Craft Your Biography or Memoir with Ease

Every bestselling author started with no experience. Like any genre, the best way to learn biographical writing is to read. Start by reading a range of biographies to understand different techniques and structures.

Then begin writing. Start with short bios, passages like those you may find in a textbook, or even obituaries. This will help you develop your writing style and learn how to blend factual research with creative writing elements in a compelling narrative. Then work your way up to creative nonfiction short stories or try your hand at a comprehensive biography.

To stay motivated, determine why you’re writing this biography or memoir. Keep that in mind as you go through the different stages of the writing process.

Set writing goals and keep them reasonable. For example, set a word count goal of 1,000 words per day. To make this easy, AutoCrit offers daily and weekly word count goal tracking.

Don’t be discouraged if you’re unhappy with your first draft. This is where you tell the story to yourself; it isn’t meant for anyone else. Writing and editing software like AutoCrit can help you polish your first draft into the work you had envisioned.

Start by honing your research and writing skills. Read a variety of biographies to understand different styles. Choose a subject you’re passionate about and gather extensive information from primary sources like letters, interviews, and archives.

Organize your research into a compelling narrative, focusing on key life events, personal insights, and historical context.

Practice writing in clear, engaging prose, balancing factual accuracy with storytelling. Some biography writers study journalism, history, or literature to strengthen their expertise, then build a portfolio of smaller biographical pieces to gain experience before tackling larger, full-length works.

However, AutoCrit can help writers of all experience levels cut down on the time and stress of writing and self-editing a biography or memoir, and produce a quality manuscript that achieves their creative vision – without the need to enroll in university courses.

In addition to the software, AutoCrit offers live clubs and events that will help you excel in the book writing process.

There are many types of biographies, but long-form biographical works tend to fall into these five categories:

1. Authorized biography: Written with the subject’s permission and cooperation, often including exclusive interviews and personal materials.
2. Unauthorized biography: Written without the subject’s consent, relying on publicly available information. It may lack insider details but offers an independent perspective.
3. Autobiography: A biography written by the subject themselves, offering a personal account of their life experiences.
4. Memoir: A more focused biography that highlights specific life events or periods rather than covering an entire life.
5. Biographical fiction: A mix of fact and fiction, where historical figures’ lives are dramatized for storytelling.

Whether you’re writing your memoirs or a full autobiography, or if you’re writing about someone else, book writing and editing software like AutoCrit can help you improve clarity, accuracy, and storytelling ability.

It depends on the situation. For living subjects, while you don’t legally need permission to write about them, gaining access to personal information, interviews, and documents may require their cooperation.

Unauthorized biographies can still be written using public records, but they risk potential legal challenges, especially if the subject feels defamed.

The doctrine of fair use allows you to quote or paraphrase the words of a real person in an original work.

For deceased individuals, no legal permission is required, although access to private materials (like letters or diaries) may depend on their estate or family. Securing permission often ensures smoother research, more accurate information, and fewer potential conflicts.

Many authors use book writing software and writing apps. Whether for biographical or autobiographical writing, novel writing, or any other kind of writing, word processors will allow you to write and edit online or offline, drag and drop text, and use a variety of features.

Word processing software generally comes with autosave functionality, spell check, and customizable templates and formatting options.

Two of the most popular for general use are Microsoft Word and Google Docs. MS Word is a classic option when it comes to word processing software but has limitations. Google Docs is web-based but allows offline use. Its collaborative functionality can be a plus when working with an editor or co-author. Some authors use Evernote for taking notes on the go.

Other software and tools are designed specifically for writers, including tools to help improve readability, identify passive voice, and eliminate excess adverbs. For example, AutoCrit will track the adverbs you’ve used and advise you on whether to remove some based on current standards.

AutoCrit offers a low learning curve and allows you to import a finished draft with no size limit, so for biographers writing an in-depth work on Ernest Hemingway or for fiction authors crafting their latest fantasy epic, there’s no worry about running out of space. In fact, you can write your entire book in AutoCrit and self-edit in real time.

Many self-published authors release their books without the help of a professional editor. At AutoCrit, we’re big fans of human editors and they offer valuable services, but not every biographer has the budget to hire one. An alternative is to use editing software like AutoCrit to self-edit your manuscript.

AutoCrit will check for repeated words, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, excess adverbs, and many of the other issues that a human editor would address. In fact, many editors use AutoCrit, and many writers will use AutoCrit to polish their draft before sending it to an editor.

Our Free Forever and AutoCrit Pro plans are designed for writers with varying needs and budgets.

The free version will give you many of the tools you’ll need to improve the quality of your draft before self-publishing on Amazon or another retailer. These include digital noteboards and cards that you can use to take notes for planning and research, editing tools that analyze word choice, adverb usage, and readability, and more – with no word limits.

For more tools and resources, check out AutoCrit Pro, with monthly and annual billing schedules. This tier offers additional features, such as a summary report with an AutoCrit score and editing recommendations, more than 30 interactive editing tools and reports analyzing pacing, dialog, and strong writing, discounts on courses, events, and author services, and access to the private member community, the AI-driven Inspiration Studio, and more.

AutoCrit is online, web-based software, offering nonfiction and fiction writers flexible, mobile, distraction-free writing and editing practically anywhere. However, while the website is optimized for smartphones, including Windows, Apple iOS, and Android devices, for the best editing experience we recommend using the software on any laptop or desktop computer, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and others.