At some point in life, you may think about writing a book about your life. You want to put it down on paper for people to read, know your story, feel seen, and read about. No one else can write your life story about you. Most of us may feel that our life story is boring. However, you will never know who will take an interest in your life story and get inspired by it, learn from it, or even feel a sense of relatability.

Even if you feel that your life is ordinary, if someone lives a similar life or can relate to your life story, things will be just as interesting. Everyone leaves some legacy behind; it does not necessarily have to be out of this world. In fact, the more relatable your story is, the more it will be preferred.

So, if you are interested in knowing how to start writing a story about your life, you have come to the right place. Here, we will share 13 helpful tips to make your story stand out from others!

What is it Called When You Write a Story About Your Life?

When someone decides to write a story about their life, it is called an autobiography. It is an account of a person’s own life, and the author is the person who writes the story. It is a firsthand narrative, often delivering personal thoughts, experiences, and feelings.

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Biography vs. Autobiography vs. Memoir

If you are wondering what the difference is between a biography vs. autobiography vs. memoir, we will briefly summarize the three.

Although all three terminologies seem similar since they revolve around a person’s life story, some key factors differentiate them. An autobiography and biography differ in terms of the perspective in which you are writing. For example, in autobiography writing, the main subject is the person who is writing about themselves, while in a biography, the subject can be written about anyone else.

While autobiographies and biographies cover snippets of a person’s life, the details can vary according to different aspects. People have the free will to express how certain events in their lives made them feel. In a memoir, this concept does not apply. Usually, someone else writes in memory of another person, dissecting and explaining each event that took part in that person’s life. A memoir can cover a slice of the person’s life instead of their entire life. This depends on the author.

If you are interested in learning more about the differences between the three, check out our blog, “Difference Between Biography vs. Autobiography vs. Memoir.” to get a more in-depth understanding of the three.

Stay True to Your Story

It can be tempting to add more to your story, add more extra bits, or exaggerate certain life events. However, that would be too noticeable. If you do that too much in your autobiography, it will be challenging.

In life, nothing is black and white; there is always some gray area that is identified, and that is where the truth lies at times. Those gray bits add depth to your autobiography, making it more relatable and realistic. If your approach is to stand out somehow, remember your autobiography or the story you write about yourself, and you will include that either way. It is unnecessary to make it more different than it already will be. Avoid making the story you write about yourself too complex. That would loosen the reality effect and would turn out to be a one-in-a-million case.

Are you interested in manga? Read the blog “Where Should I Start With Manga? A Beginner’s Guide.” for helpful insights.

13 Tips on How to Start Writing a Book About Your Life

Before we discuss these helpful tips for beginning to write a book about your life, you must remember that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation. You may feel that some of the tips in this list do not resonate with your method, which is completely okay. But give them a read, see which tips benefit you most, and use those to your advantage before you begin writing. These tips go in chronological order to make more sense:

1. Start with Your Memories

This part may seem like the most scattered part, and yes, it is. Memories can be difficult to track and make accurate, but it is not impossible. When you start listing down all your memories, you will notice some kind of pattern; you will remember the important people in your life and the ones that are recurrent. You will be able to observe how they shaped your life. And much more.

Memories are like a blurry film or blurry photos in the back of your mind that you try to remember. So, we advise you not to think too hard about your memories. Since you are the author of your autobiography, you have control over what memory you want to include in your story and what you want to omit. However, if one memory is related to another or has some sort of cause-and-effect relationship, you can briefly add that memory.

2. Create a Timeline

Now that you have all your memories written down in one place, start drafting a timeline for those memories. This only makes sense since you can now solely focus on the time or dates or when all those events happened. You might even recall your age much easier.

Take the help of your friends or family, or discuss with those people who were included in your memories, so paint a more accurate timeline. Once you have the timeline sorted out, it will be easier for you to know where to start and where to end your autobiography. This step can be seen as brainstorming, but all the events that you want to include in your autobiography.

3. Define your Reason

We make this the third important tip for beginning to write a book about your life because this is when you will further understand what life events you want to omit from your book and what you want to keep.

What inspired you to start writing a book about yourself? Was it the negative events? Was it the fact that you were grateful for how things were going despite all the odds? Do you wish to inspire others with your life story? Do you want people to learn more about you? Are you aiming to create a legacy out of your narrative?

Ask yourself these questions, and you will get a clearer or more solid understanding of what memories or events you want to add to your autobiography. However, if you wish to make funny and relatable content for others to laugh at with you, you can add embarrassing and relatable moments in your life; this would give your readers second-hand embarrassment but then turn that into a smile as well. If this is why you write a story about yourself, then you will opt out of sad memories or moments.

4. Focus on the Point

After defining your single reason, this is the time you focus on that reason and start creating the frame for your entire picture (the autobiography). If you were to paint a detailed and complex picture, you would not start from the center and work your way out, right? That same concept applies when you are writing a book about yourself.

Decide the focus point of your narrative and how it covers or sums up the entire autobiography. This will help you understand and point out the scope of your study.

5. Discover your Voice

Since this is your story, and it is about you and all the events you were present in, you need to understand the tone of your autobiography. This will reflect many things and support most of your memories and the overall reason for writing a book about yourself.

Create short drafts for each event, and see if your voice matches with the rest. If it doesn’t, then you will have to fix it. When it comes to writing a story about yourself, you can get slightly carried away and lose track and end up writing based on emotion rather than the purpose of your narrative. This does not mean that you beat yourself over this. This is where professional ghostwriters can help you get on track and additionally help you discover the tone and voice of your novel.

6. Create your Theme

This is all about you and the people that you interact with throughout your life. When you discover your voice, and when that matches with the memories and how you want the readers to understand your novel, that is when you start to create a theme that defines you.

Once you set a theme that supports your voice in your autobiography, you will notice a trend, sequence, or style that feels natural to you.

7. Start Defining your Characters

This is the part of those memories that you have made. You describe each person who was part of that memory, which will match the tone and how you write about them. They can be family members, friends, colleagues, teachers, anyone. You begin to describe them, outline their personality, how they impacted your life, whether they were better for you, or whether some turn of events happened.

Explore their motivations and how they helped you grow and improve yourself as an individual, how they helped with character development and more. This part is completely subjective, and then again, remember that how you define them should match the memories you made and the tone you use for your narrative.

8. Use your Old Photos

This part is completely optional, depending on whether you want to include pictures or not for your autobiography. Old photos can help trigger memories. You may be able to find one that backs up another old memory. Or you can find those little funny photos (depending on the kind of theme you are creating for your autobiography) to make people smile. Or you can add your old photos in order to create a personal connection with your readers. This way, they will feel more involved with your story.

Furthermore, adding little pictures that back up your memories can give the entire autobiography an original feel. You do not need to add pictures for every event you add in your autobiography, so it is important to remember that.

9. Be True and Vulnerable

This narrative is based on subjective events, how you saw and felt the world through your eyes and emotions. Let those expressions come out from you naturally; you do not need to force them out. Initially, you can do this, and later on, you can edit things that seem too emotional or vulnerable.

However, you can opt out of the too-much-emotion part, but not completely. Earlier in this article, we discussed how nothing is always white or black. There are some gray areas, so keep that in mind and see how true you are to your autobiography.

10. Who is your Audience?

This is the step where you must write according to your target audience. Suppose you want to write a very emotional autobiography about your life. That means the tone and voice you will use in your autobiography will be sad or trigger certain memories that can make you shed a tear. This means that you would title your book similarly to that context.

You will tailor your language according to your target audience. For example, if you write explicit content about your life, your autobiography would target a more mature audience and not be teen-friendly.

11. Revise and Edit

This is where you will go through your autobiography and see how it all fits together and makes sense. Before, you could write freely and draft everything, but then you had to revise your content and edit things according to your voice, theme, and audience.

When your revised draft is ready, you will still have to go through it again and again until it is perfect. This is why authors prefer to hire professional ghostwriters to help them stay on track and effortlessly edit and proofread if any changes are needed. With BookCreating, you will gain a team of seasoned professionals in eBook writing for all genres, ghostwriting, and more.

12. Get Feedback

Once you are done, asking for feedback or reviews about your autobiography is good. This will help you make any additional or necessary changes before you officially publish it. Share your work with your trusted friends or family members or those who can critique your work professionally, like a professional agency such as BookCreating.

Remember, criticism will help you strengthen your story or stay true to your narrative or word. So, it is always a good idea to get feedback.

13. Enjoy the Process

Ultimately, what matters the most is that you enjoy and love your writing. Previously, we mentioned that if you try forcing it out of you, the flow of ideas and memories will not be natural, and finding your natural voice for your autobiography will be difficult.

When you want to learn how to start writing a book about your life, you must remember to have fun during the process. Embrace this opportunity to reflect and learn things about your life. And how you can heal others or make them smile through your autobiography.

Learn more about us: What is Book Creating and How Does it Work?

Now You Know How to Write a Book About Your Life

You have officially created a memorable gift about yourself that will live on for years to come.

Once you are ready to write about your life, you should remember that your content can influence others, so try to opt out of extreme cultural controversies or issues related to them. However, remember you can always add a little disclaimer and mention that your autobiography is not targeted towards any specific group of people or culture.

If you feel that you are struggling too much to write a book about your life, you can always hire BookCreating’s ghostwriting services to help you out. The idea, voice, and memories will all be yours; we will help you assemble everything to make sense of the autobiography.

FAQ’S

Is it a good idea to write a book about your life?

If you are interested in the idea of writing a book about your life, it is a great way to make that come true. When you want to learn how to write a story about your life, you can look at some great examples and seek inspiration from them.

What is it called when you write a book about your life?

When you, the author, write a book about your own life, it is called an autobiography. The whole autobiography will be in the first person and can be in the past tense since you will write a lot about a series of events that happened in the past.

Why do people write books about their life?

It acts like a little legacy, creating a keepsake by which your friends, family, and future generations will remember you. While this can depend on each person, it is a thoughtful idea that allows you to share your wisdom and certain events with the world.

Can I write a book about my life anonymously?

You can choose a pen name or be anonymous when you write a story about your life. It all depends on how you want your autobiography to be. However, remember that the rest of the characters you include in your novel, such as family and friends, should be kept anonymous, too.