Introducing... The Author

A Lesson by

A simple lesson on how to write a basic Author Introduction.

Hello! My name is D.R. Ergo and this is my first Lesson on the WritersCafe website.

I have been writing [seriously] for a little over three months, and have come to love it immensely. Like most authors, writing is my passion, as well as a probably career-choice.

I enjoy writing more complex stories, as well as reading them. I don't write for children, but my works are not overtly mature or vulgar.

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How's that for an author introduction? Short, sweet, but it covers my point. Who am I? What are my interests? How long have I been writing? What is my personality?

Those are the questions readers will be asking, and those are the ones you need to answer.

An Author Introduction is not a biography that is meant to be as long as your book. Some books don't even have an author introduction. The Author Introduction is meant to give the reader a peek into who you, the writer, are. It's much easier to have the book and point-of-view in perspective when you can see the person behind the words.

Now onto the lesson, my dear grasshoppers!

Who am I again?

Who are you? That is a very important question to ask yourself. When writing this introduction, your number one concern should be what people see you as. Do you want them to see you as crazy and wild? Elegant and sophisticated?

So before moving on, ask yourself- Who are you?

Order Matters...

Especially when you are describing something, like a person. Your introduction should introduce you in chronological order. You don't want to sound like you winged this five minutes before the printers were ready to start running, and just rambled off a few things you know about yourself.

What is logical order, you ask?

Well, would it make sense to start in the middle, backtrack to the beginning, skip to the end, and then continue that bit you left off somewhere between the three?

No.

Logical order is from beginning to end- Or end to beginning, depending on how you'd like to present yourself. But if you do want to come off as crazy and wild, go ahead and skip about your life story as you wish,

For those who want some order, here's a good way to plan out your introduction-

1. How long have you been writing? Are you new at this? Have you been introduced through other literary works? No? Then you should probably include your name and how long you've been writing.

2. Is this a career? Should readers expect to see more from you, or was this a one time thing?

3. What else do you do? Are you a ninja in your spare time, or simply a bookworm dedicated to the written word?

Three simple steps to write an author introduction that explains the Who and What of you, the author.

Remember, you can always add something to this outline. Do you want to talk about who inspired the book? Why you write? Who you write for?

Tell it. We're listening.