Has anybody here ever written...

Yes, mostly

In order of your questions, I have written an autobiographical account. Actually 4 of them in all. This one, the fourth, is the one I'm proposing to publishers.

It's of book length.

The format is chronological but not comprehensive. It takes place over less than a year and yes, is more like snapshots.

It was not difficult to write at all, since some material was based on prior writings or journal entries. I didn't paraphrase my own work but just repeated thought processes and conclusions.

I wrote it because, as a dear friend told me 2.5 years ago, "I write a book with my actions" so the natural thing to do was to go ahead and just do it. Additionally, the strength of my emotion has tapered off sufficiently that I can what I consider to be sufficient technical justice to the work. I.e., no more tears dripping into my keyboard.

Yes, I've done some research and am working on the marketing of it, though currently just with proposal letters and bouncing the manuscript and concept off people I respect.

Briefly, someone who has stepped along a similar path as I.

I am in the process of writing about a difficult life experience - book length. It has been difficult figuring how to 'grab' the topic because of the long span of years involved and I didn't want it to be a chronology.

I do want to find a market for it.

I do read about other people's life experiences.

Proposal for an Autobiography

When writing an autobiography, do you follow the same format for non-fiction proposals or is it done differently?

Yes - an article for the Web, definitely not a paying market. You can find it here. I wrote a follow-up, but the site that posted that is no longer on the net. To answer the questions that reading it doesn't answer:

1. It was difficult to write. It was more difficult to not write it.

2. Because I had to get it out of me. Because I felt that this cult was dangerous and that I ought to tell people about it.

3. Market? I just wanted to tell it to someone who could pass it on. (Interestingly, I have been interviewed because of what I wrote and continue to get interview requests to this day.)

4. Some possibilities as to what would compell me to read someone else's life story:

* Having a similar experience and wanting to know it wasn't just me.
* If it were a good story in its own right, like a Reader's Digest Drama In Real Life.
* Morbid curiousity.

Hope this helps.

Question about Autobiographies

I have been attempting to write my story about a very emotional situation. For the past 3 years I have not been ready, but now I am.

I had started writing it as a piece of fiction based on my experience, but I am just not that great at fiction. Personal essay type stories and poetry work best for me. Also writing a fictional piece based on a true account felt like I was lying to myself...Sorry, I am rambling...

My question is: As I write this can I treat it as a personal essay? Or do I need to insert dialogue?

Thanks for the help!

Selena

I wrote a 2000-word essay about my father's death last year, and the difficult times before that while living with him (I'm actually thinking about doing this one in a book length). It was not difficult to write, but to some people, it may be difficult to read.

Also, I'm in the process of writing a memoir about my experiences (and insight) regarding going back to college over 30 years old. I write in my journal as things happen, or as reflections come to me, which is usually three times a week or so; I'm writing the first draft longhand, chronological order, but in the final draft, things may get switched around.

I started another journal that might end up being a memoir, but I'm not ready to talk about that one yet.

I'm shopping the 2000-word essay around, and will defiantly put my memoirs in the loop.

I only read non-fiction, and I'm very fond of memoirs. I just finished reading The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, and Blowing My Cover: My Life As A CIA Spy by Lindsay Morgan. I'm looking for another one right now.

hi everyone

thanks for this question i have been struggling with similar issues. i am working on a non fiction self help book and was planning to insert a lot of my own experiences within the book as illustration of the points made

i am now thinking that i would write a book that is basically about my struggles with this issue and what i have learned.

some of the books i read are autobiographical e.g. the geneen roth books on eating without being touted as an autobiography.

i think reading about an entire persons life would probably be boring. it is more interesting to me to read about a particular period in a person's life where they have overcome challenges or achieved amazing things. i think it is ok to hop around between present and past. a straight chronological account of someone's life would probably not have the same pace as talking about various topics or issues and then discussing them fully in past and present and then moving on to other aspects of a person's life. of course it all depends on the person!

i do plan to market my book but at this stage i don't have the concept firm enough in my mind to do a proposal/query. my other thought was to enter it into a competition and then let the offers pour in after i win hehe!