A biography provides readers with information about a person's life. Whether is describes a person's entire life or only a segment of it, there is a lot to learn from biographies, including lessons that we should learn from history or interpersonal relations. However, biographies are not only educational for the reader, as preparing a biography involves much learning for the writer as well.
Choosing a Subject
A biographer's first task is selecting a person to write about. Often biographers will choose someone whose life he is interested in learning more about, helping him to write about the events with more passion and creativity. Other factors that affect this decision include whether there has already been a lot of biographical material written about the potential subject and how much interest the public has expressed in learning about the subject.
Planning
The author must decide how long and detailed the biography will be. She will ask herself whether the goal is to provide a chronological overview of the subject's life or a focus on a specific aspect, for example, the subject's coming of age, without respecting chronological order. The author must also determine to what extent she is going to expose very personal details about the subject. She must consider how others, for example, the subject's loved ones, will react to the publishing of such information.
Research
A biographer uses a number of methods to gather information about the subject's life. He will read newspaper or magazines articles and even other biographies about the subject, as well as letters and diaries written by the subject. He will also interview people who came in contact with the subject or are experts--for example, historians--or maybe even interview the subject himself. Examples of unconventional research approaches include observing the subject's environment, for instance, his home. Regardless of how the author finds information about the subject, he must make detailed notes on research and/or make audio recordings of conversations to refer to when writing the biography.
Writing
An author will typically create an outline before beginning to write the biography. She will decide what main points or events evoked by the research will best support the angle from which she wants to depict the subject. She will choose the supporting details that will most effectively elaborate on each point. As she writes the biography, the author keeps in mind the audience that is likely to read the biography. Audiences consisting primarily of the artist community will require a different register, tone and jargon than will one consisting of politicians.
Editing
The author must not only edit the grammar and syntax of the text but also the content. As the biographer edits his work, he must continuously ask himself whether he has rendered justice to the angle from which he portrays the subject's life. He should also assess whether the order of events will provide the reader with a clear picture of the subject's life. Finally, the writer needs to remove any repetitive material and determine whether each mentioned detail of the subject's life will appeal to the reader's interest.
