Three – The Life Story

Life stories are true although they can be written in a similar way to fictional stories. They can be biographical, i.e. about another person, or autobiographical – about yourself. Most life stories tend to be the same length as a novel, although many people who write these tend to write for magazines or newspaper columns.

How to Write a Life Story

Life stories absolutely must be interesting; your readers must be able to engage. There should be no boring details even though they may be true – readers don’t need to know every little detail. Most times, these parts of the story can be easily summarized or told around more exciting incidents. When you write a life story, you must be careful to ensure that:

Your story is structured like a story, with the focus on interesting incidents and events;

The personality of the subject shows through and that the readers can identify with them;

You are conscious of others who may be involved in the story – think about how they will feel and try not to do anything that can lead to libel cases being brought against you.

There is a very fine line between a life story and fictional novel. If it is your own life story you are writing, you have some artistic licence in how you portray certain events.

General Tips For Writing Stories

No matter what type of story you write and no matter your level of experience, there is always more room to improve.

Share your efforts. Getting together with other writers and sharing what you have written is a fantastic way of getting suggestions, feedback and getting yourself out of isolation. Join a forum, a local writing circle, anywhere with supportive people who will always offer constructive feedback.

Never Stop Learning. Anyone can learn how to write; whether you are any good at it is another matter. There are plenty of books, online courses, college courses, all sorts that can teach you the rules of punctuation and grammar and about writing in certain genres. Or you could go the whole hog and take a degree course.

Never Stop Practicing. Learning about it is one thing; it’s no substitute for practice though. Write on a regular basis, preferably every day. The more you write, the better your stories will be. The more real your characters will become and the more convincing your plots will be. You will find that writing gets easier and your endings become more satisfying; you won't spend so long trying to think of the right words and your storylines will flow.

Revise Your Work

Every author has to do revisions. First drafts tend to have a few problems – inconsistency in punctuation, characterization, scenes that don’t seem to have a real home, gaping holes in your plot and so on. Don’t worry about it; the important thing is getting it all down on paper and then you can revise it. Even the most well-known authors have to do extensive rewrites so there is no shame in it. Never stop revising and prepare to do multiple rewrites. The best thing to do is write your story and then leave it alone for several days. Go back to it with fresh eyes.

Follow these tips and you will soon be writing story after story.