How to Write a Biography

Hello Friends... 

Sure, we all are doing well... Be careful, we must stay fit and shouldn't fall ill getting our studies affected. We shall eat and drink healthy, exercise regularly, and won't avoid our domestic and social responsibilities. And whatever time we get for ourselves at the end of the day, we must study hard for most of the time, so that we learn to think... and learn. We simply cannot afford to stop thinking, for we are learners, and we are the chosen ones who got the scope to learn... 

Let's learn to think first...

Biography-writing

Why Should We Learn to Write Biography?

A Specialist's Job

Do you wonder why we need to learn how to write biographies? We all are never supposed to end up being scholars writing biographies, as this is certainly a specialist's job. We have eminent scholars [like Prashanta Pal] spending almost the whole of their lives in writing the biographies of great personalities [like Rabindranath Thakur] in volumes after volumes. But they are obviously a rare group, and it's never been a popular choice to be a biography writer.

A Commoner's Need

Then why do we meet here to learn about biography writing? Well, we may not choose to become biography writers when we grow up, but certainly in our regular lives, we often need to introduce some people, deceased or absent at the moment, to others. Haven't you noticed how your teachers in your schools introduce great personalities time to time highlighting their great deeds to inspire you? 

You even don't want to be a teacher as you grow up, is that so? Even then, you may need to develop this skill. Imagine yourself introducing your grandma to your younger sibling who was too little when grandma passed away. Won't you like your younger brother/sister to know about your grandma the way you have known her?

Think of anybody whom you admire. Won't you prefer to let your new friend in your school know about the teacher whom you admire the most in advance? And maybe, you would feel the same urge to tell him/her a word of caution about the teacher you despise for a reason, right?

Biography- An Objective Study

Aren't we dealing with what we may refer to as biographies in all of the above instances essentially? Well, to be certain, these ways of introducing other characters are all sort of very brief biographies. However, one important aspect to distinguish between such introduction of characters and biographies is the degree of objectivity. Biographies are likely to be more objective. Voluminous biographies produced after long years of objective research belong certainly  to the domain of the scholars. We, the commoners, also need more or less the same skill in our daily lives to satisfy our socio-individual needs and requirements to introduce absent or deceased characters to others with some degree of objectivity.

Organising According to Our Requirements

What do we do when we refer to a person in such instances? We don't go into the details of the person's life, do we? Rather we prefer to highlight those aspects which appeal to us the most. If you feel interested about the most intricate details of the life of any person, then I  must say that have a natural flair to write a scholarly biography of the person. You might ask me if you need help in this regard. But here in this discussion, we would attempt to focus on the need of the commoners who require to learn how to highlight the most important aspects of the person they wish to talk about.

The Heading/Title

Let's start by ruling out. When we intend to introduce a character, we certainly have some objectives to fulfil. We would be sharing information only related to our objectives, and nothing more. That is how, we need to decide about the heading/title of the biography as well. 

An Example

Shall we discuss with examples? Imagine you are going to write a biography on 'Virat Kohli'. Won't you be referring to his family in your paragraph? Would you do the same if you write a biography on 'Virat Kohli, the Cricketer'? Now, if you intend to write a biography on 'Virat Kohli, the Captain of Indian Cricket Team', are you going to include all the information that you referred to in your biography on 'Virat Kohli, the Cricketer'? Do you now understand how your objectives to introduce a person defines the way you introduce him/her?

The Process

So, we first define our objectives to write the biography, and then gather information accordingly. Next, we need to process and organise the information before we write down the biography. To organise the gathered information, we may follow the chronology or the time sequence, or might use some other associations that might serve as the cord of link throughout your biography. Why don't we attempt to write a brief one right now?

Hands on

The Objective(s)

Let's start with the information given. They should help us to understand the objectives our biography should fulfil, right?

A General Introduction?

Do you feel that the information given aims to introduce the person in general? Does the information fits the the title Maulana Abul Kalam Azad? Don't you feel that we have nothing on his family and his youth? Is it a proper approach to introduce a person in general?

A Literary Person?

Could this might attempt to introduce the person as a poet, and an author? Don't you feel that we have much information here that are really not required to introduce the person as a poet and an author?

Anything Else?

What could be the possible objectives that might lead us to include the given information more or less appropriately to introduce Abul Kalam Azad? Any idea?

I Have One...

How about introducing Abul Kalam Azad as one of the frontrunners who devoted their lives to shape their country, that is India, after securing its independence from the earlier British rule? I think I might utilise the given information this way. Why don't you come up with your own way of including the given information in your biography meaningfully before you read mine?

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad And His Effort to Shape the Fate of His Country

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born in British India on 11 November, 1888. He was a journalist who was an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhiji's ideas, and took part in India's freedom movement to protest against British Raj. After India became free, he became the first Education Minister of his country. Abul Kalam Azad was not only a great educationist, but also a great poet and an author. He composed poetry in Urdu and wrote many books like 'India Wins Freedom', 'Ghubar-e-Khatir' etc. He who played his role in shaping the fate of the millions of future students in his country  passed away on 22 February, 1958. His birthday is still celebrated as National Education Day in India to pay tribute to the great soul who spent most of his life for his countrymen.

How Are Yours Different?

What would you like to say about this biography? How do you find this to be different from yours? How do you feel about the ways I have tried to include the given information into my biography? In what ways, do you feel I could have used the information more appropriately?

I will wait for you to respond, and I would definitely look forward to go through the biography you have written. And if you are interested, you should definitely do some more research on your own, and should attempt to write a biography with further details.

All the best...