Autobiographies can be dated back to 400 AD when Saint Augustine wrote his. Simply stated "An autobiography is information about one's own life written by that one person." If you are a famous person, writing an autobiography may be the only way to get your version of your life out to the public. If you are not famous but you have had an interesting life, whether it be filled with joy and/or hardships, writing your autobiography may be the only way to tell people about it.

Your first step in writing your autobiography is to understand the motivation behind doing this work. Money alone is not a true motivator because unless you are famous, the monetary gain will not normally be that great. You need to be motivated by the experiences you want others to know about - the story not the money should be the true motivation. You need to read other good autobiographies, not only to give you helpful ideas, but also teach you how to organize your thoughts and actually write the piece. One author believes that writing your autobiography is as simple as having a conversation with a special friend with that special friend being you. There are various websites available to actually help you to gather your information and get started writing - specific topics found on these websites include writing, family ancestry search, and writing a life story. There are other sites that will actually write your autobiography for you if you give them all needed information.

Make sure that after you write your autobiography, you preserve it for future generations. Also, use this autobiography as a conversation starter to let your family and friends know about the important events in your life.