Your “Crappy First Draft” (Start before you start):
Get comfortable starting with a crappy first draft. Schedule your calendar to allow room for writing your first draft and then making subsequent edits.
Freewrite. Write, write, write… Don’t try to sell, just write. Do your best to keep writing without editing anything.
If it helps: Write everything down longhand, pen and paper style, to minimize temptations to edit as you go.
See “Who Is___” writing prompt document to get you started on ideas/talking points.
List everything you have ever done (just the facts) related to your art/music career. You won’t need to use it all, but use it freely to jog your mind.
Feel free to go beyond the prompts and write about your own personal highlights, anything that sticks out in your mind about your own artistic journey.
If you find yourself in the middle of writing a sentence and lose interest halfway through, just keep going with a new line with a new approach or idea vs trying to go back and “fix” what you’ve already written.
You’ll end up with more than enough material you’ll need for your bio and other copy. Get ready to cut about half or more of it out. (Hey, maybe the rest will end up in your memoir!)
Real Writing Starts With The Editing Process (Substance & Style Considerations)
Once you’ve finished your “crappy first draft”, the real writing begins with editing what you’ve got. Check out the following considerations and start editing/rearranging your info accordingly. Do another 2-3 passes after that (after your own and others’ feedback).
Begin with the end in mind: Boiling down your desires to specific goals will help direct your priorities– what you talk about and how you talk about them.
What is your goal with this bio? What action do you want your reader to take or be inspired to do?
E.g.: The “BUY NOW” button = you want the person to buy your album.
E.g.: Do you want to be invited to a festival?
Do you want to be hired to play at local clubs? Residencies? Weddings/special events?
Do you want your fans to buy your latest album / merch?
What 1-3 things do you want the reader to remember about you, that they’ll walk away with?
Prioritize your information using the inverted pyramid structure.
Think of laying out your information in order of importance, so that as the reader begins to lose attention with each sentence, reading down the page, they don’t miss out on the most important takeaways.
Lead/Hook: Most newsworthy info (who, what, when, where, why, how); Give a good picture of who you are as an artist, what kind of music you play, top achievements or whatever is most important to your audience. It is likely that promoters and journalists will only copy and paste this first paragraph, so make it count!
Body: Important details that support the narrative
Tail: Other general/background info
Consider your audience and their attention span:
Put the most important, current stuff first.
Your long bio may be used by press (journalists/bloggers) or superfans who are really trying to get to know you in greater depth.
Shorter bios may be used by promoters in making their decision to hire you, as well as turn around and market you to their audience.
Promoters will likely copy and paste directly from your website (EPK, but usually the first paragraph only) onto their own event site, music review, blog, or show program. So make sure the short bio reflects what you want potential ticket buyers and fans to see on that site.
HOW: Start with the full (long) version, then snip from the bottom, keeping the most important information in the shorter versions. Edit as necessary.