Best seller autobiographies

John G. David Sedaris. Stephen King Goodreads Author. Greg Mortenson Goodreads Author. John Howard Griffin. Alison Arngrim Goodreads Author. Michael Nicholson. Buddy Guy. Benvenuto Cellini. Roy Sekoff Goodreads Author. Chuck Yeager. Ellen DeGeneres. Alexander Berkman. Valorie Kondos Field Goodreads Author. Mary Ellen Jordan. Debbie Reynolds. Wendy Holden Goodreads Author.

Scott Young. Margery Kempe. Esther Williams. George Orwell. James Corden. Gloria Stuart. Martin Short. James Thurber. Harry Belafonte. Willard Carroll. Daryl Tonkin. Radhanath Swami Goodreads Author. Jon Cryer. Sally Carrighar. Chanrithy Him Goodreads Author. Sue Monk Kidd Goodreads Author. Julia Child. Juliane Koepcke. Frances Mayes Goodreads Author.

Best seller autobiographies

Le Ly Hayslip. Because autobiography is so clearly and easily arranged into story beats was born, had first pimple, dyed hair red, etc. The blank page. Source: petersansom. Well, now you have a list of important events in your life, starting to write should be pretty straightforward. If you have a plan, all you need to do is start writing out a first draft of each event.

Next up we have a few tips and tricks to get you started. While figuring out how to write an autobiography, you will want to have everything you are writing as fresh and vivid in your mind as possible. This clarity will translate onto the page and give your readers a strong impression of each moment. To do this, you will want to dig out any old photos of you and whomever you might be writing about and begin filing things away for each chapter or section of the book.

You also might find it beneficial to interview anyone who remembers what happened. This can bring a new light on old events. A good way to get into the moment before a writing session is to surround yourself with the materials relating to that particular event. Look at photos or listen to recordings from around that time, and jot down any thoughts you might have about them.

You may also want to listen to some music from the time. If you have any old clothes or keepsakes from the person, you will also want them to be around or near as you write. Listen to any interviews about the time or the characters before writing. This is a very personal way of connecting with the past. Remembering your connection to your characters will help your writing to flow more easily and mean you have material to draw from before you even start writing.

Writing about certain life events is likely to be emotional. Say you had a car crash when you were younger or had to deal with some maltreatment of some kind, this will impact your writing, and how you feel about it. It can be a difficult balance. You need to care enough about your subject matter to write it. While feeling impassioned by your writing, it is also important to be able to step back and take a second look at your viewpoint.

This may take several rewrites to get right. If you are finding it difficult, then consider writing out as many different viewpoints of the event as you possibly can. This will open up how you see it and may even lead to an inspiring revelation for both you and your book. One of the benefits of learning how to write an autobiography is that, as you develop as a writer, new insights will likely occur.

So while emotions can run high, it is good to know that writing about anything difficult that has happened in your life can help you psychologically. James Pennebaker, a professor at Austin Texas University discovered that students who wrote for just fifteen minutes a day over three days about difficult or emotional experiences had a better level of well-being.

He found that going through the process was upsetting for them, but it was the new insights the students discovered through the process of writing, that led to their improved levels of psychological health. As with memoir, if you feel that it is too much to write any subject matter, always take a break and come back to it or not. Your mental health and general well-being are always more important than a book.

Instead, get all your feelings out about it during your first draft, and then start with a fresh perspective. If your writing is only about venting, it will not interest the reader. You may come across as petty or whiny. Instead, you will want to make sure you can see the benefit of sharing your experiences with people. When you truly know how to write an autobiography, it should empower and enlighten people and help them connect to your story, rather than reading like an unfinished diary entry.

It is perfectly acceptable for it to start out that way. But by the end of your writing process, you should be confident in the purpose of why you are writing your book, and what kind of impact it will have on its readers. Knowing why you are writing will keep you on the right track, and help you like a compass in the storm, when you are lost. An important aspect of telling your story will be your narrative style and tone of voice.

This completely depends upon who you are writing for and the purpose of your book. If you are writing for your grandchildren, for example, you may use more simplistic language. If you are writing for a broader audience, then you may use a more neutral tone. Writing for friends? You might want to use more familial or colloquial terms. This also depends a lot on what kind of person you are, and you will want your attitude and personality to be reflected in your writing.

Pro tip: Relax. Just write as you think and your natural expression will do the rest. You can experiment with viewpoints as you go along, but once you have chosen, you will want to stick with it. The third person gives us the feeling it has been written by someone else. So, if you are employing a ghostwriter or are working on a fictional work, then this is a good way to go.

First-person is the generally accepted viewpoint for most autobiographies, because it is your story, and you are the one writing it. As you recall the people in your life, adding in any conflicts, even if they are comical, will add to the richness of the book. Conflict drives drama, intrigue, and interest. Source: wildgratitude. One of the most critical components of writing an autobiography is the story arc.

Like most genres of story, autobiography is no exception and will need some sort of an all-encompassing story arc. This is one of the main challenges you may face while writing this kind of book. They have to all meld together cohesively in order to have some sort of an impact on your reader. Simply put, our main character must get from A to B. And you will need to decide at some point, what your start and end points in the story will be.

This ties into your overall message in the book. The great thing about autobiography is that it basically tells your reader who you are as a person. You can start by making a note of your core beliefs and who you feel you are as a person before you begin. This is a true gift to the reader, to leave them with your wisdom or knowledge. Your philosophy can play a big role in the book, as it has likely led you to make certain decisions and can be featured and interlaced with certain events when your process of decision-making was integral to the direction of your life.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. Claiming One's True Self. A Book on Mental Health. The Suburban Experience. Two Autobiographies in One. Resilience and the Human Spirit. An American Classic. Wild Culinary Tales. Book About Grief. From an Iconic Writer. From a Hollywood Icon. Explores Pains and Joys of Daily Life. A Hilarious Pick. Cultural Criticism and History.

Coming of Age. Retelling of an Event. Powerful and Provocative. An Innovative Memoir. Heartbreaking and Hilarious. Ysolt Usigan. Watch Next. We're talking everything from BTS footage of a celebrity's day-to-day to heart-wrenching accounts by real-life activists, to moving, real-world moments written by some of society's most notable historical figures.

The list goes on! Craving a major case of escapism? To help spice up your reading list, here are 32 of the best autobiographies for A moving memoir by a care worker, told through her humorous, heartbreaking and eye-opening encounters with the often overlooked and marginalised people she cares for. While open about the challenges facing the NHS and the care system, this book a celebration of humanity and of the life-changing impact of caring.

Baek Sehee's second volume of memoirs further explores her psychiatric sessions and struggles with dysthymia with the same empathy and insight that made I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki a worldwide bestseller. Best known for her role as the formidable matriarch in hit TV show Gilmore Girls , Kelly Bishop unveils the truth about her six decades in show business in this powerful memoir full of witty insights and a special collection of personal and professional photographs.

This intimate and inspiring memoir asks the question: Can you be happy without a partnership at the centre of your life? As Marianne Power turns forty, she wonders why marriage and kids are still so elusive for her and whether, in fact, this is what she even wants, or just what she feels like she should want. The professional boxer and younger half-brother of Tyson Fury opens up about his famous family, life with Molly-Mae and his own career ambitions in his brand new memoir, claiming there's more to being a Fury than knowing how to fight.

For years Hugh Hefner's wife Crystal Hefner promised to only say "good things. Crystal lays bare the impact years of misogyny, and objectification had on her health. Ever wondered what it's like to grow up in a Chinese takeaway?