Excerpt from Next in Line, Everyman's Guide for Writing an Autobiography

I had to go it alone. Before starting my memoirs, I bought every book I could find on the subject. To my disappointment, I found most of these publications were written by persons who probably had not written their own autobiographies. Their advice was as unimaginative as instructing a would-be artist to paint by the numbers.

Without inspired guidance, I had to wing it. I was like the bumblebee that doesn’t know, according to aeronautics, that it can’t fly. A year later, when I finished Southern Boy, I had learned a great deal that I could pass on to others planning to write their personal histories. I had been there and done that. With my experience, I have empathy for anyone who attempts the challenge.

In composing your autobiography, don’t be concerned about your ability to write. As talent lands wherever there’s an available landing strip, you will find you possess writing skills you didn’t know you had. If you can talk, you can write. Your manuscript will merely be your spoken words put on paper.

As you scrape away the rust, you’ll find that memories start in your head and leap onto the page. Although writing often falls short of real meaning, you will create something beyond your expectations. You will discover that your mind has a thousand eyes.

In writing your life story, you have complete freedom in the way you join together the parts of your life that make up the whole. You can program your manuscript from birth to the present or vice versa. You can use the flash-back technique.

But realize that there are a dozen elements of a successful autobiography. Regardless of how you structure your story, be sure to include each of the ingredients. When making bread, don’t leave out the yeast. These essential components are:

• Purpose
• Beginning
• Family album
• First home
• Early years
• Grown up
• Adult life
• Special people
• Humor
• Important events and life passages
• Be kind
• Reflections