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How to Write a Biography: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a biography can be a rewarding endeavor, but it can also feel a bit daunting if you’ve never written one before.

Whether you’re capturing the life story of a famous person, a family member, or even yourself, creating a compelling biography involves a mix of thorough research, narrative skill, and a personal touch.

So, how exactly do you write a successful biography?

In this guide, we’ll break down the essentials to help you craft a biography that’s both informative and engaging, as well as our top tips for how to make it truly shine.

What Is a Biography?

A biography is a detailed account of someone’s life.

A well-written biography needs to be objective and accurate. At the same time, it needs to depict more than just the basic facts like birth, education, work, relationships, and death—it should also portray the subject’s personal experience of those events.

So, in addition to being a good researcher, a good biographer also needs to be a good storyteller. You should provide insights into the subject’s personality, mot

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Exploring biographies

Watch: What is a biography?

A biography is a non-fiction text about someone's life.

Biographies are true pieces of text, based on fact, so biographers (the people who write biographies) have to do a lot of research. They use websites, letters, photographs, diaries and newspapers to help them.

Because biographies are written by someone else, they are written in the third person(//).
They are usually written in chronological order (the order in which events actually happened).

For example, watch this clip. It gives a biography of the scientist Marie Curie.

Watch: Biography of Stephen Hawking

Even though biographers do lots of research, they can only guess at what it was like to be that person, or the thoughts and feelings the person had.

If the person they want to write about, or anyone who knew them, is still alive, biographers sometimes carry out an interview to ask lots of questions about the person's life.

Here's another biography of a scientist, this time Professor Stephen Hawking.

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

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:

FREE RESOURCE

Biography Outline Template

Craft a satisfying story arc for your biography with our free template.

1. Seek permission when possible

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