Biography vs Autobiography

A biography is a non-fiction piece of work giving an objective account of a person's life. It can be written about someone still living today or about a person who lived years ago.

If the target person of the biography is not alive, interviews might be required to collect information from historical experts, people who knew the person, or reading other older accounts.

A biography should take the reader through the person's life story, including their childhood, adolescence, and teenage years, and their early adult life.

Biographies can be focused on groups of people and not just one person, and can tell a story of how they shaped the world.

Fictional biographies mix some true historical accounts with events to improve the storyline. They still use research, but the author has more room to create a storyline.

Autobiographies are stories of a person's life written by that person, and are typically written later in the subject's life. They are written in the first person and typically use first person accounts to describe the story.

An autobiography usually begins during early childhood and chronologically details key events throughout the author's life. It may also include information about the author's education, career, life experiences, the challenges they faced, and their key achievements.

Autobiographies tend to be more subjective than biographies because they are written by the subject and present their own memories of a specific situation, which can be biased.

Memoir is a story of a person's life written by that person, often from diary entries. It focuses on reflection and establishing an emotional connection, rather than simply presenting the facts about their life.

Memoirs come in several types, all of which are written as an emotional account of the target person. They are often stories covering famous people's lives, such as celebrities, and might take several interviews before the story can be fully outlined and written.