Planning to write an autobiography but not sure how? In this article, we will take you through the process of how to write an autobiography essay.
An autobiography essay is a narrative of the writer’s life. It is usually written in first person, covering both highs and lows. The essay is generally about the writer themselves, from their own point of view. The essay can be written in present tense, or past. The writer has complete control over the topic, and it is completely their choice how they write about life.
The key characteristics to remember are:
- It is a narrative of your life from your point of view.
- It can be written in first person (I), second person (you), or third person (he).
- It tells about both the positive and negative experiences.
- It is usually written in present tense, but it could be written in past tense.
- You have complete control over what you write about.
First of all, writing a personal essay is not that simple as it might seem at first glance. It takes time and dedication to come up with a high-quality college autobiographical paper because self-exploration requires profound research into your inner world – nobody can do this for you as no one knows better who you are than yourself.
What makes custom essays different from works written by students? First of all, they go through several stages of editing while essays written by college students often appear perfect right away. How to write a good autobiography also includes preliminary work such as choosing the topic, finding the main idea or writing the introduction which many people never think about when looking for tips on writing autobiographies.
Secondly, custom papers are written by professional writers who know how to express their thoughts in the best possible way. They are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses which is why they make every effort to improve them through writing autobiographical essays for college. In addition, such writings go through a lot of editing stages when compared with students’ papers because editors check not only grammar and spelling mistakes but also style and presentation level; moreover, they put special attention on how to write a good autobiography paper if you want it to impress your teacher.
Contents
What is an autobiography
An autobiography is a story about you. It is your storyline written by you. Often people confuse a memoir and autobiography with biography essays. Yes, they are all somehow a history of events of an individual, but they are very different from each other.
Simply put, the difference between biography autobiography and biography is the author. Someone else writes the former. For an autobiography, you, the author, is the subject. A memoir, on the other hand, is a collection of your memories and is written by you.
What to include in an autobiography
It is advisable not to write information that may be too sensitive to your readers.
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Background Information
Here you write about all those essential details. These include the date of birth, place of birth, hometown, family members, education background, etc.
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Life Experiences
A basic example is Mahatma Gandhi Autobiography. In it, he detailed almost all his life experiences from childhood. Most of his experiences shaped his views in life. The same applies here; write all those experiences that, in one way or the other, influenced your approach in life.
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Details about your professional life
These are those details that give substance to your autobiography essay. They are what captures your readers’ attention. It would be best if you make them exciting and inspiring.
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Achievements and failures
Since everyone has had their downtimes, write about your downtimes as well. Write about those times that things didn’t work out for you.
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Great title
When writing your autobiography, ensure you use an interesting title. It is what will draw your readers to your autobiography.
How can I write my autobiography?
Think about what will be interesting enough for other people to read about it – this is one of the most common questions asked by students looking for tips on writing an autobiography that makes them look impressive while also telling something substantial about their personalities.
It’s essential to choose a theme that is interesting for you because if you’re bored writing autobiographical papers, it shows in the final result. On the other hand, don’t doubt your potential as an essay writer – after all, you know yourself better than anyone else and if there are things that can interest other people about you and make them read how to write a who am I paper with pleasure, use your skills and share your secrets with people!
Mainly students fail when writing autobiographical essays because they try to impress others instead of focusing on themselves. Your main goal when looking for tips on writing autobiography should be self-expression and sharing your feelings with readers; therefore remember not to overdo it and do not try to show off!
What should I write about in an autobiographical essay?
Before starting writing your how to write a who am I essay, you need to choose what will be the main idea of your autobiographical paper. Is it a feeling that you are looking forward to share with people or an experience worth telling them about? Maybe it’s something else that gives sense in your life? The best thing is to read some examples at first because if you want to impress others, you should take some time before actually writing your autobiography.
The plot of my autobiographical work:
Usually, there are three types of autobiography papers: narrative, analytical and reflective which depend on the way in which authors present their lives. In order to comprehend how to write an autobiography essay, you should become familiar with the following types in order to choose one that suits your needs:
- Narrative – it’s often written by those looking for inspiration who want to share the story of their lives with others; therefore they focus on describing their experiences and explain how they have changed them or influenced their personalities. Such essays are usually emotional and descriptive about everything what makes life worth living. Instead of analyzing things, authors tend to remember the events that have left some kind of imprint on their minds while also trying to make readers think it out themselves. In addition, autobiographical papers of this type reflect author’s intentionality when writing it because he/she wants people to be interested in what he has to say.
- Analytical – unlike the previous one, analytical autobiography papers are used by those who need to present some kind of argument; thus they use their lives as an example to explain why something is the way it is portrayed or why people should feel that certain way about a certain subject. Such essays usually consist of two parts such as introduction and body which make them more interesting for readers because they expect something substantial in both, while also providing additional information on a certain topic. Being analytical means caring enough about what you’re writing about not to express any emotions, but instead focus on particular questions and try your best to answer them in order to support your thesis statement with arguments which are based either on specific circumstances or known facts.
- Reflective – last but not least, reflective essays are written by those who want to express their feelings on a certain topic. It often focuses on one particular feeling which makes author’s life worth living; therefore such papers tend to be emotional and personal because it requires from the writer to give away his soul. However, this type of autobiographical essay should also have a particular plot that is unlike other ones as authors try to describe how events influenced their lives and why they feel that way in order to encourage people to follow the same path.
It’s essential for everyone looking for some tips on how to write a autobiography paper successfully and efficiently since it will influence your final grade significantly whether you choose narrative, analytical or reflective style.
How to Start an Autobiography
To give you a heads up, start by telling your readers about the exciting experience you had. Write about that one time you tried to learn bike riding and fell all the time or how you tried to cook a meal and almost burned down the whole kitchen. With an exciting start, you are sure to keep your audience reading.
How to write an autobiography essay steps
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Brainstorm
Before you get down to writing your autobiography, think of what you want to tell your audience. Think wide from when you were a child to the current time. Think and try to remember all those events that matter.
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Create an outline
Once you brainstorm or, as you are in the process, create an outline for the essay. Form an essay outline that is; Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. Write down everything you have thought of and what you want to include in every part. In the event that you have been assigned an autobiography research paper, review the research paper outline examples.
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Research
Why would you research your own story? It’s for a straightforward reason – remembering all the exact details of your life might be challenging, especially from your childhood. But you don’t want to have a distorted story of you out there. Therefore, interview your family and friends to get more and accurate information.
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Work on your first draft
Here, after you have gained enough details, start writing the first draft. Include everything you have come up with within your outline. Write it as you would the final piece
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Take some time out
Once you are through with the first draft, put it aside for a few days. It will help you clear your mind from the autobiography.
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Proofread
After some days, pick up our draft and go through it. Check on grammar. Also, check if everything connects; if not, then highlight where to add transitional words.
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Write your second draft.
Here ensure you write while making the necessary changes you noted down when proofreading. Then ask someone for their second opinion on your second draft. They may see some correction that maybe you missed.
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Write the final piece.
Since this is an essay, there is a word count required. In your final piece, write what is most important. Compress your second draft and highlight what you will write in the finale piece. However, do not over compress and write shallow details.
Write real accounts and maintain honesty in the autobiography. Since you are writing about you, use the first person ‘I.’
In writing an autobiography, it is good to remember that your story is from your perspective. The writer should keep in mind to write with honesty as their information may inspire someone. Follow all the steps, and you are sure you know how to write an autobiography.
How to write an autobiography essay about yourself
How do you write an autobiographical essay about yourself? The answer is simple. You just need an interesting life story, some time and useful writing tips like ours.
The most important thing when trying to start your autobiographical story is to have something really interesting to share with others. Your passionate stories about everything that happened in your life will make the readers interested and they will want more!
To make it even easier for you, we’ve created this guide on how to write an autobiography essay where you can find all the info necessary for creating a great piece of art which is called Personal Essay or autobiography – it’s all up to you!
Firstly, you should decide on the subject of your essay. You might write about various things in your life and that’s what we’re going to talk about next since it is very important to pick a right theme for your piece of art!
Just like with any other kind of academic writing, the main point is to start from personal experience. Your autobiography is not some boring School/College assignment which nobody will read anyway so there is no need to avoid talking about yourself here – dive into details whenever possible. The fact that you’ve lived through all these events makes them more interesting as well so they are worth sharing with others!
You could also try illustrating something that happened in your life. It is often the way to make an essay read like a descriptive novel, which will attract readers and captivate them with your experiences. However, if you’re not that kind of person who can come up with such lively texts on a regular basis don’t worry – there are still many topics for Autobiography essays available!
For example:
- Tell us about your first love and how it ended
- Tell us about all your pets including dogs, cats and other animals you might have had as well as short stories about how you got them or what was their behavior like (it could be fun especially since people usually share only happy stories)
- Tell us how did it feel to grow up in a different country or city than the one you’ve been born into.
- Tell us about your first encounter with death (it could be about a friend, relative or even something not related to human death). The most important thing is that this event should have had an impact on you because otherwise there would be no need to make an Autobiography essay about it.
- Tell us about your favorite movie and how it affected your life in some sense. This kind of essay makes people laugh all the time so sharing with others what was funny for you might be worth trying!
- If you like writing poems, why don’t you try doing something similar with your own autobiography? Use poetry to describe how exactly did you feel during each event of your life etc.
- Talk about your passion and how it has affected you in some way or another. (if there aren’t any passions in your life, you could still make a good essay about things that interest you such as sports). This is a good topic for an autobiography essay if no other idea comes to mind!
- Talk about your dreams: what would you like to achieve? What obstacles do you have to overcome to get there? Is this even possible? Tell us why or why not!
There are many more interesting topics for autobiography essays but we think these are the most important ones. Don’t be afraid/scared because writing an essay will take too much time or because you don’t want to share your feelings. Instead, think that millions of people suffer from low self-esteem and feel miserable every day so what if they read this essay of yours? They might be inspired enough to change their lives for better!
Autobiographical sketch essay
An autobiographical sketch essay is a personal narrative that gives the reader an idea of who you are — what your values, tastes and beliefs are. It helps to establish your personality and can help others get to know you better.
My short autobiography essay example:
While I was still in my mother’s womb, she wanted me to be the girl of her dreams. When I left the hospital after her birth, all she could say was how much I resembled a doll because I looked so perfect. She wanted to hold and kiss me all day long when I was a kid even if it meant neglecting everything else around.
As a result, my mother managed to become an only child at home where no man dared to enter out of fear he might put his foot wrong; however it didn’t mean that we were poor living on welfare as our parents did not work for years. Therefore they had plenty of time to spend with me and teach me good manners, but unfortunately not many to work and earn their own living.
Nevertheless, I was a good student in school which made my parents proud of me; however they didn’t understand my passion to read books when I should have been outside playing with other kids instead.
I spent most of my time reading because that was the only way for me to discover the world beyond my small hometown where nothing ever changed no matter what year it was. Eventually, I moved to another country in order to pursue higher education because women were not treated equally there so I decided to take advantage of that and follow my dreams.
Despite being an adult now, all I can think about is the girl mother had wanted me to be while asking herself why her daughter had chosen a different path than she had ever imagined me to follow.
While the style might seem unusual due to its detail and emotion, such paper can be written only by those who know what it’s like to be a strong-willed woman who doesn’t give up on her dreams no matter how unlikely they may sound at first. Similarly, instructor would most likely describe such essay as a perfect reflection of personality traits every author possesses regardless of gender since all he asks from his students is an insightful analysis which touches certain aspects that every reader needs to consider while reading the autobiography paper selected for this English class; therefore everyone should try their best not to miss this chance because writing narrative papers is one thing, but presenting arguments in analytical way requires from students really deep knowledge of literature and experience of how to write college essays properly.
Features of a good autobiography of a college student essay
A good autobiography of a college student essay should be interesting, captivating enough for the reader to enjoy it without getting bored. It should have a good introduction and conclusion that make sense and can summarize the whole piece at the end to leave an impression on the reader.
The content is what makes your autobiography sketch worthwhile. Do not just come up with any random story but reveal something about yourself that others don’t know yet (or if they do, then tell them in a different way). Autobiography essays are worth reading when they reveal something new about you!
Balance is another essential point — your autobiographical sketch essay shouldn’t be too short or too long. Neither should it include anything you consider silly because others will see that in an autobiography sketch, the author leaves nothing out!
Autobiography essay topics for college students
There are endless possibilities when it comes to writing an autobiography of a college student essay. You can write about your place of permanent residence as well as temporary one (the dormitories or the apartment you rented when you were abroad).
Write about your values and beliefs – how they changed over time, what caused such changes and whether you regret them or not. Any life event that had a major impact on your personality is worth mentioning in an autobiographical sketch essay.
On top of that there are plenty of other valuable ideas for college students to write their autobiographical essays on:
- Parents – What was your relationship like with them? Were you close to either one of your parents or were they always away on business trips when you needed their support the most? What kind of things did you do together?…etc.?
- Friends – Do you have a best friend whom you can trust in any situation and who won’t let you down even if it is hard? Is this how your friends are, too, or do they betray each other as soon as it looks like something good is coming their way (like getting a date for prom)?…etc.
- School Years – Did school play an important part of your life or was it just another place that made sure your time at youth wasn’t wasted without anything significant happening…etc.?
- First Love – Was your first love a memorable one, or did it end up in disappointment and heartbreaks – was the person you were involved with really the right one for you?…etc.?
- First Job – How did your first job go? Did you like what you did there or was it just another boring day at work that felt like a waste of time? Do you regret taking up the offer…etc.?
- Hobbies & Interests – What are your hobbies, and do they make any sense to people around who don’t have anything to do with them…? etc.
What makes writing an autobiography of a college student essay worthwhile is not simply gathering information on some aspects of your life but creating vivid images of events which happened in those years. It is about showing your personality, and it is about revealing who you are to the reader.
Autobiography essay examples for college students
There are many good autobiography essays out there — both autobiographies of famous people or ordinary individuals with interesting bents. Most inspirational characters on television have their own “before they made it” stories to share that inspire other people not only because of their life achievements but also because of what mistakes they made in order to achieve something worthwhile. Some events may even be worth paying attention to just by themselves! So if you find yourself inspired by some well-known person’s biography, choose this particular event as a topic for writing an autobiography sketch yourself – make sure such inspiration won’t go to waste.
The following short autobiography essay examples will give you more insight into writing your own autobiography essay topics for college students.
Autobiography Essay Example 1 – A Person to Follow:
My dad was always away on business trips; he worked as a manager of his own company and was willing to sacrifice anything just to make it work. This meant that I lived with my mother most of the time, although she wasn’t really there for me either. Sometimes we would discuss our problems at night after I came back from school but generally speaking, she treated me in the same way as her personal maid – something between a friend and an employee… etc .
Autobiography Essay Example 2 – Sports & Other Hobbies:
I’ve been practicing karate since I was 10 in the same dojo my father attended when he was my age. It shows that this is part of our family tradition and it also reveals something about me to other people as well like the fact that I’m able to control myself and not give up easily, which are both important traits for success in life…etc.
Autobiography Essay Example 3 – Motivation & Encouragement:
My dad always encouraged me even if he wasn’t around much. He has given me many pieces of advice throughout my life but one such memorable piece of advice still sticks out in my mind; he said “Plan your work, then work your plan.” Even though this sounds easy, doing so isn’t quite as simple as it sounds and that’s why I’m trying to follow in my father’s footsteps as much as possible… etc.
Autobiography Essay Example 4 – Parents:
When I was little, my mom used to love me a lot. She would take her time to tell me all kinds of interesting stories about different animals, fairy tales and also very realistic movies she had seen with her friends…etc . Later on when I turned 12 years old, my mother became rather depressive; the reason for this is not something I can say with 100% certainty but according to some sources it could have been anything from depression after childbirth or losing a loved one… etc. Either way, I was left pretty much alone while she went out into town almost every night. I didn’t know what to do.
Given these facts, it is easy to see why my father became my main source of support and love; he was always there for me and had plenty of interesting stories himself… etc .
Autobiography Essay Example 5 – Best Days:
There are many good days in this life that everyone would like to recall from time to time in order to feel happy again but the truth is that all those good days have a dark side as well. For example, I remember when I won first place at school math competition – everything seemed so magnificent because of the bright blue ribbon on my chest and everybody kept telling me how smart I was…etc. However, later on it turned out that I had failed to solve the simplest problem and that’s why I had been given a reward. After this, my attitude towards competitions changed; I started thinking of them as traps designed especially for me… etc
Autobiography Essay Example 6 – School:
When it came to studying there was always something special about school for me; it wasn’t just another place where people put off doing nothing until later in life. It was a place with rules (or laws) that everyone followed without questioning their validity…etc. That is why even though I’m not quite sure what our exact mission at school was, I still hold fond memories about my time spent there – probably because they were the first real friendships I built on my own…etc .
Autobiography Essay Example 7 – Behaviors:
My childhood was quite difficult in a way that I had to learn how to deal with not only my peers but also people around me. One of the most important things I’ve learned throughout my life is that it doesn’t matter what other people think about you or what kind “standards” they try to force you into because there is no such thing as “normal”… etc . Autobiography Essay Example 8 – Changes:
As an adult, every person wants to see positive changes in his or her life; whether we’re talking about minor improvements or complete transformations from one side of your life to the other…etc. This is why I can safely say that some of the most important lessons I’ve learned are that you have to be willing to change and learn new things in order to become better. I’d like to think of myself as a very open-minded person who’s not afraid of risking anything…etc .
Autobiography Essay Example 9 – Dreams:
There is always something extraordinary about realizing your dreams because it makes you feel happy and successful at the same time. For me, my biggest achievement so far was becoming a mother; there’s just no way to describe how happy it made me feel when I first saw my baby being born and then holding her for the first time in my arms…etc .
Autobiography Essay Example 10 – Challenges:
When it comes to challenges, I have faced all kinds of them so far in my life. For example, for the first time I was challenged by death when my mother died; this is hard to imagine but what makes things worse is that we didn’t even know she had a serious disease… etc . Then there are not-so-serious challenges such as losing weight or learning a new language because those require hard work and you become emotionally attached to your expectations…etc ……
I’d like to end my autobiography essay by saying that although I’m quite old now, age doesn’t really matter if you truly believe in something and aren’t afraid of following your dreams through thick and thin until you achieve your goals.
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