I can never be bothered to write up a biography, but I really ought to. What do you guys do? Do you even use biographies?

I've been thinking of doing it in the style of...the PSP version, is it? Where it lists secrets about the Sim. Family descriptions I can do just fine.

I usually use the individual bio to write notes about the selected sim and the family bio to write things down I have to remember about the family.. so only as a tool to remember stuff I would otherwise forget.

I don't think I've ever used the bios or the family descriptions, but I do keep detailed Bios of my Sims on my blog. I think if I made a custom neighborhood with custom Sims, I would probably write a few lines in their bios about likes, hobbies, etc. similar to the Maxis bios.

I've written them in the past, but I've never tried to get into a habit with them. When I have written them, I always forgot about it and never ended up reading them again.

My families change so quickly that writing family descriptions is even less useful to me, lol.

so far have not done any description for any character/household I created.
pre-made characters/households have kept their description.

Mostly I use biographies to track the character arc. CAS sims get a short backstory, which will be updated periodically when something impacts how they play, and born in-game sims get one as soon as some formative influence makes itself apparent. For instance:
Ezekial's early life was marked by continual financial strain, and he grew up early after his brother Isaiah left for college, because his mother desperately needed help with the twins. He was a grouchy, rebellious teen, but formed staunch friendships with Oliver Onions and his little sister Naomi. Then came the day that Pigeon Hawkins hugged him in the park! For Pigeon's sake he cleaned up his act (but woe betide you if he thinks you aren't treating his loved ones right!) and decided to become a doctor instead of a Criminal Mastermind. He did well in college, and took Pigeon's name when they married, since he never did feel like much of a Gavigan.
Each clause of the bio was added when it seemed established that the element described was important to Zeke's development as a person. It'd get longer gradually, if I weren't in the process of wrapping up the final round in Drama Acres.

I keep notes in the family descriptions. This one's pregnant, that one lost his job, Whozitz needs to date Whatzizname, etc.

The only thing I usually use the personal biography for is to remind myself of what major the sim had in University so I can try to find a linked job for them.

I write the family and sim bios because I enjoy using them to tell a story, and I update them when circumstances change. I also really enjoy fun descriptions of my community lots and hoods. For my most developed hood right now, the bios and descriptions are connected via story line. In other words, they reference each other sometimes. Like I have a backstory that this little town is largely made up of different lots of land that were once part of just one large estate, so the lots that are part of that mention it somehow. There's supposed to be a bit of mystery in the hood, so the bios hint at who might be involved, as well. I also customize careers that are relevant to my stories and connect them as well, sometimes adding chance cards that would direct the story for that sim. I even have references across hoods, where the story is that some sims move from one to another (they are clones irl, of course).

It's fun for me and it also reminds me of the story ideas I had if don't play for a while.

I also rewrote all the spell names and poems to rhyme better and be in plain English. All that Latinate stuff was too much for me to sort through when I wanted a spell.

I haven't bothered with the bios/descriptions or the photo album since around the time I started writing stories instead of just playin around with families. I used them maybe the first 1-2 years I played, but after that I wrote down information about sims elsewhere.

I keep all kinds of things in my sim bios:

Full names - Whatever a sim's name is when you hover over them is what they 'go by', so for sims who are Ed Brown, for example, I'd put his full name in his bio as Edward James Brown. I like to give middle names - especially to born in game sims, so they go in the bios.

Birthday - I have a pretty simple way of telling a sim's exact birthday, based on my lifespan mod and what season/day/time they were born. Sometimes I forget (which is annoying) but usually I remember to make a note of what time born in game sims arrive, and then I write the birthday in their bio. Celebrating birthdays is part of what makes my super long lifespans fun to play (otherwise it'd get a bit stale) so every 12 sim days they get to throw a party, have a cake, and then change their outfit to keep things fresh. (Just for example, my child stage alone is a whopping 96 days, so I need things like this to keep the game progressing.)

Food Preferences - Some sims are vegetarian. It's usually something I notice during their teen years, because by then their favourite food is sort of set and if I see them skewing towards a lot of vegetarian meals autonomously, I'll note in their bio that they're veggie.

Job titles - If they're working for an owned business, I can't always remember what their position is supposed to be - especially since I play a more or less integrated hood and an owned business could be a hospital. To prevent the janitor being assigned as a labour and delivery nurse by accident (again), I now note these specialised job titles in their bio.

Children's birthdays - I put all a sim's children's birthdays into the bios of at least one of the parents (usually the mum). It kind of stands to reason that she'd be the one to remember, and it's especially useful for babies who are too small to have bios of their own.

Tickets/Criminal Charges / Citations / Fines / Probation - I put statuses like this in my sim bios as there's no other way to really track who should and shouldn't be doing what. If a sim is on probation it's important for me to remember what he was put on probation for in the first place. That way, when she does it again - and again - I'll remember to have him get busted and sent to prison for the right amount of time. For tickets and such, I use an RNG to roll virtual die and determine (when I feel like it) whether a sim has had an accident, a fender bender, or some other oopsie while driving. It's quite fun to do this with teens and simulate those 'first car' years when one gets a lot of tickets and 'taps' a lot of parked (and moving) vehicles. Certain criminal charges result in a sim being banned or dishonorably discharged from certain careers. I note that stuff in the bio as well.

Rarely, I actually do a family bio that's more of a story. If I feel like a family has just had a really compelling series of adventures, and I'm inspired enough by them to write it all out, then I'll put it in the family bio.

I update family descriptions every one or two rotation, giving a summary of the events that have transpired as they effect each member of the family. For individual sim bios, I update those a little more sporadically, depending on what's going on with that sim, what interactions or wants they've been having. For example, if a married sim keeps rolling wants for an ex, even if they're platonic wants, I'll usually plop into the bio that they have a compulsion to be near that person, and how they might interpret (or ignore!) that desire within themselves.

Bios are a neat little spot to tuck potential baby names so I don't forget them. A pregnant sim always has at least two baby names ready in his or her bio, one for a boy and one for a girl. I only get new sims from births, I don't use CAS, so it's pretty typical for an in-game born sim to receive their first bio entry around late toddlerhood to early childhood, as that's when I usually get a feel for their personality and their relationships with family.

I write one just for short notes. Not for reading.

I use it for notes of things I need to remember such as the sims motivation level, important things they rolled a want for, stuff they did that is story related.

I tend to take a moment and think of character traits for someone if I have something in mind, then maybe a couple events I think would be interesting for them. When it comes to the in-game space, I do a quick note of who they like and dislike, and what their goal in life will be in case it's been a long while since I've played.

Aaroneous made a mod that does that. I don't think it does anything to the poetry, but it does replace the spell descriptions in the game with descriptions in plain English.
http://simmanipulator.forumotion.co...or-witch-spells

Cool, that works, too. It looks like Aaroneous wanted definitions or translations along with the original labels. I was after cleaner menus, easier for me to choose a spell at a glance. So, I also tried to make the spells have consistent form. All the disappear ones are XXX-B-Gone, for example. And I just wanted to enjoy slightly better poems. I think the idea of the book is cute, but I wanted a bit more consistent rhythm, at least.

@Sunrader Those spell incantations kinda remind me of Sabrina the teenage witch, it's really cool!

As for bios, I usually try doing something similar to premades' bios. For example, when I gave a makeover to the Strangetown Bella in my mini-megahood and made her Ella Moth, I wrote about her unhealthy obsession with moths and about dying her hair.

I have a text document on my computer for every family. There I write a very short intro when they first enter the hood. Then I write something for each rotation. I note when they grow up, their aspirations, marriages, births, stuff like that. I also tell stories about them, their motivations and their fears. I write about little events in their lives. I notate who moves out or moves in. I use it to refresh my memory at the start of each rotation. The stories go on as long as the family exits.

I don't use them for biographies because it'd become outdated too quickly. Things change too much and too fast (and I like it that way) for me to keep any biographies updated.

Like others I use the biography and family description spaces to write down notes and reminders on the family/sim.

Try to write something clever or just give up and leave it blank

wait, there's a biography sorta thing?

seriously - I mostly use this as notepad, like Tom owes Bill 5000S$ or something like that, I'm too lazy to create spreadsheets for game. A real ingame notepad could be handy, though.

I try to have multicultural neighborhoods.

I get an idea of the type of family I want then sort of make up a story in my head as I create each person.

I just created a family yesterday called the Waverly Family. It's made up of a "elder" Rina, her elder brother, Geoff, her son (I think his name is Leon), and HIS teenage son (Jess). The elders are not going to sit around in rocking chairs. They'll get jobs or travel or do lots of things maybe enjoy their retirements. All this is in my head--I rarely write anything down except for "find such and such custom content."

I usually just put random things in the bio. It takes me a while to fully flesh out characters

On the right corner button, and If I'm correct - in the personality panel.

The "bio" pad can be extended-if you run out of room. But it also can be edited from within SimPe, too. It's under the 'text' lines in a description.