The Dreamer

When writing an autobiography or any book in general one of the most important things that must be done is keeping the readers interested. You must write things that will interest the reader, not just the things that interest you, to have a successful book. Throughout this year of English I have read many autobiographies, all of which were different in their own unique way. Sadly most of these autobiographies were not very successful in keeping “me”, the reader interested. Some were definitely worse at this than others. An example of an autobiography that kept me interested mostly throughout the whole book was Sergei Kourdakov’s autobiography The Persecutor. Because a lot of autobiographies I have read so far did not do a very great job at keeping the readers interested, how much better would these autobiographies be if the authors simply asked themselves the question “so what?” On this note how important really are the words, “so what” in an autobiography?

Like I mentioned above, the most important thing when writing a successful autobiography is keeping the readers interested. Most of the time when authors write autobiographies they usually write about things that interested them from their life, instead of writing about things that would interest the reader from the author’s life. The way to prevent this common mistake when writing an autobiography is by asking the simple “so what,” throughout the writing of the book. This question would enable the writer to think like the reader, or understand how the reader would feel while reading the autobiography.

In my opinion an autobiography would be much better if the author asked the question, “so what.” By keeping in mind the perspective of the reader by asking this question, an author would be able to write about details that actually interest the reader, instead of just interesting the author. The question “so what,” also helps the author grasp what is relevant, or not relevant for the narrative; also this question most likely will help the author write a more clear cut, organized, and entertaining autobiography, while still being relevant to the readers.

To answer the final question: how important are the words “so what?” In an autobiography? These two words are very important in an autobiography. This relates to the point above; to write a good autobiography the author must keep in mind if the writing is actually interesting or relevant to the reader.

In conclusion, writing an autobiography is a complex task, if I was ever to go through with it the thing I would keep in mind is the perspective of the readers, through the question, “so what?” Keeping the interest of the reader is one of the most important things when writing any kind of book, and this goes much with autobiographies. The question, “so what?” It itself is very Important when writing an autobiography and should not be neglected, or forgotten, if you were to write a successful autobiography.

During the past while I have read quite a few slave narratives, or autobiographies of people who were slaves, but the narrative of Olaudah Equinao(1745-1797), is unique compared to the other narratives. The reason why his narrative was unique was due to the fact that he was the slave of a British navy lieutenant, and grew up in the navy. Usually the other individuals who wrote slave narratives were slaves on plantations. But what was Equiano’s attitude regarding his life in the British Navy?

Equiano was born in a small African village; his father was the chief of the village, which meant his early life was pleasant. He had a relatively large family, with six siblings, which included five brothers and one sister. Sadly this life did not last long for him; when he was eleven he and his sister were kidnapped, while their parents were away. He and his sister were separated, and he was taken and sold to several places. Finally he was taken to America, and was sold there, but this did not last long, and he was sold again this time to a British navy lieutenant.

When Equiano first entered life in the navy, he was terrified. He was scared of the ships, the sailors who were Europeans(who he thought at first were bad spirits), and the weapons on board the ship. He even thought that the sailors would sacrifice him, or eat him! But eventually over time he adjusted, and even began to enjoy the life of being a sailor; and even made friends with some of the sailors. This adjustment especially occurred when he began understanding English, which helped him understand what was going on, not having a barrier in life, and also this helped him not feel so terrified anymore.

Equiano’s attitude regarding his life in the British Navy, really relates to how he adjusted to that life. At first he was scared of everyone and everything but soon enough he adjusted and became accustomed to it. His attitude towards this life was mostly one of excitement. He was excited for life, especially with the idea that he may even fight in a battle. He also became relatively close with his master.

So far reading the narrative or autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, I have noticed many differences compared to other slave narratives, which has made it feel in my opinion a quite unique read. One of the most important aspects of Equiano’s life which is different compared to other individuals who were slaves was the fact that he was the slave of a British navy lieutenant meaning that he lived in the navy, which is pretty different. His attitude towards his life at the time was mostly one of excitement, which was what I discussed in this essay. 

For the past months I have been reading and studying autobiographies; also I have been learning how to write one. Because I have been learning how to write an autobiography, I have learned about how to properly write, and how not to write an autobiography. The way to properly write an autobiography is through note taking, which ensures that you have descriptions on what is going around you. But what must I do with my note-taking to properly describe what is going on around me?

Note-taking is very important when writing an autobiography, and there are many options on the way you write notes. The most effective option when taking notes in my opinion, which I may do when I write my own autobiography, is journaling. With journaling you don’t have to write everything down every single day, instead you could write every few days on the important things of your week so far. Or you could instead only record the most important events in your life.

For me personally I would most likely keep a journal every few days or whenever I feel it is important to do so. I have tried journaling every single day, and that did not work well for me. I lost motivation each day, and soon lost interest in it altogether. But some individuals may really enjoy journaling every single day, and find it very effective, so truly the way one journal is up to them. With that fact in mind that I would use a journal to keep track of my life, here are some things I must do with my note-taking.

The first thing I would do is keep my notes in chronological order. This is very important, you do not want to have an autobiography that is disjointed, or has a very disorganized chronology. The second thing I would do is not waste my time on trivial details, or avoid writing down things that are not very important; of course this is hard to prevent but still it is important in my opinion. The third and final thing I would do is try to take notes as soon as possible if something important happens in my life, so my retelling will be as accurate as possible.

Therefore, when I am taking notes for a future autobiography I will be using a journal. But with the notes itself I will make sure that my notes will be in chronological order, not be full of trivial details, and finally to ensure my retelling of an event is accurate.