Louise Jameson has led a varied life as an actress - appearing in everything from Dr Who to Eastenders. Her agent is always asking her to write her autobiography - she's considered it, but fears she'd end up friendless, broke and out of work - she has too many secrets and she's simply not prepared to share them! Ever Wondered sent her to find out the place of autobiography in society and whether it really ever presents a truthful self image…

Autobiography and the written word have long been a popular form of self expression - and apparently it all began with a letter. Louise's first expert reveals how Horace Walpole's prolific letter writing may have been the forerunner to modern autobiography…

Louise: Horace Walpole has a reputation as the greatest letter-writer of all time - do you think he deserved that reputation?

Steve Regan: Well, he was certainly the greatest letter writer of his day and he elevated the letter to an art form, a kind of autobiographical writing. I think he had a great sense of posterity - he asked for about a thousand of his letters to be returned and he edited and annotated them himself for the benefit of future readers. So I think he wrote very much with the idea that other people would be having access to his thoughts after his death.

Louise : What made these letters so important?

Steve Regan: What you get is a very interesting social history recording, in meticulous detail, some of the great events of the time. For instance, in 1760 George II had just died and Walpole describes what he saw at the funeral -'… the horseguards on the outside, the officers with drawn sabres and crepe sashes'. There's a tremendous amount of social detail like this in his work.

Louise : How much of himself is invested in the letters?

Steve Regan: There is quite a lot of autobiography here I think. Or at least a great deal of self image or self projection. There's a wonderful account here where as an Earl's son who mingles with the monarchy, he describes himself as a 'rag of quality' - a wonderful expression - quality yes, but as the youngest son of an Earl he thinks of himself as a bit of a rag.

Louise: Were letters like this the forerunners to modern autobiography then?

Steve Regan: I think certain letters were. There are many letters where you can see writers fashioning themselves, creating a certain kind of image of themselves. I think the link between the letter and the autobiography, and Walpole is a great example of this - there is a great deal of self consciousness about the act of letter writing, and also a great sense of style and artistry.

But what of modern day autobiographical works? Louise goes to meet Andrea Ashworth, who had just written an autobiographical account of her childhood - 'Once in a House on Fire' …

Louise: Was the book hard to write?

Andrea Ashworth: It was incredibly difficult and very painful. I wrote it here in Oxford, among the dreaming spires, which made it even more difficult, as I had to transport my mind back to Manchester and my childhood to get the story out.

Louise: Did you write the book chronologically?

Andrea Ashworth: I wrote it pretty strictly chronologically so I could start from age 5 and move up to age 18. I wanted the reader to be completely immersed and so didn't want to have any fancy flashbacks. Of course, I had to manipulate things to make it fit and I had to shape it make it a story, to redeem it.

Louise: Did you find it a therapeutic experience - did you feel you'd released something by the end of the writing?

Andrea Ashworth: The writing itself was therapeutic in the messiest, most painful way. Putting it down on paper, pinning down the ghosts and trying to make something beautiful out of something that had been very ugly was very cathartic. I was very much encouraged by my Mum to say whatever I had to say and to write the story as clearly and honestly as possible. I think I did write it in an honest way but I also held back a lot, both for the sake of my mother and for the sake of the reader, who I felt couldn't take all of the truth.

Louise: Was it difficult for you after publication?

Andrea Ashworth: I was warned beforehand that I'd feel like I was running down the street in my pyjamas but without the bottoms on. Actually I felt like I was running down the street with no skin.

Louise: Were you conscious of projecting a self image as you were writing?

Andrea Ashworth: Yes, because I was conscious of trying to find out who I am and who I have been. There's a character in the book called Andrea who is based on me - it's me and it's not me. That can drive you bonkers - because on the one hand you're trying to put yourself on paper, and on the other hand you just can't do that - a memoir can't be a full mirror of yourself. If it could we'd all be a lot saner!

So if autobiography can't be a truthful self image does it in fact serve a different purpose - giving us a picture of the world we live in? Louise goes to visit philosopher Alain de Botton …

Louise: As a writer yourself how important do you think the place of autobiography is?

Alain de Botton: One of the great things about autobiography is that it's a chance to set the story right. A lot of the time we feel that our lives are being told by other people - people who've not necessarily got the best of intentions … parents, bosses, paparazzi, educators … I think autobiography is a way of filling in that picture.

On the whole I think it's used for presenting a nicer image of ourselves than perhaps other people have. You can also learn an awful lot about the time that an autobiography was written - which makes it a useful historical document. And of course you can also learn a lot about yourself by reading someone else's life.

Louise: How truthful do you think an autobiography can be?

Alain de Botton: I think it's always a selection of things. You can't ever include everything in the story. But just in the way a painting can capture the essence of a scene without giving you all the information about it, so too an autobiography can give you a most appealing and truthful sketch about something even though you know it can't ever be the full story.

Louise: What kind of person chooses to write an autobiography?

Alain de Botton: Normally quite a disturbed person. Anyone who writes a book is quite disturbed - and what they're looking for out of life is more love than the world gives them in some way - love broadly defined that is. So beware all autobiography!

If you would like to find out more about these subjects, here are a few suggestions.

Books you can read

Reading Faces : Window to the Soul? (New Directions in Social Psychology) Leslie A. Zebrowitz, Westview Press; ISBN: 0813327474

Once in a House on Fire, Andrea Asworth, Picador; ISBN: 0330351915

The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain De Botton, Hamish Hamilton; ISBN: 0241140099

Kiss and Tell, Alain De Botton, Picador; ISBN: 0330347594

Links You Can Surf

More information on autobiography and what they express

More information on self Image through Biography and Autobiography

Also on this site: You can join Raj Persaud as he takes a look at the importance of first impressions and Richard Wilson as he gets under his own skin to learn about the genetics of the face

If you think you might be interested in studying more about these subjects, find out what the Open University has to offer.

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