Can you write a biography novel?

[The Mayan]

In addition to my fantasy novel, I am also working on a biography of a family member. However, I want to know what is an appropriate format to write one in.
I've never finished reading a biography, because they tend to be extremely boring. They always seem to read like a textbook, making some of the most interesting stories about some of the most amazing people seem incredibly dull.
I want to be able to write this biography in a way I'd find enjoyable to write, and that would mean writing it like a fiction novel. This would mean I'd have to embellish the story with things like conversations that may or may not have happened, although I plan to keep as close to the facts as possible.
What I want to know is, is it appropriate to write a biography this way, or is there a specific format they're expected to be presented in? Would I even be able to call it a biography, or would I have to call it a historical novel?

 

[Cirias]

A lot of British celebrities like Lee Evans and Lewis Hamilton have very interesting biographies. They include dialogue and are divided into chapter-like sections. It depends what the subject matter is.

 

[justLuke]

I prefer biographies to be factual accounts rather than fictional extrapolations of facts. But tastes differ.

Actually, how is what you are proposing to write a biography? Wouldn't it be more accurate to call it a work of fiction, based on some real events, in which your friend forms the basis of the main character?

 

[The Mayan]

That's the thing, I'm not intending to write fiction here.

Okay, maybe I need an example.

The book Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas is a biography of William Wilberforce, who worked to abolish slavery. I tried reading it, and couldn't get very far. But when I watched the film by the same name, I found that it was a very interesting and remarkable story. I'm sure no one would call the film version a "fictional" story, and I'd much prefer to watch that film rather than a documentary about the same thing.

But, if I absolutely have to write it like a textbook for it to be legit, then I'll do it.

 

[KatG]

You can write a fictionalized novel about a real person or yourself, or you can write a bio that reads fictiony in terms of narrative structure but is not. A bio with a lot of stuff made up in it is a novel, not a biography. It's a bit easier to do a narrative take on an autobiography but it can be managed on a biography. I would recommend that you read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, any one of the James Herriot memoirs, Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, any work by David Sedaris, Homer H. Hickam's Rocket Boys, Susan Cheever's Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography, or Terry Ryan's The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.

 

[The Mayan]

or you can write a bio that reads fictiony in terms of narrative structure but is not.

That's what I'm hoping I can do, but I just don't know how to do it without a lot of guesswork, or making things up altogether. Which of the books you've listed read fictionally in terms of narrative structure while not being fiction?

 

[ethgania]

It's definitely doable! I guess most of the time when it's creative non-fiction, it's usually autobiographical or a memoir, but I doubt you'll have a mob of torches and pitchforks at your door doing something similar as a third person kind of deal.

 

[KatG]

That's what I'm hoping I can do, but I just don't know how to do it without a lot of guesswork, or making things up altogether. Which of the books you've listed read fictionally in terms of narrative structure while not being fiction?

All of them, to one degree or another. The most novelistic is the memoir Angela's Ashes, and whose to really know if all McCourt puts in there is true, but it's not a novel. Herriot is actually one of the best writers I know and his memoirs are very much like short stories, with many of the components. The last two are bios, not memoirs, though Prizewinner is a daughter writing about her mom. But they might be the most helpful to you.

Other ones that might be helpful -- Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore, and Paul Theroux, a travel writer and memoirist -- his Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China is one that might be helpful. Roots by Alex Haley -- There's some disputes about parts of the story, but it is one of the most famous, as is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Fatal Vision is another true crime one from Joe McGinnis, who writes both true crime and suspense novels. Andre Agassi's autobiography Open is supposed to be very good. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is about barely surviving Everest. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston may be less novelistic than others but it's still pretty gripping. (After failing to get the film rights, a movie studio basically stole material from it to make the movie Outbreak.) The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett is about a book thief and Catch Me If You Can is the memoir of con artist by Frank Abagnale with Stan Redding reads somewhat novelistically. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand is a bit less novelistic, but parts of it are fiction-like. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger was considered fairly novelistic in style, though it's also journalistic. So you could hit a library, and for that matter, ask a librarian -- they often know the best ones.

 

[Gkarlives]

It depends on the Source Material

Read Jeffery Shara's "Rise to Rebellion", not necessarily for the way to write, but for an understanding of what can be done. The work would be considered fictional because he writes the dialogue between people that he would have no way to access; however, it is based upon a lot of research into historical writings, personal memoirs, correspondence, and other sources to reach a reasonable facsimile of what could have been said. It is factual from the standpoint of facts that can be verified, usually from multiple sources, but is fictional because he was not there to hear first hand what was said. Another good example would be A Bridge too Far by Ryan Cornelius.