Most people think writing an autobiography is about sitting down to document their entire life from birth to date.
That’s false.
Your autobiography isn’t just a timeline of events — it’s a story about who you are, what shaped you, and why it matters.
And if you’re wondering “But do I even have a story worth telling?” — the answer is yes. You just need the right approach to uncover it.
Why write an autobiography? (And who actually does?)
Most people assume autobiographies are only for celebrities, historical figures, or people with extraordinary lives. But that’s not true. Everyone has a story worth telling.
And more people than ever are writing autobiographies—because it’s not just about what happened in your life, but how you interpret it, what you learned, and how others can benefit from your journey.
The growing popularity of autobiographies
The numbers don’t lie:
✅ The Biographies & Autobiographies category in the UK generated £120.6 million in 2023—the highest in 15 years.
âś… Nearly 400 celebrity autobiographies were published in 2023 alone.
âś… 76% of modern authors now choose to self-publish, making it easier than ever to share your story.
Why the surge? Because personal branding and storytelling matter more than ever, and people are realizing that their life experiences—big or small—can make an impact.
The different types of autobiographies
Not all autobiographies follow the same format. Depending on your purpose and style, you might choose:
📖 Traditional autobiography → Covers your entire life in chronological order.
📖 Memoir → Focuses on one period of your life, usually centered around a theme.
📖 Short autobiography → A condensed version of your life story, often used for essays or personal branding.
📖 Autobiographical essay → A focused, shorter piece, often written for academic or personal reflection.
📖 Fictional autobiography → Inspired by your life but told through a fictionalized lens (e.g., Jack Kerouac’s On the Road).
Choosing the right format makes a huge difference in how your story resonates with readers.
Let’s now break down autobiographical writing step-by-step.
Step 1: Define your purpose
Before you write a single word, answer one question:
Why are you writing this autobiography?
Your purpose determines everything—your structure, your tone, and even how much personal information from your life experience you include. Without a clear “why,” you’ll end up with a collection of stories that lack direction.
Here are the most common reasons people write autobiographies:
✔️ Personal reflection → You want to make sense of your journey, reflect on past experiences, and document your growth. This is often a private endeavor but can still lead to a published book.
✔️ Legacy building → You want to leave behind something meaningful for your children, grandchildren, or future generations.
✔️ Brand building → You’re a founder, executive, or professional looking to use your life story to establish credibility and attract opportunities.
✔️ Advocacy and impact → You’ve overcome struggles or championed a cause and want your story to inspire change.
Each of these purposes shapes what you include and how you tell it.
A book meant for your family will have a different tone than a book meant to position you as a thought leader.
Get clear on your why first. Everything else will follow.
Step 2: Outline your story (But loosely)
A mistake most people make is witing their autobiography in exact chronological order.
Nobody needs a play-by-play of your early childhood unless it directly ties into the bigger theme of your story. The best autobiographies aren’t just timelines, but structured stories with clear narrative arcs, tension, and transformation.
Instead of listing out your life year by year, focus on the defining moments that shaped who you are today.
Here’s how to structure your outline:
✔️ Defining moments → What are the key events that changed the course of your life? Think of moments of struggle, triumph, or realization.
✔️ Lessons learned → What insights did you gain from those experiences? How did they shape your perspective, career, or personal growth?
✔️ Turning points → What were the “before and after” moments that marked a shift in your life? What emotion did you feel or lesson did you learn? These create natural transitions in your story.
Not sure where to start? Write down 5-7 pivotal moments from your life. These will serve as the foundation of your autobiography.
Step 3: Bring your story to life
The difference between a boring and engaging autobiography is how you tell the story.
Facts alone won’t keep readers turning pages. A great autobiography makes the reader feel something—like they’re right there with you, experiencing each unique experience firsthand.
Here’s how to do it:
✔️ Write in scenes, not summaries. Instead of saying, “I struggled in my first job,” describe a specific moment. What was the office like? How did you feel? What happened that day?
✔️ Use dialogue. Even if you don’t remember exact words, recreate conversations to add realism. Dialogue makes your story feel immediate and personal.
✔️ Show, don’t tell. “I was nervous” doesn’t quite paint the scene like: “My palms were sweaty. I kept adjusting my tie. Every second felt like an hour.”
✔️ Use sensory details. The best autobiographies immerse the reader. What did the air smell like? What sounds were in the background? Small details make a big impact.
Your goal is to make your reader feel like they’re living your personal story with you.
Step 4: Find your unique voice
This is your autobiography, so it should sound like you.
Too many people try to make their writing sound overly polished, formal, or literary—and end up stripping out their own personality. That’s how you get stiff, generic writing that could belong to anyone. The best autobiographies feel like a conversation, like the author is sitting across from you, describing their personal experience in their own words.
Here’s how to keep your voice authentic:
✔️ Write how you talk. If you wouldn’t say it in real life, don’t put it on the page. Keep it natural.
✔️ Forget grammar while drafting. You can fix typos later. The goal in the first draft is to get it out—not to make it perfect.
✔️ Be brutally honest. Readers don’t connect with flawless people. They connect with real ones. Share your struggles, doubts, and mistakes. Vulnerability makes a story compelling.
✔️ Inject personality. Are you sarcastic? Reflective? Witty? Let it show. Don’t water down your natural tone.
Your quirks, humor, and raw emotions? That’s what makes your autobiography worth reading.
Step 5: Edit (But don’t kill the soul)
Your first draft of any writing process will be rough. That’s normal. The real magic happens in the editing process—but editing doesn’t mean stripping out everything that makes your story unique. It means refining your words while keeping your voice intact.
Here’s how to polish your autobiography without overthinking:
✔️ Take a break. After finishing your first draft, step away for at least a week. You’ll come back with fresh eyes.
✔️ Read it aloud. If a sentence feels clunky when spoken, it needs rewriting. Good writing sounds natural.
✔️ Cut the fluff. If a detail doesn’t add to the story, cut it. Don’t include every life event—only what moves the reader forward.
✔️ Watch for repetition. Saying the same thing in different ways slows the pace. Keep it tight.
✔️ Find a beta reader → Someone who can provide honest feedback on what works and what doesn’t.
✔️ Get professional help → A professional writer or editor can refine your voice while keeping your story authentic. Over 60% of authors choose to hire one.
✔️ Consider your audience → Who will be reading your autobiography? What do you want them to take away from it?
Good editing isn’t about making your story “perfect.” It’s about making sure your message lands while keeping your voice strong. Keep what feels true to you, and let go of anything that doesn’t serve the story.
Step 6: Format and publish
Once your story is polished, it’s time to decide how to share it with the world.
You have more options than ever—whether you want a traditional book deal, total control through self-publishing, or a digital-first approach. Here’s what to consider:
Option 1: Traditional publishing
If you want mainstream credibility, you’ll need a literary agent and a publisher. This route takes longer but can open doors for media exposure, bookstore distribution, and industry connections.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Prestige and credibility | ❌ Harder to secure a publishing deal |
| ✅ Professional editing and marketing support | ❌ Less creative control |
| ✅ Access to wider distribution networks | ❌ Smaller percentage of royalties (publishers take a cut) |
Option 2: Self-publishing
Want full control? Self-publishing allows you to release your book on platforms like Amazon KDP, Apple Books, or IngramSpark.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Faster release timeline | ❌ You handle marketing and distribution |
| ✅ Higher royalty percentages | ❌ No built-in credibility from a publisher |
| âś… Full creative control |
Option 3: Digital-first approach
Not ready for a full book? Start by sharing your autobiography in bite-sized pieces—through LinkedIn posts, newsletters, or blog series. This builds an audience before you publish.
The key is to just get it out there. Your story won’t impact anyone if it stays in your head.
9 famous autobiographies and how they nail these principles
To see all of this in action, let’s break down a few well-known autobiographies and analyze how they approached personal storytelling, structure, voice, and publication.
1. “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
➡️ Type: Personal Reflection + Legacy Building
➡️ Key Moments: Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, meeting Barack, struggles with infertility, life in the White House, post-presidency reflections
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: A mix of both — deeply personal scenes with emotional weight (e.g., her father’s illness, election night) but also broader reflections on public life
➡️ Voice: Warm, introspective, conversational yet polished
➡️ Publication: Traditionally published (Crown Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Random House)
➡️ Reception: Universally praised, became one of the best-selling memoirs of all time
Why it works: Obama weaves intimate personal moments with broader reflections on race, politics, and identity. She doesn’t just tell her life story — she connects it to cultural and historical shifts, making it compelling for a wide audience.
2. “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank
➡️ Type: Personal Reflection + Legacy (unintended)
➡️ Key Moments: Life in hiding during WWII, coming-of-age struggles, fears and hopes for the future
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: Fully immersive scenes, since it’s a diary written in real-time
➡️ Voice: Raw, emotional, deeply personal
➡️ Publication: Posthumously published (Otto Frank, her father, worked with a publisher to release it)
➡️ Reception: One of the most widely read and studied autobiographies, often required reading in schools
Why it works: Unlike traditional autobiographies, this wasn’t edited or refined for an audience. That’s what makes it powerful. The immediacy of Anne’s writing brings her world to life in a way polished memoirs can’t.
3. “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight
➡️ Type: Brand Building + Personal Reflection
➡️ Key Moments: Founding Nike, early struggles, key business decisions, legal battles, growth into a global brand
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: Primarily written in scenes, making even business decisions feel like dramatic, high-stakes moments
➡️ Voice: Honest, reflective, candid — unusual for a corporate founder autobiography
➡️ Publication: Traditionally published (Simon & Schuster)
➡️ Reception: Highly praised for being deeper and more introspective than typical business books
Why it works: It doesn’t read like a press release. Knight is brutally honest about failures, insecurities, and near-bankruptcies, making the book as much about grit as about Nike. That level of honesty makes it relatable, even if you’re not in business.
4. “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai
➡️ Type: Legacy + Advocacy
➡️ Key Moments: Growing up in Pakistan, early activism, being shot by the Taliban, recovering and becoming a global advocate for girls’ education
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: A mix of personal vignettes and broader political/historical context
➡️ Voice: Strong, resilient, youthful but powerful
➡️ Publication: Traditionally published (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
➡️ Reception: International bestseller, sparked global conversations about education and women’s rights
Why it works: Malala’s story is deeply personal, but she zooms out to show how her personal struggles tie into larger global issues. That balance between intimate storytelling and big-picture advocacy makes the book impactful.
5. “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey
➡️ Type: Personal Reflection + Brand Building
➡️ Key Moments: Childhood memories, Hollywood career, personal philosophy, key life decisions
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: Almost entirely written in scenes — feels like you’re watching a McConaughey movie
➡️ Voice: Charismatic, humorous, poetic, very him
➡️ Publication: Traditionally published (Headline Book Publishing)
➡️ Reception: Became a bestseller, praised for its storytelling and authenticity
Why it works: McConaughey doesn’t just tell his life story. He performs it on the page. His unique phrasing, humor, and raw honesty make it engaging even if you don’t care about Hollywood.
6. “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins
➡️ Type: Personal Growth + Brand Building
➡️ Key Moments: Childhood abuse, Navy SEAL training, ultra-endurance feats, overcoming extreme obstacles
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: Brutally detailed scenes of suffering, hardship, and mental breakthroughs
➡️ Voice: Tough, no-nonsense, motivational
➡️ Publication: Self-published
➡️ Reception: Huge success in the self-improvement niche, widely praised for its raw honesty
Why it works: Goggins forces the reader into his pain and challenges them to do the same. The relentless intensity of his storytelling makes it more than a book — it’s an experience.
7. “The Autobiography of Mark Twain” by Mark Twain
➡️ Type: Personal Reflection + Social Commentary
➡️ Key Moments: His childhood in Missouri, early writing career, travel experiences, personal losses, insights into 19th-century America
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: A mix—some vivid storytelling alongside essays, opinions, and anecdotes
➡️ Voice: Witty, sarcastic, candid, meandering but deeply engaging
➡️ Publication: Posthumously published in three volumes (University of California Press)
➡️ Reception: Considered one of the greatest autobiographies ever written, with Twain’s humor and honesty making it a classic
Why it works: Twain reinvented autobiography by rejecting a linear structure and instead letting his thoughts wander freely. He blends humor, storytelling, and brutal honesty, making it as much a commentary on life and society as it is about himself. His ability to weave in philosophy and satire while still keeping it personal is what makes this book timeless.
8. “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” by Benjamin Franklin
➡️ Type: Legacy + Self-Improvement
➡️ Key Moments: His rise from humble beginnings, scientific discoveries, political contributions, personal philosophy on success
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: More summary-based, with Franklin structuring it like a guidebook for self-improvement
➡️ Voice: Thoughtful, practical, self-reflective
➡️ Publication: Originally written for his son, later published publicly in 1791
➡️ Reception: One of the most influential autobiographies of all time, often cited as an early example of the American Dream in action
Why it works: Franklin’s famous autobiography isn’t just his life story—it’s a blueprint for personal and professional success. His focus on self-discipline, productivity, and lifelong learning has made this book a must-read for entrepreneurs, leaders, and history buffs alike.
9. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
➡️ Type: Brand Building + Legacy
➡️ Key Moments: Jobs’ adoption and childhood, founding of Apple, failures and comebacks, product innovation, personal relationships, final reflections
➡️ Scenes vs. Summary: Primarily written in scenes, featuring first-hand interviews and detailed storytelling
➡️ Voice: A mix of Jobs’ blunt, visionary personality and Isaacson’s thorough, objective research
➡️ Publication: Traditionally published (Simon & Schuster)
➡️ Reception: A massive bestseller, defining Jobs’ legacy for future generations
Why it works: Though technically a biography, Jobs personally chose Isaacson to write it, making it as close to an autobiography as possible. The book stands out because of its deep interviews, raw honesty, and insight into the mind of a genius—it doesn’t just idolize Jobs; it showcases his flaws, drive, and complexity.
What These Books Teach Us About Autobiography Writing
đź“Ś Your “why” shapes everything. Becoming and I Am Malala were written for legacy. Shoe Dog and Can’t Hurt Me built personal brands. Twain and Franklin wrote for self-reflection and wisdom-sharing.
📌 Key moments drive the story. The best autobiographies don’t just list everything—they zoom in on defining moments that shaped the author.
📌 Scenes make it real. All of these books pull you into the experience—you’re not just reading, you’re feeling.
📌 Voice matters. Mark Twain’s autobiography reads like Mark Twain talks. Goggins’ book pushes you like a drill instructor. McConaughey’s book sounds like a fireside story. Writing in your authentic voice makes all the difference.
📌 Traditional vs. self-publishing both work. Some of the biggest autobiographies were self-published (Can’t Hurt Me), while others went through major publishers (Becoming). The key isn’t how you publish—it’s making sure your story gets out into the world.
Final thoughts: your story matters — but only if you tell it
Most people hesitate to write their autobiography because they think:
- “My story isn’t interesting enough.”
- “I’m not a writer.”
- “I don’t even know where to start.”
But every great autobiography started with someone staring at a blank page, unsure of what to say. The only difference between their book and yours? They started writing.
Your experiences, lessons, and journey can help people. They can inspire, educate, or change the way someone sees the world. But none of that happens if your story stays in your head.
The hardest part isn’t writing. It’s deciding that your story deserves to be told.
And it does.
Need help with autobiography writing?
At Column, we help founders, executives, and professionals turn their life experiences into powerful, well-crafted books.
Whether you need full-service ghostwriting, strategic structuring, or just an extra push to get your thoughts onto the page — we handle the heavy lifting.
đź“– Learn more about our book ghostwriting services today.
Your story is worth telling. Let’s make sure it’s told the right way.
Mo is the founder and CEO of Column, helping leaders shape public opinion through content and research. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
