{"id":7522,"date":"2019-05-24T09:45:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T16:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blurb.com\/blog\/?p=7522"},"modified":"2022-06-08T11:38:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T18:38:27","slug":"memoirs-biographies-autobiographies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blurb.com\/blog\/memoirs-biographies-autobiographies\/","title":{"rendered":"Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The three primary formats of a memory book<\/a>, used to tell a life story, are a biography, an autobiography, and a memoir. Distinguishing between the three can feel a bit confusing since they all share several similarities. But there are some distinct differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, a biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. An autobiography is the story of a person\u2019s life, written by that person. And a memoir<\/a> is a collection of memories written by the person themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Tell<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is a Biography?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A biography, also called a bio, is a non-fiction piece of work giving an objective account of a person\u2019s life. The main difference between a biography vs. an autobiography is that the author of a biography is not the subject. A biography could be someone still living today, or it could be the subject of a person who lived years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biographies include details of key events that shaped the subject\u2019s life, and information about their birthplace, education, work, and relationships. Biographers use a number of research sources, including interviews, letters, diaries, photographs, essays, reference books, and newspapers. While a biography is usually in the written form, it can be produced in other formats such as music composition or film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the target person of the biography is not alive, then the storytelling requires an immense amount of research. Interviews might be required to collect information from historical experts, people who knew the person (e.g., friends and family), or reading other older accounts from other people who wrote about the person in previous years. In biographies where the person is still alive, the writer can conduct several interviews with the target person to gain insight on their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal of a biography is to take the reader through the life story of the person, including their childhood into adolescence and teenage years, and then their early adult life into the rest of their years. The biography tells a story of how the person learned life\u2019s lessons and the ways the person navigated the world. It should give the reader a clear picture of the person\u2019s personality, traits, and their interaction in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biographies can also be focused on groups of people and not just one person. For example, a biography can be a historical account of a group of people from hundreds of years ago. This group could have the main person who was a part of the group, and the author writes about the group to tell a story of how they shaped the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fictional biographies mix some true historical accounts with events to help improve the story. Think of fictional biographies as movies that display a warning that the story is made of real characters, but some events are fictional to add to the storyline and entertainment value. A lot of research still goes into a fictional biography, but the author has more room to create a storyline instead of sticking to factual events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of famous biographies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n