lived multiple lives: as a war reporter, book collector, stockbroker, merchant banker, naval intelligence operative. Fleming may have been staring at a blank page in 1953, but his advance work was abundant: His own thrill-seeking life would become the raw material of his remunerative popular art.

Shakespeare, a British novelist and the author of a biography of English writer Bruce Chatwin, is the first Fleming biographer to get his hands on just about everything Fleming wrote, which helps to make this biography somehow both capacious and breathlessly entertaining. He does a fine job of clearing up some of the hazier myths about Fleming’s tenure in British naval intelligence, even while much of that documentation remains classified. The subtitle of “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man” is apt: This is certainly the most three-dimensional portrait of a complex man who gamely tried to shore up the postwar morale of his beloved England with his fictional hero at a time when the Empire desperately needed it.

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Ian Fleming was to the manner born. His grandfather Robert was one of the wealthiest merchant bankers in 19th century England. Fleming lost his father, Val, in World War I, which might have given his overbearing mother, Eve, sufficient leverage to gain control over her son’s life. It didn’t work out that way.

He was, for a time, her reclamation project: a dropout at Eton College and then a bust at Sandhurst Military Academy. He tried on a few mainstream white-collar jobs, but his short career as a stockbroker was mostly long lunches and minimal trade orders.

Fleming found his metier when Eve smoothed the way for him to work as a cub reporter at Reuters news service. As Shakespeare shows us time and again, Fleming was blessed with great timing. Dispatched to Stalin’s Russia in 1933 to cover a sensational corporate fraud trial whose docket included saboteurs and double agents, Fleming returned to England entranced with state secrets and the business of intelligence. The assignment changed the course of his life.

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Through his contacts, Fleming finagled an interview with Admiral John Godfrey, the head of Naval Intelligence Division, in the hopes of pivoting into a career as a spycatcher. Again, good timing: As it happened, Godfrey was looking for a factotum. Fleming was hired as Godfrey’s assistant, but he had his boss’ ear in short order, bursting with ideas on how to fool Germany into coughing up the secrets of its supply routes, its combat readiness, its imminent military offensives. For the division, Fleming became the man with the golden mind.

Rumors about Fleming’s war heroics have swirled since the author’s death in 1964; what’s remarkable is that, by Shakespeare’s estimation, most of those outlandish rumors seem to be true. Fleming did spy on German military leaders with cameras and microphones, among other skulduggery. He was not only a crucial conduit during the war between the Naval Intelligence Division and the Americans’ Office of Strategic Services but also, according to Shakespeare, helped to create the organizational template for what became the Central Intelligence Agency. Shakespeare credits Fleming, a “seductive and persuasive force who … could achieve things not always recorded on paper,” with selling the OSS on the British model of intelligence gathering, thus sowing the seeds for a crucial partnership that helped the allies win the war.

All this, and Fleming had yet to write Agent 007 into existence. But Bond was on a slow simmer. When Churchill invited ideas from naval intelligence as to how the British might contain Hitler in the Mediterranean, Fleming’s pitch was pure 007: Line a cave on the southern coast with thick cork for quiet, then throw a wireless radio and some men inside to monitor German ship movements.

In 1942, Fleming convinced Admiral Godfrey to give him his own assault unit, whose remit included capturing German state secrets before the Germans destroyed them. Now Fleming found himself in the center of the action, his dispatches providing crucial intel for the Allies’ most ambitious offensives, including the Normandy landings that liberated Western Europe. There was also contact with Bletchley Park and the great “Enigma Machine” codebreaker Alan Turing, but Fleming’s ideas for intelligence retrieval were either too dangerous or too absurd to contemplate. Fleming stored it all up for later use in his fiction, when he “would execute in modern form those plans which (he) had conceived against the Nazis.”

Somehow Fleming, this “war-winner” as Godfrey came to call him, made time for relationships. Unlike Bond, who treats women like beach towels to be discarded after use, Fleming found and lost love, a libertine always in search of more than sex. He cultivated female patrons; one such friend, Maud Russell, supplied the funds for Fleming to build his Goldeneye compound on Jamaica’s northern coast. His marriage was troubled; Ann Fleming was a social climber who hosted literary salons and spent Fleming’s money lavishly. But Ann was the spur for Fleming to write his first Bond book; she was confident her husband could produce something great.

What finally made Fleming pick up his pen? He was mourning the decline of the Empire after the war; it was crumbling away one territory at a time. He also was stunned by the revelation that two MI6 agents had defected in 1951 as Russian spies, that his beloved British intelligence had been breached by an enemy in the most humiliating fashion. The Crown was corroding; James Bond would restore the national character by dint of his total dominion over evil, defeating the Red Menace one ghastly villain at a time. If Fleming’s Navy blues no longer fit him, he would have Bond suit up as his proxy.

Despite the runaway success of “Casino Royale,” the James Bond movie franchise was slow to gestate. By the early 1960s, Fleming’s 70-cigarettes-a-day habit had caught up with him. He suffered a devastating heart attack while embroiled in a nasty plagiarism lawsuit. There was also the matter of gradually declining sales for the Bond books, to the point where Fleming was eager to kill off his hero and move on. But then President Kennedy told a Life magazine reporter that “From Russia, With Love” was one of his favorite books, and Fleming could no longer dispose of Bond even if he tried.

What came next was 27 films that have grossed more than $7 billion. Fleming lived long enough to see only two of the films produced.

Marc Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William Mulholland, California Water, and the Real Chinatown.”

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Anya Taylor-Joy

Actor Anya Taylor-Joy won a Golden Globe for her leading role in the miniseries The Queen's Gambit and is known movies like Split and The Menu .

1996-present

Quick Facts

Early life: parents and ethnicity.

• Movies: Split, The Witch, and The Menu

TV Shows: Peaky Blinders and The Queen’s Gambit

Who is anya taylor-joy.

Actor Anya Taylor-Joy starred in the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit and has appeared in movies such as The Menu and Split. Growing up in Argentina and the United Kingdom, the American-born future star trained as a dancer before dropping out of school to pursue acting at age 16. Her breakthrough performance came in the 2015 horror movie The Witch . Since then, she has received three Golden Globe nominations—winning one for The Queen’s Gambit —and one Emmy nomination, also for the Netflix series. Taylor-Joy plays the titular character in the upcoming sci-fi movie Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga , in theaters this May.

FULL NAME: Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy BORN: April 16, 1996 BIRTHPLACE: Miami, Florida SPOUSE: Malcolm McRae (2023-present) ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy was born on April 16, 1996, in Miami. Her parents are Dennis Alan Taylor, a former banker, and Jennifer Marina Joy, a psychologist. Anya is the youngest of six siblings, some of whom are from her father’s first marriage.

Taylor-Joy comes from a multiethnic background. Dennis is Scottish-Argentinian, and Jennifer is Spanish-English but was born and grew up in Zambia. Anya was born while her parents were on vacation in Miami, granting her American citizenship. She also holds British and Argentinian citizenship.

Taylor-Joy, whose first language was Spanish, partially grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When she was 6, her family moved to London in search of a less tumultuous political climate. Taylor-Joy refused to speak English for two years, thinking it would force her parents to take her back to Argentina. When it became apparent her plan wouldn’t work, she learned her second language by reading the popular Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling . “As lame as it sounds, those characters really were my first friends,” she told TV host Graham Norton.

While attending Hill House in Knightsbridge and the Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington, Taylor-Joy trained as a ballet dancer. She has described herself as “very insecure and deeply unhappy” during this time and admitted to struggling with body image.

In September 2016, she told W magazine she had a very compact head as a child, meaning her eyes were positioned far apart on her face. While this became less prominent as she grew older, she remained self-conscious about her eyes and social media posts related to it. “I didn’t enjoy it and I kind of stopped looking in mirrors for a very long time. I still don’t really spend a lot of time in front of mirrors because I don’t really have to deal with my face. Unfortunately, y’all do,” she said.

Taylor-Joy dropped out of school at age 16, and although she was scouted by and briefly worked as a model for Storm Management, acting remained her desired path.

Movies: Split , The Witch , and The Menu

Beginner’s luck wasn’t in the cards for Taylor-Joy, whose first professional audition was for the 2014 Disney movie Maleficent . She hoped to portray a younger version of Angelina Jolie ’s titular character but didn’t get the part. “It was my first experience of, like, rejection, like true rejection,” she later told BuzzFeed Celeb . “Even though I look nothing like [Jolie], but I definitely cried for a very long time after that happened.”

She did begin to earn smaller parts, such as an uncredited role in the 2014 teen flick Vampire Academy and a one-episode appearance in the British TV series Endeavour that same year. Her breakout role in a cult classic scary movie wasn’t far off.

Taylor-Joy played a teenage girl named Thomasin in 2015’s The Witch , an atmospheric horror film about a family in Puritanical New England that encounters supernatural forces in the woods near their settlement.

On the same day she was cast in the movie, Taylor-Joy also received an offer to star in a Disney Channel pilot episode. However, she “had this really good feeling” and committed to The Witch instead.

Despite her initial optimism, Taylor-Joy was “devastated” upon watching her performance and thought she would never work in movies again. “It was just the worst feeling of, ‘I have let down the people I love most in the world. I didn’t do it right,’” she told the Awards Chatter podcast . “And I’m quite verbose, I like to talk, I like to communicate. I did not talk, I just cried. I couldn’t handle seeing my face that large.”

Luckily, critics and moviegoers felt differently. The Witch was a financial success, grossing $40 million worldwide against a $4 million budget. Taylor-Joy’s acting career was off and running.

Split , Emma. , and The Menu

Off her performance in The Witch , Taylor-Joy appeared in the sci-fi thriller Morgan (2016) and the Netflix movie Barry (2016), based on the early life of former President Barack Obama .

That same year, she played protagonist Casey Cooke in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split , also starring James McAvoy. The movie, set in the same universe as Shyamalan’s previous movie Unbreakable , spawned the 2019 sequel Glass , again starring Taylor-Joy and McAvoy, as well as Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson .

Having proven she could act alongside Hollywood heavyweights, Taylor-Joy soon garnered her first major award recognition for 2020’s Emma. , based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. The actor received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for playing the movie’s namesake, Emma Woodhouse.

Since then, Taylor-Joy has been in high demand, appearing in movies such as Last Night in Soho (2021); The Northman (2022), marking another collaboration with The Witch director Robert Eggers; and Amsterdam (2022).

The most prominent of her recent roles came in the 2022 dark comedy The Menu , about a disillusioned chef (played by Ralph Fiennes ) who exacts revenge on his unsuspecting diners. Taylor-Joy earned another Golden Globe nomination for The Menu , as well as the admiration of her co-star. “There are just some times when you feel the truthfulness of the person you’re acting with, and it really helps you. It really raises your game somehow. And she’s got that,” Fiennes said .

Blockbusters: Dune: Part Two and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

In 2023, Taylor-Joy lent her voice to The Super Mario Bros. Movie , the second-highest grossing movie of the year that made more than $1 billion at the global box office . In the film, based on the Nintendo video game, she voiced Princess Peach, the fearless leader of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Despite the immense financial success of Super Mario Bros. , Taylor-Joy is on pace for an even bigger year in 2024. She started by making a crucial cameo appearance in the science-fiction epic Dune: Part Two , also starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya .

Her next major role is starring as the titular character in the post-apocalyptic thriller Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga . The prequel to the 2015 hit Mad Max: Fury Road also stars Chris Hemsworth and is scheduled to release in theaters on May 24, 2024.

While spending time in front of a camera was nothing new for Taylor-Joy, driving a souped-up war machine as Furiosa was a learning experience. The actor doesn’t have a driver’s license, and performing stunts for the movie marked her first time behind the wheel of a car. “I can’t parallel-park, I can’t go on the highway. I still don’t have [a license], but I can do that,” she joked with TV host Graham Norton.

In addition to her growing list of movie roles, Taylor-Joy has starred in two of the biggest television series of the past decade.

In 2019, she joined the cast of Peaky Blinders , the popular BBC and Netflix gangster drama starring Cillian Murphy . Taylor-Joy appeared as Gina Gray in 11 episodes across Seasons 5 and 6. According to hair and makeup designer Julie Nightingale, the show took inspiration from Old Hollywood stars such as Ginger Rogers and Jean Harlow in creating Taylor-Joy’s distinctive look for the series.

In a less violent but equally thrilling alternative to Peaky Blinders , Taylor-Joy took the lead for The Queen’s Gambit , a limited series about a fictional chess prodigy named Beth Harmon. The show, which debuted during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, was a smash hit. Within the first month, 62 million households watched The Queen’s Gambit , making it Netflix’s most watched scripted limited series to date.

Critics lauded Taylor-Joy’s performance, with the actor winning the 2021 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television and receiving an Emmy nomination. “I’ve never given so much of myself to a character before,” Taylor-Joy told Variety . “I usually think about a character as so different from me, and I make a real point to make them walk differently, to have a different caliber of voice, to laugh differently, to cry differently. I want them to be their own person. But for Beth, it was the first time that I just thought the only way to tell this accurately is to give bits of myself up.”

Fans clamoring for another season were disappointed to learn in January 2023 that a Tweet from Taylor-Joy referencing a second season was the result of hacking. However, the actor has teased that she is open to the idea of returning for a second part. “It would be silly of me to go, ‘There’s never going to be a second series,’” she told Elle in 2021, “and then I’m 40 and [co-creator Scott Frank’s] like, ‘Yo, how do you feel about this? You want to go back?’”

Elsewhere, Taylor-Joy starred in the 2017 BBC and PBS miniseries The Miniaturist and hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2021.

Taylor-Joy married musician Malcolm McRae in October 2023 in Venice, Italy. A number of famous friends attended the ceremony, including actors Miles Teller , Nicholas Hoult, Cara Delevingne, and Julia Garner.

Although it’s unclear when they began dating, Taylor-Joy first made reference to McRae as “my partner” in an April 2021 interview with Elle . The two were spotted together in New York City the following month, and McRae all but confirmed their relationship status by October after posting an Instagram photo of the couple holding hands.

According to People , McRae plays guitar and piano and sings in a two-person rock band called More*, formed with former Portugal. The Man member Kane Ritchotte. His relationship with Taylor-Joy is reflected in his music, with McRae writing the song “Really Want to See You Again” only two days after meeting her in 2021.

McRae and Taylor-Joy have the same birthday, April 16, and adopted a cat named Kitsune in May 2022.

Taylor-Joy has kept details of her prior relationships private, though she was previously linked to Irish actor Eoin Macken from 2016 through 2017. “I was not a good dater, and I’m quite glad to not be. I hear stories from my friends, and I’m like, ‘God, I would suck at that,’” she said .

According to Celebrity Net Worth , Taylor-Joy’s total fortune is estimated to be around $7 million.

• It’s bizarre that [red carpets are] a huge part of my normal life, but it’s not normal life at all. In which situation do you ever dress yourself to the nines to be photographed by 200 people who are screaming at you? It’s not normal.
• Trying to pick a project that I’m most proud of is like trying to pick between children. Even if you do have a favorite, you’re not supposed to say it!
• I never had any intention of being a method actor, but the more movies I do, the line is getting blurrier and blurrier. I’m finding it harder to disconnect between what is occurring for my [character] and what is occurring for me.
• I was born in Miami, raised between Argentina and London, and my first language is Spanish. So, legally, my ethnicity is fashion week.
• When people shake or cry when they meet you, you just feel really like, “Please don’t do that, it’s really OK!” Like, I’m not scary, and I’m not anything wild and crazy.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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Seth Meyers on Trump’s presidency amnesia: ‘Like a Bill Cosby biography that ends in 2014’

Late-night hosts discuss Trump’s campaign trail false promises and the new Forbes billionaire list featuring Taylor Swift

Late-night hosts talked Taylor Swift making the Forbes billionaire list , Trump’s immigration rhetoric and transphobic vitriol at his rallies.

• Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers looked at Donald Trump’s rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin over the weekend, in which the former president called migrants “animals”, among other anti-immigrant rhetoric. “Trump doesn’t want to fix immigration, he just wants to scare people, as evidenced by the way he torpedoed a bipartisan border compromise while his aides draw up plans for mass deportations and detention camps,” Meyers said on Late Night.

“There’s only one policy he seems absolutely clear on,” he continued. As Trump put it in Wisconsin: “When I win, you’re all getting tax cuts and you’re getting a brand new Trump economic boom, because that’s where we were headed.”

“Oh, we were headed for an economic boom when you left office?” Meyers scoffed. “He’s doing that thing again where he pretends the last year of his presidency didn’t happen, like a Bill Cosby biography that ends in 2014. I can’t believe I have to say this, but Covid happened and it was bad. The economy crashed and people were locked in their homes.

“Life was obviously demonstrably worse under Trump’s presidency, but he and his allies think they can just pretend that everything was fine,” Meyers added. “Sometimes they do it by conveniently changing the timeframe.” Case in point, as Trump said at his Wisconsin rally: “Three years ago, we were a great nation, and we will soon be a great nation again.”

“Yeah, if only we could have whoever was president three years ago,” Meyers laughed. “Three years ago was April 2021, right? Joe Biden was in the White House, and you were moping around your chintzy swamp castle filled with plastic surgeons and their third wives looking paler than the boxes of classified documents you kept stuffed in your bathroom.

“Trump knows he can’t say we were better off four years ago, so he tries to change it to three years ago, but the numbers don’t work,” he concluded. “He’s like a kid in remedial math who gets the answer wrong just so he can spell funny words on his calculator.”

• Stephen Colbert

On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert looked at Forbes’ annual billionaires list, in which an editor called 2024 “an amazing year for rich people”.

“Another one? That makes 300,000 years in a row!” Colbert remarked. “Congrats, guys, I would use some of that money to buy a very strong door and a deep moat, because they will eventually come for you if you keep this shit up.”

Taylor Swift made her debut on the list this year, with an estimated net worth of $1.1bn. “Get ready for her new album about her on-again, off-again love affair with the tax code, the Tortured Accountants’ Department,” Colbert joked.

Forbes reported that there are more billionaires than ever this year, even though 32 billionaires died. “Because even for billionaires, the only things certain in life are death and … actually, just death,” Colbert said.

As for Trump, who called migrants “animals” and lied about the 2020 election results in Wisconsin this weekend, Colbert had plenty of ire. “Pretty bold to go to a state you lost and tell the crowd you actually won,” he said. “That’s like bumping into your ex and saying, ‘Amanda, hi, you look well, which of course I know because it came out that we’re still together. We’re still together … by a lot.’”

• Jimmy Kimmel

And in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel touched on yet another Trump lawsuit, this time as the plaintiff – the former president is suing the co-founders of Truth Social. “I guess he had some free time between the 75 other lawsuits he’s involved in,” Kimmel quipped.

“This is classic Trump, you know?” he added. “He stands to make billions of dollars from this deal – billions! – but it’s not enough. He has to have the other guy’s money too.”

In other Trump news, the former president was “pushing the red hat hysteria of the week” in Wisconsin – this time, whipping up anger over Trans Visibility Day, which happened to fall on the same date as Easter this year, for which Trump blamed Biden. “It’s been on the calendar since 2009 on March 31. It has nothing to do with the office of the president,” said Kimmel. “But don’t let the truth stop you, go on!”

Trump called the shared date “such total disrespect to Christians” and promised a “Christian visibility day” if re-elected president.

“Yes, finally a Christian holiday we can celebrate,” Kimmel deadpanned. “I love that Trump is the ‘Christian’ candidate. Not only does he not go to church, he didn’t even go to church on Easter Sunday.”

• Late-night TV roundup

Most viewed

Biography on MF DOOM dissecting his “personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics” lands this year

The biography is split into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend. 

Image: Peter Kramer / Getty

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A biography on the life and work of rapper and producer MF DOOM will be published this year, and it’s set to offer a deeper look into his personas, projects, tracks and lyrics.

Landing on 7 November 2024, The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast  will also include exclusive interviews with those who worked with him.

• READ MORE: “With artificial intelligence, digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments”: Beyoncé on her new album Cowboy Carter

The biography has been written by journalist S. H. Fernando JR, and as reported by DJ Mag , it has been newly announced that it will land later this year via Faber. News that a biography was in the works originally circulated back in May of 2022 .

In the biography, Fernando lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM’s life story and provides an “intimate, behind the scenes look” into his life. The book “recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and untimely demise of MF DOOM”, and is broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend.

MF DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile, sadly passed away in October 2020 . He was admitted to St. James University Hospital in Leeds after suffering a reaction to blood pressure medication.  An inquest was later held following his death after concerns were raised over the care provided at the hospital. Leeds Hospital Trust then issued an apology .

Back in 2021, it was announced that MC Serch’s Did I Ever Tell You The One About… podcast would take a look back on the legacy of MF DOOM for the entirety of its second season . The programme was created with the approval of the late rapper’s wife and estate, with his story being told by his “family, friends and artists who knew him best”.

Copies of the new biography signed by the author are available through Rough Trade to pre-order now for £25.

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