Autobiographies: What Are They and How Are They Written?

Is your life interesting?

Interesting enough to become a book?

The autobiography is the literary genre through which you can narrate your experiences and memories from your birth and childhood to the present, reviewing historical and personal facts and describing feelings.

Previously in Palabra, we have gone over autobiographies written by ghostwriters, but now we want you to explore the journey of writing your own. Even though it may sound like an overly complex task, identifying the main features of the genre, its differences with other types of narratives, and some of the most recognized works will help you tell the great story of your life attractively and thoroughly.

Autobiography: Etymology and Meaning

Let’s start with the basics! The word “autobiography» and its meaning come from the union of three Greek roots:

Autos: “self”
Bio: “life”
Grapho: “writing”

When joined, they form the definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary: “An account of a person’s life given by himself or herself.” Its first recorded use was by essayist and scholar William Taylor, who coined it in 1797, in the English newspaper The Monthly Review.

Autobiography: Features

Like any literary genre, the autobiography has some basic characteristics that define it and distinguish it, and that will help you structure the story of your life to tell it.

According to Rachel Meltzer, these are the characteristics of an autobiography:

It’s written in the first person.
It usually covers the entire life of the author, starting at their birth and reaching the moment when they are writing.
It’s traditionally written in chronological order, although it can have an alternative structure—called “the hero’s journey” by writer Joseph Campbell—which begins with a turning point of the author’s life, then goes back to their childhood, and finally reaches the conclusion.
It adds a historical and cultural framework that provides context to the events narrated.

Autobiography vs. Biography: What’s the Difference?

The most important distinction between these two genres can be immediately identified in their names: without the Greek root “autos”, a biography is an account of a person’s life given by somebody else. But as the Author Learning Center site indicates, the differences go beyond this basic aspect:

While an autobiography uses the first-person point of view, a biography uses the third person to tell the events the main character goes through.
Biographies can be written without the intervention or authorization of the person whose life is being told, and for this reason, they involve a much greater research effort to ensure the information presented is accurate.
Biographies usually include the testimonies of other people, who provide information, both to reconstruct events and to provide different points of view.

Autobiography vs. Memoir

Since they both refer to first-person narratives written by the person who lived the events, these two terms may seem interchangeable. However, they are two genres with their own distinctive features. Both Rachel Meltzer and the Author Learning Center help us distinguish them:

While an autobiography usually covers the entire life of its author, a memoir may focus on a specific period or theme in their life.
A memoir can be more flexible in terms of chronological structure, relying on flashbacks or different timelines much more than an autobiography, which usually respects the chronology of the events.
Unlike an autobiography, which is more strictly supported by facts and historical context, a memoir focuses mostly on the author’s feelings and memories.

Autobiography vs. Autofiction

To talk about the differences between these genres, first, we have to identify the pact that exists between the author and the reader around a story. An article in Unir magazine indicates that this pact can be autobiographical (when it guarantees that the information and facts the author presents are true) or novelistic (when it’s established that the facts of the work are fictitious).

The autofiction differs from the autobiography and the novel by establishing an ambiguous pact in which the character is real, but not all the events they go through. In this way, a life is reconstructed, but elements that shift it away from the truth are added.

How to Write an Autobiography?

Now that you know all the formal features of an autobiography, it’s time to start with your own life narrative. Editor Carlos Rodriguez presents five steps to achieve it:

For the first draft, select the most important landmarks. Starting with the date and context of your birth, review and choose personal, professional, romantic, or other facts that have determined your life.
Apply a filter with the reader in mind. In this instance, you have to go back over your selection to check and confirm the facts of your life that deserve to have a place in your autobiography, and remove others from the draft. Think about each milestone in relation to your life and your present, but also have in mind how it’ll catch the reader or hold the thread of your narrative: is it still worth including it?
Find the common thread for all chapters. Certainly, some of the steps you’ve taken in your childhood, youth, or adulthood have led you to your current situation, or to the greatest landmark in your life. Finding these connections will help you make the story more complex and avoid disconnected jumps between different periods.
Leave an open ending. While fiction usually has an ending, real life always has an additional chapter. That’s why it’s important to close your autobiography by leaving the doors open to a continuation, or at least taking a look at your present and future perspectives.
A review, a second filter, and a beta reader. Once you’ve completed your autobiography, it’s time to review it, correct any spelling errors you find, and even remove the parts you’re not entirely convinced to include. In this instance, you can also benefit from the contribution of a beta reader: someone who reads your autobiography and gives you their opinion and feedback about your writing.

What Is an Autobiography? Examples

A great way to get inspired and start writing your autobiography is to learn about different examples, recognize their styles, and use them as a guide to tell your own experiences and adventures.

Writing an Autobiographical Text: Example

How can your autobiography begin? A simple, concrete description of your first years of life can be an effective way to do so. Let’s check an example:

My name is José. I was born in 1995 in the striking but peaceful municipality of Ravello, on the heights of Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast. Since I can remember, or rather, since I could hear and understand other people’s conversations, I was surprised to hear the marvelous reactions of the Italian tourists who toured the village and passed by my house, where I heard them while I played football in the courtyard. As a teenager, and having learned some basic English phrases that I often heard in movies, I was also able to understand the amazement of many foreign visitors who walked near my home. Each expression of surprise or admiration spread to me, making me feel like I was rediscovering the place I lived in and preventing me from getting used to the landscapes, the old buildings, and the many street cats. My parents, both merchants in the town’s central square, dealt with tourists every day, and sometimes in much less friendly ways, so they didn’t share my enthusiasm.

Examples of Celebrity Autobiographies

Another great source of inspiration can be the autobiographies of great personalities from different spheres. They are the best way to get into the secrets and unanswered questions of their lives, but they can also be a great reference.

These are some notable examples:

Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela. Published in 1994—the year in which Mandela was elected president of South Africa and shortly after the annulment of the apartheid laws—this autobiography describes his childhood and education, the 27 years he spent in prison, and the political and social perspectives that the activist had for the future.
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. In this book, the Hindu yogi and guru reviewed his life and introduced millions of people to the methods, influences, and principles of Eastern spiritual wisdom, meditation, and yoga. Since its publication in 1946, the book has been translated into more than 50 languages.
My Love Story, by Tina Turner. The “Queen of Rock N Roll” released her second autobiography in 2018, expanding and updating the testimony she had provided in I, Tina: My Life Story, from 1986. Both books became bestsellers.
My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla, compiled and edited by Ben Johnston. This 1982 book is actually a compilation of six articles that Tesla, one of the greatest inventors in history, published in the magazine Electrical Experimenter, focused on his childhood, his early efforts at invention, and some career milestones such as the rotating magnetic field or the Tesla coil.
Rafa, by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin. From his upbringing on the island of Mallorca to his meteoric ascent in tennis, in this autobiography, Nadal narrates how the sustained effort he made from a young age led him to the top and what challenges he faced along the way. The book has already reached its 11th edition.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the paths and options you can consider for writing your autobiography. You can look for other examples and references, and you may even prefer to pour your memories into a memoir, or simply take them as inspiration for an autofiction novel. In short, when it comes to telling your life, the most important thing is that you know how to review, select, and organize the most significant moments you went through, and that you take the initiative to narrate them. After all, no one will know your own story better than you!