This is Your Life

Revamping your bio, resume and artist statement will invigorate your career. Doing so will also compel you to pay closer attention to what's next. Do you have all of these About Me documents ready to send out right now? If not, get busy with them, and have a professional editor or proofreader add some touchups.

Three bios: 250 words, 500 words, and one as long as it takes to showcase your career highlights. Use the long bio as a document for adding new accomplishments as they happen, and for unusual/cool sounding personal notes such as your creative children's names and the geodesic dome you live in. When updating the shorter versions, extract only the vital credentials. We usually have one or two major claims to fame, so create the smaller bios around these, adding lesser notes as room permits. Read all versions of your bio out loud as though someone was introducing you to an audience.

A traditionally formatted resume: Be ready if a position comes along that offers you special opportunities. A resume details where and how you gained the experience you have. The point is to communicate what you have been responsible for. Add a section that includes a list of tools and software technologies you have mastered. These are strengths, but they probably don't have a place in your bio or artist statement. A resume can also list projects you have worked on in detail, and any unique training.

Artist statement: This is your story and your path. Writing out your vision can take many forms but the goal is to define your individual aspirations. Pick one day a year, your birthday for example, to revisit your personal statement. As the years roll by, chances are you will want to make some changes.