Biography Writing lesson number three we begin with the actual process of writing the biography itself. After all, you should have copies of all your research, interviews some friends and relatives, gotten copies of pictures and videos so you should now be ready to begin the writing process. We found this lesson on biography writing online and thought parts of it should be included here. Not all of them will pertain to your person because this is a personal biography quest for someone who is not famous, per se, and that you admire or want other people to remember. In all of your research and interviews, you have done you may want to take some of all of these questions and paste them into your word processor to answer.
Biography Questions of Import
In what ways was the life remarkable?
In what ways was the life despicable?
In what ways was the life admirable?
What qualities were most influential in shaping the way this person lived and influenced his or her times?
Which quality or trait proved most troubling and difficult?
Which quality or trait was most beneficial?
Did this person make any major mistakes or bad decisions? If so, what were they and how would you have chosen and acted differently if you were in their shoes?
What are the two or three most important lessons you or any other young person might learn from the way this person lived?
Some people say you can judge the quality of a person’s life by the enemies they make. Do you think this is true of your person’s life? Explain why or why not.
An older person or mentor is often very important in shaping the lives of gifted people by providing guidance and encouragement. To what extent was this true of your person? Explain.
Many people act out of a “code” or a set of beliefs which dictate choices. It may be religion or politics or a personal philosophy. To what extent did your person act by a code or act independently of any set of beliefs? Were there times when the code was challenged and impossible to follow?
What do you think it means to be a hero? Was your person a “hero?” Why? Why not? How is a hero different from a celebrity?
These are just fleshing out questions that you may want to consider while typing up the biography. Of course, you will begin with the basic biographical information such as full name, date of birth, where they were born, what schools did they attend, what jobs did they do, who are their children, spouses, friends, what were their hobbies, etc? All of these things play a part in a good biographical story.
Until the next post.
