October 8, 2007
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Writing a bio
Last week I got an email saying that my article, (the one that got published in Mutuality), is going to be published in the Lausanne World Pulse. The Pulse is the online journal of the Evangelism and Missions Information Service of the Billy Graham Center.
I got an email today asking for a short bio of myself. I started looking around to see how other people wrote their bios. Most bios start off with the person’s name and then “has served with” “is the founder of” “is president of” “is professor of”. All these other authors really put me to shame. I have never founded
something, been president of something, or professor of anywhere. But I guess it goes without saying that one’s bio is a description of what one has done, and what one has done is often a description of who one is. Is that true?I reflected back on my life and thought of the many things I have “done”, the many ways I have served the Lord in ‘official’ ministry positions — but do those offices really describe who I am? Do they define me? Not really. At least, not those ones.
So what should I say? What should I allow to define me in 30 words or less?
I think perhaps that, rather than what I have done, what best describes me is what I am passionate about. What about you? How would you define yourself?
Comments (10)
good points, though i think sometimes (not always) a description of the official things designate that which we want to “officially” pursue which tend to rather time consuming and require dedication, so in a way it does describe oneself partially. a lot of bios i’ve seen have been about what that person did, where they worked, and then what their passions are (guitar, painting, languages, food tasting, etc). good luck with your bio, 30 words is tough to narrow down one person!
so true. you are right! i was thinking that after i had submitted my post. for those who have become presidents and founders of something or other, that IS their passion. if it weren’t, they wouldn’t have gotten there.
perhaps, for me, it is more that the things i have done in the past were my passions but they only painted a partial picture of who i would define myself to be.
Usually, the bios are in place to lend credence to why their article should be worth considering. A professor who studies archeology, for example, would have greater authority to write about archeology than, say, a pastor who only took a survey course in seminary. Not to say that the pastor should always be wrong or something, but that it would be easier to dismiss an article by a layman than an authority on the subject.
Just a thought.
just dropping by, what a cute photo (your header)!
How about this:
“Mary Ann is a freelance writer, currently studying at … (sorry – where do you go to school again?). Her readers love to check in at http://www.xanga.com/searchingfortreasures. She and her husband Sam live in sunny San Diego.”
that’s awesome mary ann! share it with us when you finish
glad you’re getting published! =) yeah… what one has done doesn’t always describe who one is… i know that’s true for me.
you found jesus (or rather, vice versa)
hmm, this makes me think of a eulogy. hahaha! my senior honors english teacher in hs made us write our own eulogies (kinda morbid, but with a lifetime to accumulate a good eulogy in mind) so that we’d know what to strive for in life. lets see.. what would i WANT my bio to say? maybe those can be among some of my goals. if you were to be published in 5 yrs, what would u WANT ur bio to say? in 10 yrs?
i like the sunny san diego thing that licoreen wrote. haha
It’s been ages since I have posted, but it so good to see that you are continuing to write. I was just thinking the other day how that is how God has gifted you, and how reassuring it is that you are using it — what a blessing! It’s so cool that you are getting published.
As for how I define myself, I have learned that it’s important to look at where I am now, and not rest on past accomplishments (nor hearken back to past defeats). Recently, a chapel speaker who was a Creationist (a view that I do not entirely subscribe to) was introduced as one whose name was in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and that was his true identity (not where he stood on some issue, on which salvation does not depend as even he said in his talk). May we rejoice in the same way… that our names are written in heaven.
From your weblog entries, it comes through very clearly that you are passionate about God, His Word, glorifying Him in your marriage, and that God is blessing you to be a blessing.
A fellow servant in the LORD,
Debbie