Writing Mistakes You're Making

Plot: Does My Life = Autobiography?

It's highly doubtful. Have you accomplished anything amazing? Is there something unique about your life? Have you had experiences not many others have had? Are you a big enough name that people even care?

If so, sure, your life (or at least that interesting bit of it) could potentially be an autobiography. But most likely, if you're a teenager you haven't done anything autobiography-worthy yet. The draw of an autobiography is getting an in-depth look at someone you admire or look-up to or know something about already. The chances of you being that someone for a ton of people is very slim, and it's important when writing to give at least some thought to marketability. (Yes, if you want to write this book for you and never show a soul, feel free to ignore me and chronicle what went down with Charleene in Mrs. Brown's science class last year, and how dare she blame you when it's obvious that Willard came onto you and not the other way around while you were dissecting that frog.) 

If you had something happen in your life that would make the perfect YA romance novel, by all means, write a story based on it. The key here is “based on it” –– not legitimate autobiography. If you choose this format instead of the 100% truthful one, it gives you room to add in that bomb towards the middle to shake things up, or write that scene that ties all the loose-ends together (the one you wish had actually happened to you in real life). In short, you can write an exciting version of true events, one that people want to hear about.

And if the only exciting thing to ever happen to you was that once your school bus broke down in the middle of Yellowstone and you led the hike back to civilization, consider the short story option, and leave the rest of your high school career out of it. 

Example: Barack Obama's autobiography is something people want to read. Barack Obama's cousin's nephew's daughter's trip to the mall where she met the love of her life (H&M) is not something people want to read...unless it comes with a $100 H&M gift certificate...no, never mind. Not even then.