Autobiography Definition, Examples, and Writing Guide

An autobiography is a nonfiction story of a person’s life, written from their point of view. Autobiographies are popular among the general reading public. A newly released autobiography by a current political figure can easily top the New York Times bestseller list. Some autobiographical works, such as The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1791), Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) by James Joyce, have endured for well over a century and become part of the literary canon.

Autobiographies are a subgenre of the broader category of biographies. The author of a standard biography is someone other than its subject—most commonly a historian—whereas the author of an autobiography is the subject. (“Auto” means “self” in Greek, so an autobiography is a self-biography.)

Famous biographers include Doris Kearns Goodwin, who has written about Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, and Robert Caro, who has written about Lyndon Johnson and Robert Moses. Biographers are known for developing significant expertise in their subjects. By contrast, an autobiographer only needs complete knowledge of one topic: themselves.

A memoir is a type of autobiography that focuses on a particular period in the author’s life rather than their whole life. The strict definition of autobiography is a first-person account of its author’s entire life. A memoir does not document the memoirist’s full life story but rather a selected era or a specific multi-era journey within that author’s life. Memoirs tend to be much more focused than autobiographies.

The main difference between memoir and autobiography is the length of time they cover. For example, President George W. Bush wrote his memoir Decision Points (2010) about his eight-year presidency. Chef Alice Waters’ memoir Coming to My Senses focuses on her college years and the lead-up to founding her restaurant. Climbing the Mango Trees (2005) by actress and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey details her childhood in India. In Born Standing Up (2007), Steve Martin recounts the decade during which he became a stand-up comic and why he quit.

Find inspiration for your own work in some of the best autobiographies by MasterClass instructors:

1. 1. An Autobiography (1974) by Angela Davis: Originally published in 1974, renowned activist Angela Davis released this expanded edition in 2022. It covers her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, and how her struggle for liberation led to her joining the FBI’s list of the Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives in 1970.
2. 2. Finding My Virginity (2017) by Richard Branson: Sir Richard Branson’s latest autobiography builds on his 2010 memoir Losing My Virginity to provide a complete picture of the trailblazing entrepreneur’s life.
3. 3. I Am Malala (2013) by Malala Yousafzai: Although Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was only 16 years old when she published her autobiography, it covered the major events of her life up to that point, including how the Taliban shot her at the age of 15.
4. 4. My Life (2004) by Bill Clinton: In his bestselling autobiography, President Bill Clinton recounts his life from childhood through his presidency.
5. 5. My Life on the Road (2015) by Gloria Steinem: This New York Times bestseller starts with Gloria Steinem’s childhood and journeys through her activism, with a central theme of travel.

An autobiography should include all the most important details of your life story. This does not mean it should contain every tiny sliver of minutiae; a self-aware autobiographer will take stock of specific moments in their own life that may be interesting to themselves but not to an audience of strangers. Here are some key elements to consider including in your autobiography:

1. 1. A description of your personal origin story: This can include your hometown, your family history, some key family members and loved ones, and touchstone moments in your education.
2. 2. Significant experiences: Add accounts of each personal experience that shaped your worldview and your approach to life in the present day.
3. 3. Detailed recollections of episodes from your professional life: Often, these are the turning points that your autobiography will be known for—the moments that would inspire someone to pick up your book in the first place. Be sure to give them extra care and attention.
4. 4. A personal story of failure: Follow your setbacks with a good story of how you responded to that failure.
5. 5. A unique and compelling title: Steer clear of generic phrases like “my autobiography” or “the story of me, my family, and famous people I know.”
6. 6. A first-person narrative voice: Third-person writing is appropriate for traditional biographies, but the third-person voice can read as presumptuous in the autobiography format. Stick to first-person for a more intimate feel.

Setting out to write your life story can be daunting, particularly during the first draft. Here is a step-by-step guide to the art of writing your autobiography:

1. 1. Start by brainstorming. The writing process begins by compiling any life experiences you suspect might be compelling to a reader. As you sort through your memories, be sure to cover all eras of your life—from childhood to high school to your first job to the episodes in your life you are most known for. Many of these episodes won’t make it into the final draft of your book, but for now, keep the process broad and open.
2. 2. Craft an outline. Begin to organize a narrative around the most compelling episodes from your brainstorm. If you pace out your life’s important events throughout your book, you’ll be able to grip your readers’ attention from beginning to end. The process is roughly similar to a novel outline.
3. 3. Do your research. Once you have the first draft of your outline, engage in some research to help you recall contextual information from the period you are writing about. Interview friends and family members to help you remember all the details from the moments you choose to recall in your autobiography. No one can remember the full history of their entire life—particularly their childhood—so prepare to do some cultural research as well.
4. 4. Write your first draft. If you’ve come up with the key biographical moments around which you can anchor your life story, then you are ready to attempt the first draft. This draft may be overly long and scattershot, but professional writers know that a long-winded first draft can yield a tight final draft.
5. 5. Take a break. Take a few days off when your first draft is complete. You’ll want to read your work with the freshest possible perspective; removing yourself from the process for a few days can aid this endeavor.
6. 6. Proofread. After a brief layoff, begin proofreading. Yes, you should look for grammar mistakes, but more importantly, you should identify weak moments in the narrative and develop constructive improvements. Consider what you’d look for if reading about another person’s life, and apply it to your autobiography.
7. 7. Write your next draft. Write a second draft based on the notes you’ve given yourself. Then, when this second draft is complete, show it to trusted friends and, if you have one, a professional editor. Their outside eyes will give you a valuable perspective that you cannot possibly have on your own work.
8. 8. Refine your writing. Follow new revisions with new reads from new people. You will refine your writing skills and autobiographical know-how throughout the process. Hopefully, you will produce a final draft that is leaps and bounds beyond what you created in a first draft—but that still holds to the essential elements of your life and your truth.

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