I have to write a short autobiography and I've no idea what to say...

[SOteric]

I've received a little award for some writing I've done, and I've been asked submit a few brief paragraphs about my self. My comments will be etched and put on permanent display.

If I write humour and wisecracks it trivialises the award, and I don't want to do that.

If I list relevant facts in chronological order, people will snooze right through it.

Has anyone read a webpage or some descriptive bit of text lately that they felt was unusually good? Does anyone have a suggestion of any kind?

Brainstorm with me folks, I'll very much appreciate it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. OK

Can you give a little hint about the nature of the award?
Serious writing, technical writing? PRose? Poetry?

[SOteric]

4. Poetry and essays...

The award comes with a cash endowment from a group of academics.

[VelmaD]

9. Since it's an award for poetry...

why not write your bio as a poem. Could be fun. Just a thought.

[SOteric]

11. All suggestions will be considered.

And that one has crossed my mind, too. It may yet happen.


I thunk, and thunk,
and thunk quite hard.
And now these folks
shall call me 'bard.'

:7

Okay, maybe not that one.

[On the Road]

2. Try to Find a Theme for Your Life

especially if it ties in with the context. Humor is risky but can work well if handled with sensitivity. For example, if the piece is being displayed in a school, you can say in mentioning your childhood that you struggled desperately with Mrs. X's algebra class, and you learned more by hanging out at the __________. That kind of thing.

More information might help other DU'ers to brainstorm.

[GOPisEvil]

3. Wait...wait..."little" award?

Yet, your short autobiography will be etched and put on permanent display?

Hmmm...this sounds like more than just a "little" award. *cue Sherlock Holmes theme music*

Don't know if this helps, but I googled "creative biography" and got this: http://www.irmanioradze.ru/eng/about.htm

At any rate, congratulations on your award! :toast:

[SOteric]

5. Thank you.

Interesting link. Perhaps there's something I can work with there.

And yes "little." It's not the Booker Prize. ;-)

[GOPisEvil]

6. I wouldn't think you're qualified for the Booker Prize anyway...

...are you a citizen of the Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland? ;-)

And, yes, I had to look that up. I'd love to say I knew that prior to two minutes ago. :-)

[SOteric]

7. Not at this time.

But if Bush wins the election, or in some manner regains the White House, - all bets are off.

[GOPisEvil]

14. I hear ya...I've researched regaining my Greek passport, if needed.

</hijack>

[amazona]

8. since it's for academics...

...I would put the emphasis on mentioning your highest related achievement. And I would keep it short. For instance, if you have a book coming out, "My book, Whatever, is scheduled to appear from Large Snooty Press in April 2004." If you're still in school, it might be that, "I have an MFA from Prestigious Writer's Progam and I will be defending my dissertation on The Poetry of the Plague Years in May 2005." You get the idea. If you keep it short, you can keep it from being boring without being disrespectful. Tedious biographies detailing the year and time of place of birth, etc. are probably only of interest to your mother.

Off on a tangent -- I've never seen the point of these pocket biographies for fiction writers. I've forgotten who it was, but one privacy seeker in the SF field was notorious for sending in pocket biographies that said, in toto, "Writer X is thought to reside somewhere in Washington State." :-)


hatched in a swamp somewhere in the deep south in May 1902, i became politically active after a traumatic experience involving large rubber boots


P.S. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[SOteric]

12. Good points, -

Thanks, amazona. :hi:

[On the Road]

13. Academics Love Detail and Color

as much as anyone. So if you harvested sugar cane, live on a houseboat, or play the tambura, those are fair game. If your writing is inspired by local color, you can mention the place in poetic terms.

[Bossy Monkey]

10. On permanent display where? Who's going to see it and what do you want

to say to them? Not to be all cynical writer-y, but, uh, I'd be kind of inclined to mention whatever writing I have published in hopes of increasing future sales. There! I said it! I'm a horrible, horrible, cynical person! (Not really :))

[VOX]

15. SOteric, to deny your highly developed sense of play and humor...

...would be to deny one of your greatest gifts. Obviously, academics aren't big on squirt flowers and fake ink blots, but a dollop of dry and intellectual wit shouldn't poop on the award.

As I recall from your posts, you are a voracious and omnivorous reader. What about consulting the linear yardage of author dust-jacket copy in your library? You may find a few sentences/phrases there that could spark your approach.

Congratulations on your award -- let us know how it goes.

:toast: