Advice, tools, and inspiration to be more inventive, curious and fruitful as a writer.
Ghostwriting can be a bit of a balancing act, especially when you're trying to fit in writing your own books between jobs.
If you're looking for an income beyond your own writing, it's key you do both, because without your own published works you won't have anything to show. You're also unlikely to get far without proof of written works already published, because credibility is highly important when you're a writer.
If you're looking for a spotlight on your work and writing then ghostwriting probably isn't for you. Sitting in the shadow of someone else's success isn't for everyone.
However, ghostwriting is a great way to get on the writing ladder if you really want to get your foot in the door. There is definitely an art to being able to distance yourself from each job that comes along.
Keeping Your Hand In
Being able to write your own books will keep you sane. Not only will you find both personal and professional satisfaction by writing in another person's voice. By writing in a different person's voice, you'll discover a new way of looking at the way you write, and may even find inspiration along the way.
Invisibility is the name of the game when it comes to ghostwriting. It is universally accepted that a ghostwriter's name will never appear on the book cover, copyright page, book description, official listings or anyplace else.
The Regular Arrangement
When you sign up to be a ghostwriter, it predominantly means nameless invisibility is outright.
After the book has been published by said author, and listed on Amazon not a single word will be mentioned about the contribution the ghostwriter has made to the creation of the book.
Especially when an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) has been signed, nobody will know that the ghostwriter has written that book.
That said, there is a way to get around that if the author is in agreement with the ghostwriter.
Disclaimer: This blog post is my own personal experience, which means that what you're about to read is personal to me, and may not necessarily happen to you.
I haven't really written much about my own personal experiences online, but I figured that not everyone has a happy experience migrating their blog.
Freelance ghostwriting can feel like a minefield at times, and there are plenty of horror stories out there that prove that point.
You'll no doubt hear endless stories about revision demands that need to be fulfilled by a certain time, or a job that's almost finished but no sign of a paycheck. Most of these disasters can be easily averted by some straightforward communication.
Let's look at some ways you can stay clear of any trouble with your ghostwriting clients:
If you want to increase your productivity as a ghostwriter here are some tools that will help you spend more time on your craft and not as much on the administrative side which can often drain your writing time.
1. Word Hippo
I use this tool for writing all of the time. It really helps when you can't think of a word off the top of your head, and if you're using the same words over and over again. Word Hippo will help you think of new words or replacement words without getting too stressed.
2. Fotor
Every writer has their own particular favourite tool for creating images with. Fotor is mine.
I use it to create blog images, social media images and book covers. Offering a wide range of templates including social media profile covers, logos, ads, photo editing, graphic design and more.
3. Grammarly
From style and tone, Grammarly will help eliminate errors and find the perfect words to express yourself with. It will also organise your writing feedback to help you see how each change helps your readers understand your message better.
4. Scrivener
Great tool for creating books,helping you to map, outline, compose, research and edit all your long-form jobs. Used by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, and non-fiction writers and more, it will provide everything you need to not only start writing but continue writing.
5. Google Calendar for Business
Use it for scheduling events by checking colleagues availability or layering a calendar in a single view. Helps you delegate access to another user, with easy access to share confidential calendars. With added security and disaster-recovery features which makes it easier to access and share confidential calendars.
So what are the positives of being a ghostwriter?
Positives
Paid Well
If you do your job well it can be a very lucrative track to take for any writer.
Your Ghostwriting Talent Will Carry You Far
Publishing houses and editors seek out highly skilled writers, so it's not impossible to climb the tree if you want to reach the top.
Working With the Rich and Famous
Opportunities may arise for you to work the great and good of society. People gravitate to other highly skilled people, and ghostwriting is no different. Not only will you be well paid for your services, but these kinds of jobs require you to stretch your writing muscles even more.
Research Is There Already
When the client hands over their own research, all you have to do is to make sure it's accurate. Verifying the research you've been given can be done through internet search, because half the battle is having the right information in front of you to write the best manuscript for your client.
Blog post updated 25/08/21
You've been handed the outline by your client.
Now what?
How to Use the Outline to Write a Book
What is an outline?
You could liken the outline to that of a journey, the outline is the direction you will take to get to where you want to be. This usually comprises a breakdown of each chapter, the synopsis, plot summary, character biographies, and plot development. The plot points and arcs are well covered in the outline, along with the stakes and arcs of the story. This goes along with what the secondary characters are to the principal character. A summary of each chapter will show what follows in order for the story to move forward. Developments and key features of the story draw you further in to help you build the world your client is imagining.
If you're new to ghostwriting you're probably wondering what kind of people would want to hire a ghostwriter.
Fiction Ghostwriters
Most ghostwriters are hired by people writing novella's, fiction, graphic novels or any other works that have been left unfinished.
When it comes to writing and producing books there are three kinds of ghostwriters:
1. The author has unclear ideas, notes and no outline.
2. The self-publishing author unclear on how to finish their book and sees a ghostwriter as the only way to finish their book
3. A self-published author who's looking for a writer to finish their book or maybe add a few chapters.
The author has unclear ideas, notes and no outline
If your client happens to have no outline your job will be to draw that information out of them in order to complete the project.
Normally all you have to go by is genre and a concept, it's up to you to see where focus is required, then what elements are needed to develop the rest of the story by yourself.
Being a good ghostwriter depends entirely on temperament and talent, which means it takes a special kind of writer to become a ghostwriter.
So what kind of skills do you need to become a really good ghostwriter?
A ghostwriter is someone that enjoys working the shadows and not in the spotlight. This is because the reader expects to hear only the voice of the author and not the writer doing the work.
Ghostwriting allows the author to pass their knowledge and interpretation of experiences to the ghostwriter who then articulates the author's own story into a more meaningful and readable format for the reader.