How Do You Write An Autobiography For Another Person? Good Question! You Ask Questions And Listen
(top image from in2english.net, bottom image from blog.reedsy.com)
Turning into an
autobiography a monologue or somebody else’s story told live to somebody else
(like you) – they don’t teach that is any writing class, amateur or master. You’ll
have to be very creative about it! Now, the question is, “How creative are you?”
The problem is:
How can you write someone else’s story so that it becomes “My story” when in
fact you start with “Her story” or “His story”?
You have to be
creative. You have to forget yourself, really, and think like the would-be
author of her/his autobiography. And that’s not easy!
So you do the interviews, plural, and ask questions,
plural. You don’t think “autobiography” at the very beginning – you think only
of getting out the story/ies to turn into autobiography.
It’s easy enough
if you are interviewing the person who would claim and present herself/himself
as the author of the autobiography. What if you are interviewing other people
because you need related stories that the would-be author did not discuss
fully, or whose story/ies needed some collaboration and/or embellishment? Each
of those people’s stories you will have to incorporate into “My Story.”
In my creative life since 1975, this is the first time
I challenge myself to turn “sharings by others” into autobiography.” Thus, Creativity
becomes a double-challenge – but I don’t mind the double-challenge! It’s not
personal – the challenge is in the head, not the heart, not the person, not the
personality.
Googling now, I
find that in the US, there is the “MasterClass” (masterclass.com) that can teach you how to write your
autobiography. But not write somebody else’s autobiography!
Christopher has this to say (Writing Tips, writingbeginner.com):
Write an autobiography by creating a list of the most
important moments, people, and places in your life. Gather photos, videos,
letters, and notes about these experiences. Then, use an outline, templates,
sentence starters, and questions to help you write your autobiography.
No, Mr
Christopher! Not that simple!
Let’s try this
one: “How to Write an Autobiography: The Story of Your Life” written by the Reedsy Editorial Team (Reedsy, blog.reedsy.com):
“Anyone who’s
lived a long, interesting life (as many of us have in one way or another!) may
dream of someday turning their life into a book. However, the practicalities of
how to write an autobiography can be daunting – especially to those who don’t
have much writing experience.”
And so you are paid to write an autobiography that is not
yours! Speaking in a language that is somebody else’s! Feeling those feelings
that you never felt before! Enough challenges to last a lifetime for a creative
writer! Dare?@517
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