One of the most important tools you’ll have as a writer – even just as a writer hoping to appear on blogs or in magazines – is a killer bio. A good bio communicates to others, “I’m a person who you should take seriously and/or someone you want to spend time with.”If writing your own bio freaks you out, you’re not alone. When I first started writing them, they really intimidated me. It felt weird to talk about myself in third person, and I had a hard time gauging what was important and what wasn’t.
Let’s start with a few pointers:
- Bios should be written in third person, especially if this is something you’re putting in your book proposal.
- They should reflect who you are and why you are qualified for whatever it is your bio is being applied to. Why should the reader listen to what you have to say? Why should they read your book? Why should they trust your blog?
This is where youth can be a drawback in writing a bio. Because – to put it frankly – you haven’t really done much yet. The first bio I attempted was for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in 2007. Here’s what I came up with:
Stephanie Morrill lives in Orlando, Florida. She is a member of ACFW.
This didn’t exactly leave agents banging on my door. If your bio is dry and boring, it communicates that what you write is probably dry and boring too. So what’s an unpublished write to do?
Here are some options for what you can put in a bio as a writer with very few credentials:
- What you write
- Why you write it
- Any awards you might have won for your writing or articles
you may have had published. - Your blog
- Writing societies you’re a member of
- Special education you have (applicable college degree or whatever)
- Something that qualifies you to write this book (if you’re
writing about missionaries in Africa and you were raised in Africa by
missionaries, you should mention that.) - A few things you’re passionate about, particularly if
they’re unusual
So what does that look like? Here’s an example using a character of mine, who happens to be a high school girl trying to get her manuscript published:
Olivia Hoskins lives in Visalia, California though often fantasizes about being born in a different time and place. This is probably why she writes medieval romances for teens. She is a member of American Fiction Writers and blogs obsessively about her journey as a young novelist. She is passionate about indie rock, novels with kick-butt heroines, and lattes with the perfect amount of foam.
Now, I spent about 7 minutes writing that so it’s far from flawless, but it at least gives you an idea of what you can do with a bio when you don’t have a ton of writing credentials to your name.
I particularly want to point out that last sentence. I could have said, “She likes music, reading, and coffee.” But that doesn’t tell you much about Olivia, because I bet you can name 50 people who like music, reading, and coffee. And the ”novels with kick-butt heroines” part also tells you a little something extra about what you can expect from one of Olivia’s manuscripts.
Like all things writing related, if you want to get better at writing bios, it’s a good idea to read lots of them. Clicking here will taketo the page of writers who judge the Go Teen Writers writing contests. You can scroll through those and see
which ones grab you.
which ones grab you.
If you’re feeling really brave, you can post your bio in the comments section and get a little feedback… We’d love to help!!
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Thanks for the great tips, Stephanie!
Angela Bell recently posted..I’m so Embarrassed!
Thanks, Angela. I loved this post, too. Bios are sooo hard. I love when the publisher does it for me.
I ditto that, Nicole! I remember the first one I wrote for my publishing house felt SO awkward. It’s weird talking about yourself in third person! Plus I had always assumed someone else wrote bios.
Fortunately, it gets much easier, don’t you think?