writing a biography for someone else

How to Write Great Bios for Others: 5 Do’s, 5 Don’ts, 5 Good Examples

• Written By Lena Katz
• Updated: November 16, 2023

Keys for writing someone else’s bio: Keep it succinct, start with current role and responsibilities, don’t get hung up on dates, and leave out information that could describe ten thousand other people.

Did you finally nail your own professional bio ? Yes? Outstanding! No? We get it: Writing about yourself is difficult. You know too much, and have too many opinions and expectations. Keep fine-tuning it. Regardless of that, you may be able to tap into a consistent source of income writing other people’s bios.

Executive and corporates bios are fundamental needs in a company’s suite of PR, investor, website, and related brand info. Regular content consultants for enterprise businesses may be kept busy writing only executive team bios and profiles (very much like a bio, only with a more editorial slant). Non-profits, startups, creative ventures and restaurants also typically need bios of their key players for web publication and sales/media kits. And additional to public-facing bios, a lot of marketing teams will put together bios of people that either are fulfilling a role for a campaign (spokesperson, guest expert, customer testimonial) or being considered for one.

Writing a professional bio for another person, or even a business entity, comes with the opposite challenge to writing your own bio: When the subject is a stranger, you start the job without any insight or background information. But once you know how to collect and organize that, it just takes an intuitive mind and an aptitude for identifying highlights, and you can find steady paying work.

Let’s have a look at this in-demand writing specialty and how you can improve at it fast.

How to write a bio for executives and others: Top 5 do’s

1. Push for a phone interview if you feel it will help the piece (and you’re getting paid well).

An interview is only a recommendation if the compensation you’re getting for writing the bio, including research time, averages to your ideal rate. In that case, spend the extra effort to get the subject on the phone. It may be difficult to get phone time on the calendar, but you will get some jewels of insight and quotes if you secure the interview. Keep your request to 30 minutes or less, and be patient when you need to reschedule two or three times.

If the interviewee wants questions in advance or to review the draft afterward, accommodate them. When coming from another field like television production or magazine editorial, this may be the opposite of your training. But keep the new chain of approvals in mind, and do your utmost  to make your subject shine.

2. Collect all previously published/vetted/approved pieces on the particular person.

Researching what has been written before — both the subject’s favorite pieces and the ones they took issue with — will give you extra insight. Make sure you know which pieces they liked versus which ones weren’t favorable.

When you do your interview, use your previously researched insight to lead the subject into talking expansively about things they have enthusiasm for, and likewise avoid triggering them with negative memories. If this piece is an editorial-style profile, you may want to gently dig into controversial topics or past moments. But if it’s a bio for press or web purposes, keep it brief and positive.

3. Begin with the most important pieces of current information

Start with why you’re in this position, and then move to past highlights in the next paragraph. Although many subjects will want to begin with their lifetime bio highlights, you always want to start by positioning them here and now — what are they doing that’s significant, and why is it significant? In the next paragraph, you can jump to their lifetime achievements.

4. Stick with the highlights, and keep it succinct.

The first few times someone’s asked to come up with a bio, they’re likely to go all the way back to grade school or college for significant achievements and memories. Then they’ll carry on trying to re-create the breadcrumb trail that led them to now.

Don’t get bogged down trying to follow that.

Your final piece should be a clear distillation of the high points, starting with now and looping back to career achievements, accolades, with perhaps a final sentence on education and/or training.

5. Stick with third-person singular. (Unless first person is more organic.)

This rule is hardest for entrepreneurs to follow, because they tend to blur the lines between themselves and their business. Thus, you often see bios that refer to the founder of a startup but switch regularly to the the pronoun “they” to refer to the entire company — sometimes in the same sentence.

The question to answer right away is: Are you writing about a person or a company? If it’s a person, keep it as a narrative about the person, not the company. And if you’re revamping rough copy they’ve written themselves, decide whether it’ll be first-person or third-person  and clean it up to be cohesive even if it loses a shade of personalization.

Five things to avoid when writing a bio: Top 5 don’ts

1. don’t write a person’s chronological history..

A lot of non-writers tend to start their biographical narration at childhood and progress forward in a linear way. The problem with this is that most people are not interested in the long road that led to here and now.

Start with the currently relevant info, skip the childhood memories unless something is extremely  compelling (and then it goes in the second-to-last paragraph). Grab the highlights. Pepper in awards and degrees toward the end.

2. Don’t include information that could apply to lots of people.

Is your client a chef who found his love of cooking in the kitchen with his grandma? Is your client a retail entrepreneur who loved to shop as a child? Was your client curious in school? All of these statements are sweet and relatable and should not make it into a bio — because they are so vague, thousands of people can claim the same thing.

If your client borrowed a James Beard Award-winning pastry recipe from his grandmother, that’s what you include in the bio. If their school-age curiosity won a scholarship to MIT, that might get a mention. Always look for the unusual, standout details and gently rinse away the experiences that are common enough to make your subject blur into a thousand others on paper.

3. Don’t include everything of importance that ever happened in someone’s life.

Most creative consultants can remember a few times when they received someone’s “final” bio and it was 2,000 words rehashing everything the person could remember from kindergarten to the current day. Clients need to understand: Most people’s attention span is short.

Start off with the relevant, interesting info. Fill in the bio with the highlights and milestones that create a foundation for the here and now. Keep out details unless they’re going to grab people for some reason (emotional, comical, pertinent).

4. Don’t get hung up on dates.

Were the dates of your client’s third executive position from 2001-2004, or were they 2001-2005? Or wait, did they actually join that company in 1998? Quick easy answer: Nobody cares.

Not only that, but with ageism in certain industries running rampant, it’s typically better not to anchor someone by their dates. Unless your subject/client has a globally significant dated event in their bio — for example, a significant role in an international sporting event , or a victorious run for office — it’s quicker and neater to leave dates out altogether.

5. Don’t let the client have the last pass at this.

A lot of people will want to have final approval of their bio, and that’s understandable. It is the document that presents them to the world. Let them see it, with the tacit understanding that after their final review and adjustments (there will always be some), you’ll give a final once-over and proofread to get rid of any extra hyphens — or a surprise extra sentence that mentions a favorite junior high teacher and switches pronouns three times and ends! With an exclamation point!

5 good examples of bios…

1. For making entrepreneurs personable

One of the most successful makeup brands created by a social media personality, Huda Beauty is built around one person, Huda Kattan . Most people who buy her cosmetics have some understanding , however vague it may be, that there’s one millennial powerhouse behind this line. Her bio personalizes the brand by using informal first-person tone that personalizes her striking, full-face headshot.

2. For lending credibility to corporate executives

As you would expect from an iconic American brand, the Walmart executive bio format follows a classic format: It starts with the person’s role and responsibilities at Walmart , then goes backward to summarize past key roles and accomplishments in a single paragraph, then moves to accolades and awards, wrapping up with education.

3. For humanizing non-profits

Although non-profit organizations may be as large and established as for-profit companies, their public-facing information often is a little bit lacking in personalization. Non-profits think first about grant writing, but anyone who works in the communications department eventually has to grapple with the substantial challenge of getting leadership and board member profiles written. And that may be just the beginning. If an organization is trying to put a human face to the work they do, volunteer spotlights and case studies of people they’ve helped may be next on the to-do list.

Check out this page of leadership profiles on Operation Homefront to see very impressive careers distilled down to a single lengthy paragraph per person — sufficient to impress any reader at first glance, but not even long enough to require a dedicated page.

4. For capturing the essence of creative professionals

The quirkiness and nonconformity that many agencies and production companies allow in their bio writing is amusing at best and self-indulgent most of the time. A headshot with an ironic Chaplin mustache on a stick, an “About Me” that includes a favorite sea creature and recommended urban bike route… Is it a professional bio or a dating profile?

For those who prefer more substance, LA-based Anomaly   strikes a nice balance between quirky and practical. Its menu expands horizontally and then vertically, instead of normal dropdown fashion, causing a first-time visitor to turn their head at a confused 45-degree angle. But the bios themselves are relatively compact and stuffed with impressive details on blue-chip clients and accolades.

5. For conveying the values of a partnership

Sometimes a company name becomes better known than its founders — such as Altamarea Group, the restaurant mini-empire owned by Ahmass Fakahany and Chef Michael White . This duo’s bio is more of a mission statement, but conveys their values and longstanding history before gracefully segueing to introduce the rest of the team.

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How to Write a Biography in 8 Steps (The Non-Boring Way!)

Compelling biographies help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding. Discover the steps to write one that captivates your audience!

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Have you ever been captivated by someone’s life story? From the ancient tales of great conquerors to the modern accounts of influential figures, biographies have enchanted readers and viewers for centuries. 

The stories of real people’s lives not only entertain and educate but also provide a unique window into the human experience. In fact, according to research 1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8796048/ , human stories like biographies can help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding.

In this article, let’s dive into how to write a compelling biography, from the research phase to delivery.

What Are the Key Elements of a Biography?

The key elements of a well-written biography bring characters to life. They include thorough research, relevant interviews, clear structure, captivating prose, compelling themes, and a balance between objectivity and empathy. 

• Thorough research: Helps create an accurate portrayal of your subject
• Relevant interviews: Insights help provide a deeper understanding of your subject
• Clear structure: Helps you outline your ideas for a compelling narrative
• Captivating prose: Provides descriptive language to paint a picture of your subject
• Compelling themes: Showcases the motivations and desires behind your subject
• A balance between objectivity and empathy: Keeps biases in check and allows your subject to shine for who they are

As you develop your biography, remember that these stories hold an enduring appeal because they offer people an opportunity to explore the depths of the human psyche, unravel extraordinary accomplishments, and discover the vulnerabilities and triumphs of individuals who have left their mark on the world. 

Here are the topics a biography typically covers:

• Early life and background : Provide context about the subject’s upbringing, family, and cultural influences.
• Achievements and milestones: Highlight notable accomplishments, contributions, and significant events throughout their life.
• Challenges and struggles: Explore the obstacles they faced, the lessons learned, and how they overcame adversity.
• Personal characteristics: Describe their personality traits, values, beliefs, and motivations that shaped their actions and decisions.
• Impact and legacy: Discuss the lasting influence and contributions of the subject, both during their lifetime and beyond.

Ready to start crafting your biography? Find greater success with this helpful goal-setting resource!

How To Set Better Goals Using Science

Do you set the same goals over and over again? If you’re not achieving your goals – it’s not your fault! Let me show you the science-based goal-setting framework to help you achieve your biggest goals.

Let’s look at the six key elements of a well-written biography more closely and the steps you can follow to develop your own.

How to Write a Biography in 8 Steps Using Key Elements

Choose your presentation format.

Presenting your biography can take on various forms, the most traditional being written form. The basis for this article assumes you’re writing a conventional biography; however, this foundation can also help you create a multimedia presentation or website as well. 

Consider these various formats to present your biography:

• Traditional Written Biographies: This classic approach provides a comprehensive account of a person’s life through the written word. Traditional biographies can be published in print or ebooks , allowing readers to engage deeply with the subject’s story.
• Multimedia Presentations: In the digital age, multimedia presentations offer a dynamic way to present biographies. Incorporate audio, video, photographs, and interactive elements to enhance the audience’s experience.
• Online Platforms: Online platforms, such as blogs or dedicated biography websites, provide accessible avenues for sharing biographies. They allow for easy updates, reader engagement, and the incorporation of multimedia elements. 

Choose your subject and conduct research

To create a vivid and accurate portrayal of a person’s life, conduct extensive research. Dive into archives, read letters, examine diaries, explore photographs, and immerse yourself in the historical and cultural context surrounding your subject. This will help you unearth the small details that breathe life into your biography. 

Whether you’re writing a biography about a historical figure, contemporary icon, or everyday individual, you’ll want to consider the different factors to focus on. Here are some examples of three types of individuals and the kind of research that will be most helpful.

• Historical Figures: When writing about historical figures, immerse yourself in their era. Understand the social, political, and cultural forces that shaped their lives. I recommend visiting your local library and connecting with a research librarian for support. Otherwise, other tools for historical research include Google Scholar. Analyze primary sources and multiple perspectives to present a well-rounded account.
• Contemporary Icons: Biographies of modern icons offer a chance to delve into their ongoing impact. Conduct interviews or gather insights from their close associates to understand their present-day influence. Stay current with the latest developments, and be prepared to update your work as the subject’s story unfolds.
• Everyday Individuals: Biographies need not be reserved for the famous. Every day individuals possess stories that can be just as compelling. Uncover the extraordinary within the ordinary, highlighting the struggles, triumphs, and personal growth of individuals who might otherwise remain unsung.
• Yourself! Want to write a biography on yourself? Autobiographies are a great way to explore who you are. Get ready to do some serious self-reflection with the steps below.

Pro Tip: Compile your research digitally using helpful cloud filings systems like Google Drive , OneDrive , or Dropbox . Organize your files by category, including information about their youth, family, achievements, and life lessons. You may also choose to write down research references or collect paper clippings on note cards, categorizing your physical files of research along the way.

Develop compelling themes and motifs 

Identify overarching themes or motifs that emerge from the subject’s life. These could be resilience, ambition, love, or societal change. Weave these elements into the narrative, highlighting their significance and impact on the person’s journey. Here are some examples:

• Overcoming Adversity: These biographies feature perseverance, resilience, and determination. Examples include Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai.
• Pursuit of Excellence: These biographies highlight people who have worked tirelessly to achieve their goals. Examples include Steve Jobs, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan.
• Quest for Knowledge: These biographies focus on the curiosity that led to significant contributions to our world. Examples include Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Charles Darwin.
• Personal Transformation: These biographies explore a change in beliefs, values, or priorities. Examples include Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, and Maya Angelou.
• Legacy and Impact: These biographies examine a body of work that made a lasting contribution to society. Examples include Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Conduct relevant interviews 

Whenever possible, seek firsthand accounts from those who knew or interacted with the subject. Conduct interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, or experts in the field. Their insights and anecdotes can provide a deeper understanding of the person’s character and experiences.

When conducting interviews for a biography, consider the following tips to ensure a productive and insightful conversation:

• Familiarize yourself with the interviewee’s background and accomplishments.
• Develop a list of well-thought-out questions that cover key aspects of their lives and experiences, including questions about your subject’s youth, family, achievements, and life transitions or struggles.
• Begin the interview by establishing a comfortable and friendly atmosphere to put the interviewee at ease.
• Show genuine interest in their story and listen actively to their responses.
• Ask open-ended questions encouraging detailed and reflective responses.
• Avoid yes/no questions and ask for their insights, memories, and personal perspectives.
• Some topics you might consider for your questions include early life, achievements, challenges, motivations, values, relationships, lessons learned, and advice.
• Pay close attention to the interviewee’s answers, body language, and tone of voice.
• Ask follow-up questions to clarify or delve deeper into specific topics.
• Show empathy and understanding, creating a safe space for the interviewee to share personal or sensitive information.
• Remain flexible during the interview, allowing the conversation to flow naturally.
• Be prepared to deviate from your prepared questions if unexpected but relevant topics arise.
• Respect the interviewee’s boundaries and be mindful of any topics they may not wish to discuss.
• Take thorough and organized notes during the interview to capture important details.
• Consider recording the interview (with permission) to ensure accurate quotes and references.
• Ask for permission to follow up with additional questions or for clarification.
• Doing a biography on yourself? Ask yourself deep questions to harvest new stories and anecdotes.

Remember, the goal of the interview is to gather valuable information and personal perspectives that will contribute to the authenticity and depth of your biography. Approach the interview process with sensitivity, respect, and genuine curiosity about the interviewee’s life and experiences.

Develop a clear structure

Outline your biography, ensuring a logical and engaging narrative flow. Consider the chronological order, significant milestones, and turning points in the subject’s life. Organize your gathered information to capture the essence of their journey while maintaining a compelling rhythm throughout. 

A good outline for a biography can vary depending on the specific subject and the desired structure of the narrative. However, here’s a general outline that can serve as a starting point:

A. Introduction

a) Hook or engaging opening to capture the reader’s attention

b) Background information (birthplace, date, family, etc.)

c) A brief overview of the subject’s significance or why they are worth exploring

B. Early Life and Background

a) Childhood and upbringing

b) Influences, such as family, education, or cultural factors

c) Formative experiences or events that shaped the subject’s character or interests

C. Major Achievements and Milestones

a) A chronological exploration of the subject’s notable accomplishments, contributions, or milestones

b) Focus on key moments or achievements that highlight their impact or significance.

c) Provide context and details to paint a vivid picture of their achievements

D. Challenges and Obstacles

a) Discussion of the challenges, setbacks, or adversities the subject encountered

b) How they overcame obstacles or grew through difficult experiences

c) Insights into their resilience, determination, or problem-solving abilities

E. Personal Life and Relationships

a) Exploration of the subject’s relationships, such as family, friends, or romantic partners

b) Insights into their personal joys, struggles, or transformative experiences

c) How their personal life intersected with their professional or public achievements

F. Legacy and Impact

a) Examination of the subject’s lasting influence, contributions, or impact on society

b) Discuss how their work or actions continue to resonate or shape the world today

c) Reflection on their legacy and the lessons we can learn from their life story

G. Conclusion

a) Summarize the key aspects of the subject’s life and their significance

b) Provide a final reflection or insight on their overall journey or impact

c) Leave the reader with a lasting impression or call to action

Pro Tip: Looking for help drafting an outline to get you started? Use free tools like ChatGPT to jumpstart your outline by putting in a prompt request like, “Write an outline for a biography about X, including any relevant details on the subject that should be included.”

Craft captivating prose

Employ descriptive language to transport readers into the subject’s world. Paint vivid portraits of their physical appearance, mannerisms, and surroundings. Use sensory details to evoke emotions and create a strong connection between the reader and the subject. 

Here are some examples:

• “She was a force of nature, with a fierce determination and an unwavering commitment to justice.” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg)
• “His piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through you, and his voice had a commanding presence that demanded attention.” (Winston Churchill)
• “She moved with a grace and elegance that belied her inner strength and resilience.” (Audrey Hepburn)
• “His rugged features and piercing gaze made him a natural leading man, but it was his depth and vulnerability that set him apart.” (Marlon Brando)
• “She had a contagious energy and a magnetic personality that drew people to her like a moth to a flame.” (Princess Diana)
• “His quiet intensity and unwavering dedication to his craft made him one of the greatest artists of his time.” (Leonardo da Vinci)

Action Step: While writing descriptive prose takes some practice, it’s an art you can master with little creative writing skills. To help you write descriptive prose, practice closing your eyes and imagining your subject. 

• What expression is on their face? 
• How are they dressed? 
• What does their body language express? 
• How do they smell? 
• How do they make you feel? 
• How do they make others feel? 
• What’s in their surroundings? 
• What are they doing with their hands? 
• What do you imagine they’re thinking about? 

With questions like these, you’ll start to use descriptive language to bring your subject to life.

Build a balance of objectivity and empathy

Strive for an objective portrayal while infusing empathy and understanding into your writing. Remain aware of biases and preconceived notions, giving your subject the space to shine in their unique light. 

To check yourself, filter your writing and interviewing with these tips:

• Verify Information: Cross-reference information from various sources to ensure accuracy. Use tools like Fact Check Explorer to fact-check claims, dates, and events to avoid errors or inaccuracies that could skew the narrative. 
• Multiple Perspectives: Seek out different viewpoints on the subject. This includes interviewing or reaching out to people with significant interactions or relationships with the subject. Incorporating diverse perspectives can counterbalance biases and provide a broader understanding.
• Empathetic Listening: During interviews or conversations, practice active listening and empathize with the interviewee’s experiences and emotions. This allows you to understand the subject’s perspective and incorporate their insights and feelings into the narrative.
• Contextualize Emotions: When sharing the subject’s emotional experiences or personal struggles, provide sufficient context and background. This helps readers understand the motivations and circumstances behind their actions and allows for empathetic understanding without veering into excessive sentimentality.
• Credible Interpretation: While interpreting the subject’s thoughts, motives, or intentions, be clear about what is factual and what is speculative. Clearly distinguish between evidence-based information and your interpretations to maintain objectivity.
• Respect Boundaries: Be mindful of the subject’s privacy and any requests they may have regarding sensitive or personal information. Respecting their boundaries shows empathy and allows for a respectful portrayal while maintaining the necessary level of objectivity.
• Acknowledge Limitations: Recognize that achieving complete objectivity in a biography is challenging. Biases can inadvertently seep into the narrative. However, by being aware of your biases and consciously presenting a fair and balanced account, you can mitigate their influence.

Respect truth, privacy, and sensitivity

Remember, writing biographies carries ethical responsibilities. It’s important to maintain accuracy through credible research and gain consent while being sensitive to controversial or difficult topics. Here are some considerations:

• Accuracy: Maintain a commitment to truth and accuracy. Verify facts and corroborate information from multiple sources to ensure the reliability of your narrative. Cite your sources and be transparent about any uncertainties or gaps in knowledge.
• Privacy and Consent: Respect the privacy of living individuals mentioned in your biography. Seek consent when sharing personal details or sensitive information. Balance the subject’s right to privacy with the importance of honesty and transparency.
• Sensitivity: Approach sensitive or controversial topics with care and empathy. Consider the potential impact of your words on the subject’s loved ones or affected communities—present differing perspectives without sensationalism or bias.

Writing a Biography FAQs

The length of a biography can vary greatly, depending on the subject and the depth of exploration. Some biographies span a few hundred pages, while others extend to multiple volumes. Focus on capturing the subject’s life’s essence rather than strictly adhering to a predetermined length.

Some common mistakes to avoid when writing a biography include the following: Lack of thorough research or reliance on a single source. Inaccurate or misleading information. Excessive personal bias or projection onto the subject. Neglecting to verify facts or failing to cite sources. Poor organization or a disjointed narrative flow. Neglecting to balance objectivity with empathy. Overloading the biography with irrelevant details or digressions. Failing to respect privacy or ethical considerations.

While chronological order is commonly used in biographies, it is not required. Some biographers employ a thematic approach or explore specific periods or events in the subject’s life. Experiment with different structures to find the most engaging way to tell your subject’s story.

The purpose of writing a biography is to capture and share an individual’s life story. Biographies provide insights into a person’s experiences, achievements, and challenges, offering readers inspiration, knowledge, and understanding. They preserve the legacy of individuals, contribute to historical records, and celebrate the diversity of human lives.

When choosing a subject for your biography, consider someone who inspires you, interests you, or has significantly impacted society. It could be a historical figure, a contemporary icon, or even an everyday individual with a remarkable story. Choose a subject with sufficient available information, access to primary sources or interviews, and a narrative that resonates with you and potential readers.

Key elements to include in a biography are: Early life and background: Provide context about the subject’s upbringing, family, and cultural influences. Achievements and milestones: Highlight notable accomplishments, contributions, and significant events throughout their life. Challenges and struggles: Explore the obstacles they faced, the lessons learned, and how they overcame adversity. Personal characteristics: Describe their personality traits, values, beliefs, and motivations that shaped their actions and decisions. Impact and legacy: Discuss the lasting influence and contributions of the subject, both during their lifetime and beyond.

Including personal anecdotes can add depth and humanize the subject of your biography. However, be selective and ensure that the stories are relevant, contribute to understanding the person’s character or experiences, and align with the overall narrative. Balancing personal anecdotes with factual information is critical to maintaining accuracy and credibility.

Conducting research for a biography involves exploring a variety of sources. Start with primary sources such as personal papers, letters, journals, and interviews with the subject or people who knew them. Secondary sources such as books, articles, and academic papers provide additional context and perspectives. Online databases, archives, libraries, and museums are valuable resources for finding relevant information.

Consult a wide range of sources to ensure a comprehensive and accurate biography. Primary sources, such as personal documents, letters, diaries, and interviews, offer firsthand accounts and unique insights. Secondary sources provide broader context and analysis, including books, articles, scholarly works, and historical records. Remember to evaluate the credibility and reliability of your sources critically.

Organize the information in your biography logically and engagingly. Consider using a chronological structure, starting with the subject’s early life and progressing through significant events and milestones. Alternatively, adopt a thematic approach, grouping related information based on themes or significant aspects of their life. Use clear headings, subheadings, and transitions to guide readers through the narrative flow.

Writing Biographies Key Takeaways

In summary, take note of these ideas and tips before you start writing your biography:

• Biographies hold enduring appeal, offering a glimpse into the human experience across time.
• Thorough research, interviews, and captivating prose are essential for crafting compelling biographies.
• Ethical considerations, such as accuracy, privacy, and sensitivity, are crucial when writing about real people’s lives.
• Choose subjects that genuinely inspire and resonate with you.
• Immerse yourself in the subject’s world to understand their motivations and challenges.
• Develop strong research skills and utilize a wide range of sources.
• Craft a compelling narrative that engages readers from the very first page.
• Seek feedback from trusted sources to refine your writing and storytelling abilities.
• Continuously explore new biographies to broaden your understanding of different styles and approaches.
• Embrace the unique voice and perspective you bring to the storytelling process.

Writing a biography book? Check out this helpful article, How to Write a Book: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing !

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How to Write a Biography About Someone Else

Do you want to write a biography about someone else? I have a notebook where I write down project ideas, including the names of people I’d like to interview about their life experiences. Over the last couple years, my list has become pretty long!

With my journalism background, I never have trouble sniffing out an interesting or eccentric personality. Honestly, everybody has some good stories to tell. You just need to practice your interview skills so people will share them.

There are so many interesting people in the world. Pick someone you know who’s led an interesting life and help them preserve and record their stories. It will be fun for you, and incredibly meaningful for the other person.

10 people to write a biography about

If you want to write a biography about someone else, here are 10 suggestions from my interview list:

Your grandma or grandpa. If you’re fortunate enough to still having living grandparents, put them at the top of your biography list! You’ll have so much fun asking them  stories about their life and they’ll love spending time with you. Some grandparents need a little convincing to really open up and share their experiences. Others might talk your ear off. Be sure to get them to repeat the stories you grew up hearing. One day you will LOVE having that story in their own words.

An elderly relative. We all have a kooky great aunt or great uncle, or maybe a globe-trotting distant cousin, who has the most amazing and crazy stories. Get in touch with those relatives and start asking them questions. To get the conversation started, ask for details about a specific story you’ve heard. It’s a good way to warm them up and get them interested in sharing more with you.

Someone  diagnosed with a memory disorder or memory condition. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing a gentleman who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. His family wanted to preserve his stories while the details and memories were still sharp and clear. Before the interview, I did two things. I emailed questions to Paul and his wife to answer before I arrived. And I asked his grandchildren for a list of stories they liked to hear Grandpa Paul tell. This gave me a great outline for the interview. (You’ll hear more about Paul and his biography next month!)

A World War II veteran. Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, less than 100,000 will be alive in 2021. If you know any WWII vets, please, please, please go interview them! These men and women have experienced incredible world events. They have lived through mind-boggling scientific advancements. Their stories need preserved! And while their war memories are just a small part of their life story, it’s often a subject they enjoy talking about. Also, do some advance research about where they served so you can ask the right questions and help trigger more memories. After all, World War II was about 80 years ago! Finally, be sure to ask if they have scrapbooks or memorabilia you could look at with them. This is a great way to help them remember more details.

A first-generation American. Both sides of my family have been in the United States for a long, long time. So I don’t have any relatives who could provide a first-person narrative of what it’s like to be an immigrant. But, it’s on my wish list to interview someone about their decision to immigrate to the United States and start a new life. If your family has living relatives who immigrated to the U.S., start asking questions and define your family’s history! What an awesome gift this will be for future generations to read.

Someone diagnosed with a terminal illness. When my aunt was in the final stages of cancer last year, I tried to interview her. She’d had some pretty wild adventures and lived through challenging times. And I wanted to hear those stories in her sassy voice. But my aunt just couldn’t face doing an end-of-life conversation. She said she wasn’t ready to talk about it. And that’s OK. I made the offer twice and then dropped it. If you know someone with a terminal diagnosis, let them know you’re here to help if they want it.

A recent retiree. A great time to ask someone to reflect on their career and accomplishments is right after they have retired. In addition, a biography book would make an awesome retiree gift! Help them define and celebrate the legacy they are leaving behind and get them excited about the next chapter of their lives.

A stay-at-home mother. Too often equate accomplishments to bullet points on our resumes. This mindset leaves out the millions of women (and now lots of men!) who have devoted their lives to running households and supporting children and spouses. Honor their work by helping them define and articulate the legacy they’re leaving behind. Plus, they probably have hilarious kid stories and loads of life wisdom.

A person of a different race or ethnicity. If you want this biography project to be an educational experience for you, use it as an opportunity to better understand a person of a different race or ethnicity. Let’s face it, the world would be a much better place if we all sought out, listened to and actively tried to understand more people who don’t look like we do.

Someone in a nursing home or veteran’s home. If you want to write a biography about someone else, just visit the program director at a nearby nursing home or veteran’s home (when it’s safe to do so). Ask if there are residents who might like someone to visit with and share their stories. Following the isolation of the pandemic, there will be many lonely people looking for new friends and opportunities to reminiscence. This would be a great opportunity to create mini biography books — simple documents filled with their stories and memories. They could share them with their families, or just have them for themselves.

Start your biography project

Now that you have ideas of who to interview, it’s time to get started! Begin with a list of questions to ask your subject. For some good questions, visit our Resources Page and download the 200+ interview questions. Never written someone’s life story? Don’t worry. I’ve outlined step-by-step instructions for writing a biography . Good luck!  Don’t have the time to write a book yourself, let the Circa Legacy team do it for you!  We’ll interview you or a loved one and turn it into an amazing Custom Legacy Book .

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47 Biography Templates & Examples (Personal, Professional)

A biography is simply an account of someone’s life written by another person. A biography can be short in the case of few sentences biography, and it can also be long enough to fill an entire book. The short biographies explain a person’s basic life facts and their importance, but the long biographies would go an extra mile and include more details to make an interesting read. You may find yourself in a situation which requires you to write a biography of a famous person, a close friend or a relative. For this reason, it pays to know how to come up with a biography and the important details that you should include in it. The lives of many people have interesting bits of information, but you ought to know what to capture in the biography and what to leave out.

Table of Contents

• 1 Biography Examples
• 2 What to include in a biography
• 3 How to write a good Biography
• 4 Steps in writing a biography;
• 5 Biography templates
• 6 A professional Biography Template
• 7 Personal Biography Template

Biography Examples

What to include in a biography

The length of a biography depends on the type of information that should be included. The length will determine the nature of information and how extensively it will explain the life of a person. For instance, if you are to write a short paragraph about a person it will mostly capture the important details that identify the person compared to a pages-long biography that may even include the person’s childhood experiences and achievements shaping their life.

For a short biography, maybe a paragraph or two long, the following details should be captured:

• A person’s date and place of birth, at times with the date and place of death as may be applicable
• The person’s major achievements in life
• Their educational background and notable awards
• Work facts of a person and their contribution to that field if any
• A brief account of the significance of an individual in the community

A lengthy biography will bring out more details of a person’s life making it a bit more complex. His/her history will be brought out more clearly especially the details that shaped them to be the persons they turned out to be.

The target audience will also dictate the nature of the information that is to be included. The relation of the audience to an individual will have an impact on how the information is presented and the important details that they could be interested in. In a case where the audience is unknown, more details will have to be included. This mostly happens in the case of a several paged biography. You will have to scrutinize the person in a more detailed way and establish more people relating to the person. Focusing on the uniqueness of an individual can do wonders in this case and this might turn out to be inspirational to many people. The field that the person has majored in or had majored in ought to influence the direction that the biography will take as this will help to bring out the contribution of the individual to their field of study.

How to write a good Biography

A biography is meant to analyze a person’s life and interpret it as well. A good biographer will try to join the dots and explain certain actions and events that a certain figure was involved in. This will help in clearly bringing out the significance of a person’s life through their accomplishments or remarkable deeds.

Biographies are usually written in a chronological order. Some biographers could also draft them in a themed order that is early life, educational background, a person’s achievements or accomplishments. But some especially the short ones will focus on one area in a person’s life.

There are several sources of information that could aid one in writing an astounding biography. These sources of information can be grouped into either primary sources or secondary sources. The primary sources of information include materials like letters, newspaper accounts or diaries. A biographer can also make an arrangement to interview an individual they want to write about. This is also considered as a primary source of information. The secondary sources are reference books, other biographies or historical records that are related to the subject being written about.

Steps in writing a biography;

• Select the individual you want to write about
• Search for the basic facts that relate to a person’s life. The encyclopedia or almanac could be handy at this.
• What’s the most interesting bit about the person?
• What is the significance of the individual to the society and the world in general?
• What qualities or adjectives will be best suited for the description of the individual?
• What actions or life events bring out the qualities or adjectives chosen above?
• What life events or world events shaped the individual or brought out the best in them?
• Did they face obstacles or take some risks in life? How did they handle the obstacles and did they happen to be lucky?
• What impact did they have in the world? Did they add value to the way people view certain aspects of life? Did they come up with a thing, idea or way of action that transformed the way things are handled or rather done in their societies or world in general?
• Carry out some additional research on the internet to answer some of the questions mentioned above. Ensure that you find information that will help you tell a story that many will love.
• After getting everything in order, you can proceed to write the biography. We have provided sample biographies in this site that you could check out in order to get the drift.

Biography templates

A biography template is meant to specifically aid a writer come up with an excellent biography. For this purpose to be achieved the writer needs to get his/her hands on a high-quality biography template, just like the ones provided on this site.

The best biography templates should provide clear instructions, and this should be in great detail to avoid the risk of the writer missing out some important facts. The templates available on this site will help you capture all of the details.

The biography templates should also be precise and avoid beating around the bush. Going round one idea or item will make the biography boring to read and it is prudent for the writer to be straight to the point. By doing this it will be easier for the readers to skim through and find the details they might be interested in with lots of easy. The writer will also save his/her time and concentrate on writing other things.

The general sections of any biography as outlined by our sample biographies will have;

• The name of the person
• A picture of the person
• An account of their early life
• The person’s family life
• The major achievements of the person
• The three main interesting qualities or facts about the individual

A professional Biography Template

A professional biography is a statement that could either be short or long that is written about a person, business or company. It should be engaging, informative and interesting for the readers to identify with the person or business entity being talked about. It has a sales pitch that is a little bit different. A professional biography template is meant to ease the process of generating printed professional biographies especially for an individual who wants to reach a lot of people or institutions.

Elements that should be captured in a professional biography are:

• A summary of one’s early life in a sentence or two, make it interesting
• Then information touching on your education, mention any academic awards or the clubs and societies that you were part of. Any work experience while in school.
• Talk about how creative and innovative you are with coming with solutions to the problems that you have faced as an individual, mention any situation that you were self-reliant in coming up with solutions
• Mention qualities that make you stand out for instance, being independent, principled or discerning to increase your trustworthiness.

The following tips will enable you to come up with the best professional biography;

• Be brief and precise to the point. This is to enable the reader to easily and quickly get to know about you.
• Be spontaneous in your writing
• Be as expressive as possible and avoid too much of self-editing while drafting the professional biography in the initial stages to capture as much information as possible
• Be friendly but not too informal
• Be as interesting as you could in order to get the attention of many people out there
• Write it in third person. Talk about your life as if someone else were describing it.

This site offers you a professional biography template that could aid in making the generation of professional biographies an easy and less time consuming task. You can also check out sample bios to figure out how to go about the whole process of coming up with a professional biography.

Personal Biography Template

A personal biography is a short account of who you are, your credentials and your notable accomplishments in life. Personal bios ought to be short, precise and relevant to your target audience. The use of personal statistics such as hobbies or family should be avoided. A personal biography template will help one to easily and conveniently come up with personal bios.

The key elements in a personal biography are;

• Give an introduction of yourself. Remember to write it in third person and include the year that your professional career started to be relevant. You could give a list of any relevant specializations in your field.
• State your educational facts and credentials. Mention the degrees that you have pursued and the respective institutions. Add any relevant experiences you have that are required for your career and mention the name of the society that you are legally a member of.
• Proceed to outline any notable achievements or awards you have earned in your practice. Remember that the information ought to be relevant to the audience being addressed. If you happen to be an author you could mention the magazines or any publishing house that has recognized your works.
• Your conclusion should mention any upcoming projects or works in progress that people should lookout for in the near future. Don’t forget to mention your current place of residence .

As you age, it is good to keep on updating your biography to reflect who you are at present time. You can make use of the personal biography template offered by this site to easily and in a more convenient way generate your own biography without missing out on the important details.

We also provide sample biographies to give you a feel of what your end draft should look like. If you have kids and you want to let them in on famous historical figures, this site offers biographies for kids. These will help them know the notable people who help shape the world to what it has become to be.

More Templates

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Autobiography Examples

How to Write a Biography

Biographies are big business. Whether in book form or Hollywood biopics, the lives of the famous and sometimes not-so-famous fascinate us.

While it’s true that most biographies are about people who are in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. Primarily, though, famous or not, the person who is written about has led an incredible life.

In this article, we will explain biography writing in detail for teachers and students so they can create their own.

While your students will most likely have a basic understanding of a biography, it’s worth taking a little time before they put pen to paper to tease out a crystal-clear definition of one.

What Is a Biography?

A biography is an account of someone’s life written by someone else . While there is a genre known as a fictional biography, for the most part, biographies are, by definition, nonfiction.

Generally speaking, biographies provide an account of the subject’s life from the earliest days of childhood to the present day or, if the subject is deceased, their death.

The job of a biography is more than just to outline the bare facts of a person’s life.

Rather than just listing the basic details of their upbringing, hobbies, education, work, relationships, and death, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of the subject’s personality and experience of life.

Full Biographies

Teaching unit.

Teach your students everything they need to know about writing an AUTOBIOGRAPHY and a BIOGRAPHY.

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Features of a Biography

Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of a Biography. An excellent way to determine how well they understand these essential elements is to ask them to compile a checklist like the one-blow

Their checklists should contain the items below at a minimum. Be sure to help them fill in any gaps before moving on to the writing process.

The purpose of a biography is to provide an account of someone’s life.

Biography structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Open your biography with a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention

SEQUENCING: In most cases, biographies are written in chronological order unless you are a very competent writer consciously trying to break from this trend.

COVER: childhood, upbringing, education, influences, accomplishments, relationships, etc. – everything that helps the reader to understand the person.

CONCLUSION: Wrap your biography up with some details about what the subject is doing now if they are still alive. If they have passed away, make mention of what impact they have made and what their legacy is or will be.

BIOGRAPHY FEATURES

LANGUAGE Use descriptive and figurative language that will paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read. Use time connectives to link events.

PERSPECTIVE Biographies are written from the third person’s perspective.

DETAILS: Give specific details about people, places, events, times, dates, etc. Reflect on how events shaped the subject. You might want to include some relevant photographs with captions. A timeline may also be of use depending upon your subject and what you are trying to convey to your audience.

TENSE Written in the past tense (though ending may shift to the present/future tense)

THE PROCESS OF WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

Like any form of writing, you will find it simple if you have a plan and follow it through. These steps will ensure you cover the essential bases of writing a biography essay.

Firstly, select a subject that inspires you. Someone whose life story resonates with you and whose contribution to society intrigues you. The next step is to conduct thorough research. Engage in extensive reading, explore various sources, watch documentaries, and glean all available information to provide a comprehensive account of the person’s life.

Creating an outline is essential to organize your thoughts and information. The outline should include the person’s early life, education, career, achievements, and any other significant events or contributions. It serves as a map for the writing process, ensuring that all vital information is included.

Your biography should have an engaging introduction that captivates the reader’s attention and provides background information on the person you’re writing about. It should include a thesis statement summarising the biography’s main points.

Writing a biography in chronological order is crucial . You should begin with the person’s early life and move through their career and achievements. This approach clarifies how the person’s life unfolded and how they accomplished their goals.

A biography should be written in a narrative style , capturing the essence of the person’s life through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes. Avoid dry, factual writing and focus on creating a compelling narrative that engages the reader.

Adding personal insights and opinions can enhance the biography’s overall impact, providing a unique perspective on the person’s achievements, legacy, and impact on society.

Editing and proofreading are vital elements of the writing process. Thoroughly reviewing your biography ensures that the writing is clear, concise, and error-free. You can even request feedback from someone else to ensure that it is engaging and well-written.

Finally, including a bibliography at the end of your biography is essential. It gives credit to the sources that were used during research, such as books, articles, interviews, and websites.

Tips for Writing a Brilliant Biography

Biography writing tip #1: choose your subject wisely.

There are several points for students to reflect on when deciding on a subject for their biography. Let’s take a look at the most essential points to consider when deciding on the subject for a biography:

Interest: To produce a biography will require sustained writing from the student. That’s why students must choose their subject well. After all, a biography is an account of someone’s entire life to date. Students must ensure they choose a subject that will sustain their interest throughout the research, writing, and editing processes.

Merit: Closely related to the previous point, students must consider whether the subject merits the reader’s interest. Aside from pure labors of love, writing should be undertaken with the reader in mind. While producing a biography demands sustained writing from the author, it also demands sustained reading from the reader.

Therefore, students should ask themselves if their chosen subject has had a life worthy of the reader’s interest and the time they’d need to invest in reading their biography.

Information: Is there enough information available on the subject to fuel the writing of an entire biography? While it might be a tempting idea to write about a great-great-grandfather’s experience in the war. There would be enough interest there to sustain the author’s and the reader’s interest, but do you have enough access to information about their early childhood to do the subject justice in the form of a biography?

Biography Writing Tip #2: R esearch ! Research! Research!

While the chances are good that the student already knows quite a bit about the subject they’ve chosen. Chances are 100% that they’ll still need to undertake considerable research to write their biography.

As with many types of writing , research is an essential part of the planning process that shouldn’t be overlooked. If students wish to give as complete an account of their subject’s life as possible, they’ll need to put in the time at the research stage.

An effective way to approach the research process is to:

1. Compile a chronological timeline of the central facts, dates, and events of the subject’s life

2. Compile detailed descriptions of the following personal traits:

•      Physical looks
•      Character traits
•      Values and beliefs

3. Compile some research questions based on different topics to provide a focus for the research:

• Childhood : Where and when were they born? Who were their parents? Who were the other family members? What education did they receive?
• Obstacles: What challenges did they have to overcome? How did these challenges shape them as individuals?
• Legacy: What impact did this person have on the world and/or the people around them?
• Dialogue & Quotes: Dialogue and quotations by and about the subject are a great way to bring color and life to a biography. Students should keep an eagle eye out for the gems that hide amid their sources.

As the student gets deeper into their research, new questions will arise that can further fuel the research process and help to shape the direction the biography will ultimately go in.

Likewise, during the research, themes will often begin to suggest themselves. Exploring these themes is essential to bring depth to biography, but we’ll discuss this later in this article.

Research Skills:

Researching for biography writing is an excellent way for students to hone their research skills in general. Developing good research skills is essential for future academic success. Students will have opportunities to learn how to:

• Gather relevant information
• Evaluate different information sources
• Select suitable information
• Organize information into a text.

Students will have access to print and online information sources, and, in some cases, they may also have access to people who knew or know the subject (e.g. biography of a family member).

These days, much of the research will likely take place online. It’s crucial, therefore, to provide your students with guidance on how to use the internet safely and evaluate online sources for reliability. This is the era of ‘ fake news ’ and misinformation after all!

COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON INTERNET RESEARCH SKILLS USING GOOGLE SEARCH

Teach your students ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF THE INFORMATION ERA to become expert DIGITAL RESEARCHERS.

⭐How to correctly ask questions to search engines on all devices.

⭐ How to filter and refine your results to find exactly what you want every time.

⭐ Essential Research and critical thinking skills for students.

⭐ Plagiarism, Citing and acknowledging other people’s work.

⭐ How to query, synthesize and record your findings logically.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip #3: Find Your Themes In Biography Writing

Though predominantly a nonfiction genre, the story still plays a significant role in good biography writing. The skills of characterization and plot structuring are transferable here. And, just like in fiction, exploring themes in a biographical work helps connect the personal to the universal. Of course, these shouldn’t be forced; this will make the work seem contrived, and the reader may lose faith in the truthfulness of the account. A biographer needs to gain and maintain the trust of the reader.

Fortunately, themes shouldn’t need to be forced. A life well-lived is full of meaning, and the themes the student writer is looking for will emerge effortlessly from the actions and events of the subject’s life. It’s just a case of learning how to spot them.

One way to identify the themes in a life is to look for recurring events or situations in a person’s life. These should be apparent from the research completed previously. The students should seek to identify these patterns that emerge in the subject’s life. For example, perhaps they’ve had to overcome various obstacles throughout different periods of their life. In that case, the theme of overcoming adversity is present and has been identified.

Usually, a biography has several themes running throughout, so be sure your students work to identify more than one theme in their subject’s life.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip: #4 Put Something of Yourself into the Writing

While the defining feature of a biography is that it gives an account of a person’s life, students must understand that this is not all a biography does. Relating the facts and details of a subject’s life is not enough. The student biographer should not be afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with the reader throughout their account of their subject’s life.

The student can weave some of their personality into the fabric of the text by providing commentary and opinion as they relate the events of the person’s life and the wider social context at the time. Unlike the detached and objective approach we’d expect to find in a history textbook, in a biography, student-writers should communicate their enthusiasm for their subject in their writing.

This makes for a more intimate experience for the reader, as they get a sense of getting to know the author and the subject they are writing about.

Biography Examples For Students

• Year 5 Example
• Year 7 Example
• Year 9 Example

“The Rock ‘n’ Roll King: Elvis Presley”

Elvis Aaron Presley, born on January 8, 1935, was an amazing singer and actor known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Even though he’s been dead for nearly 50 years, I can’t help but be fascinated by his incredible life!

Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a tiny house with his parents and twin brother. His family didn’t have much money, but they shared a love for music. Little did they know Elvis would become a music legend!

When he was only 11 years old, Elvis got his first guitar. He taught himself to play and loved singing gospel songs. As he got older, he started combining different music styles like country, blues, and gospel to create a whole new sound – that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!

In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis recorded his first song, “That’s All Right.” People couldn’t believe how unique and exciting his music was. His famous hip-swinging dance moves also made him a sensation!

Elvis didn’t just rock the music scene; he also starred in movies like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But fame came with challenges. Despite facing ups and downs, Elvis kept spreading happiness through his music.

Tragically, Elvis passed away in 1977, but his music and charisma live on. Even today, people worldwide still enjoy his songs like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Elvis Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll will live forever.

Long Live the King: I wish I’d seen him.

Elvis Presley, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend born on January 8, 1935, is a captivating figure that even a modern-day teen like me can’t help but admire. As I delve into his life, I wish I could have experienced the magic of his live performances.

Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis faced challenges but found solace in music. At 11, he got his first guitar, a symbol of his journey into the world of sound. His fusion of gospel, country, and blues into Rock ‘n’ Roll became a cultural phenomenon.

The thought of being in the audience during his early performances, especially when he recorded “That’s All Right” at 19, sends shivers down my spine. Imagining the crowd’s uproar and feeling the revolutionary energy of that moment is a dream I wish I could have lived.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical prodigy; he was a dynamic performer. His dance moves, the embodiment of rebellion, and his roles in films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” made him a true icon.

After watching him on YouTube, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll never witness the King’s live performances. The idea of swaying to “Hound Dog” or being enchanted by “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in person is a missed opportunity. Elvis may have left us in 1977, but he was the king of rock n’ roll. Long live the King!

Elvis Presley: A Teen’s Take on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon”

Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935, was a revolutionary force in the music world, earning his title as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Exploring his life, even as a 16-year-old today, I’m captivated by the impact he made.

Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up in humble beginnings, surrounded by the love of his parents and twin brother. It’s inspiring to think that, despite financial challenges, this young man would redefine the music scene.

At 11, Elvis got his first guitar, sparking a self-taught journey into music. His early gospel influences evolved into a unique fusion of country, blues, and gospel, creating the electrifying genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1954, at only 19, he recorded “That’s All Right,” marking the birth of a musical legend.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical innovator; he was a cultural phenomenon. His rebellious dance moves and magnetic stage presence challenged the norms. He transitioned seamlessly into acting, starring in iconic films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

However, fame came at a cost, and Elvis faced personal struggles. Despite the challenges, his music continued to resonate. Even now, classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” transcend generations.

Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is undeniable. He was known for his unique voice, charismatic persona, and electrifying performances. He sold over one billion records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling solo artists in history. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elvis’s influence can still be seen in today’s music. Many contemporary artists, such as Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake, have cited Elvis as an inspiration. His music continues to be featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Elvis left us in 1977, but his legacy lives on. I appreciate his breaking barriers and fearlessly embracing his artistic vision. Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is timeless, a testament to the enduring power of his artistry. His music has inspired generations and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING TEACHING IDEAS AND LESSONS

We have compiled a sequence of biography-related lessons or teaching ideas that you can follow as you please. They are straightforward enough for most students to follow without further instruction.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 1:

This session aims to give students a broader understanding of what makes a good biography.

Once your students have compiled a comprehensive checklist of the main features of a biography, allow them to use it to assess some biographies from your school library or on the internet using the feature checklist.

When students have assessed a selection of biographies, take some time as a class to discuss them. You can base the discussion around the following prompts:

• Which biographies covered all the criteria from their checklist?
• Which biographies didn’t?
• Which biography was the most readable in terms of structure?
• Which biography do you think was the least well-structured? How would you improve this?

Looking at how other writers have interpreted the form will help students internalize the necessary criteria before attempting to produce a biography. Once students have a clear understanding of the main features of the biography, they’re ready to begin work on writing a biography.

When the time does come to put pen to paper, be sure they’re armed with the following top tips to help ensure they’re as well prepared as possible.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 2:

This session aims to guide students through the process of selecting the perfect biography subject.

Instruct students to draw up a shortlist of three potential subjects for the biography they’ll write.

Using the three criteria mentioned in the writing guide (Interest, Merit, and Information), students award each potential subject a mark out of 5 for each of the criteria. In this manner, students can select the most suitable subject for their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 3:

This session aims to get students into the researching phase, then prioritise and organise events chronologically.

Students begin by making a timeline of their subject’s life, starting with their birth and ending with their death or the present day. If the student has yet to make a final decision on the subject of their biography, a family member will often serve well for this exercise as a practice exercise.

Students should research and gather the key events of the person’s life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.

They can present these to the class when they have finished their timelines.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 4:

Instruct students to look over their timeline, notes, and other research. Challenge them to identify three patterns that repeat throughout the subject’s life and sort all the related events and incidents into specific categories.

Students should then label each category with a single word. This is the thematic concept or the broad general underlying idea. After that, students should write a sentence or two expressing what the subject’s life ‘says’ about that concept.

This is known as the thematic statement . With the thematic concepts and thematic statements identified, the student now has some substantial ideas to explore that will help bring more profound meaning and wider resonance to their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 5:

Instruct students to write a short objective account of an event in their own life. They can write about anyone from their past. It needn’t be more than a couple of paragraphs, but the writing should be strictly factual, focusing only on the objective details of what happened.

Once they have completed this, it’s time to rewrite the paragraph, but they should include some opinion and personal commentary this time.

The student here aims to inject some color and personality into their writing, to transform a detached, factual account into a warm, engaging story.

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• Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
• Explore the language and perspective of both.
• Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
• Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
• Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
• A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

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To Conclude

By this stage, your students should have an excellent technical overview of a biography’s essential elements.

They should be able to choose their subject in light of how interesting and worthy they are, as well as give consideration to the availability of information out there. They should be able to research effectively and identify emerging themes in their research notes. And finally, they should be able to bring some of their personality and uniqueness into their retelling of the life of another.

Remember that writing a biography is not only a great way to develop a student’s writing skills; it can be used in almost all curriculum areas. For example, to find out more about a historical figure in History, to investigate scientific contributions to Science, or to celebrate a hero from everyday life.

Biography is an excellent genre for students to develop their writing skills and to find inspiration in the lives of others in the world around them.

HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY TUTORIAL VIDEO

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Personal Narrative Writing Guide

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Posted on Jun 30, 2023

How to Write a Biography: A 7-Step Guide [+Template]

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Dario Villirilli

Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.

From time to time, nonfiction authors become so captivated by a particular figure from either the present or the past, that they feel compelled to write an entire book about their life. Whether casting them as heroes or villains, there is an interesting quality in their humanity that compels these authors to revisit their life paths and write their story.

However, portraying someone’s life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If you’re looking to write a biography yourself, in this post we’ll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow. 

How to write a biography: 

1. Seek permission when possible 

2. research your subject thoroughly, 3. do interviews and visit locations, 4. organize your findings, 5. identify a central thesis, 6. write it using narrative elements, 7. get feedback and polish the text.

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Biography Outline Template

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While you technically don’t need permission to write about public figures (or deceased ones), that doesn't guarantee their legal team won't pursue legal action against you. Author Kitty Kelley was sued by Frank Sinatra before she even started to write His Way , a biography that paints Ol Blue Eyes in a controversial light. (Kelley ended up winning the lawsuit, however).  

Whenever feasible, advise the subject’s representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get a green light to proceed, or potentially an offer to collaborate. It's a matter of common sense; if someone were to write a book about you, you would likely want to know about it well prior to publication. So, make a sincere effort to reach out to their PR staff to negotiate an agreement or at least a mutual understanding of the scope of your project. 

At the same time, make sure that you still retain editorial control over the project, and not end up writing a puff piece that treats its protagonist like a saint or hero. No biography can ever be entirely objective, but you should always strive for a portrayal that closely aligns with facts and reality.

If you can’t get an answer from your subject, or you’re asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The “rebellious act” of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though it’ll likely bring more headaches with it too. 

✋ Please note that, like other nonfiction books, if you intend to release your biography with a publishing house , you can put together a book proposal to send to them before you even write the book. If they like it enough, they might pay you an advance to write it.  

Book Proposal Template

Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.

Once you’ve settled (or not) the permission part, it’s time to dive deep into your character’s story.  

Deep and thorough research skills are the cornerstone of every biographer worth their salt. To paint a vivid and accurate portrait of someone's life, you’ll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources. 

Start with the information already available, from books on your subject to archival documents, then collect new ones firsthand by interviewing people or traveling to locations. 

Browse the web and library archives

Put your researcher hat on and start consuming any piece on your subject you can find, from their Wikipedia page to news articles, interviews, TV and radio appearances, YouTube videos, podcasts, books, magazines, and any other media outlets they may have been featured in. 

Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find 一 even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them. 

Depending on their era, you may find most of the information readily available online, or you may need to search through university libraries for older references. 

For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia University’s library , reading through the Hamilton family papers, visiting the New York Historical Society, as well as interviewing the archivist of the New York Stock Exchange, and so on. The research process took years, but it certainly paid off. Chernow discovered that Hamilton created the first five securities originally traded on Wall Street. This finding, among others, revealed his significant contributions to shaping the current American financial and political systems, a legacy previously often overshadowed by other founding fathers. Today Alexander Hamilton is one of the best-selling biographies of all time, and it has become a cultural phenomenon with its own dedicated musical. 

Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in. 

Try to understand their time and social environment

Many biographies show how their protagonists have had a profound impact on society through their philosophical, artistic, or scientific contributions. But at the same time, it’s worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their life’s path and work.

An interesting example is Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World . Finding himself limited by a lack of verified detail surrounding William Shakespeare's personal life, Greenblatt, instead, employs literary interpretation and imaginative reenactments to transport readers back to the Elizabethan era. The result is a vivid (though speculative) depiction of the playwright's life, enriching our understanding of his world.

Many readers enjoy biographies that transport them to a time and place, so exploring a historical period through the lens of a character can be entertaining in its own right. The Diary of Samuel Pepys became a classic not because people were enthralled by his life as an administrator, but rather from his meticulous and vivid documentation of everyday existence during the Restoration period.

Once you’ve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, you’ll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.

With all the material you’ve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But you’ll surely have some curiosities and missing dots in their character development to figure out, which you can only get by interviewing primary sources.

Interview friends and associates

This part is more relevant if your subject is contemporary, and you can actually meet up or call with relatives, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors, or any other person related to them. 

In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobs’s family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.

🔍 Read other biographies to get a sense of what makes a great one. Check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time , or take our 30-second quiz below for tips on which one you should read next. 

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When you conduct your interviews, make sure to record them with high quality audio you can revisit later. Then use tools like Otter.ai or Descript to transcribe them 一 it’ll save you countless hours. 

You can approach the interview with a specific set of questions, or follow your curiosity blindly, trying to uncover revealing stories and anecdotes about your subject. Whatever your method, author and biography editor Tom Bromley suggests that every interviewer arrives prepared, "Show that you’ve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.” 

Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. “You may want to interview different members of the family or friends first, to get their perspective on something, and then go directly to the main interviewee. You'll be able to use that knowledge to ask sharper, more specific questions.” 

Finally, consider how much time you have with each interviewee. If you only have a 30-minute phone call with an important person, make it count by asking directly the most pressing questions you have. And, if you find a reliable source who is also particularly willing to help, conduct several interviews and ask them, if appropriate, to write a foreword as part of the book’s front matter .

Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your character’s journey.

Visit significant places in their life

A place, whether that’s a city, a rural house, or a bodhi tree, can carry a particular energy that you can only truly experience by being there. In putting the pieces together about someone’s life, it may be useful to go visit where they grew up, or where other significant events of their lives happened. It will be easier to imagine what they experienced, and better tell their story. 

In researching The Lost City of Z , author David Grann embarked on a trek through the Amazon, retracing the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett. This led Grann to develop new theories about the circumstances surrounding the explorer's disappearance.

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subject’s environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible. 

Once you’ve researched your character enough, it’s time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far. 

Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents you’ve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline. 

Create a chronological timeline

It helps to organize your notes chronologically 一 from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subject’s life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits. 

You should be able to divide their life into distinct periods, each with their unique events and significance. Based on that, you can start drafting an outline of the narrative you want to create.  

Draft a story outline 

Since a biography entails writing about a person’s entire life, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can pick where you want to end the story, depending on how consequential the last years of your subject were. But the nature of the work will give you a starting character arc to work with. 

To outline the story then, you could turn to the popular Three-Act Structure , which divides the narrative in three main parts. In a nutshell, you’ll want to make sure to have the following:

• Act 1. Setup : Introduce the protagonist's background and the turning points that set them on a path to achieve a goal. 
• Act 2. Confrontation : Describe the challenges they encounter, both internal and external, and how they rise to them. Then..
• Act 3. Resolution : Reach a climactic point in their story in which they succeed (or fail), showing how they (and the world around them) have changed as a result. 

Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?

Think about why you’re so drawn to your subject to dedicate years of your life to recounting their own. What aspect of their life do you want to highlight? Is it their evil nature, artistic genius, or visionary mindset? And what evidence have you got to back that up? Find a central thesis or focus to weave as the main thread throughout your narrative. 

Or find a unique angle

If you don’t have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subject’s story can also help you distinguish your work from other biographies or existing works on the same subject.

Plenty of biographies have been published about The Beatles 一 many of which have different focuses and approaches: 

• Philip Norman's Shout is sometimes regarded as leaning more towards a pro-Lennon and anti-McCartney stance, offering insights into the band's inner dynamics. 
• Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head closely examines their music track by track, shifting the focus back to McCartney as a primary creative force. 
• Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews. 
• Mark Lewisohn's monumental three-volume biography, Tune In , stands as a testament to over a decade of meticulous research, chronicling every intricate detail of the Beatles' journey.

Finally, consider that biographies are often more than recounting the life of a person. Similar to how Dickens’ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britain’s fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth — be it social, political, or human — beyond the immediate subject of the book. 

Once you’ve identified your main focus or angle, it’s time to write a great story. 

While biographies are often highly informative, they do not have to be dry and purely expository in nature . You can play with storytelling elements to make it an engaging read. 

You could do that by thoroughly detailing the setting of the story , depicting the people involved in the story as fully-fledged characters , or using rising action and building to a climax when describing a particularly significant milestone of the subject’s life. 

One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong foot…

Hook the reader from the start

Just because you're honoring your character's whole life doesn't mean you have to begin when they said their first word. Starting from the middle or end of their life can be more captivating as it introduces conflicts and stakes that shaped their journey.

When he wrote about Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild , author Jon Krakauer didn’t open his subject’s childhood and abusive family environment. Instead, the book begins with McCandless hitchhiking his way into the wilderness, and subsequently being discovered dead in an abandoned bus. By starting in the middle of the action  in medias res, Krakauer hooks the reader’s interest, before tracing back the causes and motivations that led McCandless to die alone in that bus in the first place.

You can bend the timeline to improve the reader’s reading experience throughout the rest of the story too…

Play with flashback 

While biographies tend to follow a chronological narrative, you can use flashbacks to tell brief stories or anecdotes when appropriate. For example, if you were telling the story of footballer Lionel Messi, before the climax of winning the World Cup with Argentina, you could recall when he was just 13 years old, giving an interview to a local newspaper, expressing his lifelong dream of playing for the national team. 

Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue does…

Reimagine conversations

Recreating conversations that your subject had with people around them is another effective way to color the story. Dialogue helps the reader imagine the story like a movie, providing a deeper sensory experience. 

One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobs’ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: “You've got to make the back of the fence just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. And that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.”

Unlike memoirs and autobiographies, in which the author tells the story from their personal viewpoint and enjoys greater freedom to recall conversations, biographies require a commitment to facts. So, when recreating dialogue, try to quote directly from reliable sources like personal diaries, emails, and text messages. You could also use your interview scripts as an alternative to dialogue. As Tom Bromley suggests, “If you talk with a good amount of people, you can try to tell the story from their perspective, interweaving different segments and quoting the interviewees directly.”

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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback. 

If you’re going to publish your own  biography, you’ll have to polish it to professional standards. After leaving your work to rest for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and edit your own manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs. 

Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. They’ll look at the structure and shape of your manuscript and tell you which parts need to be expanded on or cut. As someone who edited and commissioned several biographies, Tom Bromley points out that a professional “will look at the sources used and assess whether they back up the points made, or if more are needed. They would also look for context, and whether or not more background information is needed for the reader to understand the story fully. And they might check your facts, too.”  

In addition to structural editing, you may want to have someone copy-edit and proofread your work.

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Importantly, make sure to include a bibliography with a list of all the interviews, documents, and sources used in the writing process. You’ll have to compile it according to a manual of style, but you can easily create one by using tools like EasyBib . Once the text is nicely polished and typeset in your writing applications , you can prepare for the publication process.  

In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, you’ll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individual’s life experience. Whether that’ll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy 一 and that’s something not to take lightly. 

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7 Different Ways to Write a Great Biography

Ever considered writing a biography? Individual decisions and circumstances shape life stories, but so do biographers. By adapting set patterns, writers determine public opinion of their subject’s lives. Draw inspiration for a future project from this roundup of common approaches.

Journalists and media outlets love biographies, particularly when relatives or academics dispute the most controversial claims.

Some of the favorite topics are instantly familiar: Napoleon’s downfall, Churchill’s leadership, Diana’s letters and her lovers, Sylvia Plath’s relationship with Ted Hughes, the genius of Steve Jobs, and Alan Turing’s sexuality. Each worthy of separate, in-depth discussion. Each a delicate balance between sensationalism and historical interest.

Of course, the trademark combination of gossip and mythmaking has given biography a bad reputation. For some, it seems too much like rummaging through the paper bin, looking for someone’s bank statements or the shreds of a discarded missive.

Or else it seems like a dubious exercise in trying to draw life lessons from someone else’s fame and success, which might have been coincidental or undeserved.

Laying the Groundwork

Researching a biography involves a lot of borrowing and persuading. Anecdotes, interviews, letters and public records are the standard ingredients of every book biography, film biopic, or feature ‘based on a true story’. Getting hold of information may be difficult.

Relatives of the deceased may block access to the diary, friends of the family may demand cash for answering your questions, and obtaining permission to reproduce images will give you grey hairs. You may be overwhelmed by the quantity of books to plough through, or frustrated by the lack of data at your disposal.

“Composing the life requires speculation and interpretation. At times, you’ll marvel at what your subject achieved. Sometimes you’ll be disappointed by their actions, maybe even shocked.”

Composing the life requires speculation and interpretation. At times, you’ll marvel at what your subject achieved. Sometimes you’ll be disappointed by their actions, maybe even shocked. If you’re writing about a dictator or a criminal, you may struggle to strike a balance between humanizing and demonizing them.

If you’re lucky, you’ll stumble across something no-one else has found before and hope it makes waves. If you’re underhand, you’ll make an unverifiable claim and wait for the public outrage.

But let’s assume that you’ve been principled. You’ve found a worthy subject, done the laborious work of searching through the archives and ringing through the phone book, read the relevant literature and thought about the ethical dilemmas. Now it’s time to write, but where should you begin? How do you bring order to the chaos of a life?

1. Cradle to Grave

If in doubt, the ‘cradle to grave’ approach is your fallback option. Put your notes in order, get the chronology sorted, and start work. One by one, tick off the following from your list: birth, family background, childhood influences, schooling and education, early career, professional successes and setbacks, twilight years, death. Choose a first sentence a bit like this:

“Napoleon Buonaparte was born at Ajaccio in the island of Corsica, on the fifteenth day of August, 1769. He was the son of Charles Buonaparte, an advocate in the royal court of assize, and of Letitia Ramolini, a Corsican lady of great beauty, and of a good family, descended from that of Colalto at Naples.” William Hazlitt, The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte , 1828

As the conventional approach in Western book biographies for hundreds of years, this may sound like the easy option. Yet a chronological biography has its pitfalls. Expect gaps in the story, mysteries you’ll never solve, and conflicting accounts.

Establishing causality is another dilemma and not only because it’s tricky to prove links between particular experiences and later events. Strands of the story developing in parallel, encounters that only obtain significance many years later, and the after-effects of major turning points all pose a challenge to the apparent simplicity of this approach – also see our biographical piece on Emmeline Pankhurst for an example of the pitfalls and opportunities of a ‘cradle to grave’ story.

2. The Deathbed Departure

Like Agatha Christie, many biographers hold off checking the birth certificate by beginning at the end. Opening with a deathbed scene or the public announcement of the death is a ubiquitous variation on the ‘cradle-to-grave’ structure.

By contrasting a dramatic demise with humble beginnings, you can immediately establish both suspense and a narrative arc.

3. Trace Your Steps

If your research process deserves a book of its own, or if your subject was hard to track down, you may want to put the biographical mechanics on display. Documenting the process of biographical research also allows you to write someone else’s story in the first-person. By revealing your techniques and the problems you faced, you can mitigate for the inevitable causal leaps or puzzling gaps.

Literary historians like to cite A. J. A. Symons’s The Quest for Corvo (1934), but it’s a technique found in other genres, such as documentary theatre. For example, Ivna Žic’s play Blei (2017) sees a young woman enlist her friends to reconstruct her grandfather’s experience of the disputed Bleiburg repatriations of 1945, including video interviews, excerpts from books, and taped phone calls.

4. Make It Up

Plenty of would-be historical biographies contain made-up stories impossible to verify, such as the wholly speculative story of Shakespeare’s encounter with Elizabeth I at Kenilworth, enthusiastically mythologized by nineteenth-century biographers.

“A short time previous to this, when our poet was in his twelfth year, and in the summer of 1575, an event occurred which must have made a great impression on his mind; the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the magnificent Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle.” Nathan Drake, Shakespeare and His Times , 1838

Given biography’s tendency to improvise with anecdotes and dodgy causal connections, critics say it’s a kind of fiction masquerading as history.

You can make a virtue of a necessity by augmenting the historical sources, as in Edmund Morris’s Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999). Or else turn the practice of biography on its head by writing it as historical fiction, as in Hilary Mantel’s bestselling Wolf Hall (2009). Familiar representatives of the genre include the films Amadeus (1984) and Shakespeare in Love (1998), both inspired by long-standing myths associated with the lives of Mozart and Shakespeare.

If you aim to popularize a life or just to convey the atmosphere of the times, then so-called ‘biofiction’ allows you to indulge your imagination and free the life story from the strictures of the historical record.

5. Change the Received Wisdom

Myths and legends proliferating? Promise a glimpse behind the scenes and unmask your subject with a revisionist biography. Celebrities’ public personas – historical or contemporary – can easily deceive. By deconstructing appearances and identifying discourses, you can add academic sobriety to fiercely contested terrain, as in Sarah Churchwell’s The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (2004).

You can also throw caution to the winds with a thorough debunking. This is the kind of biography that likes to offend. You can do damage to the subject’s reputation (and possibly your own) by focusing on character flaws or allegations of a moral nature. You’ll need persuasive evidence and a biographee long since deceased – that or a good lawyer.

“No man knew better than Johnson in how many nameless and numberless actions behaviour consists: actions which can scarcely be reduced to rule, and which come under no description. Of these he retained so many very strange ones, that I suppose no one who saw his odd manner of gesticulating, much blamed or wondered at the good lady’s solicitude.” Hester Lynch Piozzi [Hester Thrale], Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson , 1786

6. The Life of the Mind

Select a scientist or a philosopher for your project and chances are you’ll be writing an ‘intellectual biography’.

Following the development of ideas across a life, biographies of great minds can play an important role in public understandings of science. You’ll also be looking at how institutions or cultural and historical contexts influenced your subject, how networks champion or resist particular ideas, and how even the best ones are greeted with scepticism.

Challenges include making the material comprehensible for a non-specialist and turning the genesis of complex thoughts into a compelling narrative. Feel free to do something inventive – Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter Ruth Padel wrote a biography of her forebear in poems.

“In the brown-black gloam of closing-time he meets his future colleague, a published entomologist. ‘I had no idea! So many thousand different beetles within ten miles of home!” Ruth Padel, Darwin: A Life in Poems , 2009

7. A Single Chapter

Very often, society values a given life for a single episode within it. In ‘History as a Poetess’ (1943), Stefan Zweig calls these history’s ‘heroic, poetic moments’.

Reducing a life course to a representative year or two may depart from the genre’s established conventions. But as James Shapiro has demonstrated in two books on Shakespeare, it gives you the chance to focus on what was most important in a life – or at least to make that case.

Collective biographies can do the same for groups. As in Lara Feigel’s The Love Charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War (2013), seeing how people’s lives interweave and diverge enables a more personal and unexpected take on familiar historical events.

[Title Image by  Ehud Neuhaus  via  Unsplash]

Edward Saunders

Edward Saunders was Deputy Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, Vienna until August 2017. His research interests are in biography and life writing, as well as urban history and cultural memory. Learn more about him on his website.

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7 Killer Tips for How to Write a Bio

by Pamela Fernuik | 30 comments

Whether you're starting your author website, setting up social media profiles, or submitting stories or articles to a publication, you're going to need an author bio. 

Writing your biography can seem almost as challenging as writing a book. But it is a necessary part of publishing your writing. Let's look at how to write a bio that delivers.

How to Write a Bio

• Write your name
• Share your accomplishments
• Use third person
• Say something personal
• Link to your writing
• Follow the rules

Where to Find Author Bio Examples

A good place to find examples of other writers' biographies is right here on The Write Practice. You can meet the Write Practice team on the About page . The Write Practice also includes bio examples with all guest posts (you can click on any post on this page to read the author's bio).

If you're writing a bio for your resume or a cover letter for a professional role, some of the tips here will work, but you'll want to make sure you look at examples in the field where you're applying. 

Let me share with you seven tips on how to write a bio and some personal bio examples to get you started. 

7 Killer Tips for How to Write a Bio (Including More Examples)

Let me share with you seven tips on how to write a bio and some bio templates to get you started.

1. Write your name

Start with your name. Might seem obvious, but you want to make sure readers know who you are.

2. Share your accomplishments

Don't be shy. Say what you have done.

A list of accomplishments might include things like where you went to school and where you have been published. If relevant, you can include your professional experience or current role. This is not a time to brag or list every award you won since grade two. Pick the major accomplishments that are relevant and recent.

For example:

Mary Jones, a graduate of ____________, has been published in____________ and ______________.

If this is your first publication, you can say:

Mary Jones writes about ________________ and ______________.

3. Use third person

For author bios, write in the third person, even if you are the one writing it. First-person bios are rare and not the industry standard. 

Instead of saying, “I have lived in Tokyo and have six cats,” say, “Pamela has lived in Tokyo and has six cats.”

4. Say something personal

Well-written bios end with a personal statement about you. There's not room to tell your life story or share too many personal details, but including a personal detail or two shows readers you are a real person beyond the written page. See the ending of the following examples.

Here is Stephen King's biography from the back of his book  On Writing . It has 65 words.

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are 11/22/63 , Under the Dome , Lisey’s Story , Duma Key , Cell , Dreamcatcher , Hearts in Atlantis , and Bag of Bones . He was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Stephen King’s biography begins with his name and then lists his professional life accomplishments. But it ends with a note about his personal life. Now you know that he lives in Maine and his wife is a novelist. This helps you to connect with him as a regular human being, not just a very accomplished celebrity.

(His biography is long, though. If you were Steven King, and they said, “Mr. King, you have only fifty words,” what would you take out?)

Or read this biography from the back of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This one is 42 words.

Steven Pressfield is the author of Gates of Fire, Tides of War, The Afghan Campaign, The Profession, The Warrior Ethos and Turning Pro, among others. He lives in Los Angeles. In 2003, he was made an honorary citizen of Sparta in Greece.

If I wanted to know what books Steven Pressfield wrote, I could look up his page on Amazon. But I would not know to look up whether he was made an honorary citizen of Sparta in Greece. That's an interesting relevant detail based on some of the writing he's done. 

Take a look at this one, from the back inside cover of Jon Acuff’s book Finish . This has 49 words.

Jon Acuff is the New York Times bestselling author of Start , Quitter , and Do Over , among other books. He is a popular public speaker, blogger, Tweeter, and the creator of the “30 Days of Hustle” online challenge. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Jenny, and their two daughters.

Jon Acuff's biography tells me about his accomplishments. Then it ends with a note about his family. It is a good idea to share a piece of personal information about yourself so readers can connect with you.

5. Be funny

Include humor if it fits your writing and the publication you are submitting to. Remember, you don’t want to make off-color jokes in your biography, so pretend your mother is reading it.

Unless, of course, it is for an adult magazine. Then you can write humor that fits that publication. Keep your target audience in mind, knowing that humor is highly contextual. 

6. Link to your writing

Use only one link. Decide what is the most important place you want your readers to find you. Twitter? Instagram? Your website signup list?

If you only have one link, have it go to your website signup page. An email list is the most important, as it gives you direct access to make friends with your readers. You own your website (we hope!); you don’t own Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Social media platforms are great for connecting with readers, but it's good to keep in mind that they can change their rules any time and that can affect your access to your target audience. 

7. Follow the rules

Follow the rules. If the publication or bio instructions ask for a fifty-word biography, don’t give them 324 words. Stick to fifty. If there's a character limit, follow it. Don't jeopardize your chances of publication because you won't follow through on your author bio. 

Bonus Tip: Be Yourself

It can seem intimidating to write a killer bio. But you are a writer. You have already written an article or story so amazing that someone wants to publish it.

You can write a fantastic bio, too.

Now You Try

It's a good idea to try out a few different bios for different target audiences. Mix and match professional accomplishments and personal experiences until you have a blend that really captures you and your writing style. 

You can practice using a conversational tone and then a more formal tone. See which one fits the audience or market you have in mind. Share them with your writing friends or on your social media accounts to boost engagement and see which one your target audience likes most. 

Keep cutting extraneous details until you have a killer bio that represents you, and then polish and edit until it shines.

The handy template above and your own brilliant writing are all you need!

Do you have any tips for how to write a bio? Let us know in the comments .

Take fifteen minutes to write a fifty-word biography. This is the length of biographies Alice, my editor, asks for on The Write Practice.

What will you include in your biography? Share the bio you write in the Pro Practice Workshop. Tell us what you cut and why.

Please read other readers' biographies and help them write a clear biography.

Pamela Fernuik

Pamela writes stories about art and creativity to help you become the artist you were meant to be. She would love to meet you at www.ipaintiwrite.com .

30 Comments

Dawn Van Beck, an advocate for vulnerable adults and a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur, writes inspirational stories and devotions, and has been published in Short Fiction Break. Currently working on her debut romance novel, she resides in Florida with her husband and feisty dachshund. You can find her at http://www.findingfaithinthefabric.com .

Great bio, Dawn. I love that it has a light-heartedness. Heading to your website now 🙂

I like your bio. You are really smart.

Hi Dawn, Love that you showed your fun personality as well as what you write, and where your heart is. xo Pamela

Hi Dawn, I agree with Pamela Hodges, job well crafted.

I have a question. I’ve wondered about it for awhile and I’m a bit hesitant in asking, but…

Is is possible to be anonymous? Like, if you published a novel, can you write under a fake name and not have too many people know exactly who you are?

Yes. I do, but I also have a biography for the pen name I use, which is admittedly way more than 50 words long

Hi EmFairley, What a great idea to have a biography with your pen name. xo Pamela And of course you are not going to share it, because it is anonymous. 🙂

A biography is best written by an outsider or at least to be read that way as in POV 3rd voice. It sounds cool to use a pen name.

Hi Pamela. Your 7-step formula is typical of bio after bio after bio. As writer’s we should let the reader know they’re in for a great read. Writing a mechanical bio doesn’t give them much to go on. Here’s some food-for-thought from my 1-day bio course…

1. Don’t put your name at the start for two reasons. Firstly, bio’s are likely to be set within the context of the author anyway, so no point wasting words repeating it. Secondly, if the name should be included – perhaps because it’s to be read in isolation – it has more impact at the end; this is because a) people will remember it more after reading something interesting, and b) a great bio should create tension so the reader WANTS to know who this is.

2. Don’t waste valuable words boring the reader LISTING your accomplishments. Most authors have them, so they won’t make you stand out. And few readers would know the difference between a credible one and a valueless one. And people with truly epic accomplishments, like Stephen King, don’t need to flourish being a 50-times best-seller. By all means, roll your best one into the conversation, just don’t be mechanical.

3. Third person is good for not sounding like it’s an ego trip, but a much better way IS to be in first person and use the bio to connect with the reader. Use humour (your point 5) and open up to them, making sure your comments are directed at THEM (i.e. use ‘you’) to show you care about THEM.

4. Be personal – right! But more than that, make sure you’re saying something relevant TO the reader. Make them feel your reaching out to THEM and not the masses.

5. Yes. I’ve covered that above.

6. Yes, although don’t waste the words if you’ve already put the links on the page in other fields, which is common.

7. Definitely.

8 (added) – Tailor it for the location. Note just word count, but voice. If it’s for a funky radio show for e.g., check out the lingo and match the style.

Hope that helps unlocks a whole new way of thinking about bios and standing out from the crowd. If you get it right, the results speak for themselves.

Here’s an example of one of mine used for my first series of fantasy books:

“My goal is a story that pulls you in. A story you want to keep reading, as powerful as I can make, with characters real and compelling. Some are heroes with flaws, others are weak with hidden strengths. They stand against a hidden enemy. Not all of them want to…”

Miles Allen

Here’s a link to my blog on writing business bios. It’s a different angle, but much of it will translate to creating a more penetrating author bio too.

http://www.milesallen.net/why-your-business-biography-is-killing-sales/

Prince Ydnar Velonza is a frustrated writer and blogger. He loves to eat chocolate whenever he’s alone. Prince Ydnar is editing a book that will be publish soon.

Hello Prince Ydnar Velonza, Right now you have 28 very well written words, I just switched a few words in the last sentence.

“Prince Ydnar Velonza is a frustrated writer and blogger. He loves to eat chocolate whenever he’s alone. Prince Ydnar is editing a book that he will publish soon.”

Can you think of anything else to include? You have the personal element down with the chocolate and frustrated writer and blogger part. How about where you live? Or where you go to school? Any awards?

Best to you, xo Pamela

Hello Pamela. Thanks so much for your article. I was looking for something just like this and the length of a bio. It’s great to learn from famous writer’s bio; now I have an example of how to start and what to include.

Lilian Gardner was born in India. After obtaining her school diploma, she qualified as a teacher at the Teacher’s Training College.

She has written and self-published two books and is busy editing her third novel.

Lilian lives in Italy with her husband, Giuliano, an engineer and pilot, and their cat, Minnie

Unfortunately, I am two words above the word count you gave us. I started wih 220 words, and cut, cut, cut it down to 52 words. It seems scant. Please give me feedback. Thanks.

Hi Lilian, I got it down to 48 words. “Lilian Gardner was born in India. After obtaining her school diploma, she graduated from the Teacher’s Training College. She has written and self-published two books and is currently editing her third novel. Lilian lives in Italy with her husband, Giuliano, an engineer and pilot, and their cat, Minnie”

This is the sentence I changed. Did you work as a teacher after you graduated? What is the most important point in this sentence? What about —After graduating from the Teacher’s Training College she worked with elementary school children in Florence, Italy. (or wherever you worked)

“After obtaining her school diploma, she graduated from the Teacher’s Training College” And I had no idea you lived in Italy. Your cat speak Italian!! xo Pamela

Thanks, Pamela. I like your super edit. I honestly needed to know how to write a bio. Minnie is multilingual. i speak to her in English, my husband speaks to her in Italian, and my son’s girlfriend speaks to her in Slovak. Her answer never changes. it’s always ‘meow’. How is Harper and the rest of the clan doing?

Wow! Great feedback here.

SM Sierra is the author of two self-published books, Molly Blue &The Quill of Two Lives, and Molly Blue & The Thirteen Wands, she is currently working on the third book in the series. She resides in California with her mechanic husband, Milo, and her adopted crooked-tail black kitty, Coulson.

I like your post which is Informative and interesting.

Thanks for the feedback Lilian!

Hello S.M. Sierra, So nice to read your biography. I don’t know if you have to say your books are self-published. What do you think S.M.? Do we have to say how they are published? Hello to Milo and Coulson. xo Pamela

Thanks Pam, It took me a lot of time and research to learn the best way to format to create a book…it is all mine, therefore in place of a degree or background in journalism, which I do not have, I consider the writing and self publishing my accomplishments.

Hi S.M. Thank you for your perspective on this. You are right, it is an accomplishment. And great job for learning how to make your own book. I self-published my book too, and spend a lot of time as well learning how to make it. You have opened my eyes to the value of what we have learned. xo Pamela

It took her; you said it took me. I believe the (bio) should be written in POV third voice. ie;. He/she and not I.

Love the croocked – tail black kitty. Lol. .

Hi all. I’ve been told, and read, by many editors that on ocassions, the bio can be the difference between them accepting your story or someone else’s. More important than people think. Here’s mine; Justin Boote is an Englishman living in Barcelona for twenty years working as a stressed waiter in a busy restaurant. He has been writing short horror/suspense stories for two years, in which time, he has published seventeen stories in a diversity of magazines. He can be found at Facebook.

About the Author Victor Paul Scerri first works as a writer and artist published by Recovering the Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing. In recognition of his art exhibits, a Zen painting is the cover image for the April 2011 issue of the journal. He continues to publish articles at EnzineArticles.com, and is an active team writer of short stories. He made cultural award winning entrepreneur in Norway and now lives in Thailand. You can find him at http://www.nicewriters.com / nicewriters on (FB).

Victor Scerri, born in London, living in Thailand, ventured to Norway – he made cultural award-winning entrepreneur. He was published by Recovering the Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing. His art is on the cover of the April 2011 issue. He still writes and publishes with EnzineArticles.com. See: http://www.nicewriters.com .

Thank you, Marsha, for taking the time to edit my bio

(This is an edited.) Prince Ydnar Velonza is a 15 year-old student. He is a starter writer and blogger. He lives from Philippines. Velonza was awarded as salutatorian since his elementary times. Now, he is studying 4th year high school (Grade 10). He loves to play a Philippine outdoor games like “tagu-taguan” (hide and seek) especially in night, “patintero”, and “tumbang-preso”. Playing “busy apple” is the bonding of his family.

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Memoir coach and author Marion Roach

Welcome to The Memoir Project, the portal to your writing life.

How To Write Someone Else’s Story

AMONG THE TOP INQUIRIES that appear in my inbox each week are requests for information on how to write about someone else. I also get this question in person, at dinner parties and everywhere else I go whenever the topic turns to what I do. Many boomers are helping parents write memoir. Many people are writing about their sick children or spouses, abusive relationships they once had or perfectly happy friendships they enjoy and want to know either how to write someone else’s story, or how to write for someone else. As a memoir coach and writing teacher, I always love this question, even though its answer is more complicated than you might think.

How to Write About Someone Else

If you know me at all, you know I love punch lists. I usually put them at the end of pieces or books, but in this case I’d like you to have a look at mine before you read on. My reasoning here is for you to see writing about someone else as a process and not something you are going to rush through and quickly dispatch from your digital to-do list. After all, you are entering the serious business of writing here, as well as the enormous responsibility of handling someone else’s story, so you want to do it right.

Also, there’s this: After conducting an online search for “memoir interviews,” I was shocked by the glut of bad advice about the art of the interview, most of it making this pursuit seem like a one-to-three easy thing to do. Joyous, yes. Fascinating, absolutely. But easy? Never. And so, let’s start with the punch list for writing about someone else.

Marion’s Punch List for Writing About Someone Else

• Discuss your topic
• Decide on a narrator
• Establish what you need to know
• Do your interviews
• Expect to learn things you never expected to learn
• Check the facts
• Feed and care for your notes
• Experiment with voice

As you can see above, how to write someone else’s story begins with discussing with that person what the story is about.

If you are writing a piece for someone, is their intent to document their whole life’s tale? If so, I suggest you begin your education in how to write about others by learning the difference between memoir and autobiography. Read that, and then come back here and let’s proceed.

After reading that piece, you now know that if the other person wants you merely to record his life story, you are writing autobiography. While you will benefit from much of what follows, you should now read about best practices in taking an oral history as established by The Oral History Association.

For the rest of you, there is memoir. So let’s move on.

What is a Good Memoir Topic?

Here is some shocking news: When writing memoir about someone else, your topic is not the person. Your topic is a large, universal theme that will make others want to read about that other person in the context of that theme in your piece or in the book you write. The rule of thumb I teach to all my students in my online memoir classes is this:

Memoir is not about what you did. Memoir is about what you did with it.

In short, memoir is about something you learned after something you’ve been through . But what is that thing? Try to narrow it down and attempt to agree on what the story is actually about. If you can discuss this with the other person, please do, but here’s a tip when dealing with family or friends: Don’t go into these discussions unprepared. Just as you know well to bring a Bundt cake or a Jell-O salad when visiting your great Aunt Mary, I suggest that you never visit a relative empty-handed. Why not bring along my handy dandy little algorithm?

It’s about x as illustrated by y to be told in a z

And then use it. Even if the piece is purely autobiographical, and meant to be read only by the family and closest friends, it will be far more entertaining if you take on a theme and explore it fully. Choosing memoir topics and ideas is an essential skill you need to have.

Find that One, Unifying Theme

Ask yourselves: What is that one, unifying theme that you see in this person’s life? What insights did she gain from her adversities in the war? Perhaps the person was adventurous, or tremendously giving; maybe your friend or relative was a teacher or the one who stuck around when his or her spouse walked out and maybe, as a result of that experience, this person knows something real about how to hold one’s course and keep a family together. Write the piece through that lens. You might even find that your co-writer or subject is quite accommodating to this when she understands that you see her as the very personification of strength or perseverance, or the embodiment of grace under pressure.

What I am referring to is areas of expertise, and everyone has a hundred or so of them. Find yours and/or hers and write about one of these  areas of knowledge that we acquire while we go through life’s ups and downs.

Start thinking more broadly than you might otherwise do – about theme, point of view, narrator and areas of expertise — and suddenly that interesting aunt of your might be someone we all might like to read about.

Who is the Narrator of Your Memoir?

Who will be the narrator of this tale? Is this your parent/child/spouse? Who is narrating this book? Are you? For help on this decision, I strongly suggest reading this post on who is narrating your tale . It will help you with perspective and point of view.

How to Conduct a Memoir Interview

Sometimes we merely want to write about someone else as a topic. In my first book, Another Name for Madness , I chronicled my mother’s decline into Alzheimer’s disease. She began her descent at 49-years-old. But the story is not about that. If it was, why would you read it? Following my own little algorithm, I can say that the book is about what love will bear as illustrated by by my family’s struggle with our mother’s decline into Alzheimer’s that was told in a  book.

Your assignment is the same. The story cannot be about someone else. It must be about something of universal interest that this person illustrates. Again, why else, would anyone read it?

“Oh, but she is so interesting ,” you’ll reply, to which I’ll reply, “And that’s what the reader will tune into: What makes her interesting? Do you know?”

Dig deep, and suddenly you are no longer writing a story about your mother, but writing about the will it takes to survive the death of a beloved spouse of 52 years as illustrated by your indefatigable mother in a book-length piece of memoir.

Better, right? See the shift? Feel the interest zing? That’s what you want to get at in your interviews.

Expect To Learn Things in Your Memoir Interview

Setting out to write about her, I realized I knew painfully little about my mother, except that I adored her. And guess what? That adoration was a real set of blinders, giving me a distinct lack of curiosity. My first assignment then, was to get real and dig. So dig I did.

I interviewed her friends, setting out to cover the span of her short life until the illness. Two of those I interviewed had been pals with her since birth; another was her college roommate, and several had known her only as married woman and mother.

In that, I collected real data and came away with a set of easily-visualized scenes for the reader to experience. Why was this needed? Because before I took her away via that dreadful illness, I had to make you fall in love with her and I did that with scenes. By the time she begins to fade, you value what I was losing.

Making Lists Will Guide You

You can do the same. How? Make a list of the people you can talk to who know or knew your subject. Next, come up with a list of questions. And then be ready to partially ignore that list. Why? Because you also want to develop the flexibility to let the conversation take you in new and unexpected directions. So, know your questions, and make sure you get that answers to those, but also let the person direct some of the conversation. After all, they may know things you never thought to ask about.

Such was the case when interviewing one of my mother’s friends from childhood, who observed my mother as a young mother and noted the differences in tone with which she treated her two children, my sister and me. My sister was a small child and apparently, my mother was more tentative with her. I was born weighing nearly ten pounds and that, combined with my status as the second child, made my mother less nervous and allowed her to treat me more casually and with greater confidence. This observation on the part of my mother’s lifelong friend, Elise, gave me the leeway to talk about what she observed in my sibling relationship and what else Elise had observed about my mother and her children. As a result, the information I received gave me some of the richest material in my book. But I never expected it to occur. So be flexible and reap the rewards.

Memoir Requires Checking Your Facts

How to check those facts?

Look up the obvious ones – names, dates, places. Who was president? Who was alive and who was dead? Ask the person you are interviewing if there are scrapbooks or photo albums available. Perhaps there are college or high school yearbooks for you to use to check dates and spellings of names.

Never take anyone’s spelling, or memory, as the authority that it first seems. Check everything you are told.

How to Care for Your Memoir Interview Notes

Having a notebook on hand will reward you mightily, giving you several immediate advantages over an interview done purely by recording. In that notebook, jot down what words make your interviewee lean forward, or fidget, what their eyebrows or mouth do as they talk of the more emotional moments of life. Note body language and posture. What is she wearing? Does he fiddle with his wedding ring or change the subject? Write it down. Capture the scene.

When I get home from an interview, I immediately transcribe all of my notes, both recorded and those in my notebook. Why? Because nothing embeds ideas like transcriptions, forcing you to go over that scene again and really think deeply about what you just heard and witnessed.

And when you are done with that notebook and that recording, file them in a way that makes them easy to locate and identify. You may want to go back in and listen and read again. And remember that under the worst of circumstances — that being if a legal issue is raised in your reporting — you may be responsible for proceeding those notes. Do not lose them.

How to Find a Voice When Writing Someone Else’s Tale

Finding your voice is different than establishing a narrator, and before you read this you might want to go back and re-read that piece about point of view and perspective. Then you will be ready to think about voice.

Your writing voice is the deeply personal tone you will take throughout the piece and, at least in the first few drafts, will probably sound more like an imitation of numerous other writers than it will of who you are in this piece. Just keep writing. Your voice will eventually drown out the one mimicking Ernest Hemingway or Mary Karr. Are you in pain? Are you amused? Are you on an adventure tale, learning something along the way as you enthusiastically lap up some lessons of life? Do you willingly know what you know, or was it embedded in you against your will?

These are the kinds of things you want to contemplate as you make your first attempts at getting the voice right. And when writing about someone else, these questions remain the same. Who is she in this tale and what relationship does she have to the lessons she has learned along the way? And if you are writing this together, the question becomes who are you in this piece and who is the subject, and how are you to convey the presence of those two people, if at all?

How to Write about Someone Else

But none of what has come above includes the actual writing, now does it? See how much work precedes, but is included in, that writing process? It’s a big job, and you must take it seriously because you, dear writer, are now engaging in the fine art of non-fiction, meaning that this must be accurate.

As you prepare to write, remember these points:

• Every person in a piece of memoir is there to do a specific job.
• We are not interested in someone’s entire life story.
• We are interested in a theme, in an arc, specifically in what this one story is about.
• We are interested in them in the context of one, specific tale.

Now your job is to select what to use from the information you have gathered. How? Include only those details that heighten and add to that tale.

Oh, No. Sit Still

Uh oh. I see what you are doing. You are getting out of the chair. No you don’t. You gotten this far. You want to write this, though it is right here that most writers go clean their kitchens or make soup. Oh yes, I know: You loved the work you’ve done to date, but have you noticed that to date it has all been about everything but the writing? Now, to the hard part. But first, ask yourself what it is that makes this the hard part? Why is writing memoir about someone else so difficult? I’ll tell you. In a word: Intimacy.

That’s right. I’ve been a memoir coach and teacher for more than twenty years, and through that work I have faced this moment with thousands of writers, and what I’ve learned is that it’s intimate in a way that nothing else is. Because of that, this is where things fall apart, especially if there was an unhappy relationship between you and this other person.

In this case, a writer is tempted to bolt from the desk simply because of this common sense question: Who wants to willingly go back into that kind of abusive relationship?

Memoir versus Therapy

Let me be clear here: That is not what I am asking you to do. Memoir writing is not therapy, where you re-inhabit, or reanimate, the experience. What I am asking you to do is quite different. I am asking you to look at it from afar. From here. Now. I am asking you to treat those people who did not treat you well as – wait for it – characters .

Let me repeat this here: If you are writing about someone who hurt you, look at him from here, now, with all you have on you, with all the information you have gathered. As a character .

If you are writing about someone who has done you no harm, try this: Take a deep breath, exhale, and pretend you are inviting this person to a very exclusive dinner party at which you will expect everyone to bring their best game.

Nope, Uncle Henry does not get to attend. Why? Because he monopolizes the conversation and talks about nothing but his (bad) health, specifically about his bunions. No, he does not get to come to the table. In fact, he is banned for life. Invite this other person instead because she is someone who will entertain your guests. Make your characters show up with their best conversation skills, their best stories and make them work hard. Don’t let a single one of them blah, blah, blah at your table. Instead, provoke them to tell their bountiful tales.

Getting Control of Your Story

This way of looking at others serves two purposes: It puts you in control and it makes you take only the best material from what you heard and recorded from your interviews. No bunion stories, please. Not at this dinner party.

Go on. I know you can do it.

Want more? Try this post on Five Insanely Simple Steps to Plan a Book .

Perhaps at this point you are ready to write memoir. Maybe you need a class in how to do so. Come join me. I have several online memoir writing classes running every month. I hope to see you in one of them.

Photo credit: Culture:Subculture on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Photo credit: boellstiftung on visualhunt / cc by-sa, photo by amy hirschi on unsplash, share this:.

Related posts:

• How to Write Memoir in Real Time
• Two Sides to the Same Story? At Least. What to Do? Write Your Version.
• What To Do When a Story Line is Too Big?

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Reader interactions.

August 15, 2018 at 7:51 am

Dear Marion. I thought I had a first draft of a someone else’s story. Now I can see more intimacy is needed, and maybe a different perspective… writing is much harder than I ever imagined, but having clear step by step guidance is helping me find the way. Thank you!

marion says

August 15, 2018 at 12:07 pm

Dear Dana, Many thanks for coming by and for leaving this comment. Yes, it’s hard work, but it’s worth it. Keep at it and the rewards will be worth their weight in rubies. Go get ’em. Best, Marion

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How to Write a Biography: 11 Step Guide + Book Template

So you’d like to know how to write a biography. We can help with that! Learning how to write a biography doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, it can be a lot of fun!

In this guide, we show you how to write a biography from the initial book idea all the way through to publishing your book , and we throw in a free template to help you on your way. 

Ready to learn how to start a biography ? Let’s jump right in. 

Get Our 6″ x 9″ Pre-Formatted Book Template for Word or Mac

We will send you a Book Template for US Trade (standard paperback size).

How to Write a Biography in 11 Simple Steps

Here are the steps you need to take to learn how to write a biography:

1. Read other biographies 

Austin Kleon, Author of Steal Like an Artist , says “the writer tries to master words. All of these pursuits involve the study of those who have come before and the effort to build upon their work in some way.”

In other words, if you want to learn how to write a biography, you need to read the best biographies written by other excellent authors!

In this case, it would behoove you to read several biographies – whether historical, celebrity, or business biographies is up to you and your sub-genre. 

A good author to start with? Walter Isaacson . He’s written highly acclaimed biographies on everyone from Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs to Leonardo Da Vinci and Elon Musk. 

Once you’ve read some well-crafted biographies, you’ll have a better idea of how to start a biography of your own.

2. Identify your subject

In order to learn how to start a biography, you need to choose who you’d like to write about – if you don’t already have someone in mind.  

The most important factor will be, of course, your interest in the person you’re planning to write about. You’ll spend months (or even years) deep-diving into this person’s history, so you want to choose someone who you’re unlikely to tire of. 

When learning how to write a biography, here are few factors to consider: 

• How impactful has your potential subject’s life been? In other words, will people care to learn more about this person? 
• How readily available is information about your potential subject? Biographies require extensive research, so it’s critical to choose someone who has enough information out there to dig into! Consider whether your subject has done interviews, written journals, has family or a partner willing to speak with you, and more. 
• Are there already books written about your potential subject? Just because there’s an existing biography about the person you’re interested in doesn’t (necessarily) mean you can’t write another one. But if there are two or three biographies, you may want to reconsider. If you do choose to write about someone who has already been well-documented, be mindful about approaching the topic with a new angle or perspective. For instance, there are several biographies about George Washington, but author Alexis Coe wrote one about how Washington isn’t “quite the man we remember.” This brilliant iteration has over 12,000 ratings on Goodreads .
• Is there a market demand for a book about your potential subject? If you’re learning how to write a biography, you need to be mindful of whether folks will want to read it. Do some research to determine if readers will be receptive to a book about the person you’re interested in. 

Related: Is a Biography a Primary Source?

3. Get permission to write about your subject

We’ll start by stating the obvious. It’s a good idea to get permission to write about your subject, even if you’re not legally required to. For one thing, it’s just good manners. Plus, you’re much more likely to get unfettered access to the information and sources you need to write your book. 

But do you have to get permission? It depends.

In some cases, if your subject is considered a “public figure,” permission may not be required. The definition of a public figure varies depending on your jurisdiction, so you should always consult a lawyer before writing a biography. 

If you do decide to proceed without permission, be mindful of how your book will be received and any legal issues that may arise. That’s why we always recommend asking permission from your subject when learning how to write a biography.

• Difference Between A Memoir and Biography
• Autobiography vs Biography: Differences and Similarities

4. Create an outline

The next step of learning how to write a biography is to outline your story. It’s critical to outline your biography before you begin writing it. Among other things, it helps ensure you cover every topic you’d like to and get the book in the correct chronological order. It also helps you identify themes that emerge as you organize your ideas. 

Need help creating your outline? Learn how to do it (and take advantage of free templates!) in our guide to outlining a book . 

5. Select a working title (using a title generator) 

Now is the fun part of learning how to write a biography! It’s time to create a working title for your book. A working title is just what it sounds like: it’s a title that works – for now. 

Of course, it’s helpful to have something to call the book as you’re working on it. And it encourages you to think about the message you’d like your book to convey. When your biography is complete, you can always do a little more research on how to write book titles for your specific sub-genre and update your working title accordingly.

Or, you can decide you still love your initial title and publish your book with that one! 

We’ve made it easy for you to develop a working title – or multiple – using our book title generator . 

Book Title Generator

Don't like it?

6. Write a rough draft 

Okay, now it’s time to start writing your rough draft. Don’t be intimidated; just focus on getting something down on the page. As experts on all things writing and self-publishing, we’ve got a rough draft writing guide to help you get through this phase of writing a biography.

Remember to be as balanced and objective as possible when learning how to write a biography.

Make good use of your primary and secondary sources, and double-check all of your facts. You’ve got this!  

7. Self-edit

There are several different types of editing that we recommend each manuscript undergo. But before you give your rough draft to anyone else to review, you should edit it yourself. 

The first step to self-editing?

Take a break! It’s essential to give your mind some time to recuperate before you go over your work. And never self-edit as you go!

After you’ve completed your break, here are a few things to consider as you edit: 

• Grammar. This one is self-explanatory and usually the easiest. You can use an AI editor to make a first pass and quickly catch obvious spelling errors. Depending on prompts and your experience with the tool, you can also use AI to catch some grammar and syntax issues as well.
• Content and structure . This is the time to make sure the bones of your piece are good. Make sure your content flows logically (and in chronological order), no important pieces of information are missing, and there isn’t redundant or unhelpful information. 
• Clarity and consistency. Keep an eye out for any confusing copy and ensure your tone is uniform throughout the book.
• Try reading your draft aloud. You’d be surprised at how many errors, shifts in tone, or other things you’d like to change that you don’t notice while reading in your head. Go ahead and do a read-through of your draft out loud. 

8. Work with an editor

Once you’ve created the best draft you can, it’s time to hire an editor . As we mentioned, there are multiple types of book editing, so you’ll need to choose the one(s) that are best for you and your project when learning how to write a biography. 

For instance, you can work with a developmental editor who helps with big-picture stuff. Think book structure, organization, and overall storytelling. Or you might work with a line editor who focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and the like. 

There are also specialized copy editors, content editors, fact-checkers, and more.

It’s in your best interest to do a substantial amount of research before choosing an editor since they’ll have a large impact on your book. Many editors are open to doing a paid trial so you can see their work before you sign them on for the entire book. 

9. Hire a book cover designer

Once you’ve worked with your editor(s) to finalize your book, it’s time to get your book ready to go out into the world. So the next step in learning how to write a biography is to hire a book cover designer to create a cover that grabs readers’ attention (pssst: did you know that all SelfPublishing authors get done-for-you professional book design? Ask us about it !).

10. Get an ISBN 

The next step in learning how to write a biography is getting an ISBN number for your book – or an International Standard Book Number. It’s a unique way to identify your book and is critical for ordering, inventory tracking, and more. 

Bear in mind that each rendition of your book – regardless of when you publish them – will need their own ISBN numbers. So if you initially publish as a softcover and hardcover book and then decide to publish an ebook with the same exact content, you’ll need 3 total ISBN numbers.

To get an ISBN, head to ISBN.org and follow the steps they provide.  Or reference our guide right here for step-by-step instructions (complete with photos) on how to get an ISBN number for self-published books.

11. Create a launch plan 

Now is the most exciting part of learning how to write a biography. It’s time to get your book out into the world! You’ll need to map out your plan, schedule events , finalize your pricing strategy, and more. 

And you can’t just launch your book in a single day. When you go through all the work of learning how to write a biography, you want your book to succeed – and that requires a strategic marketing plan . Luckily, we have an entire guide to launching a book to help you figure it out. 

Get your free book template!

Learning how to write a biography can be challenging, but when you have a clear plan and guidance, the process is much easier. We’ve helped thousands of aspiring authors just like you write and self-publish their own books. We know what works – and how to become a successfully published author faster.

Take the first step today and down the book template below!

And, if you need additional help with learning how to write a biography, remember that we’re standing by to assist you. Just schedule a book consultation and one of our team members will help answer any of your questions about the writing or self-publishing process.

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How to Write a Biography

Last Updated: May 28, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,873,048 times.

Writing a biography can be a fun challenge, where you are sharing the story of someone’s life with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write one as a personal project. Once you have identified the subject of the biography, do your research so you know as much about them as possible. Then, dive into the writing of the biography and revising it until it is at its finest.

Researching Your Subject

• If the subject does not give you permission to write the biography, you may want to choose a different subject. If you decide to publish the biography without the subject’s permission, you may be susceptible to legal action by the subject.
• If the subject is no longer alive, you obviously do not need to ask permission to write about them.

• You may create research questions to help focus your research of the subject, such as, What do I find interesting about the subject? Why is this subject important to readers? What can I say that is new about the subject? What would I like to learn more about?

• For in person interviews, record them with a tape recorder or a voice recorder on your computer or phone.
• You may need to interview the subject and others several times to get the material you need.

• You may also want to visit areas where the subject made a major decision or breakthrough in their life. Being physically in the area can give you a sense of how the subject might have felt and help you write their experiences more effectively.

• When researching the time period ask yourself: What were the social norms of that time? What was going on economically and politically? How did the social and political climate affect the subject?

• You may also include historical events or moments that affected the subject on the timeline. For example, maybe there was a conflict or civil war that happened during the person’s life that affected their life.

Writing the Biography

• You may end up focusing on particular areas of the person’s life. If you do this, work through a particular period in the person’s life chronologically.

• For example, you may have a thesis statement about focusing on how the person impacted the civil rights movement in America in the 1970s. You can then make sure all your content relates back to this thesis.

• Flashbacks should feel as detailed and real as present day scenes. Use your research notes and interviews with the subject to get a good sense of their past for the flashbacks.
• For example, you may jump from the person’s death in the present to a flashback to their favorite childhood memory.

• For example, you may focus on the person’s accomplishments in the civil rights movement. You may write a whole section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometown.

• For example, you may notice that the person’s life is patterned with moments of adversity, where the person worked hard and fought against larger forces. You can then use the theme of overcoming adversity in the biography.

• For example, you may note how you see parallels in the person’s life during the civil rights movement with your own interests in social justice. You may also commend the person for their hard work and positive impact on society.

Polishing the Biography

• Revise the biography based on feedback from others. Do not be afraid to cut or edit down the biography to suit the needs of your readers.

• Having a biography riddled with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can turn off your readers and result in a poor grade if you are handing in the text for a class.

• If the biography is for a class, use MLA , APA , or Chicago Style citations based on the preferences of your instructor.

Biography Help

Community Q&A

• Be careful when publishing private or embarrassing information, especially if the person is not a celebrity. You may violate their "Right of Privacy" or equivalent. Thanks Helpful 31 Not Helpful 5
• Have the sources to back up your statements about the subject's life. Untruthful written statements can lead to litigation. If it is your opinion, be clear that it is such and not fact (although you can support your opinion with facts). Thanks Helpful 16 Not Helpful 15

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-bio
• ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/3-tips-for-writing-successful-flashbacks
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.plagiarism.org/article/how-do-i-cite-sources

About This Article

Before you write a biography, gather as much information about the subject that you can from sources like newspaper articles, interviews, photos, existing biographies, and anything else you can find. Write the story of that person’s life, including as much supporting detail as you can, including information about the place and time where the person lived. Focus on major events and milestones in their life, including historical events, marriage, children, and events which would shape their path later in life. For tips from our reviewer on proofreading the biography and citing your sources, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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8 Steps to Writing a Great Biography

Home » Blog » 8 Steps to Writing a Great Biography

8 STEPS TO WRITING A GREAT BIOGRAPHY

People are naturally curious beings. And they love to read about the lives of others, and what makes them tick. It is for that very reason that biographies remain a very popular genre of nonfiction.

But what is it that makes the difference between a mediocre biography and a truly good one?

What is a biography?

Before we dive too far into what makes a good biography, let’s first take a look at exactly what a biography is.

By definition, a biography is simply an account of someone’s life, written by someone else. Pretty easy, right?

Not so fast. Anyone can write a story about someone else’s life. But not just anyone can make it a story worth reading.

To start with the basics, any good biography should contain the following key elements:

• A third-person account of the person’s life
• Descriptions of the person’s life or significant events in their life
• Factual (and not fabricated) information
• Inclusion of historical information about the time period
• Personal information that describes who the person is at the core, and why they are who they are

How to write a good biography

Now that we’ve established what a biography is, let’s discuss the eight steps to writing a great biography.

Step 1: Ask permission.

While it is technically true that anyone can write a biography about anyone else, if the subject is still living, it is always best to seek permission.

For starters, unless your information comes entirely from factual sources in the public domain, such as newspaper articles or other reputable books, you could face defamation and privacy lawsuits if the subject of the book feels that their privacy has been violated.

Even without the threat of lawsuits, though, it always helps to have input from the book’s subject. After all, they are the best experts on themselves!

In the case of subjects who are deceased, you do not have to seek permission, as the right to sue for defamation or invasion of privacy stops at the grave.

Be conscientious about what you write, though, as some states extend the right of privacy to family members of the deceased.

Besides, just as it’s helpful to get input from the subject themself, it can also be helpful to ask family for their support and input.

Regardless of who you are writing the biography about, be sure to research the laws in your state and, when in doubt, consult a lawyer.

Step 2: Collect the basic facts.

Before you can get started with writing your biography, you must first collect basic information about your subject. This should include things such as:

• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Names of parents
• Names of siblings
• Cultural background
• Organizational or political involvement

Once you have all of the relevant basic information about your subject, you will know what areas you need to research further.

Step 3: Do research.

One of the most important steps to writing a good biography is to conduct quality research.

If possible, if the subject is still living, take the time to thoroughly interview your subject . Ask them questions about their childhood, significant events in their life, their career, and what they most value in life.

Once you have gotten a good feel for who your subject is and what makes them tick, solicit interviews from their relatives and friends.

While the first-person account is incredibly important, it’s also valuable to hear from people who know the subject and can speak about how the subject has influenced their lives.

Another great way to find information on your subject is to look into primary sources such as emails or letters they wrote, diary entries, and even social media accounts.

And if you’ve exhausted all of your primary sources, looking into secondary sources, such as newspaper articles written about them, can prove to be very helpful as well.

Step 4: Nail down your theme.

You’ve conducted your research and gathered all of the important information about your subject. The next big step is to nail down a theme for your biography.

The theme is the reoccurring idea or message that you want to get across to your readers.

For a biography, this could be anything from the important lessons that your subject learned throughout their time as the CEO of a company, or their transformation from rags to riches.

Nailing down the theme you wish to convey with your biography is a must, as it helps provide direction and a goal for your writing.

Step 5: Identify what makes the subject special or unique.

Everybody has something that makes them special and unique. And if you are going to the trouble to write a biography about a person, this is probably especially true.

What kind of impact did they have on the lives of others? What kind of impact did they have on their community?

Don’t be afraid to include your own personal thoughts about what made your subject noteworthy. After all, biographies are not meant to be just a list of facts.

Step 6: Identify major “chapters” of the subject’s life.

Now that you have established what makes your subject special or unique, it’s time to figure out the contributing circumstances that helped shape who they are.

Did they lose a parent at an early age? Did they fight in a major war?

It’s no secret that who we are is a direct result of what we have lived through. As German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche so eloquently put it, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

So, find out where your subject’s strength came from. Research both personal events in their life and world events they lived though, and see how they were affected by those experiences.

Step 7: Make a chronological outline or timeline of the subject’s life.

Once you have determined exactly what you want to write about, it’s time to pinpoint what the true storylines for your biography are.

All of the facts about a person are part of their story. But not all facts are worth diving into and telling in depth.

Think about what kinds of things your readers will want to know.

What were the high points in your subject’s life? What were the low points?

What were the situations that presented a challenge that had to be overcome?

Keep in mind that even when the book you are writing is factual, your audience is still going to expect to be entertained. So, find those major moments that shaped your subject’s life, and then use them to form an outline for your biography.

Once you have done that, the outline can be used as the map that guides your writing.

Step 8: Start writing.

Now comes the fun part!

Actually, when it comes to biographies, the whole process can be a lot of fun. But putting all of your research and interviews together to write the story is especially rewarding.

As you start writing, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Keep your audience engaged. Paint a picture of who this person is (or was) and what makes them tick.
• Try to include the “why” as much as possible. Facts are good, but facts can be boring. People want to know what motivated someone’s actions.
• Provide background context. If the person you are writing about grew up in East Berlin during the Cold War, explain the political (and geographical) ramifications of that.
• Be selective with what you include. Chances are, you have enough material to write several books about this person. But there is such a thing as too much. Think about the information you are including, and whether or not the reader will really find value in it. While it’s definitely impressive if you know what your subject had for breakfast on their 14 th birthday, unless it’s a critical part of the storyline, that’s probably best left on the cutting block.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you get to the point where the writing feels like too much to handle on your own, consider hiring a ghostwriter . A professional ghostwriter can help you get past those hurdles and take your biography to the finish line.

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Thank you so much for this excellent information on biography and autobiography. It has been tremendously helpful to me as a writer and hope to connect with you more.

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How to write a biography essay

The complete guide on biographical storytelling

Anyone can learn how to write a perfect biography essay about someone else’s life by making sure to focus on true, objective facts about a specific person. First, determine the scope of the person’s life (years), pick a central theme, and write out the biography using the classic narrative arc.

Many college courses include an essay writing component, and a biography essay is one of the types of essays that you may encounter, especially if you are taking courses in liberal arts disciplines such as history or cultural studies. This guide from Ultius will provide you with a thorough overview of how to write an effective biography essay. The guide will include the following sections:

• purpose of a biography essay
• biography and culture
• elements of a good biography essay
• how to write a great biography essay
• samples/examples
• additional information

After reading this guide, you should feel confident in your ability to write a strong biography essay, or at least in your ability to find the right kind of help to write such an essay.

Purpose of a biography essay

"Biography" literally means the story of a life. So, when you write a biography essay, what you are trying to do is to write the story of someone's life. ( Autobiography is a related concept that refers to the story of your own life.) If your biography essay is successful, then by the end of reading it, the reader should have a clear idea of what your subject did in his/her life and why his/her life was interesting and/or important enough to be the subject of a biography essay.

According to the Ultius glossary, a biography is a detailed descriptions of a famous person’s life and accomplishments (as a genre). Biographies typically contain intricate details of the subject’s personal life and sometimes include an analysis of the person’s personality and attributes.

A biography essay is similar to other forms of essays, such as the narrative essay, insofar as it involves telling a story. A biography essay, however, is supposed to be rooted in historical fact, and it should describe your subject using objective tone and language.

Narrative essay how-to guide. Click here is you are interested in learning how to write a narrative essay instead.

There are two important things to remember about a biography essay.

1. It is a true story that describes the life of your subject. You are not allowed to just make things up, and there should be scholarly documentation confirming that what you are writing is valid.

2. It is a story about someone else, generally a famous historical figure . If you were writing about yourself, that would be a memoir, which for present purposes should be considered as different from a biographical essay.

Only use details and facts that can be verified through documents or existing sources. An important hallmark of biography essays is that they are true.

The importance of biography essays

The English writer Samuel Johnson had this to say about biographies:

"No species of writing seems more worthy of cultivation than biography, since none can be more delightful or more useful, none can more certainly enchain the heart by irresistible interest, or more widely diffuse instruction to every diversity of condition.”

The main idea here is that my reading biographies, people can gain insight into the lives of other people who have done amazing things. This can be enchanting in its own right, and it can also provide the reader with inspiration for his own life and help the reader look at his own life with fresh eyes.

Stuck with writing? Essay services from Ultius can help with biography writing.

For example, are you interested in doing philosophy? If so, you may find it inspiring to read biographies such as:

• Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius , by Ray Monk
• Albert Camus: A Life , by Olivier Todd
• Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography , by Joakim Garff

A nice thing about the genre of biography is also that biographies are written about a huge range of different figures in different disciplines, meaning that you can find biographical subject that may specifically interest you or move your heart.

Biography and culture

Biographies play an important role in preserving human cultural memory: it is like history, except focused on the life of one person. People have been telling stories about heroes and other admirable figures since the beginning of the human species.

Modern biography, though, is somewhat different from the old heroic stories, in that modern biography is supposed to be objective and scholarly, and it is generally rooted in a secular view of time and history. In other words, modern biographies are based in reason more than imagination, and they are not supposed to include magical and/or irrational events.

Biography vs. legend

Biography is a modern scholarly discipline that has some similarities to the much older genre of the legend, but it is also different in some important ways.

So, the genre of biography carries on the old tradition of telling stories about the lives of admirable figures. But whereas the old legends were more imaginative and quasi-fictional in their tellings, modern biography is supposed to be based on reason and objective, verifiable facts about the life of the subject.

Elements of a good biography essay

In order to write a compelling biography essay, there are certain elements that you will have to include. Here are some of them.

Linear narrative arc

This may seem somewhat obvious, but a human life naturally resembles a story, starting with birth and ending in death, with various drama and events happening in between. This is the natural arc that you should follow when writing your biography essay. In general, you should begin your essay with the birth of your historical figure and then follow him/her through the events of his/her life until death.

Some biography essays might be able to get with innovations such as non-linear structure, but unless you really know what you are doing, that can get very confusing, and your biography essay would be difficult to follow. So, for all intent and purpose, we can say that following a linear narrative arc is a best practice for writing a biography essay.

Different types of narrative structures

These are some of the possible types of narrative structure. When writing a biography essay, you are strongly advised to stick to the linear structure.

The linear structure is the standard for most biographies; it starts at a specific point in the protagonist's life and moves forward in chronological order. Nonlinear structure is more complex as this style moves between time periods with time skips and flashbacks. Thematic structure strategically conveys given and new information to frame and insert specific themes.

Choose a compelling biography essay subject

For your biography essay, your subject will be the person whose life story you will be writing. In order for your biography essay to be effective, you will have to pick a subject who is interesting, important, or otherwise qualified to be the subject of a biography essay. You should ask yourself the question: why choose your subject, and what has your subject done that deserves to be recorded and remembered?

Of course, there's a sense in which every single human life is interesting and important. But for the purposes of your biography essay, you will want to dig deeper and consider why your subject is worthy of being remembered in the collective cultural memory.

An effective biography usually focuses on someone who has affected history, or someone who has achieved a high level of excellence within his/her discipline or field.

Søren Kierkegaard: A very important philosopher

Kierkegaard would be an example a good subject for a biography essay, because his works are generally considered a turning point in modern philosophy.

The subject of your biography essay does not necessarily need to be well-known. In fact, it can be a lot of fun to dig into the life of someone is not well known but should be. The important thing is that your subject must be compelling, and there must be a solid reason why his/her story should be told.

Also, when picking a subject, you may want to make sure that you actually like your subject. That can make writing a biography essay more fun, and your respect for the subject (or lack thereof) will also probably come across in your writing. If you want to convince others that your subject is compelling, then it would help if you find him/her compelling.

Choose biographical (life) events wisely

A lot can happen in a life, and it would probably be impossible for you to include everything there is to know about your subject within a single biography essay. So, you should choose the high point, or the most important points, and then focus on those.

Events in the life of Kierkegaard

These are key events that could be the focus of a biography essay on Kierkegaard.

Garff, Joakim. Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton U P, 2007.

How to write a great biography essay

Now that you know about the elements of a biography essay, you can follow these steps in order to ensure that your biography essay turns out to be a success.

Next, integrate the specific biography related aspects listed below.

Determine the scope of your biographical essay

Again, your biography essay won't be able to include everything there is to know about your subject. So, you will want to map out the scope of your biography essay before you get started. The birth and death of your subject are the logical starting and ending points for your essay. Then, you will want to select a few events or accomplishments in the life of your subject that are worthy of remembrance.

You can develop a full-fledged outline, or you can use a table like the one developed above. Either way, though, you will have to have a clear idea of where you will begin, where you will end, and the path that you will take from the beginning to the end.

Compile credible sources

Your biography essay has to be rooted in verifiable facts about the life of your subject. This means that it is important that you identify and document the sources of your information. The essay sources should generally be scholarly in nature, and you should avoid using websites to the greatest extent possible. This is because it is often difficult to tell whether the content on websites have been drawn from credible sources.

Questions to ask when compiling sources

If there are references listed on a website about your subject, then you should trace those references back to the original academic sources. Those are the sources you should use for your biography essay.

Write in a clear and compelling style

Remember: with your biography essay, you are at least partly trying to show your reader why your subject is interesting and why he/she deserves to have an essay written about him/her.

Your interest in your subject should come across in your writing style. After all, if you feel bored with your subject, then why should anyone else pay attention?

The language you use should be scholarly (but still filled with imagery ), but you should also focus on varying sentence structure, using excellent word choice, and other writing techniques that tell the life story of your subject in a compelling way that does justice to the importance of your subject.

Samples/examples

See the example biographical essay below for a clear example of how it needs to be written.

As the sample shows, it’s very important to be focused on true details. Please see the list of blog posts below for more examples of biography essays:

• Biography essay on Hillary Clinton
• Biography essay on Frank Rosolino
• Short essay on Edgar Allan Poe

If you need more help or would like something written for your own needs, consider buying custom essays from Ultius . Our talented writes can help you get something done in as fast as three hours.

Additional information

That brings us to the close of this guide on the biography essay. Here is a recapitulation of some of the best practices that have been covered here.

Develop a focused arc

You should use a linear narrative structure, starting with the birth of your subject, ending with their death, and focusing on selected key events and accomplishments in the subject's life.

Write in the scholarly mode

Although a biography essay is a kind of "story," it should still be written in a rational, scholarly way, and referencing in MLA or Chicago style is usually required for this kind of essay.

Love your subject

If you get to choose your subject, then you should pick a subject that you personally admire. This will make the writing process more fun, and your interest will also show in your writing and make the biography essay more enjoyable for the reader.

Find help if you need it

Finally, Ultius has plenty of resources that can help you write a successful biography essay and hone your skills as a writer. Please feel free to lean on us.

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How to Write a Biography Essay and Get an A+

03 July, 2020

7 minutes read

Author:  Elizabeth Brown

Got a chance to write about your idol but need help with realization? Read our article to know the secrets of effective biography essay writing. Whoever you decide to write a biography essay about, don’t try to include random information at once. The person you describe would not like it. Instead, read our article about how to write a biography essay correctly and, more importantly, take pleasure in composing it. We’ll share some smart tips and tricks that you’ll find particularly useful for your writing.

What is a biographical essay?

Some tend to mistakenly attribute biographical essay to the process of writing about themselves. But actually, biography definition has nothing to do with you. It’s more about telling the engaging story about a person’s life. This individual can be anyone: a famous historical figure, a well-known actor, politician, dancer, musician, artist, writer, inventor – you get the point. Such task sounds intriguing and interesting, and indeed it is. A biographical essay is a great chance to dilute simple academic tasks with a pinch of new article full of interesting facts and opinions.

Biography essay outline

Before writing a biography essay, it’s important to pay attention to essay structure and build up a biography outline. An outline is generally a schematic plan that helps to organize biography essays in accordance with the writer’s preference. In this, the primary task is to create a list of the most significant facts you’ll want to develop in the essay. The easiest way of arranging an outline is to add a numbered list indicating the main points, and a list of sub-points marked with bullets. Also, don’t forget to include a biography thesis statement that’ll sum up the main idea of your essay in one sentence.

How to start a biography essay?

Before writing, you first need to understand what to include in a biography essay. An eloquent biography essay always starts with the introduction of a chosen person. The initial step of writing it involves the inclusion of such information as the person’s name, date of their birth, and the place they were born in. Of course, it’s not a uniform set of data necessary for this part. You can take the situation in your hands and write about some cultural or historical background surrounding one’s birthplace or the day they were born. Adding such information to the introductory part will help to create some context by connecting you and readers closer to the described character and broadening the common knowledge with more absorbing facts.

How to write a biography essay about someone else?

When people ask how to write a biography paper, the only thing they think of is a random flow of ideas about someone’s life. In fact, writing a biography paper is more complicated. The section following the introduction is devoted to life description. Here, you’ll need to feature early life and childhood of a chosen person. This part should cover general information about their parents, and divert readers’ attention to some facts related to their origin, education, and relationship status. Next, focus more on education and place where the person grew up. In this section, include more detailed information about the critical moments of their childhood life, like the name of the school they studied in or the point of moving to another city or town. Perhaps there are more facts worthy of note, such as family problems or health issues that revolved around one’s childhood. If there are such, include them as well.

The second section of your biographical essay will tell readers about someone’s adulthood. Depending on the person, this piece of story can be outlined differently. For example, you can write about their university or college life, or indicate their first job. The point here is to chronologically depict a period of moving from childhood to adult life. Then, talk about the formation of a person’s career path, starting with the first working experience and ending with the remarkable moment of revealing talents and skills that shaped their life. In the next paragraph, mention the person’s relationship during their adulthood. If applicable, describe how someone special helped them to become successful or motivated them throughout their career. Another significant aspect in this section has to do with the person’s success, in which readers could know about their notable accomplishments and achievements.

The final section of a biography essay will touch the person’s current or later life. If they are alive, include the overlook of their place of living and write about their activities. You can also add such information as to their current projects or career plans, along with other meaningful facts about their life.

If the person you’re writing about is no longer living, emphasize on the brightest moments at the sunset of their life. Mention the definitive moments and aspects, and write about the cause of their deaths.

Other tips on writing a biography

If you want your biography essay to leave a great impact on readers, don’t conclude it with a simple explanation of why this or that person died and what their latest works were. This is only factual information which brings no specific value to your essay and, more importantly, doesn’t breathe life into it. To wrap up your essay content with a memorable grabber, include a couple of sentences in which write about the person’s legacy. That is, add the opinion of why this individual’s activity became an exceptional contribution to the world’s history, and why they have changed some aspects of their field.

Biography essay writing is a responsible task that aims at showing a well-acclaimed person from the best light. Therefore, you need to write about one’s life as you would about your mother – with maximum details and showing respect for that person. So follow our advice to compose an A+ biography essay that you and your audience will enjoy reading.

Note that our company provides academic writing help. You can buy a Biography essay written from scratch by our  essay writer .

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Alex Birkett

How to Write a Personal Bio (+ 15 Personal Bio Examples)

Last Updated on August 14, 2023 by Alex Birkett

Your personal bio could be the deciding factor in whether someone hires you, follows you, or buys from you.

However, writing one isn’t the easiest task in the world. It’s especially true if you’re one of those people who gets stage fright just thinking about having to talk about yourself.

So, how do you muster the courage to write a personal bio that stands out from the crowd? How do you make it witty, engaging, and memorable?

In this article, I’ll share some tips for crafting a personal bio (with some personal bio examples) that capture the attention of even the most distracted reader.

Before we start, here’s a quick overview of key elements you should include in your personal bio:

Editor’s note: I’m going to use some affiliate links when possible to try to earn some revenue from my content. These don’t change the opinions espoused in the content nor the style in which they are written.

What to include in a personal bio?

Here are some key elements that you should consider including in your professional bio:

• Brief background information: Start your bio by introducing yourself and your current job title. This helps to establish your professional credentials right away. For example: “Hi, I’m Jane, a freelance writer and editor with over ten years of experience in the industry.”
• Career highlights and achievements: Highlight some of your most notable achievements and accomplishments. This can help to establish your expertise and credibility in your field. Example: “I’ve worked with various high-profile clients, including XYZ Corporation and ABC Publications.”
• Your unique skills and qualities: What sets you apart from others in your industry? Mention those unique skills and qualities in your bio.
• Personal interests and hobbies: A few details about your life can help humanize your bio and make you more relatable to readers. Example: “In my free time, I enjoy hiking and exploring new places with my dog, Max.”
• A call-to-action or contact information: For example: “To see more of Jane’s work, visit her website at www.janesmithdesign.com or follow her on Instagram @janesmithdesign.”

Now that we’ve covered the key elements to include in a personal bio, let’s focus on some tips for crafting an effective and engaging bio.

Before that, it’s important to clear one pervasive doubt.

Should you write your personal bio in the first person or third person?

When a company first requested my personal bio, I remember scurrying here and there on the internet, frantically searching for examples of how other writers crafted their bios.

Was it customary to write in the first person or in the lofty, third-person perch of professional grandeur?

And I came to a conclusion.

Writing in the first person can be useful when writing a bio for a personal website or social media profile, or when trying to build a personal connection with the reader.

The tone is also often more personal and informal, as if you are speaking directly to the reader.

Hemingway’s autobiographical work , “A Moveable Feast,” is also written in the first person.

On writing in Paris…

This approach in his personal biography allowed Hemingway to share his personal experiences and insights into the literary world of Paris in the 1920s. The book is a classic of literary non-fiction.

On the other hand, writing in the third person is suitable when writing for a professional website , resume , or when trying to establish authority or expertise. The tone is more formal and objective, as if someone else is describing your accomplishments and background.

For instance, Albert Einstein’s professional bio on the official Nobel Prize website is entirely in the third person.

This approach emphasizes Einstein’s achievements and contributions to the field of physics while maintaining a sense of objectivity and professionalism.

So, it’s simple. For personal bios, it’s first person. And for professional bios, it’s the third person POV!

Tips for writing a compelling personal bio

To create a bio that leaves a lasting impression, think of it like a mini-story highlighting your achievements, quirks, and passions.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Know your purpose

Before you start writing your bio, you need to know why you’re writing it and what tone you want to convey.

Are you trying to showcase your expertise? Introduce yourself to potential clients or customers? Connect with fellow professionals in your field?

Whatever your purpose, you need to tailor your bio accordingly. Duh!

It should also show you have the skills and experience to do the job well. This is especially true if you seek work in a particular field.

For example, if you want to work as an accountant, architect, or teacher, you need to show that you are qualified for this type of work.

2. Address your audience

The best personal bios are written with a specific audience in mind. If you don’t know who that audience is, how can you write for them?

That’s why before writing anything at all, ask yourself who will be reading it.

Who do you want to reach out to with this information?

Are they looking for someone like you?

What do they need from someone like you?

Once you have an answer or two (or three), start writing.

Let’s say you’re writing a bio for a professional website or portfolio that targets potential employers or clients in the creative industry.

In that case, you might want to include background information such as:

• Your education and qualifications in a relevant field
• Your work experience and current position in a creative role
• Your professional goals and interests related to creativity
• Your hobbies and passions that showcase your creativity
• Your awards and recognition for your creative work

Allie Decker’s professional bio is a shining example of how to address your audience from the get-go.

By stating, “I love to write and help organizations produce content that builds and converts communities and drives revenue,” she immediately captures the attention of businesses needing content marketing expertise.

She’s also using specific language relevant to her audience – “builds and converts communities” and “drives revenue.” By using these terms, she’s showing that she understands her audience’s needs and priorities and can deliver results that matter to them.

What makes this short professional bio even better is how Allie strikes a balance between giving a glimpse into her professional and personal life.

Melinda Gates ‘ bio is another excellent example of how to tailor your personal bio for your target audience.

Her bio focuses on her work as a philanthropist and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, highlighting her passion for improving global health and empowering women and girls.

By focusing on these topics, she appeals to a broad audience of people who share her values and interests.

3. Keep it concise and focused

When it comes to your bio, Alexandre Bocquet , Founder and CEO of Betterly , has some great advice:

“In today’s digital world, people tend to skim rather than read, so it’s crucial to keep your descriptions short and to the point. If your “Personal bio” page looks more like a book, it will deter people from reading it.”

Alexandre adds, “keep your word count to roughly a thousand words, bullet point key attributes and accomplishments, and keep paragraphs to four sentences or fewer.”

And there are studies to support this.

A study found that recruiters typically spend an average of 6 seconds on a profile before deciding whether to pursue a candidate further – highlighting the importance of making a strong first impression with a concise and impactful personal bio.

Writing a lengthy, meandering introduction has its appeal. But if you’re looking to catch the eye of a recruiter or potential clients, or even snag a coveted byline, a snappy and concise personal bio will be more suitable.

Alex Birkett’s personal bio is a prime example of how to make a reader care with only a few sentences.

He succinctly mentions his professional expertise and accomplishments as a product growth and experimentation expert and co-founder of a content marketing agency. Additionally, he shares his personal interests and hobbies, such as skiing, giving the reader a glimpse into his personality.

The mention of his dog Biscuit provides a human touch that can make the reader smile. Overall, his bio is concise, engaging, and balances professional and personal information.

4. Highlight your unique qualities and accomplishments

When you’re writing your personal bio, you want to make sure that you highlight your unique qualities and achievements.

Think about what you have achieved in your professional or personal life. These could include awards, recognitions, publications, promotions, or other significant milestones.

To highlight your unique qualities, think about what sets you apart. What are your strengths, skills, and experiences that make you unique? Is it your uncanny ability to solve complex problems or your talent for playing the ukulele?

It’s a shame I didn’t pay more attention to my Bharatnatyam (a classical Indian dance form) classes when I was younger.

But if you’ve got a unique accomplishment, own it!

5. Show your personality and character

When writing a personal bio, using the same template as everyone else is tempting. But that’s a mistake: Your brand is unique, so your bio should be too.

You have a few precious seconds to make a good impression. You have to be memorable and stand out from the crowd.

One way to do this is by injecting your personality into your personal bio.

Just take it from Natalia Brzezinska , Marketing and Outreach Manager at UK Passport Photo , who cites the bio of Polish journalist Maciej Okraszewski as the best-crafted she’s ever seen.

Okraszewski briefly highlighted his educational background and shared some of his best articles before ending with a hilarious quip about his love for Italian movies, old hip hop, and potatoes with kefir.

According to Brzezinska , “this bio demonstrated Okraszewski’s easygoing nature and sense of humor, proving that showcasing your human face can be more impactful than simply listing achievements.”

Tom Hanks’ Twitter bio is a great example of a personal bio that showcases personality and humor. It’s short, concise, and gives readers a glimpse into his life and personality.

Hanks’ bio gives readers a sense of who he is as a person while also making them laugh and feel more connected to him. Such personal bios are especially perfect for social profiles, where you want to connect with your audience.

Your turn now to infuse your personal bio with your unique personality and character. Here are a few tips for doing that:

• Use action verbs: Instead of saying, “I am an entrepreneur,” say, “I build businesses from scratch.” Instead of saying, “I am a writer,” say, “I write stories that make people laugh, cry and think.”
• Be specific about what you do – and why you do it: Say you’re a marketing director at an online retailer because you love helping consumers find products they love, not because it pays well or gives you flexibility in your schedule.
• Inject humor: Humor is a great way to get people’s attention and make them like you more. You can do this by using jokes or puns in your bio or even being funny.
• Be yourself: This one should go without saying, but if you’re too formal, then it’s going to sound fake. If you want people to see another side of you, be natural and casual about it. People will appreciate an honest approach more than anything else.

6. Use keywords and industry-specific language

If the aim is to attract more clients or connect with other people in your industry, don’t forget to include keywords and industry-specific language in your bio.

For example, if you’re a software developer, you might include keywords like “Java,” “Python,” or “web development” in your bio. If you’re a freelance writer, you might mention specific industries or topics you specialize in, such as “B2B SaaS writer,” “healthcare writing,” or “content marketing for small businesses.”

The more specific you can be with your keywords, the better your chance of being found by your intended audience.

However, add these terms organically – don’t just cram a bunch of buzzwords into your bio unless they actually reflect your skills or experience. Instead, think about the key skills or areas of expertise you want to highlight and find ways to incorporate those naturally.

For instance, if you look for keywords like “SaaS freelance writer” or “content strategist,” you’ll come across Marijana Kay’s personal bio .

By using terms like “SaaS,” “marketing,” and “content strategist,” she’s making it clear what industries she specializes in and what types of clients she works with.

At the same time, her bio is also personal and engaging. By sharing her background and how she became interested in marketing, she’s giving readers a glimpse into who she is as a person and what motivates her in her work.

Another great aspect of her bio is that it includes a call to action, encouraging readers to learn more about her and her work. This can be a great way to get potential clients to take the next step and contact you for more information or to start a conversation.

7. Keep it up-to-date

If you think you can stick with your old, dusty bio from half a decade ago and still manage to wow potential clients, think again.

Your target audience will probably think you peaked once and still piggybacking on that one accomplishment.

Instead, your bio should give a current picture of who you are and what you’ve been up to.

When should you change your bio? There are key moments in your life and career when it becomes imperative to refresh it.

Don’t forget to change your bio when you:

• Change jobs or roles
• Complete a new project or course
• Receive an award or recognition
• Learn a new skill or tool
• Achieve a personal or professional goal

Make sure to double-check all the details in your bio, including your current job title, any recent projects or clients you’ve worked with, and any new skills or certifications.

Additionally, updating your bio can be a fun way to flex your creative muscles and inject a little personality into your online presence.

Finally, an up-to-date bio can make a big difference in how people perceive you and how likely they want to work with you.

Pro Tip: To keep your bio up-to-date, set a reminder for yourself to review it regularly. This might be once a month, once a quarter, or whenever you have a major change or accomplishment to add.

8. Name-drop previous clients or famous employers

A personal bio is a great place to name-drop previous clients or famous employers. The idea is to show you have experience working with other big names in your industry.

If you don’t have any big-name clients/employers, that’s OK! You can still use this technique to list small businesses and organizations relevant to your target market.

9. Include your personal story

Your bio is a great place to tell your story – especially if you’re writing for your personal website. It’s an opportunity to share your experiences and how you got where you are.

To get started, choose a central theme for your personal story that ties it all together. This could be a particular struggle you overcame, a key life lesson, or a defining experience that has shaped your worldview.

And while narrating your story, use vivid details and sensory language to bring it to life. This will help readers visualize the events and emotions you’re describing and make your story more engaging.

For example, instead of “I was nervous,” you could describe your sweaty palms and racing heartbeat.

That said, you don’t need to include every single detail of your life story. Focus only on the most impactful moments, and try to weave them together in a way that makes sense.

Marie Forleo , an author and entrepreneur, has nailed the art of spicing up her bio with her personal story.

Marie Forleo’s personal bio stands out from being just another generic bio as she takes a refreshingly honest approach by not only sharing her successes but also her struggles.

In her bio, she shares:

• Her curiosity and passion for human potential and various fields of interest
• Her journey from corporate jobs to odd jobs to building her own coaching business
• How coined the term “Multipassionate Entrepreneur” to describe her unconventional approach
• Her achievements and recognition as an author, speaker, TV host, and digital education company founder
• Her philosophy and mission – to help people thrive in today’s world and change their lives

A bio like this is perfect for sharing your struggles with your audience and building a personal rapport with them.

That said, if you’re anything like me, you might be hesitant to share too much personal information in your bio.

But fear not, my fellow introverted friend, because I have a solution!

Check out this nifty template for a personal bio that cleverly weaves in your personal story:

For instance:

Lily Jones is a travel writer and blogger who loves exploring new places and cultures. She has visited over 50 countries and written for publications such as Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and Travel + Leisure. Lily’s passion for travel started when she was a teenager and went on a school trip to France.

She was amazed by the beauty and history of the country and decided to pursue a career in journalism that would allow her to see more of the world. Lily believes that travel is not only fun but also educational and transformative. She hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams and discover new horizons through her stories. When she’s not on the road, Lily enjoys reading, yoga, and cooking. You can follow her adventures on her blog: www.lilytravels.com

10. Use AI tools for assistance

Despite all these tips and tricks, writing a bio is not easy.

You may still need some help getting started.

And that’s where AI writing tools come into the picture.

And rather than taking the approach of “AI bad,” once you start thinking of these AI writing tools as your assistants, you’ll realize just how much they can help you achieve.

They especially come in handy when you’re facing writer’s block or having a hard time coming up with something creative to write. Something creative like writing a personal bio.

So, which AI writing tool should you use to pen your bio?

Should you use Jasper or ChatGPT ? Or Copy.ai ?

Since I am more familiar with Jasper.ai and often use it to get inspiration for my blog post intros, let’s see how it works for personal bios.

For the uninitiated, AI writing tools like Jasper use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to generate human-like text.

It’s going to be similar to creating your ” About page copy ” using Jasper (which we already discussed in the linked article).

Jasper has a pre-built “ Personal Bio ” tool that, in their own words, helps you “write a personal bio that captures attention.”

You just need to provide some basic information about yourself, such as your name, occupation, skills, achievements, and hobbies. Jasper will then generate a personal bio for you based on your input.

You can also pick your tone of voice, such as friendly, formal, professional, and the like.

Here’s how it works in action:

Once you hit the “Generate” button, you’ll get 4-5 personal bio results. The generated bios are all unique and customized to your input.

Now once you have the first draft, you can tweak it a bit to add more information or keywords. You might also change the wording of certain phrases or sentences if it appears too robotic – or even rewrite certain sections entirely to reflect your unique style and voice better.

You can also use the Personal Bio tool in tandem with other tools like sentence rewriter to improve the writing style. I talk about this in more detail here .

While these AI-generated bios are a great starting point, don’t forget to play around a bit and infuse your personality and voice into the final product.

Write a personal bio that makes you shine!

Crafting a personal bio that accurately reflects your unique personality and professional accomplishments can be challenging. That said, it’s also an essential part of building your personal brand and standing out from the competition.

By following the tips and taking inspiration from the professional bio examples in this article, you’ll be well on your way to writing your own professional bio that captures your audience’s attention.

Don’t forget to proofread and edit the bio, especially if you plan to use AI for better productivity . You can ask someone else to read it over for feedback or use an online tool like Grammarly.