Two hundred years ago life writing was already highly popular in the form of autobiography, memoir, biography, journals, essays and diaries. It now commands a huge share of the publishing market, as there is an enormous demand from readers for narratives based directly on ‘real lives’.

There is a lot of common ground between the two main forms – autobiography/memoir and biography: both require skilled storytelling (rather than listing facts and events), research and imagination. The quality of the writing itself is crucial to the impact on the reader. A person can have an exciting, worthy life but unfortunately write about it (or be written about) in a dull way. And how a person is remembered and valued can be a factor of life writing about or by them. This chapter will define and contextualise life writing, look at specific detailed examples, and offer guidance on how to write effectively.

Key concepts and strategies in life writing

These will help you think through what is required of each form, which form best suits you, and what aspects to address in your writing. Life writing is primarily a way of making an individual's life and times – either one's own or someone else's – ‘matter’ to others, and to reflect on what is important about that life. It makes a story about a ‘self’ that develops in some way. Finally, life writers use the organising principles of narrative to give shape to a life. (Biography also can be a story about a group of people, a city, animal or object.)