A bio is a concise summary of a persons history. It speaks about the journey, credentials, and achievements of an artist. Writing your bio as an artist has to be condensed yet informative, so it can be a little bit of a challenge.
Luckily, we’ve put together this extensive guide. So let’s dive right into how to write an informative artist’s bio while remaining concise:
5 Steps to Write an Appealing Bio
Your bio is a medium of telling your story to your audience about your journey as an artist. You must therefore be mindful of the format among other techniques you shall employ to tell the story. Here are the 5 steps you should employ for an appealing and convincing bio.
1. Know Your Audience
It is all about understanding your readers who are also die hard fans of your arts. You must tell them all the nitty-gritty of your career in a tactful, easy to read manner. Your writeup must be fascinating to read too. Once you get that out of the way, you must ask yourself what your audience really wants to know. Is it your exhibitions, upcoming events, or a successful project?
2. Use the Right Format
This is about telling your entire story as an artist without using so many words. You must be wise and concise with facts. Use the third person and begin by telling your readers who you are. Proceed to tell them your medium before the background info of your career as an artist. There is a lot you can tell, therefore, you must magnify the focal points. For example, if you have been featured in a publication, that will be a big bonus to your bio.
3. Write Multiple Drafts
Unless you are a highly gifted writer, it would be so hard to just have one masterpiece draft. Write as many drafts as possible using the same focal points but varying style of writing. Be flexible with tone variations and weave your words as beautiful and easy to read as you can. Most people make their writing so professional that they end up with a blunt piece. Don’t be afraid to make your language flowery, cheerful, and funny to read. You are writing for people, not machines!
4. Edit, Edit, and Edit
Being poetic is a sure way to keep your audience glued and engaged. However, overdoing anything is poisonous. Ensure that your bio is short, concise, and easy to understand. Any work without structure is like a thick forest, your bio should be simple and informative. Besides that, nobody wants to read something full of grammatical errors. Have somebody with a good command of grammar proofread and polish your final draft.
5. Let Someone Else Read Your Bio
Having someone else read and comment on your bio is the easiest way to know how your audience will respond to it. Find a reliable seasoned artist with a well-trained eye to read your draft before finalizing it. However, you are not limited to artists, if you can, have a good writer or any editor you know go through your draft before publishing it.
Tips to Keep in Mind When Writing an Artist’s Bio
To make your artist’s bio short, concise, and easy to read, make use of the following tips. Also, be mindful of the type of bio you are writing.
1. Short Paragraphs
Nobody wants to spend their entire afternoons reading long paragraphs that go on for days on your bio. On the contrary, people like to get right to the point. More often than not, you will find that people actually skim through write-ups and don’t read at all. Give them exactly what they want. Succinct and efficient information on your exhibition or live performance.
2. Use First Person Voice
The best way to create intimacy with your audience is by using the first-person voice. Go forth and use that in your biography. Especially if your medium of communication is your website or social media pages. This will create an instant connection and trust with your audience because you are speaking directly to them.
3. Use Specific Formats
Follow the rules of the institution related to your artwork. For example, if you are writing a bio for your museum exhibition, use the standard format of the museum. It is also good to note that some institutions might prefer that you employ either the first or third person’s voice in your bio.
4. Mind the Content
Match your content with your target audience. For example, if you are having an exhibition or live performance in New York, let your content resonate with New York by using the jargon and style used in that particular place. If you are targeting a high school festival, let your bio resonate with the high school jargon and style.
5. Get Another Party Opinion
Let someone else read through and polish your bio. If you can get a hold of someone with good command in grammar and a creative at the same time, the better for you. It could be a literature teacher friend, a journalist, a fellow artist, anybody who can improve your bio. Make sure they thoroughly check for errors and polish the bluntness in your bio.
6. Use Standard Font
Avoid the flowery calligraphic fonts when writing your bio. Go for the neutral standard font that is easy to read through. The most common fonts used include Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman. To make it even better use 11 or 12 point size. These point sizes are easy enough to read through for everybody.
Bonus Tip
Your bio is the best expression of who you are as an artist. We can’t stress enough how perfect it should be. You grow and progress with it throughout your entire career therefore you should give it your best. Spice it up with achievements, notable collaborations, publications you have featured in among other achievements that have matured you as an artist.