What’s the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?
If you can't tell the difference between a memoir and autobiography, it's not because you're missing something.
I'm going to say something controversial in writing circles:
The supposed "differences" between memoir and autobiography don't exist in any substantive form.
They're the same thing.
Memoir vs. Autobiography: Distinctions Without Differences
These are the classic definitions of memoir and autobiography from the Encyclopedia Britannica:
'Memoir' and 'autobiography' are both used to a person's written acount of their life.
An autobiography is generally seen as an account of a person's entire life, whereas a memoir usually is only about one part of a person's life.
A narrative about a person's life from birth or early childhood is usually called an autobiography. A narrative about a specific period of a person's life or a specific experience is usually called a memoir.
The top ranked blog posts all go into deep detail about the differences between memoir and autobiography. But it feels like they copied each other, because they all make the same points over and over.
Those blog posts outline the same similarities and differences between memoir and autobiography:
- Both are books written by the author about their own life.
- Both were written from the first-person perspective ("I ate dinner").
- Both recount real-life experiences.
- An autobiography is written by someone who is famous or noteworthy, and usually done in the later years of their life.
- Autobiographies are factual and fact-checked.
- Autobiographies cover a whole life, memoirs cover part of a life.
- Autobiographies are written in chronological order, while memoirs can jump around in time.
- Autobiographies are more objective and factual, whereas memoirs are more subjective and emotional, with a greater emphasis on the author's personal experiences and reflections.
Let’s look at these differences one by one:
Famous Authors vs. Not-Famous Authors
Many blog posts claim that anyone can write a memoir about their personal experiences, but autobiographies are by famous people.
That distinction is so transparently silly. How can you argue there's a separate genre of first-person life story books because the author is "famous"?
Come on. Anyone can write the whole story of their life, just like anyone can write about a small part of their life.
My favorite was the blog post that said this, then listed The Diary of Anne Frank as an example of an autobiography. Anne Frank was obviously not famous when the content for the book was written. She became famous posthumously when her diary (which she never called an autobiography) was published.
Fact Checked Autobiographies vs Non-Checked Memoirs
This is an objectively incorrect statement. The people who say this have never submitted a memoir to a publisher.
I've published many, many memoirs, and every single one was fact-checked to an annoying degree by the publisher.
A Whole Life vs. Part of a Life
The idea that an autobiography covers the author’s entire life, while memoirs only cover part of a life is ridiculous.
First of all, no book can cover an ENTIRE life.
What parts of your life you choose to cover is inherently a subjective choice, not an objective one. Which of course also means that autobiographies are not more objective than memoirs.
Chronological Order vs. Moving Back-and-Forth
Many blog posts will tell you that autobiographies and memoirs are both written in chronological order.
But genre purists insist that autobiographies are strictly chronological, whereas memoirs are mostly chronological but might move around in time.
So, here’s a philosophical question: if a famous person writes the book, but it jumps around, and covers most of their life but not all, and it’s really personal and emotional, is it an autobiography or a memoir?
Nobody knows!
That’s because the whole distinction is completely made up.
Tell your story in the order that makes the most sense and that’s most entertaining to the reader. Period.
Facts vs. Emotional Experience
The argument that an autobiography is factual while a memoir is emotional is my favorite made-up distinction.
As I said before, the choice about what to put in a book is inherently subjective, and invalidates the entire distinction.
But just think about the claim for a second: have you ever picked up a book that only listed facts about someone?
John Smith was born in Boise, Idaho on May 15, 1944. He liked to eat cereal for breakfast. He enjoyed beets for lunch most days. He died on June 12, 1990.
Lists of facts are not books, and no autobiography is a list of facts.
One blog post lists The Autobiography of Malcolm X as their example of an iconic autobiography. The book does cover most of his life up to the writing of the book, that's true. But it’s a deeply personal book, full of Malcolm’s feelings and emotions. It's as "emotional" as any memoir, in fact, that is what makes it iconic.
Tell Your Story, Don't Worry About Memoir vs Autobiography
Making an artificial distinction between autobiography and memoir puts the focus on the wrong thing. It makes the book more about the author or obscure "rules" than about the reader.
Readers don’t care whether your book is a “memoir” or “autobiography.” They care whether it’s entertaining, helpful, or enlightening.
I say this all the time to the students in the Tell Your Story Memoir Academy:
People read memoirs (and autobiographies) not to learn about your life, but to learn about their own lives—and the only way they can do that is if you tell them both what happened AND how you felt about it.
When you break it down, there’s no difference between a memoirist and an autobiographer. They’re both writers sharing real-life stories in order to make an impact on a reader’s life.
Anyone who tells you there’s a difference doesn't understand the genre.
