In biography writing, the Story is the Thing you want to emphasize. You want to make this person real to those who are reading about him/her. You really want the readers to care about this person and their life. You don’t necessarily want to cut out the bad parts and only list the good things about this person. That would make the subject seem unreal and not worth caring about. People are a combination of good and bad stuff that happens to them and that they do to others. You want to present a balanced account as best you can.
The next step in the process is to sit down and write it all the way through keeping in mind your answers to the questions in the previous posts. Separate the major life events into sections and they will be come your chapters and the the things that happen in between will become your paragraphs. If you have problems with descriptive words we recommend the online Thesaurus unless you have a paper copy on your bookshelf. The proper use of descriptive words will help you write an entertaining and insightful narrative about this person. Your biographical subject is counting on you to tell their tale. Another tool you might find useful is the online Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, Bartlett’s Quotes and Grammar and Style Guide on Dictionary.com.
Just remember that writing tends to be a lonely proposition and if you feel that your prose is suffering you should stop what you are doing and get outside for a while. The summer heat is murder but there is no reason why you can’t get out after sunset or even before sunrise and enjoy some family and friends time. Your writing will be there when you come back and hopefully, it will be refreshed from your break.
Until next time.
