good titles for a autobiography

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50 Inspiring Autobiography Title Ideas

Hey there, looking to get started on your autobiography but stuck on what to call it? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back! Choosing the perfect name for your life story can be tough, but it’s also a fun and important decision. So, grab a cup of coffee and get ready to brainstorm some awesome autobiography name ideas!

Table of Contents

Choosing a memorable autobiography name, reflecting your personal journey in the title, incorporating key themes and milestones, using humor or wit to engage readers, seeking feedback and suggestions from others, in conclusion.

When it comes to choosing a memorable name for your autobiography, there are a few things to consider. The title of your life story should be captivating, intriguing, and reflective of the journey you’ve been through. It’s the first thing people will see when they come across your book, so it’s important to make it memorable.

One approach to creating an autobiography name is to brainstorm keywords or phrases that encapsulate the essence of your story. Think about the major themes, events, or turning points in your life, and try to distill them into a few impactful words. Consider using **metaphors or symbolism** to convey deeper meanings and emotions. It’s also helpful to evoke a sense of curiosity or mystery with the title, sparking interest in potential readers.

Another strategy is to draw inspiration from literature, poetry, or famous quotes that resonate with your life experiences. **Quoting a meaningful line** from a favorite book or poem can add a layer of depth and resonance to your autobiography title. Additionally, incorporating personal mottos or mantras that have guided you through life can lend authenticity and significance to the name of your book.

For **creativity and impact**, consider experimenting with wordplay, alliteration, or unconventional phrasing. A catchy, unique title can make your autobiography stand out and pique curiosity. Remember to also consider the marketability and resonance of the title, as it will play a major role in attracting potential readers. By taking the time to consider these factors, you can create a memorable autobiography name that truly captures the essence of your life story.

Are you ready to share your personal journey with the world? Choosing the perfect title for your autobiography is crucial in capturing the essence of your story. Your title should reflect the unique experiences, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped you into the person you are today. Here are some tips and ideas for creating an impactful and meaningful title that truly represents your personal journey:

### Tips for When brainstorming ideas for your autobiography title, consider the following tips to ensure it resonates with your readers:

– **Think about the central theme**: What is the main message or theme of your life story? Is it resilience, love, overcoming adversity, or personal growth? – **Use imagery**: Incorporate vivid imagery that reflects key moments or symbols from your life that have had a significant impact on your journey. – **Highlight your unique perspective**: What sets your story apart from others? Emphasize what makes your experiences and insights distinctive and valuable.

### Autobiography Title Ideas Here are some creative and inspiring title ideas to spark your imagination and help you craft the perfect name for your autobiography:

| Title Ideas | Description | |—————————-|————————————————–| | Unbreakable Spirit | A powerful and evocative title reflecting resilience and strength. | | From Struggle to Strength | Capture the essence of overcoming obstacles and personal growth. | | In My Own Words | Emphasize the personal and intimate nature of your story. | | The Road Less Traveled | Highlight the unique and unconventional path of your journey. |

Find a title that resonates with you and captures the heart of your personal narrative. Taking the time to reflect and choose the perfect name for your autobiography will ensure that your story is told in a compelling and authentic way.

When it comes to choosing a name for your autobiography, it’s important to incorporate key themes and milestones from your life. These elements help to tell your unique story and make your book memorable to readers. Whether you’re focusing on a specific event, a personal journey, or an overarching theme, the title of your autobiography should encapsulate the essence of your life story.

One approach to brainstorming autobiography name ideas is to reflect on significant milestones and themes in your life. Consider the following prompts to help spark inspiration for your autobiography title: – What are the defining moments or turning points in your life? – What themes or patterns have been recurring throughout your journey? – What unique experiences or challenges have shaped your perspective and identity?

By incorporating these key themes and milestones into your autobiography title, you can create a compelling and meaningful representation of your life story. Remember to choose a title that resonates with you and accurately captures the essence of your unique narrative. Embrace creativity and authenticity as you explore different autobiography name ideas that reflect the depth and richness of your personal journey.

When it comes to choosing a name for your autobiography, it’s essential to create a title that is engaging, memorable, and reflective of your personality and experiences. One way to capture readers’ attention is to use humor or wit in your autobiography title. Incorporating humor into the title can make it more relatable and appealing to a wider audience, while adding wit can add a clever and thought-provoking element.

Here are some ideas for autobiography names that use humor or wit to engage readers:

• “Laughing Through the Tears: My Life Story” – This title combines humor and emotion, drawing readers in with the promise of both lighthearted moments and poignant reflections.
• “The Chronicles of Awkwardness: A Memoir” – Using humor to acknowledge the inherent awkwardness of life can resonate with readers who can relate to the challenges and humorous moments that come with navigating through life.
• “Sarcastic and Sassy: My Journey to Self-Discovery” – This title employs wit and humor to convey a bold and confident narrative, appealing to readers who appreciate a sharp sense of humor.

Are you in the process of writing your autobiography and in need of a catchy and captivating name? Naming your autobiography is a crucial step in the publishing process. A well-thought-out title can pique the interest of potential readers and encapsulate the essence of your life story. If you’re currently brainstorming autobiography name ideas, we’re here to help.

can provide valuable insights and fresh perspectives that you may not have considered. It’s always beneficial to gather input from a diverse group of people to ensure that your autobiography name resonates with a wide audience. Whether you’re a first-time author or a seasoned writer, feedback from others can make a significant impact on the success of your book. Here are some suggestions for soliciting feedback and suggestions for your autobiography name:

– Reach out to friends, family, and colleagues who know you well – Join writing groups or forums and participate in discussions about autobiography titles – Utilize social media platforms to conduct polls and gather opinions from a broader audience – Attend book clubs or literary events to engage with avid readers and gather feedback By , you can gain valuable insights that will help you choose a compelling and memorable name for your autobiography. Your book deserves a title that truly captures the essence of your life story, and the input of others can help you achieve that goal. So, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for feedback – the perfect autobiography name may be just a suggestion away.

Q: I’m struggling to come up with a catchy title for my autobiography. Any tips? A: Yes, think about the main theme or message of your autobiography and try to capture that in a few words.

Q: Can I use a quote as the title of my autobiography? A: Of course! A meaningful quote can make a great title for your autobiography and give it a personal touch.

Q: How long should my autobiography title be? A: It should be relatively short and punchy, ideally no more than a few words or a brief phrase.

Q: What if I can’t think of anything good? A: Don’t stress too much about it – sometimes a simple, straightforward title can be just as effective as a clever or creative one.

Q: Should I include my name in the title? A: It’s up to you! Including your name can make the autobiography feel more personal, but it’s not necessary.

Q: Can I ask friends and family for title ideas? A: Absolutely! Getting input from others can help you brainstorm and come up with something that truly resonates with you.

Q: Are there any common themes or phrases used in autobiography titles? A: Yes, many autobiographies use phrases like “My Story” or “Life and Times of [Name]” but feel free to get creative and come up with something unique to you.

So if you’re considering writing your own autobiography, choosing the perfect title is an important first step. Whether you decide to go with a catchy phrase or a meaningful quote, make sure it reflects the essence of your life story. Hopefully, the ideas we’ve shared here have sparked some inspiration for your own memoir title. Happy writing!

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Saturday, May 3, 2014

69 awesome and awful autobiography titles.

8 comments:

LOL: Hitch-22

Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me (R. Kelly) Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir (George Clinton)

larger than life [eddie large]

Thanks for this list. It gave me the idea to create the best Autobiography Quotes. Keep up with the good work!

this helped me a lot with homework

Wow.great post.

lolol very punny !

39 spicy titles for my memoir or yours

Constructing the memoir of your life can be a truly grueling process. The most crucial element to consider, of course, is the enticing title. The stakes are incredibly high  — with the wrong label, your entire life could be inaccurately represented. For widespread applicability, I have laid out options for some niche lifestyles.

For the foodie:

• BuzzFeed, what kind of cheese am I?
• What to expect when you’re expecting a food baby
• DTF: Down to feast?
• I’m eating fries in my parked car
• I’m just here for the cake
• I almost just ate something healthy
• The art of consuming Domino’s pizza
• And then they gave me an oatmeal raisin cookie…
• Boba for the soul
• Coffee and carbs: A delicacy like no other
• How did I get food on my forehead, again?
• I put too much Kraft parmesan on my spaghetti
• Are you going to finish that?

For the risqué:

• I asked for a water cup and filled it with Coke
• “This is my face. I’m not mad”: The plight of RBF
• Nobody cares
• Is it better to roast or to toast?
• Sugar, spice and everything nice or sarcasm, Pepsi and everything sexy?
• Do I want bangs, or should we just talk about my feelings?
• Sorry, Mom.
• “I’m 29. I can finally play a high schooler on TV. Thank you, Jackson Stewart”: On starting my Disney career later in life
• I did a thing, and I’m not sorry
• Goal Digger
• I turned off my autocorrect, and I only journal in pen: A baddie’s guide to writing
• Trial and lots of error

For the hot mess:

• I never really know what’s going on
• I’m late, and I’m sweating
• Still in bed
• Call me again in 3-5 business days
• Sorry, I couldn’t hear you over my internal monologue
• “I think I just said the funniest thing ever”: The story of my delusional comedy career
• I haven’t changed my sheets in like a year.
• Floor-seat mentality with a nosebleed budget
• I wasn’t gonna cry in Starbucks though, yk?
• Do I look like an Android user?
• Rock my Crocs off
• “Sorry, my Uber is here”: A beginner’s guide to exiting swiftly from awkward situations
• Crap, I really need to finish my memoir

Okay, maybe these titles don’t reflect your life story in their simplicity, but hopefully they made you smile a bit.

For more stream of consciousness musings, contact Alanna Flores at alanna13 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Alanna Flores '22 is a Managing Editor of The Grind. Contact her at alanna13 'at' stanford.edu.

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How To Come Up With Autobiography Titles

When you write a story about yourself, one of the most difficult aspects of the creative process isn’t putting in the stories you want to tell. It’s coming up with a title for that story. Knowing how to come up with autobiography titles that are good is a skill set that requires some practice to get right. The first title you think up isn’t always the best title – but it could be.

Let’s go through the creation process step by step so that you can figure out that great title for your story today.

#1. No puns. Just don’t do it.

You’ll find a lot of autobiographies have incorporated puns as part of the title. From Wink Martindale’s Winking at Life to Tori Spelling’s sTORI Telling , a bad pun creates a negative first impression for many readers. Just be simple and straight forward with the title based on the stories you’ve told. If you were a war veteran, a good title might be The Battles I’ve Fought and Won .

#2. Humor can backfire on you.

Humor within a title for an autobiography can be a good thing. Take Joe Namath’s autobiography title for example: I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow ‘Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day . The humor fits with the public personality that Namath has always presented. It’s a good fit. If you can come up with a humorous title that fits your personality, then roll with it.

What you shouldn’t do is try to force the humor on others. When Russell Brand released his autobiography, it was titled My Booky Wook . Not as impressive.

#3. Describe what is important to you.

Ultimately your autobiography has one key point that you’re trying to make. It’s more than a collection of stories. It’s a commentary about what you’ve learned in life. What is that one key lesson that you’re trying to make? Or are there several key points that are being made? Figure that out and you may just have the title for your autobiography. A good example of this comes from Nelson Mandela and his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom .

But that key point needs to be interesting. There must be a purpose communicated to the reader that they will have a valuable experience from reading your autobiography. Peter Marshall’s autobiography Back Stage With the Original Hollywood Square doesn’t quite make that grade.

#4. Capture the attention of the reader.

There are three ways that you can effectively capture the attention of a reader with an autobiography title.

• Be self-deprecating. If you take your biggest fault and make it your title, then the humble reflection will be something that will attract people to your autobiography.
• Be controversial. One of the best examples of this method comes from Charles Grodin: It Would Be So Nice If You Weren’t Here . If you’ve done something that isn’t socially acceptable, it might make for a great title.
• Be concise. You can’t get much shorter than the title of Katherine Hepburn’s autobiography: Me . If you can make your title be three words or less, then it will generally be more memorable to the reader who is interested in picking it up.

#5. Be evocative with your descriptions.

This is one of the benefits of being a relatively unknown person when writing an autobiography. You can choose a very descriptive title that brings about evocative mental images for the reader involved. Many of these “unknowns” have become reading staples in our society today. Think about stories like Girl, Interrupted or Reading Lolita in Tehran and then think about what you’ve done that could create similar emotions.

#6. Test out your titles with trusted friends and family.

In this final step, you’ll first want to come up with 3-5 titles that you’d be happy having for your autobiography based on the steps above. Then take those titles and test them out with your family and friends. See which ones they prefer. Have them give you one answer. Ask as many people as you like because the goal is to trim your titles down to 2 from this process.

Then take those two titles to everyone you know. Create a poll on Facebook or Twitter. Ask people for email feedback. Ask them to choose one title from the two. If the results are solidly in favor of one title, then that’s what you’ll call your autobiography. If the results are mixed, then go back to the 3-5 titles and ask again. If you still have mixed results, come up with 3-5 new titles and try again.

A good autobiography title goes a long way

Although a bad autobiography title won’t kill your story off completely, it won’t do it any favors. A good title can entice more people to read your stories. Follow these steps and you’ll know how to come up with autobiography titles that are great as soon as today.

If you’ve found these tips on picking an autobiography title useful, check out these further resources:

Biography vs autobiography what is the best autobiography layout memoir vs autobiography 9 great autobiography writing tips how to publish an autobiography.

About the Author

Melissa G. Wilson is a seasoned author and publisher with over 20 years of experience, guiding over 174 thought leaders to success in the literary and business arenas. As the founder of Networlding Publishing and a former “Networking Coach,” Melissa has authored five best-sellers, including “Networlding” which held a top spot on Amazon for a year. Based in Chicago’s West Loop, she combines her passion for networking and publishing to help authors from diverse fields achieve their goals. Melissa is committed to fostering community and professional growth, offering free consultations for aspiring non-fiction business authors .

This 47-page mini-ebook gives you everything you need to start writing your own autobiography, including:

–Developing an overall theme

–Outlining your autobiography

–Choosing a winning title

–Best autobiography layouts

–Autobiography marketing strategy and more!

Your guide is on its way! Check your inbox.

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How To Write an Autobiography 2024 (Tips, Templates, & Guide)

Your life story has value, merit, and significance. You want to share it with the world, but maybe you don’t know how .

Here’s how to write an autobiography:

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 .

In this article, you are going to learn the fastest method for writing your autobiography.

We are going to cover everything you need to know with examples and a free, downloadable, done-for-you template.

What Is an Autobiography?

Table of Contents

Before you can write an autobiography, you must first know the definition.

An autobiography is the story of your life, written by you. It covers the full span of your life (at least, up until now), hitting on the most significant moments, people and events.

When you write your autobiography, you write an intimate account of your life.

What Should I Include In an Autobiography?

If you are scratching your head, baffled about what to include in your autobiography, you are not alone.

After all, a big part of how to write an autobiography is knowing what to put in and what to leave out of your life story. Do you focus on every detail?

Every person? Won’t your autobiography be too long?

A good way to think about how to write an autobiography is to use the Movie Trailer Method.

What do movie trailers include?

• High emotional moments
• The big events
• The most important characters

When you plan, organize, and write your autobiography, keep the Movie Trailer Method in mind. You can even watch a bunch of free movie trailers on YouTube for examples of how to write an autobiography using the Movie Trailer Method.

When wondering what to include in your autobiography, focus on what would make the cut for a movie trailer of your life:

• Most important people (like family, friends, mentors, coaches, etc.)
• Significant events (like your origin story, vacations, graduations, life turning points, life lessons)
• Emotional moments (When you were homeless, when you battled a life-threatening condition, or when you fell in love)
• Drama or suspense (Did you make it into Harvard? Did your first surgery go well? Did your baby survive?)

Autobiography Structure Secrets

Like any compelling story, a well-structured autobiography often follows a pattern that creates a logical flow and captures readers’ attention.

Traditionally, autobiographies begin with early memories, detailing the writer’s childhood, family background, and the events or people that shaped their formative years.

From here, the narrative typically progresses chronologically, covering major life events like schooling, friendships, challenges, achievements, career milestones, and personal relationships.

It’s essential to weave these events with introspective insights.

This allows readers to understand not just the what, but also the why behind the author’s choices and experiences.

Towards the end, an effective autobiography often includes reflections on lessons learned, changes in perspective over time, and the wisdom acquired along life’s journey.

Example of the Structure:

• Introduction: A gripping event or anecdote that gives readers a hint of what to expect. It could be a pivotal moment or challenge that defines the essence of the story.
• Childhood and Early Memories: Recounting family dynamics, birthplace, cultural background, and memorable incidents from early years.
• Adolescence and Discovering Identity: Experiences during teenage years, challenges faced, friendships formed, and personal evolutions.
• Pursuits and Passions: Describing education, early career choices, or any particular hobby or skill that played a significant role in the author’s life.
• Major Life Events and Challenges: Chronicles of marriage, parenthood, career shifts, or any significant setbacks and how they were overcome.
• Achievements and Milestones: Celebrating major accomplishments and recounting the journey to achieving them.
• Reflections and Wisdom: Sharing life lessons, changes in beliefs or values over time, and offering insights gained from lived experiences.
• Conclusion: Summarizing the journey, contemplating on the present state, and sharing hopes or aspirations for the future.

How To Write an Autobiography Quickly: Strategies & Templates

Want the quickest way to organize and write your autobiography in record time? You can literally write your autobiography in 7 days or less with this method.

The secret is to use done-for-you templates.

I have personally designed and collected a series of templates to take you from a blank page to a fully complete Autobiography. I call this the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint.

And it’s completely free to download right from this article. 🙂

In the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint, you get:

• The Autobiography Questions Template
• The Autobiography Brainstorm Templates
• The Autobiography Outline Template

Here is an image of it so that you know exactly what you get when you download it:

How To Write an Autobiography: Step-by-Step

When you sit down to write an autobiography, it’s helpful to have a step-by-step blueprint to follow.

You already have the done-for-you templates that you can use to organize and write an autobiography faster than ever before. Now here’s a complete step-by-step guide on how to maximize your template.

• Brainstorm Ideas
• Order your sections (from medium to high interest)
• Order the ideas in each section (from medium to high interest)
• Write three questions to answer in each section
• Choose a starter sentence
• Complete a title template
• Write each section of your by completing the starter sentence and answering all three questions

Brainstorm Your Autobiography

The first step in writing your autobiography is to brainstorm.

Give yourself time and space to write down the most significant people, events, lessons, and experiences in your life. The templates in the How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint provide sections for you to write down your brainstormed ideas.

This will help you organize your ideas into what will become the major sections of your book.

These will be:

• Y our most significant events and experiences.
• The people who impacted you the most.
• The challenges you have overcome.
• Your achievements and successes.
• The lessons you have learned.

The “other” sections on the second page of the Brainstorm template is for creating your own sections or to give you more space for the sections I provided in case you run out of space.

As I brainstorm, I find asking myself specific questions really activates my imagination.

So I have compiled a list of compelling questions to help you get ideas down on paper or on your screen.

Order Your Sections (From Medium to High Interest)

The next step is to order your main sections.

The main sections are the five (or more) sections from your Brainstorm templates (Significant events, significant people, life lessons, challenges, successes, other, etc). This order will become the outline and chapters for your book.

How do you decide what comes first, second or third?

I recommend placing the sections in order of interest. Ask yourself, “What’s the most fascinating part of my life?”

If it’s a person, then write the name of that section (Significant People) on the last line in the How to Write an Autobiography Outline Template. If it’s an experience, place the name of that section (Significant Events) on the last line.

For example, if you met the Pope, you might want to end with that nugget from your life. If you spent three weeks lost at sea and survived on a desert island by spearfishing, that is your ending point.

Then complete the Outline by placing the remaining sections in order of interest. You can work your way backward from high interest to medium interest.

If you are wondering why I say “medium to high interest” instead of “low to high interest” it is because there should be no “low interest” parts of your autobiography.

But wait, what if you met the Pope AND spent three weeks lost at sea? How do you choose which one comes first or last?

First of all, I want to read this book! Second, when in doubt, default to chronological order. Whatever event happened first, start there.

Here is an example of how it might look:

Order The Ideas in Each Section (From Medium To High Interest)

Now, organize the ideas inside of each section. Again, order the ideas from medium to high interest).

Within your “Significant People” section, decide who you want to talk about first, second, third, etc. You can organize by chronological order (who you met first) but I recommend building to the most interesting or most significant person.

This creates a more compelling read.

Keep in mind that the most significant person might not be the most well-known, most famous, or most popular. The most significant person might be your family member, friend, partner, or child.

It comes down to who shaped your life the most.

So, if your “significant people list” includes your dad, a famous social media influencer, and Mike Tyson, your dad might come last because he had the biggest significance in your life.

Write Three Questions to Answer in Each Section

Ok, you’ve done the heavy lifting already. You have the major sections organized and outlined.

Next on your autobiography to-do list is to choose and write down three questions you are going to answer in each section. You can write your questions down in the provided “boxes” for each section on the template outline (or on another piece of paper.

This is easier than it might seem.

Simply choose one of the sample autobiography questions below or create your own:

• Why did I choose this person/event?
• What does this person/event mean to me?
• How did I meet this person?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?
• What is the most interesting part?
• How did I feel about this person or event?
• How do I feel now?
• Why does this person or event matters to me?
• How did this person or event change my life?
• What is the most challenging part?
• How did I fail?
• How did I succeed?
• What did I learn?

Questions are the perfect way to write quickly and clearly. I LOVE writing to questions. It’s how I write these blog posts and articles.

Choose a Starter Sentence

Sometimes the hardest part of any project is knowing how to start.

Even though we know we can always go back and edit our beginnings, so many of us become paralyzed with indecision at the starting gate.

That’s why I provided sample starter sentences in your How to Write an Autobiography Blueprint.

Here are the story starters:

• I began writing this book when…
• Of all the experiences in my life, this one was the most…
• I’ve been a…
• My name is…
• Growing up in…
• It wasn’t even a…
• It all started when…
• I first…
• I was born…

Keep in mind that you do not need to begin your book with one of these story starters. I provide them simply to get you going.

The key is to not get bogged down in this, or any, part of writing your autobiography. Get organized and then get writing.

Complete a Title Template

At the top of the How to Write an Autobiography Outline is a place for you to write your book title.

Some authors struggle forever with a title. And that’s ok. What’s not ok is getting stuck. What’s not ok is if coming up with your title prevents you from finishing your book.

So, I provided a few title templates to help juice your creativity.

Just like the story starters, you do not need to use these title templates, but you certainly can. All you need to do is fill in the title templates below and then write your favorite one (for now) at the top of your outline. Presto! You have your working title.

You can always go back and change it later.

How to Write an Autobiography Title templates:

• [Your Name]: [Phrase or Tag Line]
• The [Your Last Name] Files
• Born [Activity]: A [Career]’s Life
• The Perfect [Noun]: The Remarkable Life of [Your Name]

Examples using the Templates:

• Christopher Kokoski: Blog Until You Drop
• The Kokoski Files
• Born Writing: A Blogger’s Life
• The Perfect Freelancer: The Remarkable Life of Christopher Kokoski

Write Your Autobiography

You have your outline. You have your title, templates, and sentence starters. All that is left to do is write your autobiography.

However, you can use tools like Jasper AI and a few other cool tricks to craft the most riveting book possible.

This is the easy way to remarkable writing.

Check out this short video that goes over the basics of how to write an autobiography:

How To Write an Autobiography (All the Best Tips)

Now that you are poised and ready to dash out your first draft, keep the following pro tips in mind:

• Be vulnerable. The best autobiographies share flaws, faults, foibles, and faux pas. Let readers in on the real you.
• Skip the boring parts. There is no need to detail every meal, car ride, or a gripping trip to the grocery store. Unless you ran into the Russian Mafia near the vegetables or the grocery store is perched on the side of a mountain above the jungles of Brazil.
• Keep your autobiography character-driven . This is the story of YOU!
• Be kind to others (or don’t). When writing about others in your story, keep in mind that there may be fallout or backlash from your book.
• Consider a theme: Many autobiographies are organized by theme. A perfect example is Becoming . Each section of the book includes “becoming” in the title. Themes connect and elevate each part of the autobiography.
• Write your story in vignettes (or scenes). Each vignette is a mini-story with a beginning, middle, and end. Each vignette builds. Each vignette should be described in rich sensory language that shows the reader the experience instead of telling the reader about the experience. Each vignette is immersive, immediate, and intimate.
• Include snippets of dialogue. Use quotation marks just like in fiction. Show the dialogue in brief back-and-forth tennis matches of conversation. Remember to leave the boring parts out!
• Choose a consistent tone. Some autobiographies are funny like Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. Others are serious such as Open by Andre Agassi. Your story (like most stories) will likely include a mix of emotions but choose an overall tone and stick with it.
• Don’t chronicle, captivate . Always think about how to make each section, each chapter, each page, each paragraph, and each sentence more compelling. You want to tell the truth, but HOW you tell the truth is up to you. Create suspense, conflict, and mystery. Let drama linger until it becomes uncomfortable. Don’t solve problems quickly or take away tension right away.

How Do I Format an Autobiography?

Most autobiographies are written in the first person (using the pronouns I, me, we, and us).

Your autobiography is written about you so write as yourself instead of pretending to be writing about someone else.

Most autobiographies are also written in chronological order, from birth right up to your current age, with all the boring parts left out. That doesn’t mean you can’t play around with the timeline.

Sometimes it’s more interesting to start at a high moment, backtrack to the beginning and show how you got to that high moment.

Whatever format you choose, be intentional, and make the choice based on making the most compelling experience possible for your readers.

How Long Should an Autobiography Be?

There are no rules to how long an autobiography should be but a rough guideline is to aim for between 200 and 400 pages.

This will keep your book in line with what most readers expect for books in general, and will help get your book traditionally published or help with marketing your self-published book.

How To Write a Short Autobiography

You write a short autobiography the same way that you write a long autobiography.

You simply leave more out of the story.

You cut everything down to the bones. Or you choose a slice of your life as you do in a memoir. This often means limiting the people in your book, reducing the events and experiences, and shrinking your story to a few pivotal moments in your life.

How To Start an Autobiography

The truth is that you can start your autobiography in any number of ways.

Here are four common ways to begin an autobiography.

• Start at the beginning (of your life, career or relationship, etc.)
• Start at a high moment of drama or interest.
• Start at the end of the story and work backward
• Start with why you wrote the book.

Good Autobiography Titles

If you are still stuck on titling your autobiography, consider going to Amazon to browse published works. You can even just Google “autobiographies.”

When you read the titles of 10, 20, or 50 other autobiographies, you will start to see patterns or get ideas for your own titles. (HINT: the title templates in the Autobiography Blueprint were reverse-engineered from popular published books.

Also, check out the titles of the full autobiography examples below that I have included right here in this article.

Types of Autobiographies

There are several different kinds of autobiographies.

Each one requires a similar but slightly nuanced approach to write effectively. The lessons in this article will serve as a great starting point.

Autobiography Types:

• Autobiography for School
• Autobiography Novel
• Autobiography for a Job
• Short Autobiography
• Autobiography for Kids

Therefore, there is actually not just one way to write an autobiography.

Memoir vs. Autobiography: Are They The Same?

It’s common to feel confused about a memoir and an autobiography. I used to think they were the same thing.

But, nope, they’re not.

They are pretty similar, which is the reason for all the confusion. A memoir is the story of one part of your life. An autobiography is the story of your full life (up until now).

What Is the Difference Between an Autobiography and a Biography?

An autobiography is when you write about your own life. A biography, on the other hand, is when you write the story of someone else’s life.

So, if I write a book about the life of the President, that’s a biography.

If the President writes a story about his or her own life, that’s an autobiography.

What Not To Include In an Autobiography

Autobiographies are meant to be a snapshot of our lives that we can share with others, but there are some things that are best left out.

Here are three things you should avoid including in your autobiography:

1) Anything That Readers Will Skip

Your life may not be filled with non-stop excitement, but that doesn’t mean you need to include every mundane detail in your autobiography.

Stick to the highlights and leave out the low points.

2) Character Attacks on Others

It’s okay to discuss conflicts you’ve had with others, but don’t use your autobiography as a platform to attack someone’s character.

Keep it civil and focus on your own experiences and how they’ve affected you.

3) Skipping Highlights

Just because something embarrassing or painful happened to you doesn’t mean you should gloss over it in your autobiography.

These are the moments that shape us and make us who we are today, so don’t skip past them just because they’re uncomfortable.

By following these simple tips, you can ensure that your autobiography is interesting, honest, and engaging.

How To Write an Autobiography: Autobiography Examples

I have always found examples to be extremely instructive. Especially complete examples of finished products. In this case, books.

Below you will find examples of published autobiographies for adults and for kids. These examples will guide you, motivate you and inspire you to complete your own life story.

They are listed here as examples, not as endorsements, although I think they are all very good.

The point is that you don’t have to agree with anything written in the books to learn from them.

Autobiography Examples for Adults

• A Promised Land (Autobiography of Barack Obama)
• If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won’t) (Betty White)
• It’s a Long Story: My Life (Willie Nelson)
• Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography (Rob Lowe)
• Becoming (Michelle Obama)

Autobiography Examples for Kids

• This Kid Can Fly: It’s About Ability (NOT Disability) (Aaron Philips)
• Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid (Mikaila Ulmer)

Tools to Write Your Autobiography

Here are some recommended tools to help you write your autobiography:

Final Thoughts: How To Write An Autobiography

Thank you for reading my article on How to Write an Autobiography.

Now that you know all of the secrets to write your book, you may want to get it published, market it, and continue to upskill yourself as an author.

In that case, read these posts next:

• Can Anyone Write A Book And Get It Published?
• The Best Writing Books For Beginners 2022 (My 10 Favorites)
• Why Do Writers Hate Adverbs? (The Final Answer)
• How To Write a Manifesto: 20 Ultimate Game-Changing Tips

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Norman ⁤Chapman, ‍a name that ⁤may​ not ring⁤ a bell‍ to many, but to those who⁢ are well-versed in the world of percussion, he is a ⁣legend. As ⁤an unsung hero of the ​drumming community, Chapman’s contributions to‍ the ‍art form are undeniable. From his early ⁢days in the music scene to his rise‌ to prominence ‌as a sought-after session player, Chapman’s story is one ⁣that deserves to be told. In this article, we will⁢ delve into the⁢ life and​ legacy ⁢of Norman Chapman, exploring⁢ his impact ⁢on ‍the world of ⁢drumming and the lasting impression he has ⁢left ‌on the music industry.

Table of Contents

• Unveiling the Legacy ⁢of Norman Chapman
• Exploring‍ the Impact of Chapman’s Work on Modern Art
• Norman Chapman: A​ Pioneer in Abstract​ Expressionism
• Recommendations for ⁤Appreciating Chapman’s Artistry Today
• To ⁤Wrap ⁢It Up

Unveiling ⁢the Legacy of Norman ⁣Chapman

When one thinks ⁢of influential figures in the ⁣world of art⁢ and⁢ design, Norman Chapman may not ‌be the first name ⁤that comes ⁣to ⁤mind. However, ‍his contributions to the field have left a lasting impact that is ⁣still felt today. Known for his innovative and forward-thinking⁢ approach,⁤ Chapman’s work pushed the boundaries of traditional design​ and paved the way for future generations‍ of artists.

• Chapman’s ⁤early ‌work in the 1950s was marked by his unique use of color⁢ and form. He was⁢ not afraid ‍to experiment⁢ with different ​mediums and techniques, resulting​ in‌ a body of work ‍that ‍was both⁣ diverse​ and⁣ cohesive.
• His later work in the 1970s‌ and 1980s saw a shift towards ‍more minimalist designs,⁣ with a focus on ⁢functionality and simplicity. Despite this change in style, Chapman’s work remained distinctly⁣ his own, with a strong‌ emphasis on craftsmanship ​and attention ⁢to detail.

In addition to his contributions ⁣to the world of art and design, Chapman was also a respected educator. ‍He taught ​at several prestigious ⁣institutions, ‌including the Rhode Island⁢ School of Design and​ the Art​ Institute ⁤of Chicago . His teachings have influenced countless artists and designers, ⁢many of whom have gone on to achieve ⁢great success ‍in their own right.

Chapman’s legacy ​continues to inspire and influence ⁢the art⁤ and design world. His work is a reminder that creativity knows no⁤ bounds, and that true innovation ⁣comes from⁤ breaking away from the‌ expected and ⁤embracing the ⁤unknown.

Exploring the ‍Impact of‌ Chapman’s Work on Modern Art

Norman Chapman’s work is often seen ​as a‌ bridge between ‍the⁣ traditional and the contemporary, blending classical techniques with modern⁣ themes. His influence on the art world can ⁢be seen‍ in⁢ numerous ways,‌ from the way he​ approached⁤ color and ‌form, to⁣ his ⁤innovative use of materials. ⁤Chapman’s⁣ work ​challenged ‍the norms of his‍ time, pushing the boundaries of what was considered acceptable ⁣in⁣ the art ⁢world.

One⁢ of⁢ the most significant impacts of Chapman’s work is his exploration‌ of ‌the human form.⁣ He was known⁢ for his bold and ‌expressive ⁤use ‌of line,⁣ creating ‍dynamic ⁤and⁤ powerful figures⁤ that resonated with‌ viewers.⁢ Chapman’s work also often included elements of abstraction, blending ​realism with more conceptual ideas. ‌This approach ‍has ⁢inspired many⁤ contemporary artists, who have taken Chapman’s ideas and expanded​ on them in ⁤their own work.

• Use of vibrant and bold colors
• Innovative‌ approach to⁤ mixed media
• Exploration‌ of⁤ social and⁢ political ⁣themes

Chapman’s legacy can also be seen ⁢in‌ the way he approached the role of the artist in society. He ⁣was⁢ known ​for his activism and used his ⁢art as a platform to⁣ address social and political ‌issues. This ⁤has encouraged ‍many​ modern artists ‌to use‍ their work as a ‍means of⁤ sparking conversation and effecting change. Chapman’s work continues to ⁢be an⁤ important influence in the‌ art world,​ inspiring ‌artists to push the‌ limits of‌ what is ⁢possible.

Norman​ Chapman: A Pioneer in ‌Abstract Expressionism

Norman Chapman was a trailblazer ​in‌ the world ⁢of ⁤abstract ‍expressionism. His⁢ bold use of color, texture,⁣ and form set ⁣him⁢ apart from ⁢his contemporaries and​ established him as a ‌leader in ‌the‌ movement. ‌His ⁣innovative techniques and⁢ fearless ⁤experimentation with new materials pushed the boundaries of what was considered “acceptable” in‌ the art world.

Chapman’s early ⁢work‍ was heavily influenced⁢ by ‍the likes of ​Jackson Pollock and Willem de ​Kooning, but he quickly⁢ developed his own unique style. His large-scale canvases⁣ were filled with ⁣dynamic, gestural brushstrokes and ‍a vibrant palette ‍that captured ⁣the energy ​and⁤ emotion of⁤ the post-war era.

• Inspired by⁢ jazz music, Chapman⁣ often painted to the sounds of‍ bebop and hard bop, infusing his work with a sense of rhythm and movement.
• He was also known for ‍his⁣ use ‍of non-traditional ⁣materials, such ⁤as sand ⁤and broken⁤ glass, which added texture and ⁤depth to⁣ his pieces.
• Despite ⁣facing criticism from more traditional art critics, Chapman remained steadfast in⁢ his vision and⁣ continued to push the ‌limits of abstract⁣ expressionism.

Chapman’s impact​ on​ the art world cannot be understated. ⁤His influence can be ⁤seen in the work of countless artists who followed in his footsteps, and his paintings continue to ‍be celebrated ‍in galleries and museums ‍around the world.

Through his work, Norman Chapman⁤ challenged ‌viewers to‌ see beyond the traditional boundaries ‍of art‍ and to find beauty in ‌the chaos and complexity of the abstract world.

Recommendations for⁤ Appreciating ‌Chapman’s⁣ Artistry‌ Today

Norman Chapman’s artistry is a treasure that deserves to be appreciated by⁣ art ⁣enthusiasts and casual observers ⁤alike. To fully experience ​the depth and beauty of his⁣ work, there are several recommendations⁢ that can ‌enhance your ‌appreciation.​

Firstly, take ​the time ⁤to study⁢ the details of his pieces.​ Chapman’s ​attention to⁤ detail is exquisite, ⁢and‍ the more you look, ​the more you’ll find. Notice the intricate ⁤brushstrokes, the subtle​ use of‌ color, and the‌ way⁣ he captures ⁤light and shadow.

Another way⁢ to appreciate Chapman’s artistry is ‌to understand the context in which⁢ it ⁤was created. Research the historical and cultural influences that⁢ shaped his ‌work,‍ and⁢ consider how these‍ factors are ⁣reflected in his‍ art. This will give you a deeper appreciation for the ‌significance ⁢of​ his pieces.

Here are some additional recommendations for appreciating Chapman’s ⁤artistry:

– Visit galleries‍ and museums that showcase his work to ⁢see⁢ it in person – Attend lectures or discussions about his⁢ art to gain insights‌ from experts – Participate in art workshops that ⁣focus on his techniques and style

By following these recommendations, ‍you ⁣can ‍fully immerse yourself in the⁣ world of Norman Chapman and ‌gain‍ a greater appreciation⁣ for his remarkable artistry.

Q: Who​ is Norman Chapman? A: Norman Chapman is⁢ a‌ renowned⁣ author ​and lecturer known for his expertise​ in economics and‌ public policy.

Q:‍ What is Norman Chapman’s⁤ background in economics? A: Chapman holds a PhD ‍in ‍economics⁣ from Harvard University and ‍has published numerous scholarly articles and ⁣books on economic ‍theory and ​public policy.

Q:⁢ What ​are some of Norman ⁣Chapman’s most notable works ? A: Chapman’s book “Economics in the Modern World” is ⁣widely⁤ regarded as⁢ a seminal work in the ⁢field of economics. ​He ⁣has also‌ authored several‌ influential papers on⁣ topics such as income inequality and economic development.

Q: What are some of⁣ the key themes that Norman Chapman explores in his writing? A:⁢ Chapman’s work⁤ often delves into the intersection⁢ of⁣ economics and social welfare, ​examining the impact of ‍economic‍ policies on issues such as‌ poverty, education, and healthcare.

Q: In⁢ addition ⁢to his writing,‌ what other ⁣activities is Norman Chapman involved in? A:​ In addition to his writing and research, Chapman is also a sought-after speaker and‍ lecturer, and has served as a consultant for various government agencies and non-profit organizations.

Q: What is Norman ⁤Chapman’s⁢ approach to teaching and ‌education? A: Chapman is ​known for his engaging ‍and accessible teaching ​style,‍ and is committed to ‌making complex ⁤economic concepts understandable ‍and ‍relevant to ‍a wide audience.

Q:⁤ What is the significance‍ of​ Norman⁤ Chapman’s work in‌ the field of ⁢economics? A: Chapman’s work has had a significant impact⁢ on the ⁤study⁤ and‍ practice of economics, shaping the way we‌ understand and address critical social and economic issues. ​

To‍ Wrap It Up

In conclusion, Norman Chapman’s impact on the field ‍of economics and his dedication to ‌education and research ⁢are undeniable. ⁣His​ innovative⁣ ideas and passion for ⁤the subject have left a⁤ lasting‍ impression ⁣on the‍ academic‍ community.‌ As he continues to inspire ‌and influence ‌future​ generations of economists, it is clear that Norman ‍Chapman’s contributions will be felt for years ‌to‌ come.

Laugh Out Loud: Hilarious Autobiography Title Ideas

So you’re finally ready to write your autobiography, but you’re stumped on what to call it? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some hilarious, tongue-in-cheek title ideas to make your life story stand out on the bookshelf. Let’s dive in and find the perfect title that captures the essence of your one-of -a-kind journey .

Laughing through Life: Hilarious Autobiography Title Ideas

The wit and wisdom of writing a funny autobiography title, tips for crafting the perfectly amusing autobiography title, finding inspiration for your comically clever autobiography title, adding a touch of humor: autobiography title creation made fun, to wrap it up.

Have you ever thought of writing your own autobiography, but want to add a humorous twist to it? Choosing a funny title can make your life story stand out and attract readers who love a good laugh. Here are some hilarious autobiography title ideas to consider for your upcoming book:

• Life’s a Joke: The Ups and Downs of My Hilarious Journey
• From Zero to Hero: The Comedy of Errors in My Life
• Oops, I Did It Again: The Chronicles of My Unintentional Comedy Career

These playful and witty titles can pique the interest of potential readers and give them a glimpse into the humor and lightheartedness of your life story. A funny autobiography title can set the tone for your book and convey the unique personality and experiences that make up your journey. So, embrace the comedic side of life and get creative with your autobiography title!

Funny Autobiography Title Ideas

So, you’ve decided to write your autobiography, and you want to give it a funny title that encapsulates your personality and experiences. Coming up with a witty and humorous title can be a fun and creative process, but it can also be quite challenging. To help you on your quest for the perfect funny autobiography title, here are some tips and ideas to get those creative juices flowing.

One approach to crafting a humorous autobiography title is to play on words or puns related to your life story. Think about funny anecdotes or memorable moments from your life that could serve as inspiration for a clever and catchy title. Another strategy is to use irony or sarcasm in your title, highlighting the unexpected or unconventional aspects of your autobiography. Additionally, you may want to consider incorporating humor into the title by using exaggerated or over-the-top language to describe your life experiences.

When brainstorming for a funny autobiography title, it’s important to remember that the title should not only be humorous but also reflective of your unique voice and perspective. Take some time to think about what makes your life story special and what sets it apart from others. From there, let your creativity run wild and have fun coming up with the perfect funny autobiography title that will leave readers intrigued and eager to learn more about your story.

So, you’ve decided to pen down your life story in a hilarious autobiography. But now you’re stuck on finding that perfect, witty title that encapsulates your one-of-a-kind journey. Don’t fret! We’ve got some tips to help you craft the most amusing autobiography title that will have readers rolling with laughter.

First off, let’s tap into your unique life experiences and personality quirks. Consider what sets you apart from the rest and how you can inject a dose of humor into your title. Whether it’s a collection of embarrassing moments, quirky habits, or ridiculous adventures, find that golden nugget of humor that captures your essence.

Next, play around with puns, wordplay, and double entendres. Get creative and think of clever ways to incorporate laughs into your title. Brainstorm a list of funny phrases, idioms, or popular sayings that you can twist to suit your autobiography. The more unexpected and clever the wordplay, the more likely it’ll catch the reader’s eye.

So, you’ve decided to write your autobiography, and now comes the fun part – finding a comically clever title that will grab your readers’ attention. But where do you begin? Here are a few sources of inspiration to help you brainstorm some funny autobiography title ideas:

• Reflect on Your Life: Sit down and think about the funniest, most memorable moments in your life. Is there a particular event or experience that stands out as the perfect inspiration for your title?
• Use Humor: Injecting humor into your title can instantly make it more engaging. Consider incorporating puns, wordplay, or comedic juxtaposition to create a catchy and clever title.
• Draw from Literature: Take a page from the book of your favorite comedic authors and see if you can find inspiration in their witty and irreverent titles.
• Get Creative: Think outside the box and brainstorm unexpected and quirky title ideas – the more original, the better!

Ultimately, your autobiography title should be a reflection of your unique personality and experiences. So, don’t be afraid to get creative and think outside the box. And remember, the goal is to make your readers smile and entice them to pick up your book!

Are you struggling to come up with a catchy title for your autobiography? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Creating a title for your life story can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be quite fun! With a touch of humor and creativity, you can come up with a title that will grab the attention of readers and make them want to learn more about your story.

To help you get started, here are some funny autobiography title ideas to inspire you:

– “My Life: A Comedy of Errors” – “Oops, I Did It Again: The Story of Me” – “The Misadventures of [Your Name]” – “The Chronicles of Awkwardness: A Memoir” – “Tripping Through Life: My Hilarious Journey” – “Clumsy and Loving It: The [Your Name] Story”

Feel free to play around with these ideas and personalize them to fit your own unique experiences and sense of humor. Remember, the key to a great autobiography title is to make it fun, relatable, and attention-grabbing. So, don’t be afraid to let your comedic side shine through!

Q: What are some funny autobiography title ideas? A: “Oops, I Did It Again: The Chronicles of My Awkward Moments” Q: Can you suggest another catchy title? A: “I Could’ve Sworn I Put My Keys Right Here: The Story of My Forgetful Existence” Q: Any more laugh-out-loud titles? A: “My Life: A Series of Unfortunate Navigation Errors

So there you have it, folks! We hope these funny autobiography title ideas have tickled your funny bone and inspired you to pen your own hilarious life story. Remember, life is too short to be taken too seriously—so why not give your autobiography a title that reflects your unique sense of humor? Now go forth and write your own comedic masterpiece!

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The Only (FREE) Autobiography Template You Need – 4 Simple Steps

Are you looking for an autobiography template? 

First things first.

What is your story? Not the shiny, air-brushed one you edit before posting on Instagram or the one you politely share during a writer’s chat on Zoom.

By your story, I mean the one with the cracks in it caused by childhood insecurities or the deep craters forged by unexpected collisions with life—the triumphs and tragedies that are forever etched into your DNA.

Yes, that story.

When you’re truly ready to write an autobiography, you’ll know it because you’ve come to a point in your life where the beauty of sharing your story has nothing to do with perfection. It’s knowing that despite the roller coaster ride that started at birth, you’ve found the courage to stay on it—sometimes holding on for dear life and other times riding with your hands up and screaming at the top of your lungs. 

Get your autobiography template here:

Need A Nonfiction Book Outline?

You’ve lived thoroughly and learned to embrace who you’ve become in the process, scars and all. 

This post will show you the format for writing an autobiography and the best way to package your story so you can provide the best reader experience possible.

This blog gives you a free autobiography template and more…

What is an autobiography.

The basic definition of an autobiography is that it’s a first-person account of your life. It differs from a memoir , which usually focuses on a single event or group of events that lead you to a discovery about yourself, your life, or some other revelation. An autobiography is a look at the total sum of your life from birth (early childhood) to the time of your book’s writing that highlights the key points that shaped who you’ve become.

Ready to start writing your autobiography? Let's get into it…

What is the format for an autobiography? 

Just like any good story, every autobiography has a beginning, middle, and end. But before you begin filling in the sections, you want to come up with a theme for your book . Most people have too much life content to fit into one book. Selecting the parts that fit under the umbrella of a theme will make the book easier to follow. 

When coming up with a theme, think about what you want the key takeaway to be for the reader. You don’t want to give them some boring slog through your life history. If you want them to feel something, your book needs direction. That’s where your theme takes the lead. By keeping it in the back of your mind while writing, you’ll give your readers a track to stay on. Otherwise, they may lose interest and stop reading.

Once you have your theme, right down the events in your life that are related to your book’s focus. You’ll plug these into the outline as you develop it. 

Some examples of autobiography book themes are:

• Overcoming challenges
• Creating your own destiny
• The unbreakable bonds of family
• A faith journey
• Perseverance

Your theme can be whatever you want it to be, but keep your audience in mind when selecting one. Below you’ll find an autobiography template. It includes an outline with writing prompts in each section. 

Whether you are an “outliner” (someone who outlines) or a “pantser” (someone who writes by the seat of their pants), the outline has enough structure and flexibility to make both writer types happy. 

Autobiography Template: An Outline

I've laid out what a traditional autobiography might look like below. But to really help you get the most out of the blog post, I recommend downloading our nonfiction book outline to use alongside this guide.

1.  Introduction 

Before you share your life story, prepare your readers for what is to follow by introducing yourself and telling them what they can expect. You can cover some or all of the following:

• Why you are writing your autobiography?
• What do you hope the reader will take away from the experience?
• Any pertinent information that’s not covered in your book but that is needed for context.

2. The beginning – the early years

Since autobiographies are a condensed view of your life, you want to focus on the significant events that will move your story forward.

• Where do you want to begin your story? 
• Where does your book’s theme first show up when you look back over your life? You want the opening of your book to have an impact, so choose something that will hook your readers and bring them into your world.
• How did your formative years influence how you viewed yourself? What we experience during our childhood can affect us for a lifetime. Consider how the early events of your life developed your character.
• Who influenced you the most during your childhood?
• What defining moments do you remember?

Where (on your timeline) and how you start your story is up to you. You want it to be something strong and significant to have the most impact on your reader. Here are the first few sentences of some autobiographies for inspiration .

“Some would say the McEntires are a very set-in-their-ways, stubborn, hardheaded bunch of people. But I think that hardheadedness is what got Daddy to where he was, Grandpap to where he was, and his father, Pap, to where he was. Some might say it wasn't all that far- but it was much further than where they started!” 

– Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots by Reba McEntire

(Nostalgia / Specific Event)

“My grandmother Nanny and I were at the picture show. I hadn't reached two digits yet in age because I distinctly remember my feet couldn't touch the floor of the movie house. Nanny and I were still living in San Antonio, Texas. My mama and daddy had gone ahead to California, where Nanny and I would later wind up.” – This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett

(From Birth)

“ If you know my music, you almost certainly know me as Craig Morgan. But I was actually born Craig Morgan Greer. Craig Morgan came along many years later.” – God, Family, Country: A Memoir by Craig Morgan

• 31 Best Autobiographies
• 30 Celebrity Autobiographies

3. The middle- halfway between the early years and where you are today.

If you are using a timeline to divide your story, the period that you cover during the “middle” of your autobiography depends on how old you are at the writing of your book. If you are in your golden years, your midpoint might be in your 30s or 40s. For someone like Malala Yousafzai , who wrote her autobiography at age 15, her “middle” looked very different. 

Whichever “middle” you choose consider the following:

• What are the defining moments during this time of your life? 
• Did they change how you viewed yourself?
• Did they change the trajectory of what you initially thought you’d do with your life?
• Who had the most influence on your life during this time?
• What are some of the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them?
• Did your worldview change during this time? If so, in what ways?

If your “middle” doesn’t fit neatly into a timeline, consider grouping your autobiography into themed sections.

The autobiography Cash by Johnny Cash groups his story into sections based on places that had special meaning to him: Cinnamon Hill, The Road, Port Rickey, Bon Aqua, and The Road Again.

4. The end—wrap-up

The end of your autobiography is the climax. It’s what you’ve been leading your reader to since the first sentence of your book. 

• Where are you in your life now? What have you learned? How has your journey impacted who you’ve become? 
• How do you want the reader to feel when they read the last sentence of your book? Inspired? Hopeful? Full? Enlightened? Satisfied? All of the above? 
• Is there any part of your life that feels unfinished or incomplete? 
• Looking back over your life, what is the greatest lesson you learned?
• Don’t forget your audience, especially at the beginning of your book. You want to hook your readers early and bring them along for the ride.
• Write an eye-catching autobiography title for your book.
• Leave out the minutia. If it doesn’t move your story along, drop it. 
• Tone matters. A good rule of thumb is to write your story like you were talking to a friend. Your story doesn’t have to be a monotone race to the finish line. Spice it up. Add some sparkle. Make sure your personality shines through. 
• It’s always about the story. Buyers pick up your book to be entertained. Regardless of how serious your story is, it should be presented in a way that makes the reader want to keep turning the page. 
• Every good story has a resolution. Good or bad, offer a resolution for each life conflict you introduce.
• As you share the final pieces of your story, use the end of your story to reflect on where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, and where you plan to go from there. Every relationship that ends can benefit from closure, and if the end of your story is not the end of your relationship with your reader, tell them where they can go to continue getting to know you.

Writing your autobiography is a courageous move, but who better to write your life story than you? If you have experiences that others will find interesting, share! You never know how your journey will impact someone else. 

If you’re serious about getting your story published, Selfpublishing.com has a team of publishing experts who can walk you through the book development process.

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Autobiography Topics: Create Your Life Story

Writing about yourself is probably the most difficult type of writing. It is easy to describe people, events, or phenomena around, but it is quite hard to look inside your own mind and heart and to express everything that you find there. Why do people need autobiographical writing? There are numerous reasons. Some people want to save their memories, and others want to show that they are suitable for a certain college or vacancy. Some of us simply need a way to share emotions and reveal hidden feelings with the help of writing. You can find more reasons in our guide on  how to write an autobiography .

Different types of autobiographies serve different purposes. In the article below, we’ll provide you with an autobiography topics list divided into several parts: autobiography ideas, memoir topics, autobiographical essay topics for students, and personal essay ideas. You’re welcome to use all these materials in order to create your own piece of writing.

Autobiography Ideas: Instructions and Creative Titles

An exhaustive autobiography covers your entire life, and there is no need to recommend particular topics. There is only one topic – you. However, we’ve decided to give you some instructions. In such a way, you will have a basis to start from. Don’t forget that your autobiography should be titled appropriately in order to draw the attention of potential readers. That is why we also recommend you to look through the list of creative autobiography title ideas.

The autobiography belongs to the category of creative writing. Consequently, there are no particular requirements or rules you should follow. Anyway, you may follow our instructions to facilitate the writing process. You should include these chapters in your autobiography:

• Early years
• Family members
• Teenage problems
• First work experience
• Important people
• Life-changing events
• Challenges you have faced

You can pick several points or include all of them – it doesn’t matter. Inspiration and your desire to write an autobiography are much more important. If you want a wide audience to be interested in your writing, you should create an interesting title. Here are some options to think about!

10 Inspiring Autobiography Title Examples

• Long Way to Myself
• Me & My Troubles
• Short Story of a Long Life
• Steps Forward and Steps Back
• Why Not, or How I Have Changed My Life
• Being Good in This Cruel World
• Why I Don’t Believe in Faith
• Decisions and Choices: What If?
• Trying to Make a Difference
• One, Two, Three: Fight With My Life

Memoir Topics: Share Priceless Memories

If you want to tell your readers about a certain period of your life, choose a genre of memoir. While an autobiography is the book of your entire life, a memoir is just one chapter. As a rule, a memoir is much shorter than an autobiography, so you’ll spend a lot less time writing it. Many famous people create memoirs to share the stories of their success or to let their fans learn more about true facts of their life. We highly recommend you to read several memoirs in order to find inspiration to compose your own.

If you can’t get inspired enough, payforwriting is here to help you! Pick one of these autobiography ideas and topics for a memoir and create a real masterpiece:

1. My month in Spain

Actually, you can write about any period (day, week, or year) and any country. Everything depends on your experience. Tell your readers how you got in this country, how you lived there, and what you have learned. Mention the peculiarities of the local life: food, weather, habits, etc. Such a memoir might be similar to a travel blog.

2. The person(s) who changed my life

Some people leave indelible marks in our memory. Unfortunately, those memories are not necessarily good. Still, we can learn important things even when we meet people who hurt us.

3. Unusual experience

Volunteering, travels, and festivals are bright and memorable events, so don’t hesitate to share your emotions with your readers. In addition, you will be able to read your own writings later and revive good memories.

4. Victory or failure

These topics are not aimed at drawing much attention, as people prefer to think about their own victories and failures. However, such memoirs might be good lessons to remember.

5. A life-changing conversation

Yes, that’s true! Even one conversation can make a difference. Words said at the right time by the right person are worth a dozen motivational books. If you had such an experience, don’t neglect the opportunity to share it.

Autobiographical Essay Topics for Students

The main purpose of the autobiographical essay is to show your personal qualities and skills that will impress an admissions board. Remember that this essay is not the same thing as a CV or resume. Admissions officers don’t need a list of your achievements and grades: they want to hear your personal voice and evaluate your personality. Choose one of the autobiography topics for college essays listed below and narrow your theme in the way you want.

• Important achievements
• Imaginary friend
• The first responsibility
• School teacher/mentor
• Siblings’ relationships
• Family traditions
• How you have solved your family issues
• How parents influenced your decisions about your future

Personality:

• My personal credo
• My greatest passion
• My inner demons
• My personal moral code
• My worst mistake
• What is the difference between faith and religion?
• Is lying necessary?
• Can morality exist without any religion?
• Is love more important than everything else?
• Should tolerance be limited?

Creative Autobiography Ideas to Write Personal Essays

This sub-type of autobiography is the most intimate one. We can’t compose a list of specified topics for you, as every person has a unique mix of experience, emotions, and moments that can be described in personal essays. However, we can give you a few tips on where you may find inspiration to create an excellent personal essay.

1. Open your heart

That might sound banal, but strong emotions are a really good source of inspiration for writers. Don’t be afraid of your feelings until you can control them.

2. Meet new people

New people bring new stories, and every story can be told. Our lives are just a small piece of the full picture. Look at the world from the perspective of other people, and you’ll be surprised.

3. Read books and watch movies

Good stories are often based on older good stories. Looking for inspiration in works of genius is normal. You don’t have to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel, right?

4. Read autobiographical stories

As we’ve mentioned before, many famous people write books about their lives. Don’t miss the chance to learn more about your idols and find new ideas for term paper writing help !

We are sure that every writer has his or her unique ways to find inspiration. Remember that the first sentence is the most difficult. Just make it!

Your life is full of emotions, impressions, and feelings that are worth sharing. Your experience can be helpful and interesting for a wide public. The most important thing is to present it in the right way. We hope that our autobiography sample and topics will serve you well. It doesn’t matter what autobiographical genre you choose. Just don’t be afraid of writing the first sentence!

A list of informal report topics you can find on Payforwriting.

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Looking for the perfect title for your hilarious life story? From “I Can’t Believe I Did That!” to “The Misadventures of an Awkward Human,” we’ve got you covered with some side-splitting autobiography title ideas. So, put on your reading glasses and get ready to chuckle as we explore the world of funny autobiography titles.

Table of Contents

– crafting the perfect punchline: hilarious autobiography title ideas, – unleash your inner comedian: playful and witty autobiography titles for your life story, – from awkward moments to side-splitting laughter: choosing the right funny autobiography title, – putting the “i” in wit: clever and creative autobiography title ideas, – laugh your way to the best seller list: how to choose a memorable and amusing autobiography title, concluding remarks.

When it comes to crafting the perfect punchline for your autobiography title, it’s all about balancing humor and insight. After all, your life story is full of unique moments, embarrassing mishaps, and laugh-out-loud anecdotes. So why not capture the essence of your life in a title that will have readers chuckling from the get-go?

Below are some hilariously clever autobiography title ideas that are sure to make your memoir stand out on the bookshelves. These titles not only capture the essence of your life story but also promise a good laugh for your readers. Whether you’re a natural-born comedian or just want to inject some humor into your autobiography, these title ideas will surely inspire you to craft the perfect punchline for your life story.

**Some Funny Autobiography Title Ideas:**

– “Life, Love, and Awkward Moments: The Chronicles of [Your Name]” – “Oops, I Did It Again: Tales of Triumphs and Fails” – “From Zero to Hero (Well, Kind of): The Misadventures of [Your Name]” – “Embarrassment is My Middle Name: A Memoir by [Your Name]” – “How to Survive Life with a Sense of Humor: Lessons from [Your Name]” – “The Perks of Being Clumsy: The Hilarious Life of [Your Name]”

So, you’ve decided to write your autobiography, but you want to infuse it with some of your natural humor and playfulness. After all, who says that life stories have to be serious and solemn all the time? If you’re looking for some funny autobiography title ideas that capture the spirit of your wit and charm, then you’ve come to the right place.

Here are some playful and witty autobiography title ideas to unleash your inner comedian:

• “Oops, I Did It Again: The Clumsy Chronicles of [Your Name]”
• “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of French Fries: A Fast Food Odyssey”
• “The Accidental Comedian: How I Stumbled Into Laughter”
• “From Awkward to Awesome: Embracing My Inner Nerd”

These funny autobiography title ideas are sure to bring a smile to your readers’ faces and set the tone for a lighthearted and entertaining journey through your life story. Remember, humor is the spice of life, so don’t be afraid to let your comedic genius shine through in your autobiography title.

When it comes to writing a funny autobiography, the title is the first thing that will make potential readers stop and take notice. A humorous title can pique the interest of readers and entice them to pick up the book and start flipping through the pages. However, coming up with the perfect title for your funny autobiography can be a daunting task. There are so many directions to take, and you want to make sure your title not only captures the essence of your story but also makes people laugh. Here are some tips to help you choose the right funny autobiography title that will have readers laughing from cover to cover.

First, think about the funniest moments in your life and how you can encapsulate them in a few words. Get creative and don’t be afraid to be a little cheeky. Utilize puns, wordplay, or references to pop culture that will make your title memorable and attention-grabbing. Consider using humor that is relatable, so potential readers can see themselves in your stories. Remember, the goal of a funny autobiography title is to make people laugh and want to dive into your book.

Another approach is to brainstorm a list of potential titles and then test them out on friends and family. See which ones generate the most laughs and which ones fall flat. Getting feedback can be invaluable in helping you choose the right funny autobiography title that will resonate with a broader audience. Once you’ve gathered some suggestions, use your gut instinct to determine which title captures the essence of your story while also being funny and engaging. Remember, the title sets the tone for the entire book, so it’s essential to choose one that perfectly encapsulates the humor and heart of your autobiography.

Ready to put the “I” in wit with a clever and creative autobiography title? Look no further, as we’ve got a list of funny autobiography title ideas that will make your life story stand out on the bookshelf.

When it comes to capturing the essence of your life in a title, it’s all about finding the perfect balance of humor, wit, and creativity. Whether you’re looking to tickle the funny bone of your readers or simply want to give them a glimpse into your unique personality, these autobiography title ideas are sure to do the trick.

Here are some funny autobiography title ideas to get your creative juices flowing :

• A Life Less Ordinary: Tales of a Quirky Misfit
• Awkwardly Ever After: My Hilariously Unfiltered Life Story
• Laughing My Way Through Life: The Chronicles of a Chronic Comedian
• From Zero to Hero: How I Accidentally Became a Legend
• Oops, I Did It Again: The Clumsy Confessions of a Serial Goofball

So, if you’re ready to add a dash of humor and creativity to your autobiography title, consider one of these funny and clever ideas to make your life story truly unforgettable.

So you’ve decided to write an autobiography and you want your book to stand out. One of the best ways to make a memorable impression on potential readers is to come up with a funny and amusing title for your life story. After all, laughter is the best medicine, and a humorous title can grab attention and leave a lasting impression. Here are some ideas to help you choose a title that will have readers laughing all the way to the best seller list.

When brainstorming funny autobiography title ideas, consider incorporating wordplay, puns, and clever humor. Think about the quirky and unique aspects of your life that you can play up in your title. You want something that will make people do a double-take and crack a smile. And remember, the key is to be catchy and memorable – something that will stick in people’s minds long after they’ve closed the book. To help get your creative juices flowing, here are a few funny autobiography title ideas to consider:

• “From Zero to Hero: The Accidental Adventures of a Socially Awkward Superstar”
• “Oops, I Did It Again: A Clumsy Confessional”
• “The Misadventures of a Serial Procrastinator: How I Survived by Not Getting Anything Done”
• “Dancing through Disaster: My Life as a Graceful Klutz”

Q: What are some funny autobiography titles ideas? A: “I Swear It’s All True: The Unbelievable Adventures of (Your Name)” Q: How about something with a pun? A: “Life’s a Joke: My Hilarious Journey to Success” Q: Can I incorporate a pop culture reference ? A: “From Awkward to Awesome: A Memoir by the Real-life Leslie Knope” Q: Any suggestions for a self-deprecating title? A: “Oops, I Did It Again: My Clumsy but Charmed Life” Q: How can I make my autobiography title stand out? A: “Banana Peels and Belly Laughs: The Riotous Ride of (Your Name)

In conclusion, autobiography titles don’t have to be all serious and boring. Inject some humor and creativity into your life story with these funny autobiography title ideas. Remember, life is too short to take everything so seriously, including the title of your own autobiography. So have fun with it, and let your personality shine through!

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How to Pick a Great Title and Cover Photo for Your Memoir

Your memoir is the story of your life, complete with all its twists, turns, ups, downs, surprises and triumphs. It’s an important book , both to you personally and to the friends and family who will read it in the years to come.

To celebrate the launch of the BookMaker - our unique in-house platform that we use to create all of our personalised biographies - we are opening up a free version of our questionnaire and book Cover Creator tool so that you can have make a start on putting your story together. 

That’s why it’s smart to spend some time thinking about the first things a reader will see when they pick up your book: the title and cover photo.

These two things together should sum up your story, while also inviting the reader to open the cover and dive into the narrative of your life. That’s no small job! So how can you go about selecting the perfect title and photograph to present your book to the world?

Whether your memoir is 5,000 words or 50,000, the title has to encapsulate it all. Here are some tips for making that happen:

Keep It Simple

It’s tempting to try to cram all the highlights from your memoir into your title. After all, you want to draw in your reader with all the most exciting parts of your story, right?

With a title, though, you should aim to capture the feel of your book without giving everything away. Keep your title relatively short, and focus it on a single concept or idea. StoryTerrace memoirs Reflections at 80, Born Different and Totally Driven are all great examples of titles that sum up a story without any risk of spoilers.

" When it comes to a title, the simplest and most obvious is always best, something that sums up the essence of your story and feels familiar to your loved ones. Much like the photo you choose for your front cover, the title will have often been with you throughout your life ...  " - StoryTerrace Editor Beth Williams

Match the Tone

What’s the tone of your memoir? Is your book about a life full of laughter, or is it about overcoming challenges? Will it make readers laugh or bring tears to their eyes?

The tone of your title should match the tone of your memoir, so that readers know what kind of journey they’re about to embark on. If your book is funny, make your title amusing too — but avoid a jokey title if your memoir is more serious or inspiring.

A Two-Parter?

You want your title to sound good, but you also want it to tell readers what to expect. Packing both into a short title can be a difficult task. So why not break your title in two?

Start with something punchy and short, then add a longer explanation. Patricia Coburn did this with her StoryTerrace memoir, Between Barbed Wire: Melodies of Survival & Songs of Forgiveness .

Find Inspiration

If you’re stuck for ideas, take a look at the titles of the books on your bookshelf. Which ones do you like the sound of? Jot them down and see if you can adapt them to fit your story.

Of course, when writing your memoirs with StoryTerrace, you don’t have to brainstorm alone! Ask your ghost writer to help you craft the perfect title.

Your Cover Image

Now that you’ve got your title, you need the perfect cover photo to accompany it. But how do you pick the right one from what might be hundreds of photographs on hand?

“ A great cover always starts with a meaningful photo. Often you will have loved and cherished this photo your whole life ...  ”

StoryTerrace Editor Beth Williams

Portrait or Landscape?

Most books are laid out in portrait rather than landscape; that is, they are typically taller than they are wide. Does this mean it’s always better to choose a portrait picture for the cover rather than a landscape one?

Yes and no. If you want your picture to occupy the entire cover, a portrait image is ideal, but landscape photographs can also be used. Designers can crop images, supplement them with other elements, or even wrap them around the entire cover.

So while it’s good to keep the orientation of your photo in mind, don’t worry too much if it’s not book-shaped. The most important thing is to make sure it’s evocative and high-quality.

A High-Quality Image

You want your chosen image to look great when reproduced in print. That means having a high resolution — a high number of pixels or Dots Per Inch (DPI). 600DPI is a good resolution to aim for.

That’s easy if you’re scanning in an old photograph  — just select a resolution of 600DPI or higher on your scanner. Some old digital photographs, on the other hand, might be too small or too low-resolution to look good on the cover of your book. These might be better off on one of the interior pages instead.

Action and Drama

Once you’ve narrowed down your selection to a few high-quality images. Great! Now you’ll want to pick one that is dramatic, interesting and lively.

If your cover image is a picture of you, you might consider choosing an image in which you’re laughing, or a picture taken on a particularly momentous day in your life. You might even select an old photo that evokes a feeling of happiness or nostalgia.

Particularly if looking through pictures of yourself, it can be difficult to “read” the mood of an image. Showing your shortlist of pictures to friends and family (or to your StoryTerrace ghost writer) can help you work out which one suits your memoir best.

Still stuck for ideas? Why not take a look at these inspirational covers , or take a look at your own bookshelf for some ideas of what looks good when it comes to a cover image.

Help Is at Hand

If your head is buzzing with ideas for great titles or cover photos for your memoir, great! But don’t worry if you’re still having trouble. You can bounce ideas off your StoryTerrace ghost writer or consult the design team at StoryTerrace for help with selecting an outstanding cover photo.

In fact, StoryTerrace is here to help you at every stage of the memoir-writing process. Our goal is to help you put your story into a book that you can be proud of — title and cover image included.

If you would like to make a start on your life story, you can create a free account on our BookMaker platform, to access our life story questionnaire and design your very own book cover - for free!

The link to sign up for free: www.storyterrace.com/free-questionnaire 

Are you thinking about writing your memoirs? Do you already have some ideas? Get in touch to arrange a chat with our friendly team to see how we can help. Or  join our mailing list for more expert guidance from our in-house team!

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50 Best Autobiographies of All Time

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

Top new autobiography books, best autobiographies of all time, most famous autobiographies, inspiring autobiographies, must-read autobiographies for athletes, top autobiographies about politics, good autobiographies about science.

Autobiographies allow us to experience other people’s lives from their own perspectives.

It can be really powerful to see the ways other people describe their own lives, especially when those people are inspiring figures or well-known celebrities.

So, what are some great autobiographies you can read?

This article will give you 50 fantastic autobiographies to add to your reading list across several categories: sports, politics, science, and more.

Let’s start our list with recent releases. Here are some great autobiographies that were published within the past five years.

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (2020)

In this powerful autobiography, President Barack Obama takes us on the journey that led to his presidency. He describes his time in the White House and how he handled issues like the global financial crisis and Operation Neptune’s Spear.

2. All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King (2021)

Billie Jean King writes about how she became the tennis legend she is today, with 39 Grand Slam titles and six years as the top-ranked female tennis player in the world. She incorporates her insights on leadership, activism, love, happiness, and more.

3. Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman (2022)

Alan Rickman, an actor famous for his roles in movies like Die Hard, Harry Potter, and many more, wrote these diaries from 1993 to 2016. These diaries are a rare peek into his inner world and all his real life stories from that time period.

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (2022)

Jennette McCurdy, famous for playing Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon show iCarly, writes about her troubled relationship with her mother and how that dictated her choices until her mom passed away. She writes about her early life, her mental health, her acting career, and her struggle for independence.

5. Finding Me by Viola Davis (2022)

Famous actress Viola Davis writes about how she built her successful career and how she grounded herself in self-love and radical honesty. Her writing is intimate, personal, and moving.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

6. Spare by Prince Harry (2023)

Prince Harry tells the world about the loss of his mother, his time in the British Army, his relationship with Meghan Markle, and the tensions he’s faced with his older brother, the heir. Spare is raw and often heart-wrenching.

7. Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music by Henry Threadgill (2023)

Henry Threadgill, a Pulitzer Prize-winning saxophonist, flutist, and composer, writes about his childhood in Chicago in the 1960s, his service in Vietnam, and his devotion to the art of jazz music.

Now it’s time to turn to the classics. Let’s look at some famous autobiographies that have truly stood the test of time.

8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

Maya Angelou writes about her childhood from age 3 to 16. She underwent many traumatic experiences, including racism and sexual assault, but she overcame those hardships to become one of the greatest American poets of all time. 

The Collected Autobiographies continues her story if I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings leaves you hungry for more.

9. Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez (1993)

Luis J. Rodriguez writes about growing up immersed in L.A. gang culture. In the 1990s, Always Running was one of the most frequently banned books in the U.S. because of its graphic content and daring stance on police brutality.

10. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (1964)

Famous American writer Ernest Hemingway describes his experiences in Paris in the 1920s. He writes about his first wife Hadley, his son Jack, and his early experiments with the craft of writing.

11. An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (1977)

Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, invented some of the world’s most famous detectives, such as Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Her autobiography, published after her death, is considered by some to be one of her greatest literary masterpieces.

12. Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan (2004)

Award-winning musician Bob Dylan writes about his life and music in this famous autobiography. However, it’s worth mentioning that this book has been controversial for accusations of plagiarism, so read with discretion.

13. Bare by George Michael (1990)

George Michael, the lead singer of Wham!, writes about his rise to stardom. The people who knew George describe what happened behind the scenes, providing even deeper insight into what he was really like, not just as a performer but also as a person.

Many autobiographies have topped bestseller lists and even become household names. Here are some famous autobiographies that millions of people have read.

14. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl hiding from Nazi persecution throughout the Holocaust, tells her story in this heartbreaking diary. The Diary of a Young Girl is an absolute must-read if you haven’t read it already.

15. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 by Mark Twain (2010)

Mark Twain completed his autobiography by 1910 but asked that it not be published for another 100 years. In 2010, when it was finally published, it became an instant New York Times bestseller that provides an intimate portrait of this famous author’s experiences.

16. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X (1965)

Malcolm X was one of the most famous figures of the American civil rights movement. Alex Haley, an esteemed contributor to Reader’s Digest , compiled this autobiography using interviews and excerpts of Malcolm X’s writing.

17. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (1845)

Frederick Douglass, an esteemed abolitionist and orator, chronicles his life story as a former slave in this vivid autobiographical account. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is widely considered one of the best autobiographies of all time.

18. Just Kids by Patti Smith (2010)

Artist Patti Smith writes about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who later passed away due to AIDS. The book addresses sexuality, politics, and artistic expression in a moving and evocative way.

19. Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash (1997)

Johnny Cash is a famous American musician, known for songs like “Folsom Prison Blues.” In this definitive biography, he writes about his spirituality, memories, and relationships.

20. Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca (1984)

Lee Iacocca, the son of Italian immigrants, became the president of Ford Motor Company and also helped Chrysler turn its fate around. His book tells us, in his own words, how he faced obstacles with integrity and grit.

If you’re looking for inspiration to help you change your life or make a difference in the world, reading an autobiography can be a great place to start. Many people have done incredible things that are sure to motivate you.

Here are some great examples of inspiring autobiographies.

21. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (2013)

The Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai for defending the right for Pakistani girls to get an education. Now, she’s one of the most courageous and inspiring figures in the world, and her bestselling memoir describes her journey.

22. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (1946)

Paramahansa Yogananda is the man most often credited with making yoga popular in the U.S. In Autobiography of a Yogi, he writes about his life story as well as his life lessons for readers who want to learn about yoga and finding inner peace.

23. The Autobiography of Gucci Mane by Gucci Mane (2017)

Gucci Mane, a prolific trap and hip-hop artist, started writing this memoir while incarcerated. His autobiography tells us about his childhood in Alabama, living on the streets in Atlanta, and his experience making music while overcoming obstacles.

24. Living for Change: An Autobiography by Grace Lee Boggs (1998)

Grace Lee Boggs is a human rights activist who never stopped fighting for a more just society. She writes about how she dedicated her life to her beliefs and helped make the world a fairer place.

25. The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas K. Gandhi (1925)

Mahatma Gandhi, famous for his civil disobedience campaigns, wrote this autobiography in weekly installments, which he published in his journal Navjivan. Now, the completed book has been named one of the “100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.”

26. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (1902)

As a young child who was both blind and deaf, Helen Keller had no way to communicate with the world. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her learn how to rise above her disabilities. This compassionate memoir provides hope, courage, and faith for all of us.

27. Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock (2017)

Janet Mock is an award-winning writer, director, and producer, as well as a trans rights advocate. In this inspiring memoir, she writes about what she learned in her twenties and how she found her path.

28. Becoming by Michelle Obama (2018)

Former first lady Michelle Obama writes about her extraordinary life in this inspirational memoir. Becoming is structured in three parts: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More. She writes about her childhood growing up in Chicago, her relationship with her husband Barack Obama, and their experiences serving in the White House.

It’s not easy to become a record-breaking athlete. It takes a lot of training, grit, and determination.

Many world-famous athletes have written autobiographies explaining how they reached such high levels of accomplishment in their fields. Here are a few great books by successful athletes.

29. Flying Free: My Victory Over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team by Cecilia Aragon (2020)

Cecilia Aragon started out as a meek, bullied young girl, then rose to become one of the most acclaimed female aerobatic pilots of all time. She writes about her experience joining the U.S. aerobatic team and her lifelong love of math.

30. Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles (2016)

Simone Biles is an American gymnast who’s won seven Olympic medals. In Courage to Soar , she talks about how she overcame obstacles and trained incessantly to become the greatest in her sport.

31. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (2009)

Andre Agassi was raised to be a tennis champion from a young age by his exacting father. Though Agassi dominated on the court, he often resented the sport in his personal life, and Open documents his complicated feelings throughout his career.

32. The Game by Ken Dryden (1983)

The Game , which was named one of the “Top 10 Sports Books of All Time” by Sports Illustrated , tells the story of Ken Dryden, a legendary Canadian hockey player. He writes about his fellow players, his life on the road, and his worldview both on and off the ice.

33. Drive: The Story of My Life by Larry Bird (1989)

Larry Bird, who has won three NBA MVP awards, has often been viewed as one of the most private and mysterious basketball legends. In Drive, he reveals all the private feelings that he rarely shared publicly, including the story behind his failed marriage and his decision to transfer schools.

34. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (2015)

William Finnegan started surfing as a young child and went on to chase waves around the world: Australia, Asia, Africa, and more. His autobiography reads almost like an adventure story, showing how he mastered the art of surfing.

35. I Always Wanted to Be Somebody by Althea Gibson (1958)

Althea Gibson was the first African American tennis player to win at Wimbledon. Her autobiography explains how she triumphed over a difficult childhood to achieve athletic success.

36. Strongman: My Story by Eddie Hall (2017)

Eddie “The Beast” Hall is a British strongman who won the World’s Strongest Man competition. He writes about the training, nutrition, and dedication required to make it as a professional strongman.

Many politicians write autobiographies describing the ways their leadership impacted their communities.

Here are some famous political autobiographies, which might be well worth a read.  

37. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

Nelson Mandela, the first Black president of South Africa, tells his life story in Long Walk to Freedom. He writes about his experiences growing up, training as a lawyer, becoming an anti-apartheid activist, and getting sentenced to life in prison.

38. Madam Secretary: A Memoir by Madeleine Albright (2003)

Madam Secretary tells the story of Madeleine Albright, who served as U.S. Secretary of State during Bill Clinton’s presidency. She writes about how she approached peace in the Middle East, NATO’s interventions abroad, and many other prominent global affairs issues.

39. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (2013)

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, writes about growing up in a low-income Puerto Rican immigrant family and how her childhood shaped her rise to success. This inspiring story will remind you that anyone with enough dedication can achieve their dreams.

40. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin (1909)

Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography in the 1770s–1790s, but it wasn’t published until 1909. Now you can read about the life of one of America’s Founding Fathers and his moral views on the society he lived in.

41. An Autobiography by Jawaharlal Nehru (1936)

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, wrote this book while in prison from 1934–1935. He writes about his vision for modern India and his views on both history and the present.

42. Daughter of the East: An Autobiography by Benazir Bhutto (1988)

Benazir Bhutto’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was a prime minister of Pakistan who was executed in 1979. In Daughter of the East, Benazir Bhutto writes about how she took up her father’s mantle and began leading the Pakistan People’s Party.

43. The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (2019)

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris writes about her upbringing in an immigrant family in California, her passion for justice, and her rise to one of the highest leadership roles in the U.S. She also reckons with the truths that define her country and how we can face them.

Finally, let’s finish our list with some autobiographies written by incredible scientists. These people made discoveries that changed the world, and it’s fascinating to hear about the life events that led them to those discoveries.

44. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson (1968)

James Watson writes about how he and his partner Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA. This tremendous breakthrough won them a Nobel Prize and revolutionized the future of biology.

45. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman (1985)

In this witty and lighthearted autobiography, Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, recounts his life in physics. His voice shines through in this book, which is simultaneously eccentric, funny, and brilliant.

46. My Brief History by Stephen Hawking (2013)

Stephen Hawking writes about how he triumphed over Lou Gehrig’s Disease to become one of the most famous scientists of all time. He also explains his breakthrough research into black holes and quantum gravity.

47. Letters from the Field, 1925–1975 by Margaret Mead (1977)

Margaret Mead sent letters to her family and friends while she was conducting field research in Samoa, New Guinea, Bali, and more. These smart, lyrical, and insightful letters show us the inner world of a wonderful scientist.

48. Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe: A Tribute to Five Decades of Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation by Jane Goodall (2013)

Dr. Jane Goodall tells us about her groundbreaking studies of chimpanzee behavior and her philanthropic work across five decades. Photos accompany her writing to make this book come to life. 

49. An Appetite for Wonder: The Makings of a Scientist by Richard Dawkins (2013)

Richard Dawkins, a renowned evolutionary biologist, writes about his personal evolution as a scientist. An Appetite for Wonder covers his childhood in colonial Kenya, his education at Oxford, and his work championing a gene-centered perspective on evolution.

50. On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks (2015)

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a British neurologist who authored many bestselling books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. In On the Move , he writes about his childhood, his experience coming out as a gay man, his drug addiction, and many more personal experiences in a moving and incisive way.

There you have it—our picks for the top autobiographies of all time.

Good luck, and happy reading!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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How to structure an autobiography to make it readable

Writing your autobiography might feel like it should be the most intuitive thing you’ll ever do. You lived through those experiences, and you know those stories so well. And yet, far too many would-be autobiography writers fall at the first hurdle. Even though they know broadly what they want to say, they never quite work out what to write about in an autobiography.

So, in this article, I want to give you the resources and insight you need to write an autobiography or biography. You’ll see how getting the structure of an autobiography right is key to telling your story effectively and interestingly.

How do you know what to write about in an autobiography? The accumulated stories of your life could probably fill a dozen books. So how do you cram it all into a single volume?

If you want to write a book that focusses in greater detail on a few elements of your life, you should write a memoir . From collections of stories about family or work to stories of struggle and survival, the memoir is the perfect vehicle for books with a smaller remit.

But in this article, we’re focussing on how to write an interesting autobiography, which is a more detailed process. We’re going to break it down into three parts:

• What to write about in an autobiography

The structure of a biography or autobiography

• How to write an interesting autobiography

The good news is that when you know what to write about in an autobiography, it will help you establish a lot about the structure of your autobiography. And, when you’ve got those two things ticked off, you’ll find it significantly easier to write an interesting autobiography.  

How do you decide what to write about in an autobiography?

Start by making a long list of the things you could write about in your autobiography. Make your list roughly chronological so that you can see how the incidents connect in your personal timeline. Write anything and everything down at this stage.

I suggest you keep working on your list for several weeks. The more you think about it, and the more often you return to it, the easier it will be to extract every possible story you might want to tell. When you have a comprehensive list, I’d leave it a little longer before you take your next step. Go back to your list days (or even weeks) later and look for clues as to how you can tell your story:

• See if there are there any common themes that bind some of your stories together. It’s easier to build a book if the stories naturally coalesce around a single idea or theme.
• Think about your life’s journey and look for narrative threads that help you tell that story.
• Look for any stories that give the most authentic sense of who you are, and how you want to be remembered.
• Look for – and remove – any stories that don’t feel interesting or relevant.

It’s not just a question of what to write about in an autobiography, you need to consider what not to write about

Given that a biography or autobiography encompasses a whole lifetime of activities, you need to decide what makes the grade in your story and what doesn’t. Knowing who’s going to read your book will help you make the right decisions.

Are you writing your book for family and friends? For a business audience? For a cohort of people who have encountered similar life issues? Keep that audience in mind at all times? Write with them in mind.

If you’re not sure what deserves a place in your autobiography, just picture your readers and ask yourself these questions:

Will this part of my story genuinely interest my readers?

Does this material add anything meaningful to the story I’m telling?

Am I comfortable telling this part of my story?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ it doesn’t belong in your book.

Distilling your life into the stories that will survive you

If you’re struggling to home in on the events you want to focus on in your autobiography, it might help you to remember that this book will survive you.

The stories you tell will still be there for people to read about years from now. That can help you to home in on the things that really matter; the things that will define the life you’ve lived.

Some people find the easiest way to distil their life story into a cohesive narrative is to write more than they need, and edit out material at the end of the process. That takes a bit more work, but when you can see the whole story written down, it’s generally easier to identify what really belongs in your book, and what doesn’t.  

Think carefully about the audience for your book

This question of what to write about in an autobiography gets easier the closer you get to your intended audience.  

Run though that list of stories for possible inclusion in your book and see if any of them jump out as being particularly interesting or appropriate for your audience. Equally, there may be some stories that will need to justify their inclusion. For example,

• Will your family be interested in lots of stories from your work life?
• Will a wider audience of people reading your survival-against-the-odds story want to know about your life now? Perhaps, if that gives them hope for their own future.
• Will your children want to know about some of your less savoury stories? They might well do (when they reach an appropriate age) if you present them in a way that will amuse and / or give them the benefit of your reflections on those events.
• Are you comfortable telling certain stories if they’re controversial in your family? Will telling them pour oil on troubled waters or make matters worse?

Don’t just think about what your readers will be interested in now, think about what might interest them in the future. For example, if you’re writing an autobiography for your children (or grandchildren) there will be insights, stories and reflections that will mean more to them as time passes.

If I were writing my autobiography for my (now) teenage children, I know they’d be interested to read my stories of their childhood escapades. And, as time goes on, and they grow up and potentially have their own children, they’ll probably be even more interested to read about my reflections on being a parent.

In other words, there will be a point when your experiences and theirs match. When what you have to say on any given subject might suddenly feel very relevant. So, try and write an autobiography that will stay relevant to your audience.

If you take nothing else from this article, the single most important lesson for how to write an interesting autobiography is this:

Your autobiography can – and should – obey many of the same rules as fiction.

Just because you’re telling a real story, as opposed to a work of fiction, the same elements of structure, tension and release, and story arc will make your book richer and more engaging.

Let’s discuss the actual section-by-section, chapter-by-chapter structure of your book.

When we talk about structure in books, we’re essentially talking about giving your book a beginning, a middle and an end, and about the chapters that fit within that structure.

We’re also talking about making sure your book progresses organically from event to event. Your reader needs to feel like your book is heading somewhere; it flows.

Try a three-act structure

You certainly don’t have to stick to some rigid structure, but it can help to think of your story like a three-act drama. An example of a simple three-act structure for a biography or autobiography would comprise a beginning, concentrating on the early years of your life, a middle featuring the bulk of the events you want to cover, and an end which brings all of the threads of the story together.

You certainly don’t have to divide your book into three parts. But having the idea of a three-act structure in mind can help you to simplify your storytelling.

Remember that the structure could be thematic, rather than chronological. For example, the introductory stage could be meeting the love of your life, the body of the book could be about your life together, and the concluding section could focus on how your family has grown.

Or, the introductory chapter could focus on the emergence of a great difficulty in your life. The second section would focus on your dealing with it. The third section could illustrate how you overcame it and what you learnt from it.

Break the structure

One of the best things about the ‘rules’ governing the structure of a biography or autobiography is that they are there to be broken…

Just because you adopt a three-act structure, it doesn’t mean you have to start your autobiography at the beginning. It can be very effective – and dramatically justified – to start your story at the end.

Or, you can apply a structure, but still break it up with interludes, diversions, and lists that add supplementary information or insights. A couple of examples:

In a book for a client who had travelled extensively, we devised funny little Trip Advisor style summaries of some of her travel destinations, and interspersed them throughout the book.

A fan of the weird and uncanny who had collected stories of some of life’s stranger happenings included them as an interlude in his book, giving readers enough information to go and pursue their own research into any of the stories that interested them.

Take the reader on a journey

Great books – whether they’re narrative non-fiction or fiction – take their readers on a journey. So, rather than simply chronicling the events of your life, you can find a narrative thread to resemble a hero’s journey narrative, or other dramatic form.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can do that…

Find the thread that binds your story together

Make a chronological list of the major (and interesting or exciting) events of your life. Look at your list and ask some questions to help you find the thread that binds your story together:

• How did you get from your childhood to where you are now?
• What were the turning points or moments of crisis along the way?
• Who were the people who helped or hindered you in your journey?
• What are the things in your past that suggested where you were going in the future?
• How did you realise your childhood or youthful dreams?
• How did you overcome a significant adversity in life?

Finding an appropriate story thread makes writing your autobiography significantly easier. You give yourself a set up, a complication or crisis, and a resolution – all essential components of an interesting and well-told story.

One of the hardest parts of writing an autobiography for many people is having far too much information to include and not knowing what to exclude. Working this way helps you to eliminate all of the material that doesn’t contribute to the main storyline.

Think of it like telling the story of a football match that focusses on the actions of a single player. Your reader would still understand the outcome of the match. They’ll still understand how that player interacted with their teammates, and came into conflict with other players. They won’t get a full match report, but they will get a very focussed story of the game from one angle.

Use your chapters to help you write an interesting autobiography

The way you divide your story into chapters is another way of injecting interest into your autobiography. Whether using cliffhangers to keep readers hanging on to see what happens next, or using chapter breaks to signal changes in tone, your chapters are a useful resource.

In terms of structure, remember that each chapter should be like a scene in a film. They should advance your story in some way, and tell a self-contained piece of the story. If you’re telling a part of the story that requires more space than other parts of your story consider splitting your chapter at a critical moment to create your dramatic cliffhanger ending.

You can do interesting things to the structure of your book with your use of chapters. An incredibly short chapter could be an amusing way of skipping over a part of your story that you don’t want to tell, but that you know people are expecting to read about, e.g.

Reader, I married him.

Spoiler alert. It went really badly, really quickly!

Have fun with your chapters. From the way you name them, to the quotes you use to add interest, to the way you format them, all these things can help make your autobiography more interesting and distinctive.

If you’d like to know more, have a look at this article on chapters , covering the optimal length of chapters, when to use chapter breaks, and the issue of how you can use chapters to help you structure your biography or autobiography.

How to write an interesting autobiography? Remember that the principles of telling a traditional story apply

There’s plenty more you can do to keep things interesting for your readers. Remember that, just like fiction, a compelling autobiography will:

Provide good introductions for all the major characters

You don’t have to talk about everyone you reference in depth, but when it comes to the key players in your life story, make sure you introduce them properly.

Hinge on moments of tension and release

This is the basis of all good drama. Even if you have not lived a life of ‘high drama’ that doesn’t mean dramatic, momentous, stressful, or important things haven’t happened to you. And these are all potential sources of drama.

Be truthful

It’s easy to exaggerate our achievements and nobody will object to you using a bit of dramatic license now and then, However, the more honest and truthful your book is, the more powerful it will be.  

Tie it all up at the end

In this article, we’ve covered the three areas of 1) what to write about in an autobiography, 2) the structure of a biography or autobiography, and 3) how to write an interesting autobiography. We introduced the subject in broad terms, then drilled down into more detail on each subject, much like you might do in your autobiography.

By this stage, you’ll have a better understanding of how you can write your autobiography in a way that does justice to the life you’ve lived. I hope you find that, as a result, writing your autobiography feels more intuitive.

I’m here to help you edit your autobiography , or you can hire me as a writing mentor . Or, if you’d like me to ghostwrite your life story for you, book a ghostwriting consultation and we’ll talk it over…

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Book Title Generator

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How to come up with book title ideas

Need an original book title, and fast? We got you. Here are 8 ways to come up with book title ideas. 

1. Start free writing to find keywords

Write absolutely anything that comes into your head: words, phrases, names, places, adjectives — the works. You’ll be surprised how much workable content comes out from such a strange exercise.

2. Experiment with word patterns

Obviously, we’re not advocating plagiarism, but try playing around with formats like:

“The _____ of _______”

“______ and the _____”

These will work for certain genres, though they are by no means the only patterns you can play around with. Have you noticed how many blockbuster thrillers these days feature the word “woman” or “ girl” somewhere in the title?

3. Draw inspiration from your characters 

If your central character has a quirky name or a title (like Doctor or Detective) you can definitely incorporate this into your book title. Just look at Jane Eyre, Percy Jackson, or Harry Potter, for instance — working with one or more or your characters’ names is a surefire way to get some title ideas down. Equally, you can add a little detail, like Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, to add a little color to a name and make it title-worthy.

4. Keep your setting in mind

Is your book set somewhere particularly interesting or significant? Even if your title isn’t just where the action takes place (like Middlemarch by George Eliot), it’s something to have in the back of your mind. You can include other details, like The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum or Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, to give your readers a sense of action and character, as well as setting (which tend to be linked).

5. Look for book title ideas in famous phrases 

Think Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird here — this is a central symbol and significant piece of dialogue in the novel. It’s enigmatic (what does it even mean? Is it a warning? An instruction?) and makes us really sit up when these words appear in the text itself. Try and think of your inspiration for writing your book or sum up your central theme in a few words, and see if these inspire anything.

6. Analyze the book titles of other books

You might be surprised at how many books refer to other works in their titles ( The Fault in Our Stars by John Green comes from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men takes its inspiration from a Robert Burns poem). Going this route allows authors to use an already beautiful and poetic turn of phrase that alludes to a theme in their own book. From Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials , so many books have used this technique that might also work for you.

7. Don’t forget the subtitle

In non-fiction publishing, there’s a trend of evocative or abstract titles, followed by a subtitle that communicates the content (and is packed with delicious keywords that the Amazon search engine can’t resist). This is also another way to get around long titles — and to add a little panache to an otherwise dry subject matter. In the United States, it’s also quite common to have “A Novel” as a subtitle (if, you know, it’s a novel). In the United Kingdom, this practice is much rarer.

8. Generate a book name through a book title generator

If you’ve gone through all of the above and are still wringing out your brain trying to come up with the golden formula — fear not! There are other ways to get the cogs whirring and inspiration brewing, such as title generators.

And speaking of cogs whirring, let us present you with the...

15 best book titles of all time

Witty, eye-catching, memorable — these famous book titles have it all. Without further ado, here are 15 best book titles you can take inspiration from.

• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
• The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Looking for even more story title ideas?

If you’re agonizing over your book title, you’re not alone! Some of the best book titles today emerged only after much teeth gnashing. The Sun Also Rises was once titled Fiesta ; Pride and Prejudice was once First Impressions . Then there was F. Scott Fitzgerald, who reportedly took forever to think of a good title. He ultimately discarded a dozen ( Gold-Hatted Gatsby , The High-Bouncing Lover , and Trimalchio in West Egg included) before reluctantly picking The Great Gatsby .

So it’s tough out there for a novelist, which is why we built this generator: to try and give you some inspiration. Any of the titles that you score through it are yours to use. We’d be even more delighted if you dropped us the success story at [email protected] ! If you find that you need even more of a spark beyond our generator, the Internet’s got you covered. Here are some of our other favorite generators on the web:

Fantasy Book Title Generators : Fantasy Name Generator , Serendipity: Fantasy Novel Titles

• Sci-Fi Novel Title Generators : Book Title Creator , Story Title Generator

Romance Book Title Generators : Romance Title Generator

Crime Book Title Generators : Tara Sparling’s Crime Thriller Titles , Ruddenberg’s Generator

Mystery Novel Title Generators : The Generator .

Or if you think that generators are fun and all — but that you’d rather create your own book title? Great 👍 Kick off with this post, which is all about how to choose your book title . And once you've got the words down, make sure you capitalize your title correctly .

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Tips and Examples to Create Catchy Titles and Get More Readers

An attractive title can trigger reader response, as your title is a snapshot of what to expect in your essay or book. Catchy titles for essays, newsletters, articles, blogs, science projects and autobiographies have a big effect on your readership.

Creative and tricky titles catch the attention of the readers. To fulfill the expectations of the readers, you should also have good content in your essay, article, or newsletter. Here are some examples of catchy titles in different areas of writing. Pay attention while reading the following titles and watch which titles grab your attention.

Science projects

School going children are often interested in science fair projects. A title in the ‘question form’ always arouses curiosity of the reader to know more.

Attractive Titles for Science Projects

~ How do Mosquitoes Breed ~ How to Make an Egg Float ~ Tornado in a Bottle ~ Does Music Affect Plant Growth ~ Why Does the Cow Keep Chewing Cud? ~ Physics of Baseball

Creating unusual titles for essays is almost same as creating attractive titles for science projects. Essay writing is an art but title writing also requires skills.

Good Titles for Essays

~ Three Ways in Which Chemistry is Related to Your Life ~ Importance of Media ~ Bad Effects of High Population ~ Ways to Save Money ~ Is Praying Beneficial ~ Global Warming and Deforestation ~ Pros and Cons of Zoos ~ Bilingual Education in School ~ Living Without Television ~ How Much is Too Much Homework ~ Mobile Phones – Necessity or Nuisance

Impressive Titles for Articles

~ Why is the Sky Blue ~ Why is the Ocean Salty ~ Why Am I Always Hungry ~ Am I Overweight ~ Why Do Dogs Eat Grass ~ Side Effects of Fish Oil ~ Advantages of Internet Banking ~ What Women Want from Men ~ How to be a Good Husband ~ Rioja – Spain’s Great Wine

Newsletters

One of the most common naming techniques used by people is using the name of your niche in your newsletter. This explains what the content is about. The target market also plays an important role. Some names are creative, catchy and easy to remember. The risk in such names is that the audience can’t understand what your newsletter is about.

Appealing Titles for Newsletters

~ Affiliate Marketers Weekly ~ Pet Lovers Tips & Trends ~ Christians Weekly Talks ~ Work at Home Moms ~ Blue Velvet Times ~ Zapping Tides ~ Daily Bread

These days, blogging is quite common. You can express and share your thoughts through your blog. You can even earn a lot of money through advertisements; but for that your blog should have good and authentic content. A good title can definitely bring more visitors. Blog name should be readable and memorable. One should find it easy to spell and pronounce. It should be short and obviously unique. Here are a few examples of good blog-titles.

Nice Titles for Blogs

~ Mind Salad ~ Slow Turtle ~ Fresh Kites ~ Thanks a Lot ~ Daily Insanity ~ Born Confused ~ Death Valley ~ Short Circuit ~ Here Comes da Pain ~ We Regret To Inform U ~ Caffeine in My Brain

Autobiographies

Autobiographies of world-famous personalities are read by people with curiosity. They don’t need any introduction. In fact, a simple title is enough for a reader to pick up the book. Some autobiography titles are symbolic, revealing the facts in the life of the person.

Perfect Titles for Autobiographies

~ Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, 1998 ~ Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1869 ~ Helen Keller, The Story of My Life, 1903 ~ Mark Twain, Mark Twain’s Autobiography, Posthumous, 1907 ~ Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), 1925 ~ Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1927 and 1929 ~ Nirad C. Chaudhuri, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, 1951

~ Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969 ~ Ronald Reagan, An American Life, 1990 ~ Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom, 1995 ~ Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, 1996 ~ A P J Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire, 1999 ~ Craig Thompson, Blankets, 2003 ~ Chelsea Handler, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, 2005 ~ Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries, 2007 ~ Fidel Castro, My Life – A Spoken Autobiography, 2006 ~ Eminem, The Way I am, 2008

Writing Captivating and Creative Titles

The article title or the newsletter title is the key to getting people to open up and read your article. Catchy titles for science projects can make the reader enthusiastic. A good title sums up what the essay is all about. With the help of a nice title, you can influence a book buyer to buy your book. People do judge the book by its cover. Without an attractive title, the rest of your words may be in vain.

Splendid subject matter

~ For writing impressive titles, you should first take into consideration the subject matter, how you are going to argue, etc. If you have chosen one word, then you should look for the synonyms; as you may get a catchier word than the original word you’ve chosen.

Crisp title

~ Your title should not be either too long or too short. Don’t cram too much information into the title. Re-read your title aloud and check whether it sounds like a paragraph, cut out some words to make it as concise as possible. The title should sound catchy.

~ Being specific will make your reader pay more attention to your articles, essays or newsletters. The title should reflect the things which the audience is looking for.

Target audience

~ Determine your audience and then decide on a title. For writing a better title, you should put yourself in the reader’s shoes.

~ You can then try puns or play on words which can give your title a clever element as long as they’re not overly cheesy.

Imitating famous titles

~ You may try imitating any famous TV show title or select a phrase from any famous song which can work as a catchy title.

Simple words

~ You should avoid difficult to pronounce words in your title. The language should be simple.

If your articles or essays are on the Internet, title plays a major role in the whole phenomenon. By using title as a part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, you can cover the top 10, top 20 and top 30 results to increase your on-line exposure. Writing attention-seeking titles involves imagination and creativity. Skillfully designed titles lure people into clicking. These days, software that generate random albeit super catchy titles for articles that are bound to make people click, are available. You can enter subjects to generate titles related to them. So, generating attractive titles is no big problem.

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