Steps for Writing a Biography
A biography is a piece of writing that tells a story of someone's life. Writing a biography can be a daunting and time-consuming task. Some biographers spend months or even years researching their subject in order to understand the most intriguing details of a person's life. While you certainly do not need to devote years of your life to writing a biography, researching your subject is one of the most important aspects of developing a memorable biography.
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Instructions
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Collect as much information as you can about the person you are writing. For a biography, you want to understand the events that transpired over the person's entire life, even if you are only focusing on a certain time period. If you're writing about a person who is still alive, the best way to gather research is to conduct a series of interviews. If the person is no longer alive or refuses an interview, you can interview friends and family members. Other sources of research include letters, journals, newspaper clippings and pictures. During the course of your research, you will probably discover topics that are significant to the person's life that you do not know much about. In these cases you will need to read several books and magazines to educate yourself on the passions and interests of your subject.
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Decide on the "angle" of your story. During the course of your research, you will likely discover one or more intriguing things about the person that stand out most. The key is to select one of these aspects to focus on as the angle of your story. If you are having trouble coming up with your angle, think about the things that make this person special and interesting. Consider the events that helped shaped the person's life and the impact she had on others.
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Create an outline for your story. Once you have your research and the angle of your story, organize your thoughts by developing an outline. Choose the main events in the person's life you want to focus on. Outline these events in chronological order. Divide up your outline by time periods or monumental events, and write sub-bullets for content you are going to include for each event. According to Nigel Hamilton, author of the book, "How To Do Biography: A Primer," there are several important parts to include in your biography, including information about the person's birth, childhood, love, work and death.
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Write the biography. Once you have completed your outline, you are ready to write. When you first begin writing, don't think too much about structure, grammar and story flow --- just write. Fill in the each of the sections in your outline with details from your research and notes.
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Edit your biography. Once you have a first draft complete, it is time to cut it down. Read your entire biography and delete any unnecessary words and phrases, look for ways you can improve the flow and fix any grammatical errors. Find someone you know who has editorial experience and ask whether she will read the biography and make recommendations. Go through at least two or three rounds of editing before finalizing the biography.
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References
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