Which Way Is The Best Way To Tell Your Life Story?

So you want to write a story about your life.

A Lifestory.

So why aren’t I calling it a memoir or a biography?

Simple.

Those are two different things.

Memoirs

This is a story about a very specific point of time in your life. I time when you did something unusual. A time when you learned something. A time when you learned about yourself.

It usually takes place between 1-5 years, depending. And at the end, you’re not the same person you were at the start of the book.

It reads more like a novel than anything else, so novel writing techniques apply.

The Game (Niel Straus) is a memoir.

Autobiography

These are selected stories from over the course of the author’s entire life that go in chronological order, from earliest memory to most recent. They show what made the author the person they are today.

Becoming (Michelle Obama) is an autobiography.

Essayist

This is the third category of Lifestory. In the Essayist type of life story, you tell stories from your life that teaches lessons from your observations, most often focused around a theme. Though it sounds like the easiest kind to write, it’s actually the hardest. It takes a special touch to write an essay type of lifestory and not be preachy about it.

Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten (Robert Fulghum) is an Essayist lifestory.

So those are the three ways to write a lifestory.

Of the three, which one appeals to you?

Devlin Blake

Developmental Editor??Book & Publishing Coach??Author??Course Creator??Ghostwriter of 200+ books?? Join my facebook group... devlinblake.com/fb 

You Tell Your Story ?