Fiction autobiography definition and examples
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Readers encounter different sides to a single event, opening space for fresh interpretations.
Writing Your Fictional Autobiography
Identifying Your Core Theme
The first step toward crafting a fictional autobiography lies in identifying the core theme of your narrative.
Ask yourself: what emotions or experiences do you wish to explore? This arc allows readers to connect and invest emotionally in the character’s journey.
Example: Imagine a fictional autobiography centered on a young woman navigating the complex world of high finance. There was also less focus on their emotional lives.
The Book of Margery Kempe, written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest known autobiography in English.
Capitalize on your momentum and write a full draft.
- Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s 1764 memoirs
- John Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners in 1666
- Jarena Lee’s The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee (the first autobiography of an African American woman)
Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions was published in 1782.
Commit to completing your draft
Like any genre, it takes commitment to see your project through. They may need only to confirm dates and stories to accurately relate the pertinent details.
The Function of Autobiography
An autobiography allows the author to tell the true story of their own life. The overall goal is less about the author wanting to obscure facts and make things up and more a matter of taking another tactic to delve into their experiences in service of self-discovery. Taipei by Tao Lin is a work of autofiction.
Another example is The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, which relates the death of her husband and its impact on her life and work. Even though fictional autobiographies present imaginative accounts, the emotions and situations they explore are often universal, making the characters’ experiences and challenges accessible.
Example: A fictional autobiography about a college student’s struggles with identity, love, and academic pressure can resonate with readers at different life stages.
It places greater emphasis on particular memories, thoughts, and feelings. For example, they may not acknowledge any hurt they caused others, dangerous behaviors they engaged in, or the “other side” of a controversial event in which there are equally valid opposing viewpoints and experiences. Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
Autobiography Definition
An autobiography (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written biography.
Facts matter less than emotions and personal perspectives. The word itself breaks down to “auto” meaning self, “bio” meaning life, and “graphy” meaning writing. Read your manuscript as if you are a reader
It’s easy to mentally fill in gaps in your writing because you know your story frontward and backward. Here’s how it differs:
- Memoir: A memoir typically focuses on a specific theme, event, or period in a person’s life, rather than a comprehensive life story.
You may want to read the above examples of autobiographical fiction for inspiration.
2. This evolution allows contemporary authors to experiment with narrative styles, making the genre ever-changing and dynamic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Related to Fictional Autobiography
Q.
Fitzgerald casts a Princeton student, Amory Blaine, as the protagonist, who he based on himself.
His novel pushed him into the spotlight at its release in 1920.