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Bio Guidelines

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Koushik Das
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1 views

Bio Guidelines

Necessary document

Uploaded by

Koushik Das
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Biographies Template

General Guidelines

 Bios mustn’t be less than 800 or more than 1000 words.


 Name of the subject should be used at regular intervals (except in trivia
section). However, it should not be repeated more than 7-8 times in a bio.
 The subheadings to be used in the biographies are Childhood & Early Life,
Career, Major Works, Awards & Achievements, Personal Life & Legacy,
Net Worth (Not Compulsory) and Trivia in that order.
 The Career section should be the biggest section in the biography. It Should
Cover the Person’s First Work to Last/Latest Work…If the Person Is Alive and
There Is Info About His/hers Forthcoming Works…Cover That Too.
 Do not use “and” anywhere in the subtitles. You MUST use the ampersand
(&).
 All the relevant information must be in bullet form. Whenever Names of A
Movie, Book, Institution, Organization, Awards/Honors etc. Occur Put
Them Under Single Quotes!!
 Bullet points should be complete sentences.
 Each bullet point should be at least 2 lines, but one sentence should not be
more than 35 words.
 Each bullet should have individual meaning and mustn’t be dependent on any
other for its full meaning.
 Every important point (NOT ALL) mentioned in the bio must have the relevant
year, date would be a pleasant add-on.
 Don’t give too short sentences in one bullet. Merge them with other pertinent
bullet points. Make Your Sentences Complex…Not Statement Like.
 DO NOT mention too many dates in one bullet point. Mention only one date
under one bullet point. Or if you are mentioning a time frame….such as from
2000 to 2008, then you can put it in one bullet point.
 Paste the links of the sites, you referred to, at the end of the
biography….Don’t Rely Only On Wikipedia And Refer to At least Five Sites If
Available…And Never Copy Paste Even A Single Sentence…Make Each
Of Your Sentences Unique And Original…
Mention As Many Dates As Available!!!

Heading Wise Format

1. Name: Just the person’s name


2. Introduction: It shouldn’t be less than 200 or more than 220 words. No
dates/years or major facts should be mentioned in the introduction; it should
be a generic overview of the personality in question. Introduction is one
paragraph. Present an overview of the person’s career and life without going
into too much detail.
3. Childhood & Early Life
 Must include details of parents, siblings, etc. whichever available. (Write
only if there is value addition). Must include date of birth and/or place of
birth.
 Details of early education, serious illnesses, talent, tragedy and any other
info available from the early life of the personality should come here.
 Give as many dates and years as possible. Mention years wherever
available. But make sure you don’t mention more than one year in one
bullet point.
4. Career
 Career is the most important part of the biography. It needs the most
emphasis. Make it more elaborate, detailed and offer a year by year
account of his/her career until his/her latest work.
 All the information in the career must be arranged in Chronological
Order.

5. Major Works
Major works (and ONLY major works) must be mentioned and there must be
relevant details pertaining to what sort of work it really is.
6. Do not make bullets of all the works. Just a mention of MAJOR works and
some details about them such as relevant year, sales, (Box Office Collection
For Movies….Number of Copies Sold And Number Of Languages Translated
Into In Case Of Books)…..Impact on community etc. Don’t Mention More
Than 2-3 Major Works. For One Major Work Dedicate One Bullet Point…Don’t
Mix It Up!!! Give Relevant Information Establishing Why Its Considered The
Person’s Major Work!!!
7. Awards & Achievements (must have Value Addition, Eg: Explain why a
person won Nobel Prize)
All the important awards and achievements to be mentioned here. Prizes
like the Nobel, Booker, etc. find place here along with the year in which they
were awarded and the reason why they won the same.
Achievements such as being inducted in any Hall of Fame or being named
something like “Woman of the year” or “Poet of the century” etc. to be
mentioned here with dates and other relevant details like the name of the
association or the magazine that awarded the personality this particular title in
question. Must mention titles given only by famed and renowned magazines
and/or associations.

8. Personal Life & Legacy


Details about the personality’s sexual orientation, spouse, companion and
kids to be mentioned here with dates wherever possible.
The circumstances, cause and place of the person’s death (must include
date of death).
Major controversies related to the person’s life such as affairs, relationships,
etc. to be mentioned here.
Any major organisations, places, institutions, theories, celestial bodies, etc.
named after the person to be mentioned under legacy. If the person inspired
someone to do something big then that bit should also be here.
9. Humanitarian Work

The causes supported by the individual…association with charitable


organizations…and any other social/humanitarian work to be mentioned in the
section.

10. Net Worth: If Possible write 2-3 lines on the net worth (assets) of the
personality as per the latest assessment (for example as of September
2014).
Sample: Alfred Taubman is one of the most significant faces of the real estate
Industry, has a net worth of an estimated US $2.7 Billion, as of September
2013. One of his most path-breaking contributions was introducing the
concept of ‘Shopping mall’ to the world.

11. Trivia
The last section of the bio shall be ‘Trivia’ which would comprise of lesser
known titbits about the personality in question (E.g., Ernest Hemingway used
to hate his name because he hated being associated with “the foolish
character” of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”).

12. The last section of the biography: Fill in the following blanks in one word

Cause of Death: Like accident/assassination/drug overdose/murder etc.

Personality: Aggressive/Ambitious/Calm/Charismatic/Introvert etc.

Character Traits:

Absent Minded/Argumentative/Logical/Moody/Generous/Witty etc.

Challenges Faced: Divorce/Exile/Addiction/Imprisonment/Poverty etc.

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