Many authors have been written about by several biographers or have written an autobiography themselves. This should not put a writer off writing about that author, however, but should be seen as a bonus that there is already a wealth of information out there to aid research.
Research Books
Perhaps the easiest source to track down. The writer should look for biographies, autobiographies, English Literature and Language text books, critiques of the author's work and of course books, articles, stories, plays, scripts and poems written by the author.
In researching these books a writer can find out not only the details of the author's life but can also gain a valuable insight into what makes them tick and how they were seen by their peers.
It is not essential to have read all of the author's works, though writing a biography will obviously come easier to the writer who has read and critiqued all of the author's work than the one who has barely heard of them. That aside, however, it can come as a benefit to begin from scratch with no pre-formed ideas about the writer or their works. If starting from scratch the biography writer should aim to read all of the writer's seminal works, some minor works and a selection of critiques on the author's work.
Research Websites
As always for the absolute basic starting points Wikipedia does play a useful role however remember the usual warning, seen in the Writing Memoirs column, that Wikipedia is written by unknown and un-named contributors. Anyone can add to articles withput proving any credibility first so anything read there should be taken with a generous pinch of salt until the writer can find another respected source which verifies what is said there. That said Wikipedia is an excellent place to start if struggling to get going.
Suite 101 is also a good source if wanting referenced information from contracted and named writers. The place to look is in the Reading and Literature section
There are also many good websites to check out. A concise, informative and reliably accurate site to start from is The Guardian website, set up and run by the English newspaper of the same name. Here can be found brief biographies and the useful basics such as critical verdicts, recommended works, influences, adaptations and (something to aspire to be seen in) a section which gives a recommended biography on the author. The final section links to useful websites including the author's official website if they have one.
A similar site, which also includes a list of prizes and awards won, is the British Council Contemporary Writers website
Avoid a Weak Imitation
If a writer has been researching partly by reading biographies and autobiographies then they can avoid merely imitating an already published work by concentrating on a specific part of the author's life and how that influenced the rest of their life. Take a different look at an old story and put a journalist head on to find a new and interesting angle.
What to Centre the Biography Around
A few ideas as to what angle you could use as the main focus of the biography from are:
- A love story
- A tragedy
- The author's cultural, racial or religious background
- The story behind the author's greatest work
- The author's not so famous works
- The author's family
Dulcinea Norton-Smith - Dulcinea is a writer, an avid reader, a loving wife, a terrible housewife, a mother of two, a Civil Servant and of course a freelance ...
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