Skip to content
BOOKPLACES
BOOKPLACES

Reading Books and Writing Words

  • Welcome To My Blog
  • WHAT DOES A WRITER DO?
  • Writing Resources
BOOKPLACES
BOOKPLACES

Reading Books and Writing Words

Should You Write Your Autobiography?

skcasta, June 26, 2018
close up of book
Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

An autobiography is a book about a person written by that person. The word comes from the Greek, autos self, bios life, and graphein, to write. Autobiography is written with a timeline, often beginning with the author’s birth, or the birth of the writer’s parents. Facts, research, and interviews, along with letters, certificates of birth, school records or employment, may be used by the author. The writer situates the story with history, place and setting. Autobiography is a more formal style of writing, although the author may use their own voice and other writing devices in order to make the book interesting. Memoir, on other hand, is written usually from memory and does not require extensive research. Memoir writers are free to use an informal style, and they have the freedom to recreate scenes or people or events in a creative manner.

  “The urge to write one’s autobiography , so I have been told, overtakes everyone sooner or later.”    Agatha Christie

Brief History

The word autobiography has been attributed to British essayist William Taylor. He first wrote about the word in 1797 in an essay on the emergence of writing by people who wanted to record their lives for posterity. Traditionally, autobiography was written by religious leaders, royalty, philosophers, or writers and artists. Advances in printing and the publishing field fueled the popularity of the genre during the 18th century when restrictions of printing were lifted. The proliferation of public libraries gave increased access to books, therefore giving incentive for persons to write their autobiographies. As education became more available to the public, a greater number of readers emerged, and therefore, more writers.  Virginia Woolf, author of A Room of One’s Own, told how the rise in literacy began when middle-class women began to write and publish their autobiographies.

Current debate centers on the numerous autobiographies available to readers, the worth of topics, and the qualifications of the people who write about themselves. Edward Gibbon, author of The History and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, penned in his 1796 six-volume autobiography, Memoirs of My Life and Writings, that readers identify not with someone’s great works, but with minor traits attributed to all. One advantage to reading autobiographies, both for the general reader and students of history, is gaining an awareness of the world. Mark Twain wrote that his own autobiography was a mirror in which he looked at himself.

Another debate concerns censorship. Closed societies may view certain autobiographies of people as a threat, and may forbid their citizens to be exposed to historical or current events. On the other hand, global citizens may discover old or forgotten biographies on the internet, and in bookstores or libraries. The invention of electronic books, which can be accessed on tablets, computers, and cell phones, provides readers of autobiographies exposure to different lives. Anthropologists, who research writing systems, consider hieroglyphics and other symbol-based writing systems to be autobiographies because they tell the story of certain people or groups.

Overview

Autobiography gives the author the opportunity to examine their life and to enter into a journey in order to find answers to common human questions such as who they are and where they come from. To write an autobiography, the person must go back in time and search for information about their personal history. Once the ancestor’s history has been located, the author is able to situate their own story by place, time, setting and other literary devices. The quest often allows the author permission to enter into a discussion with their self and the story, much like a journalist would interview the subject of a piece for an article or other written work. The inspiration to write an autobiography may be to uncover secrets, personal or family scandals, to locate themselves within historical events, or as a method of leaving their story for posterity.

Psychologists consider autobiography valuable for personal identity and psychological well-being. J. Lenore Wright, in her book The Philosopher’s “I”: Autobiography and the Search for the Self, writes that autobiography is a method of reinforcing our unique existence among humanity, to communicate ourselves to others, to add continuity to ourselves, and make ourselves and our identity transparent to people. Autobiographical memory, events and experiences that we remember about our life, can be divided into episodic and semantic events. Wright states that our episodic memories are recollections of people, memories of what happened to us and where those events occurred, whereby we are able to remember emotions experienced during the event and the context in which the event occurred. Human-Memory.net explains in an article titled Episodic and Semantic Memory, how semantic memory gives us the ability to remember facts and general information and knowledge of the external world.

Neuroscientists John S. Simons and Hugo J. Spiers view autobiographical memory as anatomical. Encoding, storage and retrieval of autobiographical memories are all associated with the medial temporal lobe. In Autobiographical Memory, memory is composed of three categories, General Events, a focused memory; Lifetime Periods, a memory of certain periods of life; and Event-Specific Knowledge (ESK), highly detailed memories of events or people. ESK has a psychological basis that can be a template for writing an autobiography as it has similarities to composition. Originating events, Turning Points, Anchoring Events, Analogous Events, Personal Information, Reconstructive vs Copies of Memories, and Generic vs Specific are outlines for an autobiography.

In the past, autobiography had three categories. Apologia is a defense of a person’s beliefs and actions. Orations were autobiographies that were personal and not to be recited in front of an audience, but to oneself. A Confessional autobiography was written as a method to reveal the author’s transgressions and mistakes in life.

close up of paper over white background
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The study of autobiography has many applications to the scientific field. Research has uncovered benefits for the treatment of mental illness, elder care and for people with disabilities. In the educational field, some universities offer majors in Autobiographical Studies. In the community, writers conduct classes and seminars in the study of autobiography. Life story researchers, centers for biographical research, and guided autobiography groups are a few types of organizations involving autobiography.

Kay Castaneda, MA

Bibliography

“Autobiographical Memory.” Explorable.com. Explorable Psychology Experiments, 25 Sept. Web. 24 July 2014.

Bauer, P. J. “The Life I Once Remembered: The Waxing and Waning of Early Memories. Zero to Three.”  Understanding Autobiographical Memory: Theories and Approaches. Ed. Dorthe Berntsen, and David C. Rubin. Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press. 2009.        Print.

Bell, Robert H. The Rise of Autobiography in the Eighteenth Century: Ten Experiments in        Literary Genre – Augustine, Bunyan, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Franklin, Gibbon, Fielding,      Sterne, Boswell. New York: Edward Mellon, 2012. Print.

Cantelli, Veruska. Ethical Pact: Storytelling in Contemporary Autobiography. Diss. New        York:  City University of New York Press, 2012.  Print.

Cleary, Anne M. “People with Extraordinary Autobiographical Memory: The Unique Brains of Those with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM).” Psychology Today 9 Jan. 2013: n. pag. Web. 27 July 2014.

DeBoer-Langworthy, Carol. Life writing:  Annual Biographical and Autobiographical Studies. Vol. 1. Brooklyn: AMS, 2012. Print.

“EPISODIC & SEMANTIC MEMORY.” The Human Memory. Human-memority.net, n.d. Web. 27 July 2014. Poletti, Anna, and Julie Rak, eds. Identity Technologies: Constructing the Self Online. 1st ed. Madison: U. of Wisconsin, 2014. Print. Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography.

Twain, Mark. Autobiography of Mark Twain. Ed. Harriet Elinor. Smith and Benjamin Griffin. Berkeley: U of California, 2010. Print.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Uncategorized

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Hello! I would love for you to leave a reply!Cancel reply

Goodreads

Writers

Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo
George Orwell
George Orwell
Jane Kenyon
Jane Kenyon
Gwyneth Lewis
Gwyneth Lewis
Gwyneth Lewis poet
jennifer Wong
jennifer Wong

Community

  • Bogdan Dragos
  • johnrieber
  • gederedita
  • Dawn Pisturino
  • Ken Chawkin
  • Carla
  • Sunil Mehra
  • richarddeescifi
  • Goals and Good Vibes
  • Camilla Downs
  • Sarah M.
  • j re crivello
  • Miriam Hurdle
  • L Lee Kane
  • Kay Castaneda
  • CarolCooks2
  • presidentjojo
  • dgkaye
  • Mimosa
  • Paul Martz
  • bauerj1138
  • D.L. Finn, Author
  • Ephemeral Encounters
  • Esther Chilton
  • Laina Turner
  • Cheryl
  • Caleb Cheruiyot
  • angelarigley
  • Judith Barrow
  • Karen Kovacik
  • Epignosis Inspirations
  • Ben
  • memadtwo
  • tidalscribe.com
  • pk 🌎
  • Gwen M. Plano
  • Colleen Chesebro
  • Umroh Aini
  • Art of Blogging
  • K Morris Poet
  • Jacqui Murray
  • Lizzie Lamb
  • robbiesinspiration
  • janetstockwriter
  • Dan Antion
  • D. Wallace Peach
  • Autumn Rennie
  • Miriam Hurdle
  • Jane Risdon
  • Shawnerly

Contact Us

kay@whiteriverwriters.com

Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Cover for Kay Castaneda, Author
490
Kay Castaneda, Author

Kay Castaneda, Author


AUTHOR

Kay Castaneda, Author
7 hours ago
Kay Castaneda, Author

You can read my latest post on my blog.

... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Short Sweet Life - BOOKPLACES

bookplaces.blog

BOOKPLACES Short Sweet Life
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0
Kay Castaneda, Author
1 week ago
Kay Castaneda, Author

bookplaces.blog/i-am-your-guardian-angel-stephen/ ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

I Am Your Guardian Angel Stephen - BOOKPLACES

bookplaces.blog

BOOKPLACES I Am Your Guardian Angel Stephen
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 1
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0
Kay Castaneda, Author
3 weeks ago
Kay Castaneda, Author

Why I Keep Trying Even If I’m Too Sick to Go On

... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Why I Keep Trying Even If I’m Too Sick to Go On - BOOKPLACES

bookplaces.blog

BOOKPLACES Why I Keep Trying Even If I’m Too Sick to Go On
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1
Load more

TWITTER

Kay Castaneda Author Follow 621 1,843

Author of Emmie of Indianapolis, historical fiction set in the Midwest. WIP is a mystery series. Go to @kay_castaneda for my opinion on the world. 📒👩🏻‍🎓🎄

KCastanedauthor
KCastanedauthor avatar Kay Castaneda Author @KCastanedauthor ·
2 Jul 1940297338461069648

Now is your best chance to find my book, Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl, available for $1.49 at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Find my book all month! #SWSale2025

Image for twitter card

Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl

In 1963, a young teenage girl moves with her mother and sisters from the suburbs to the downtown of a Midweste...

www.smashwords.com

Reply on Twitter 1940297338461069648 Retweet on Twitter 1940297338461069648 0 Like on Twitter 1940297338461069648 2 Twitter 1940297338461069648
KCastanedauthor avatar Kay Castaneda Author @KCastanedauthor ·
10 May 1921127392782733584

To the Young Who Want to Die. Remember, green's your color.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Beautiful, beautiful.

To the Young Who Want to Die.  Remember, green's your color.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Beautiful, beautiful.
preorder FENESTRATION @Othuke__Umukoro

Remember, green’s your color.

—Gwendolyn Brooks

Reply on Twitter 1921127392782733584 Retweet on Twitter 1921127392782733584 0 Like on Twitter 1921127392782733584 6 Twitter 1921127392782733584
KCastanedauthor avatar Kay Castaneda Author @KCastanedauthor ·
24 Nov 1860608229870272810

What Should We Name This War?
I hate war
Yet rich men love it
I am right
you are wrong
guns tanks bombs your side my side
only death and blood

Kay Castaneda

Shadorma-a Spanish poetic form of six-line stanzas, or sestets, and a syllable count for each line: (3/5/3/3/7/5).

Reply on Twitter 1860608229870272810 Retweet on Twitter 1860608229870272810 0 Like on Twitter 1860608229870272810 6 Twitter 1860608229870272810
KCastanedauthor avatar Kay Castaneda Author @KCastanedauthor ·
24 Nov 1860602754378478048

Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge, Specific Form, Shadorma, 11/19/24 - BOOKPLACES

BOOKPLACES Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge, Specific Form, Shadorma, 11/19/24

bookplaces.blog

Reply on Twitter 1860602754378478048 Retweet on Twitter 1860602754378478048 1 Like on Twitter 1860602754378478048 5 Twitter 1860602754378478048
Load More
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • Short Sweet Life
  • I Am Your Guardian Angel Stephen
  • Memoirs of a Shark
  • Let’s Go To The Museum: Apollinaire and His Friends
  • Review of Night’s Redemption by Stephen Bentley
Subscribe to Bookplaces Blog to get the latest posts.

©2025 BOOKPLACES | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes
%d