How To Start An Autobiography

It seems
to me that it would be difficult for most young people to write complete autobiographies. They
haven't been around that long, and most haven't done much except grow up and go to school. I
would suggest that, with the teacher's permission of course, it would be better for a young
student to write about a single memorable incident in his or her life. A fairly detailed
description of that incident ought to give a pretty good impression of the writer's background.
If you were to write about a single incident in your life, then the first step, it seems to me,
would be to jot some of the incidents that stand out in your memory, and then to zero in on one
of them as your project. You can find some excellent examples of the kind of essay I am
suggesting in collections of James Thurber's short pieces, particularly in My Life and
Hard Times and in The Thurber Carnival, which contains
selections from My Life and Hard Times. Here are a few titles of his
autobiographical essays:

"The Night the Ghost Got
In"

"The Night the Bed Fell"

"The Dog
that Bit People"