10 elements of biography

There are certain situations in life where you'll be asked to write about people — either about yourself or someone else — and knowing what information to include in a biography can be a helpful first step. Sometimes a person's life is so full of rich details and interesting facts that it's difficult to know what to include and what to leave out; but, there are some guidelines to follow that will help you figure out what to include in a biography.

The first step in writing a biography is to decide what to include. The length and content of biographies can vary significantly, but there are some common elements in all types. Consider including these elements about the subject of the biography.

Consider the length of the biography - this will help determine how much, or how little, information you should include, and how in-depth that information should be. A simple paragraph will contain just some general, basic facts such as:

• date and place of birth (and death, if applicable)
• current
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  In this day and age, we are bombarded with information from all angles. It can be hard to determine what is important and what isn’t. Reading biographies is a great way to help you decide which information is important and which isn’t. The biography of a person highlights their goals, works, culture and other significant events in their life. The accurate biography must depict the details of life experiences and make it easy for others to relate with him. 

  What is a Biography?

  A Biography is a written account of a person’s life. It is usually written by someone else, but it can also be written by the subject of the biography if they are still alive and able to write it. A biography can be in any format and length, but most biographies are quite long because they detail every aspect of a person’s life. It can be written by the person who is being described, or it can be written by a third person. A biography usually includes information about the subject’s childhood, family, education, career achievements, relationships, and more. It can help

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  Exploring biographies

  Watch: What is a biography?

  A biography is a non-fiction text about someone's life.

  Biographies are true pieces of text, based on fact, so biographers (the people who write biographies) have to do a lot of research. They use websites, letters, photographs, diaries and newspapers to help them.

  • Because biographies are written by someone else, they are written in the third person(//).

  • They are usually written in chronological order (the order in which events actually happened).

  For example, watch this clip. It gives a biography of the scientist Marie Curie.

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  Watch: Biography of Stephen Hawking

  Even though biographers do lots of research, they can only guess at what it was like to be that person, or the thoughts and feelings the person had.

  If the person they want to write about, or anyone who knew them, is still alive, biographers sometimes carry out an interview to ask lots of questions about the person's life.

  Here's another biography of a scientist, this time Professor Stephen Hawking.

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