Writing a
Biography
Scribblory: Writing Proficiency Tutorial
Today's Agenda
Homework Check Narrating the Story Writing Activity
B I O G R A P H Y W R I T I N G
Choose a subject.
Decide on the narrative approach.
Do research.
Create an outline.
Write the story based on the outline.
Double check the facts.
Polish the story.
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Biography Writing Process
Cradle to Grave - from the time the person was born to the present time/death Slice of Life - an episode, chapter, or moment in the person's life
Two Approaches of
Biography Writing:
Primary sources:
Living subject Interviews
Documents like letters, journals, diaries, speeches, newspaper accounts, school records or reports, etc.
Secondary sources:
Famous subject
Books about the subject
Reference books and historical documents written by another person
Researching about your subject:
the subject’s family background and childhood stories that illustrate their personality
their motivations, goals, and achievements
their key relationships, such as their siblings, spouse, children, best friends, colleagues, mentors, rivals
their hidden fears or desires
stories and anecdotes about their experiences, especially those that illustrate the traits you wish to highlight
Aside from the person's basic information, the most interesting things typically included in a biography are:
Note: Your outline should depend on the results of your research.
How to Write a Biography: 8 Steps for a Captivating Story - TCK Publishing
Based on all the facts you've gathered, look for the 'story' it actually tells (angle).
How will you start it in an interesting way?
(hook)
What are the emotions it conveys? (warmth) Tap the reader's senses. Make the story
alive and moving.
Clarify the facts.
Make sure you have given it justice. Make
sure you have accurately preserved it. Make sure it makes a mark.
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Shaping Your Work
Jim Gallien had driven four miles out of Fairbanks when he spotted the hitchhiker standing in the snow beside the road, thumb raised high, shivering in the gray Alaska dawn. He didn't appear to be very old: eighteen, maybe nineteen at most. A rifle protruded from the young man's backpack, but he looked friendly enough; a hitchhiker with a Remington semiautomatic isn't the sort of thing that gives motorists pause in the forty-ninth state.
Gallien steered his struck onto the shoulder and told the kid to climb in.
The hitchhiker swung his pack into the bed of the Ford and introduced himself as Alex.
"Alex?" Gallien responded, fishing for a last name.
"Just Alex," the young man replied, pointedly rejecting the bait. Five feet seven or eight with a wiry build, he claimed to be twenty-four years old and said he was from South Dakota. He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and "live off the land for a few months."
An Excerpt from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Information gathered from interview:
"Grade school . . . it had to be the total solar eclipse. In fact, the Grade 2 teachers already asked us to get this glass and put it over fire so
that you know, it’s like tinted. I think at 2pm, we were up there in the quadrangle, and it was
totally dark."
Brian picked a piece of glass and put it over the candle’s flame as the teacher instructed. Every surface that touched the fire turned black—tinted, almost impenetrable by strong streaks of light. When their glasses were ready, the teacher gathered them at the door and led them up to the school's quadrangle. They were to witness a rare occurrence in the history of the world, and they’d see it through the blackened glass to protect their eyes. It was 1955.
It was about two in the afternoon when it began. In the sky, Brian saw how the glory of the sun was slowly blocked by the untimely moon, creating a bright rim. As it did, chickens settled under trees to roost, makahiya leaves closed, and total darkness spread over the city. People in their houses switched on the lights as they were greeted by a sudden eventide. For some, the total solar eclipse was spectacular but eerie.
The complete darkness lasted for a few minutes. At once, when the midday sun peeked and governed the sky again, cocks crowed as if it was a new morning. The city breathed with light again. Little did Brian know that as he watched this light-dark-light phenomenon, so did the years-long total solar eclipse of his life begin.
- Excerpt from a family biography written by Elaine Marie Factor (Disclaimer: Names were changed in the excerpt to keep the client's privacy)
Based on your outline, write a
short biography about your
chosen subject. Make it as
interesting and engaging as
possible.
