Bio?

[sashas]

I'm always stumped about the short bio that most magazines ask when submitting...
What should I write? I don't have any stories published till now (I haven't even submitted any stories till now:)) and I'm only a freshman student, so don't have much in the way of life experience either.

So what should I write?
Also, what format should I write it in? First person or third person (third person sounds real lame, honestly).

[mammamaia]

if you have no paid writing credits, or are not an expert in the subject you're writing about, say nothing!... let your writing sell itself...

and, if you do have something worth telling them, for heaven's sake, don't use third person!... you're telling the person you're querying what your background is, not writing a blurb for the magazine... their editors will do that...

[Raven]

Well what do you want to write. Start with that.

[mammamaia]

i think the poster meant what to write in the bio, not for the submitted article/story/whatever...

[TWErvin2]

If you're talking about bios that are often printed after a published piece of fiction, the best way to decide what is right for a bio (for a particular magazine) is to look at the bios they have there. Some want first person, other's specifically request third, some don't care.

If it's like a bio from a coverletter, unless they specifically request/require a bio in the guidelines, then skip that part. In the end, the bio won't matter if the story is good enough and they like it/it seems to fit that market's needs.

Terry