How Do I Write A Book About My Life?

April 16, 2015

Dear Cathy:

I want to write a book about my life.  I have had a brilliant life and I am finally ready to put it on paper.  What kind of advice can you give me about writing a book about my life?   Will the book be a biography or autobiography?  Writer in Kansas

Dear Writer in Kansas:

You need to decide if the book will be about your entire life or a certain part of your life.  Writing a book about your life or parts of your life can be a very gallant act.  A ‘biography’ is a detailed description or account of someone’s life.  It entails more than basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death).  A biography also portrays the subject’s experience of those events.  

An ‘autobiography’ is a book about the life of a person, written by that person so you will be writing an autobiography about your life.  The goal is to commit to writing for one to two hours everyday.  Some people write at the break of dawn and others at night so you need to figure out when will be the best time for you to write and just do it.  Before you know it – you will have a finished book in front of you.

Just try to have fun writing the book.  If you are having fun while doing it people will be able to tell.  It’s your life, and it may have been hard, but you survived. Think about the triumphs and joys, important people in your life, and all the things that made it worthwhile.  To learn more on writing a book read “How ToWrite A Book: The Complete Guide to Writing and Selling Your Own Paperback orE-book.”