Bio writing 101

Bios are awkward. It’s like going on a first day. How far do you go before you gone too far? How personal should you get? How much professionally related content do you include? How long do you make? It’s an odd thing to write about yourself. Do you use the first person? Do you use the third person?

It the end, they all say the same thing. They identify education, major experience and sometimes family or they are only two sentences long. I usually never get passed the first two sentences.

During the redesign of my website, I thought about what do with my bio. Your biography is important, because it is that extra spot on your website to say something that you couldn’t fit anywhere else. It is the chance roll in Yatzee.

My bio will be built from quotes that came out of my mouth over the next month. This way, people can learn not only something about me, but about the real me. After I collect all my quotes, I will reassess the situation to make sure I am not hanging myself.

This is what I have collected so far…

“My inspiration as a journalist came at a very young age. My parents couldn’t afford diapers, so they wrapped me up in newspapers. I have the scars to prove it.”

“During middle school, my first exposure to interactivity came when I made a folded paper fortune-tell (a.k.a. Cootie Cather, a.k.a. Gadalotschka, a.k.a. Heaven and Hell, a.k.a. Nebo Peklo, a.k.a. Spå or Spålapp) out of newspaper. Today, might ask a question like, ‘Who will be the next member of President Bush’s staff to resign?’”