Writing an autobiography is a very personal decision to make, it enables your family and friends and maybe many others to learn about the life that you led long before they knew you and since. If you believe that you have led an interesting and exciting life then why not put pen to paper and enable others to share it with you!

Ensure that if you mention any of your friends or family along the way by name that you get their permission. If not you could run into problems when it goes to print should they object.

It can be fun and exciting to remember the high points of your life and to re-live the excitement of the many adventures that you are bound to have had throughout your lifetime. It can also prove to be a therapeutic exercise for the author, it can enable you to get to know yourself better, as well as enabling your family and friends the same opportunity.

A good way to start is by writing down events in a chronological order, highlighting key ideas that you want to include in the text. This will ensure that when you sit down to write the final manuscript parts won't be forgotten.

It is often a good idea, to have someone who is not involved in the book to proof read it for you, to ensure that your work doesn't contain any grammatical or spelling errors as well as ensuring that it reads correctly. That way, when you submit your finished manuscript to the publisher it is less likely to end up in the bin.

Now to biographt writing. This is very different as you do not have the same immediate knowledge as you have to hand when writing about yourself.

Writing a biography about someone can be a very rewarding project to undertake, as you will inevitably uncover many interesting facts and stories that will give you an insight into not only the person, but the time and place in which their life story unfolds.
The first step to writing a biography is to choose who you want to write about. Remember that biographies can be written about famous people and ordinary individuals and both can be equally interesting. Choose someone that you genuinely want to find out more about or that has an interesting story to tell.

The next step is to decide how you wish to approach the biography; you could choose to write it entirely in chronological order, or you could dip in and out of different periods of the person's life. Chronological order is generally considered the easiest way to write a biography but retelling their story in a different order can often be a more exciting way to write.
The next step is to do your research! Thorough research is essential when writing a biography, you need to truly understand the person you are writing about, and need to be fully aware of the key moments, facts, places and other individuals within their lifetime. There are many ways in which you can undertake research; the internet and libraries are always a good starting point, and as your research takes you further you may even be able to speak to others to obtain their stories and recollections of the individual concerned.

Once you have researched their life you should be faced with a wealth of information, however it is not possible to write about every day of their life, you therefore have to select the most appropriate sections to be used in the final biography. These can be momentous occasions such as, their rise to stardom or their wedding day, or they could be smaller, less significant events; perhaps comic anecdotes that provide a previously unknown insight into the person's character.

Once these stories and key points have been selected you should then plan how they will appear within the biography and how chapters will be linked together, if at all. You are now ready to commence writing your biography. Write in accordance with your plan; however as your writing progresses you may find that you have to deviate from your plan slightly or rethink your style or approach. Be prepared to be flexible as the biography develops and most importantly enjoy the process of writing a biography.