How to Write an Autobiography

What Is an Autobiography

Before we can move on to our writing tips, it is important to define what an autobiography is and specify its different types of good writing. In a nutshell, an autobiography is a self-written piece that reflects the timeline of an author’s life story. Such articles are written in narrative form and can serve several purposes — depending on the specific type of writing.

Generally, there are four kinds of autobiographical writing:

• Autobiography – This is a long and complete story about the author’s full life. This type of writing covers everything from birth to the present. Often, the purpose of writing an autobiography is: to share a person’s life path with a broad audience, to leave your mark, to reconcile the past, or to make your memories last.
• Autobiographical essay for college – This type of autobiographical writing is typically submitted along with the rest of your admission package. This paper aims to introduce yourself to admission officers and convince them that you are the right fit for their educational facility.
• Memoirs – Memoirs are similar to autobiographies with a single difference – they don’t have to cover a person’s entire life. Instead, you can narrow your focus to a memoir’s most exciting and important past events including as many details as you can.
• Personal essay – This is the last and shortest type of autobiographical writing. Simply put, it is just an essay about yourself. Unlike other essay types, this one is more intimate and emotional; it requires you to share personal experiences. As a rule, such a paper focuses on one specific event, a period of time, a person, etc. This is a common type of academic assignment in schools and colleges.

These are the basic types of autobiographical writing. However, each of them has individual traits and, thus, may require a different approach. Therefore, this article will focus specifically on writing a good personal or autobiographical essay.