I Don’t Want to Write an Autobiography
Fifteen years ago, my sister introduced me to one of her friends. He was a very creative individual who was obtaining a music degree from a Chicago community college. (We met in San Diego while he was on vacation.) We had a great conversation, and I learned his college had a significant film department.
One remark he made has stuck with me all these years. Every student had the same goal: to make a movie about their life. The students proudly gave him copies of their scripts (with the hope that he would provide the movie score for free). His opinion was that the scripts were all boring, depressing, and unworthy of being made into a film.
After I published my first book, I began interacting with writers through the Facebook group Writers Helping Writers. Many posts discussed basing plots, characters, and scenes on the writer’s life.
Do I do this? In my book Pushed To the Edge of Survival, the main character is an Electrical Engineer. That’s me in disguise. Right? While we share many similarities, the character is not based on me, but many traits hit too close to home, which I now understand was a rookie writing mistake.
If you knew me, you could argue this character is autobiographical and a glimpse into my fantasy life. So, why not skip the middleman and write an autobiography?
So far, my life has not been noteworthy, but I have enough experience to fill a book. Plus, it would be fun to interview my family and see my life in print. Billy Crystal did a fantastic job capturing his life in the book 700 Sundays. Of course, I’m not a famous comedian, but I am sure I could develop something great.
My answer is a resounding, absolutely NOT!!!! I have no desire to share my life’s story. As proof, I had great difficulty creating the “about the author” page on my Amazon book site.
Where is this negativity coming from? My core aversion is that I am a private person without the desire to share my life’s details. What about my articles? They indeed contain select parts of my life. True, but you do not see me posting pictures of my family, pouring my heart out about my problems, or providing intimate details.
For example, three weeks ago, I took my daughter to shoot for the first time. She turned out to be a crack shot, and I am proud of her. Yet… I have no desire to share the details of that trip because a lot happened. Even that sentence was challenging to write. Why? I prefer to keep my private life private. Why? It’s hard to write. “Hey, world, I failed. Here are my bad decisions and the sad feelings that followed. Please send some love my way.” Or, “Hey world, I have a fantastic life. Love me, envy me, learn from my success, try to be like me.”
Why not openly discuss the matter so I can get feedback? After all, people learn more from failures than successes. Am I afraid of everybody laughing at me or analyzing my mistakes? That’s one part of it. If asked, I would answer, “My failures or successes are my own heartbreaking or triumphant moments. Not yours. This is my life, and I will deal with it in my way. Stay out!”
Like most men, I prefer to internalize my failures. I consider lamenting about my past to be detrimental to my success. I also feel that this effort would turn me into a negative person, and my life contains enough difficulties without intentionally focusing on my failures or glorifying my successes.
Also, my most significant accomplishments are not that amazing. Want to hear one? I was SCUBA diving during an earthquake. I bet less than 20 people have ever done that. What another? I broke bones twice in the same 9th-grade gym class. Umm. Not that amazing. Here is my truly biggest accomplishment. I have a great family and work hard to keep it that way—spoiler alert. So does everybody else!
Here is the core of the issue. I do not hide the fact that school was a difficult time for me. If I were to write an autobiography, I would devote at least half the book to those challenges. However, I would be mortified to allow anybody to know the debts of my failure.
Why? Each sentence would be like Superman’s kryptonite. Let’s pretend I did X and somebody I did not know walked up to me and said, “Hey, you’re Bill. Remember when you did X?” I would be absolutely horrified and completely defenseless. Side note: writing a famous autobiography would make it difficult to haggle for low prices at the swap meet.
Yet, if you were to read those preschool, kindergarten, grade school, junior high school, high school, and college chapters, your conclusion would be a meager, “Umm, you had a tough time. So did everybody else, and this is not a compelling read.” The rest of the book would be an unremarkable family and employment highlights.
Well, my struggle could be inspirational. Wrong. Compared to some kids, I had an excellent academic experience. Going to school in a war zone? Alcoholic parents? School bullies who killed other kids? Nobel prize-winning parents? No arms? Yeah, my painful experiences would not garner any interest.
A good autobiography describes something epic that readers actively seek out. Of course, that’s never stopped other non-famous people from writing an autobiography. Well, I could embellish my life’s experiences. Did I tell you about the time I climbed Mount Everest? That is a bold lie! Reading that sentence left a nasty taste in my mouth. No, my dear readers, I have not been anywhere near Mount Everest, and I am fully aware that publishing lies is not how a gentleman should behave.
My books and articles give the world a glimpse into life, and that is more than enough. Being uninteresting is safe, healthy, relaxing, and peaceful. I can go to the supermarket without a care in the world.
Yet… I do have this thing in the back of my head. What if my books became popular? Would readers demand a biography? I hope not. What about an unauthorized one? Yikes!
You’re the best -Bill
July 24 2019 Updated July 06, 2024, August 12, 2024, August 18, 2025
One remark he made has stuck with me all these years. Every student had the same goal: to make a movie about their life. The students proudly gave him copies of their scripts (with the hope that he would provide the movie score for free). His opinion was that the scripts were all boring, depressing, and unworthy of being made into a film.
After I published my first book, I began interacting with writers through the Facebook group Writers Helping Writers. Many posts discussed basing plots, characters, and scenes on the writer’s life.
Do I do this? In my book Pushed To the Edge of Survival, the main character is an Electrical Engineer. That’s me in disguise. Right? While we share many similarities, the character is not based on me, but many traits hit too close to home, which I now understand was a rookie writing mistake.
If you knew me, you could argue this character is autobiographical and a glimpse into my fantasy life. So, why not skip the middleman and write an autobiography?
So far, my life has not been noteworthy, but I have enough experience to fill a book. Plus, it would be fun to interview my family and see my life in print. Billy Crystal did a fantastic job capturing his life in the book 700 Sundays. Of course, I’m not a famous comedian, but I am sure I could develop something great.
My answer is a resounding, absolutely NOT!!!! I have no desire to share my life’s story. As proof, I had great difficulty creating the “about the author” page on my Amazon book site.
Where is this negativity coming from? My core aversion is that I am a private person without the desire to share my life’s details. What about my articles? They indeed contain select parts of my life. True, but you do not see me posting pictures of my family, pouring my heart out about my problems, or providing intimate details.
For example, three weeks ago, I took my daughter to shoot for the first time. She turned out to be a crack shot, and I am proud of her. Yet… I have no desire to share the details of that trip because a lot happened. Even that sentence was challenging to write. Why? I prefer to keep my private life private. Why? It’s hard to write. “Hey, world, I failed. Here are my bad decisions and the sad feelings that followed. Please send some love my way.” Or, “Hey world, I have a fantastic life. Love me, envy me, learn from my success, try to be like me.”
Why not openly discuss the matter so I can get feedback? After all, people learn more from failures than successes. Am I afraid of everybody laughing at me or analyzing my mistakes? That’s one part of it. If asked, I would answer, “My failures or successes are my own heartbreaking or triumphant moments. Not yours. This is my life, and I will deal with it in my way. Stay out!”
Like most men, I prefer to internalize my failures. I consider lamenting about my past to be detrimental to my success. I also feel that this effort would turn me into a negative person, and my life contains enough difficulties without intentionally focusing on my failures or glorifying my successes.
Also, my most significant accomplishments are not that amazing. Want to hear one? I was SCUBA diving during an earthquake. I bet less than 20 people have ever done that. What another? I broke bones twice in the same 9th-grade gym class. Umm. Not that amazing. Here is my truly biggest accomplishment. I have a great family and work hard to keep it that way—spoiler alert. So does everybody else!
Here is the core of the issue. I do not hide the fact that school was a difficult time for me. If I were to write an autobiography, I would devote at least half the book to those challenges. However, I would be mortified to allow anybody to know the debts of my failure.
Why? Each sentence would be like Superman’s kryptonite. Let’s pretend I did X and somebody I did not know walked up to me and said, “Hey, you’re Bill. Remember when you did X?” I would be absolutely horrified and completely defenseless. Side note: writing a famous autobiography would make it difficult to haggle for low prices at the swap meet.
Yet, if you were to read those preschool, kindergarten, grade school, junior high school, high school, and college chapters, your conclusion would be a meager, “Umm, you had a tough time. So did everybody else, and this is not a compelling read.” The rest of the book would be an unremarkable family and employment highlights.
Well, my struggle could be inspirational. Wrong. Compared to some kids, I had an excellent academic experience. Going to school in a war zone? Alcoholic parents? School bullies who killed other kids? Nobel prize-winning parents? No arms? Yeah, my painful experiences would not garner any interest.
A good autobiography describes something epic that readers actively seek out. Of course, that’s never stopped other non-famous people from writing an autobiography. Well, I could embellish my life’s experiences. Did I tell you about the time I climbed Mount Everest? That is a bold lie! Reading that sentence left a nasty taste in my mouth. No, my dear readers, I have not been anywhere near Mount Everest, and I am fully aware that publishing lies is not how a gentleman should behave.
My books and articles give the world a glimpse into life, and that is more than enough. Being uninteresting is safe, healthy, relaxing, and peaceful. I can go to the supermarket without a care in the world.
Yet… I do have this thing in the back of my head. What if my books became popular? Would readers demand a biography? I hope not. What about an unauthorized one? Yikes!
You’re the best -Bill
July 24 2019 Updated July 06, 2024, August 12, 2024, August 18, 2025
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