The Makings of a Good Autobiography (Hint: A Beginning, Middle and End)

Booking Through Thursday Challenge
for November 5, 2009:

Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?

Ah, the mighty biography. Biographies are by nature difficult creatures. There are hundreds of different ways to tell a good story in fiction, but the biography is a complex beast. For a biography, the writer (whoever that might be) still needs to write an engaging tale to keep the reader’s interest and in biographies, sometimes that is not so easy to do.

There are many people alive (and dead) who have amazing stories to tell, especially many celebrities. Just because you have a great story to tell does not always necessarily mean that you can tell it in an engaging way that will keep your reader’s interest. Hence, why many celebrities hire ghost writers for their biographies. I can’t help it; I always think that this is a bit of a cop-out. These people are basically paying someone to write what they want them to write and then the ghost writer is suppose to make it engaging. I think that if you are going to tell your story, you should tell your story. If you can’t write, well then, go on a talk show and spill your guts to the needy-looking, compassionate interviewer. Writing, like many professions, is not meant for everyone.

Which brings us to the painful topic of the newest talked about autobiography, Open by Andre Agassi. I don’t know if he had a ghost writer or not, but here is a guy that I’ve really never been that interested in. I know that there are people out there who thinks he’s the cat’s pajamas, but I’m not one of them. I do, however, think he does have some good stories to tell, but I have no desire to read about them. I, instead, read the gossip blogs and came back with the interesting facts: Andre Agassi wore a toupee and he used to do Meth. I don’t need to read his book to come away with those two facts.

When does a memoir or autobiography work? An autobiography works when the author can tell an engaging tale and also has a point to their story. There is beginning, middle and an end. However, the end of the story cannot include present day. “Oh, well that’s the end of the story because it’s today, November 5th, and I have nothing else to write.” That doesn’t work. For example, one of my favorite memoirs is Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Angela’s Ashes is about growing up poor and Catholic in Ireland; that may not sound all that interesting, but McCourt writes characters that you fall in love with and care what happens to. Angela’s Ashes also works because enough time has passed for McCourt to be able to look at his memories of his childhood in a more biased way. If he was in the thick of hating his father or sad because his mother was no longer around, well, as a reader, we can feel that. Reader’s want complete stories with a purpose. McCourt successfully told his story and he wasn’t even famous for much of anything.

In the end, it looks like I don’t have much of an answer for this question. Really, I think a self-published book can contain a good story and I think a third-party writer can work, as well. For me, it comes down to have an interesting story to tell, and please tell it in such a way that doesn’t bore me to tears and makes me head for the gossip blogs for the cliff notes version.