WRITING ABOUT YOUR
FAVORITE PERSON – YOU!
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INCIDENT
AUTO - BIO - GRAPHICAL
“Auto” – indicates “self”.
“Bio” - indicates “life”.
“Graph” - indicates “write”.
You are writing about your life.
WHAT IS AN “INCIDENT”?
An incident is an event that
happens in a short period of
time. For this type of writing, I
will ask you to focus the body
of your writing on something
that happened on one
particular day.
WHAT IF WHAT HAPPENED IS LONGER
THAN A DAY?
Many of the events that happen in
our lives unfold over a period of
time. You will be able to write a
little about things that led up to
the actual day, or incident, in
your background BEFORE you tell
what happened on “the day”.
WHAT IS “PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE”?
One of the things that makes this
writing type so powerful is that
after you narrate your story, you
get to express why it was
significant or important to you.
That is called
“personal significance”.
WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?
When choosing a memory to write
about, try to remember something
that might have:
•
•
•
•
taught you an important lesson
made you a better person
gave you a new perspective
was “life changing” in some way
ORGANIZATION & CONTENT
This narrative-type essay has three
basic parts:
 Introduction (Background)
 Body (The Incident Itself)
 Conclusion (Your Reflection on
the Personal Significance of
the Incident)
“MULTI-PARAGRAPH WRITING”
Because this is a narrative piece of
writing where you tell your story, it
is not necessarily a “five
paragraph essay”. It will probably
take a little longer than five
paragraphs because the body, or
“story”, part will be a series of
many paragraphs.
FIRST, THE INTRODUCTION OR THE
“BACKGROUND INFO”
This first paragraph captures the
reader’s interest by introducing other
events that led up to “the day” of
the incident. We call that
background. Background brings the
reader up to the day the incident
took place, but the
background doesn’t “tell the story”.
BACKGROUND COMPONENTS
Background should include:
• a lead (first sentence that “grabs”
the reader.
• Important people, settings,
situations, or conflicts that have
led to this incident.
This paragraph does not start “the day” of the
incident. It only brings the reader up to that day.
BACKGROUND EXAMPLE:
“La la la, doo be doo be doo...When I was a baby,
my mom tells me, I sang before I could talk. If there
was a song on the radio or on T.V., I could repeat it
from memory almost instantly. As a toddler, I sang
when I was bored, I hummed while chewing my
food, and I even crooned myself to sleep. Why
was it, then, that when I started school, I suddenly
was afraid to sing in front of people? What
unforeseen forces were at work, strangling this
innate talent out of me?”
THE STORY ITSELF - BODY
• This part of the narrative essay is where
to relate the story to the reader using
many writing elements.
• It should reflect plot structure with
problem, setting, characterization,
rising action, climax, falling action,
and resolution.
Basic Plot Structure – Autobiographical Incident Narrative
Climax
or Turning Point
Falling Action
Rising Action
Resolution
Personal Significance
Background
Exposition
WRITING ELEMENTS
Include all of the following in the
body of your narrative essay:
• focus on a single incident.
(ONE day)
• use sensory details to describe
people, places, times, etc.
• use pacing to build suspense
• sequence events logically.
MORE WRITING ELEMENTS...
Include these as well:
• use dialogue to show what others
said during the incident.
• show your inner thoughts and
feelings as the incident unfolds.
• provide an end that is wellintegrated and makes sense.
NOW, TAKE A STEP BACK...
To write the conclusion, you need
to separate yourself from “the
story”. The incident was the
“then”. Put yourself in the “now”.
Now look at it from today’s
perspective instead of how you
looked at it while it was
happening to you.
WRITING THE “PERSONAL
SIGNIFICANCE” PART...
In the last paragraph, you need to
express, in present tense, how you
feel or think TODAY about the
incident, showing how it:
 taught you an important lesson
 made you a better person
 gave you a new perspective
 was “life changing” in some way
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE EX.:
“When I look back on that day, I now realize that
being brave doesn’t mean I’m not going to also
be scared sometimes. It just means I need to not
let the fear control me. I can sing in front of
people, and even if my voice cracks or I forget
the words, I’m not giving up on my dream. I am
going to keep sharing my talent and gift with the
world. I’m also not going to let others define who
I am or keep me from doing what I’m born to do.
I thank Monica for teaching me that. So, bring on
the music! I’m ready for my cue...”
DON’T FORGET CONVENTIONS!
Just like with any writing, you must
remember to proofread for:
• spelling
• grammar (does it sound right?)
• punctuation and capitalization
• paragraphing form (indent with
• each new paragraph, especially
when using dialogue!)
HOW TO START WRITING...
 First, decide what “the day” of your
incident is. When did “that day”
happen? Anything before that day
is background.
 If you started a quickwrite already,
reread it and decide which parts to
use for the background, the body,
and the conclusion.
FOR HOMEWORK…
• Make a list of basic elements in the body:
Main Problem of story
 Setting – When and Where
Characters (people in story)
Rising Action – events that drive story
Climax – high point in story/addresses problem
Falling Action – events that help solve problem
Resolution – Final Solving of Problem
NOW, “MAP” OUT STORY…
• Using your list, write key words and phrases that identify
what you will write about in each of the parts of the
body/story.
• Remember that the incident is ONE DAY in your life!
• Tomorrow in class you will use your “map” to begin
your first draft.
PLAN IT OUT ON PAPER...
Divide your prewriting paper into
thirds. Write down BRIEF notes to
plan what will go into each part:
 Intro/Background
 Body/Story/Incident/”The Day”
 Reflection/Personal Significance
WRITE YOUR FIRST DRAFT...
• Once you have a general plan,
you’re ready to write.
• Remember that all good writers
are open to revision as they go, so
stop often to read your work and
make changes. At this point,
neatness doesn’t count! Cross out
and revise as needed!