How to write a biographical book

Last weeks, many authors wrote us, by asking how to write a biography or a biographical book. Considering that a biography may concern the same author or another person, there are strict rules to write a biographical book. Generally, a biography is the true story of the life of a person, but this side is not important to create a biography capable to be read by a big amount of readers. Before writing a biographical book, the author must wonder if the true story he wants to tell is compelling, interesting and appealing for readers. It is not sufficient writing a true story to create a successful biography, but, it is important, how to write the story and how turn it into a book which could also be regarded like a fiction. How can an author transform a biography into a bestseller? It is simple: choosing right and proper words and sentences and effective writing strategies. Usually, a biographical book tells about the entire life of a person and, hence, it is very useful to divide the early chapters in birth, life and death of the person, (death in case you are writing about a dead person). A biography has not necessarily to be so linear at the beginning, but it can enjoy some writing techniques such as the flashback. The latter is a way of writing where the story is told by going back to the past of the main character. You can write during the old age of the character and to force him to remember his life when he was a child. The diary is another extraordinary writing technique. This way of telling a story is very useful when we write about a biography during a war or relates to a crime and the subsequent trial. In the diary, chapters match with the dates which, in turn, are the most important events in the life of the character. After dividing the book in chapters, each single chapter must be well written and by using effective sentences and words. For example, if you are writing about the journey of the person, places and countries may be described with poetic sentences, by using words inspiring nostalgia, sadness or rather, joy, sweetness and tenderness. Think of a place with the sea at the dawn. What are the thoughts coming into your mind? The subtle sunlight, the rainbow after rain, a fabulous landscape where all is possible and fading and untouchable at the same time. As you can see, some descriptions can be very effective to create a biography enriched with a high level of writing. During the editing of the biography, you mustn’t forget to intertwine descriptions to the emotions that the characters feel during the development of the story. In the biography we may tell about a war or the end of a marriage, a disease, a grief or other. After spotting the exact topic of the biographical book, the author has only to select the proper words. A true story about a disease needs a lot of medical terms, for instance. Every topic has to be enhanced with touching words, sentences and descriptions. In summary, the rules to write a successful biographical book are: right topic, compelling plot and good writing!   Source of the image: careerrocketeer.com