Before you decide to jump in and write an autobiography, it’s a good idea to figure out exactly why you are taking on such a big undertaking. Is it so that you can give it to friends and family? Something is to pass on your children, if you are getting up there in years? If you are intending to do it simply so that you can be published and make money, then it should be mentioned that unless you are someone famous that people will want to read about the book won’t be a best seller.

Now that you have figured out the reason behind your desire, just like with anything it’s a good idea to do research. Go to the library and go through some autobiographies. You can also ask your family, friends and local booksellers for recommendations on what autobiographies are good to use for reference material. Even though you don’t need to have any of the books for your actual autobiography, it’s a good way to see the different approaches and formats that people have used.

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Something else to consider when you are in the planning stages of writing is to think about your target audience. If you are writing so that your friends and family will have something to read and to remember you by, then you want them to be able to read it and say, “Oh yeah, I remember when she was a part of S.A.D.D.” or “I remember how proud I was when she became a member of the honor society.” If you are writing it for publication and a much broader audience, you will need to be more thorough in your writing because complete strangers aren’t going to know what you are talking about the way people who know you will.

Once you have decided on your target audience, the next thing that you have to figure out is what the central theme of your autobiography will be. Will it be “John Smith: Portrait of a Workaholic” or will it be “John Smith: The World’s Greatest Lover”? Ask yourself, how is it that I want people to perceive me, as a workaholic or as a loving man, devoted to his wife and family? This will keep your autobiography from simply being a timeline of the events in your life, and give it depth.

We’re almost ready to start the writing, but of course now we need to do some more research. Before you write a book on any subject, it’s always good to get to know your subject first, and that goes for your autobiography too. Chances are, if you decide to write your autobiography later in life, there are things that happened in your life that you don’t remember. So go through photo albums, talk to friends and your family and let them know what you are doing. Tell them your theme, and ask them if they can remember anything that happened in your life that relates to that theme.

Now comes the fun part - writing. The first thing to remember about writing is to relax. Find yourself a comfortable chair, sit down and be yourself. When you are relaxed and you are not trying to be someone that you aren’t, the words come a lot faster and the writing will go much more smoothly. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar in this rough draft. That’s why it’s called a rough draft. There will be plenty of time to fix them when you get to the editing part of your autobiography.

Okay, now you’re finished writing your autobiography and all those grammatical and spelling errors that have bugged you since started writing are now yours to deal with. Now is a good time to ask friends and family to read your manuscript over to see what they think about it, to sit down and read it yourself, and to fix any loose ends that are there. Make sure that your writing is crisp and clear, and that you have made it interesting to read.

Everything is finished, you are happy with the final manuscript, and you are wondering what to do. The first, most important thing to do before you start handing out copies of your autobiography is to print out a copy for yourself and put it in a safe place. Make certain that it’s safe from fire, water, anything that could ruin all of your hard work. Also, if you have your manuscript on your computer, make certain to save it to a disk and mark it clearly, then put it in a safe place.

Guess what? You have just written your autobiography. Congratulations and good work!