People work with ghostwriters because they want to write a book, but they generally don’t have either the experience or time.
The creativity and talent to convert the imagination to words are there, but there’s more to writing a bestseller than most people realize.
It takes a lot of skill to bring out the emotion, story and themes you are trying to get across to your reader.
And to do that the ghostwriter needs to be a skilled interviewer who is able to sensitively bring out the information needed.
A lot of times, it isn’t always easy because the author him or herself doesn’t know exactly what they want unless they stumble across it.
It’s the job of the ghostwriter to lead them.
Lack of Time Stands in the Way
Many people dream of writing the next bestselling book, but there isn’t enough time for most to even start it.
Would-be authors sometimes will only realize it once they begin writing.
There’s a considerable difference between building thoughts and putting it into writing.
Most people find themselves staring at a blank document for hours before they can write a paragraph or two.
A Ton of Expectations but Zero Experience
A lot of folks have the knack of telling a great story; it’s a whole new ballgame when that story is converted into words, like in a book. It takes commitment, grit, and skills. An aspiring author’s greatest enemy is the lack of experience.
Writing a book quickly turns into an overwhelming endeavour.
Some potential authors expect it to be smooth sailing since they are confident about their storytelling skills, but it’s not.
At the end of the day, working with a ghostwriter offers the most sensible solution to go around these challenges.
The truth is a ghostwriter is usually more experienced compared to some authors. As professional writers, they know what it takes to complete a book.
A ghostwriter doesn’t get knocked over by the usual challenges, i.e., lack of time and experience since they write on behalf of others as a form of living. In other words, it’s their job to spend the bulk of their time writing.
That alone tells you that working with a ghostwriter makes perfect sense.
Write a Book, Call a Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is there to assist; it means the author gets the credit because he or she owns the story and the voice used in the book.
The “ghost” is the pen that the author uses to showcase his or her mind. You can call them ghosts as transcribers of the ideas of the author.
Fiction writers choose to work with ghostwriters for their books, but the process is no cakewalk.
The author is responsible for creating the story and developing the characters; part of the ghostwriter’s job is to conduct a book interview, the purpose of which is to capture the author’s voice.
How the Ghostwriter Conducts the Interview
For the ghostwriter, the primary objective is to create content that’s based on the author’s voice. It means that it must reflect the thoughts and ideas of the author above anything else.
The only way to do this is by interviewing the author. The absence of an interview defeats the very purpose of capturing the author’s voice.
Many people think it’s easy to just ask questions but conducting an interview is almost like a chess match. You need to know where you’re going and think about the moves you need to get there.
If you’re a ghostwriter assigned to write a book on an author’s behalf, you’re bound to make mistakes along the way.
The goal is to minimize those errors and focus on extracting as much information as possible.
Keep in mind that the goal is to mimic the author’s voice – produce content that the author sees as similar to what he or she would’ve created.
Be Specific as Possible
Your job as a ghostwriter is to ask questions, so don’t think twice about how those questions can be awfully specific.
You’re filling in the blanks to come up with a comprehensive draft of the book, but you can’t do so if you don’t have all the information.
If you’re discontented with the author’s answer, follow it up with a more specific question.
The best approach in drawing up questions for a book interview is to embrace the journalist’s mindset – asking the who, what, when, where, and how questions.
You can’t focus on the specifics without asking the basics. Using the fundamental journalism interview helps the author outline and organize his or her message, which in turn gives you a direction for your content.
Editor’s Note: Do your research before you start your interview. Google is your friend and you can find a lot about a person online without wasting time asking about it, giving you time to go deeper in an interview.
Don’t Ask and Answer
Although the ghostwriter does the hard work of writing the book, he or she never comes up with answers to the questions in the interview as it defeats the purpose. Unless you’re a mind reader, stick to the author’s replies.
It’s as simple as asking them questions and using the authors’ answers as vital information in writing the book. If you’re unsure of the response, seek clarification instead of substituting it with your own.
Avoid Asking Leading Questions
The rule is simple: don’t place words into the author’s mouth. The job of the ghostwriter is to create content that showcases the idea of the author, not his or her own.
If you’re interviewing the author and using leading questions, you’re merely trying to get the answer you want. The answers from leading questions do not represent the vision of the author.
You might as well write your book if that’s the case.
The book interview is all about getting information that’s deemed necessary to tell the author’s story successfully. The ghostwriter is prohibited from creating his or her interpretation of the story.
Editor’s Note: If you’re a ghostwriter, it’s helpful to have a background in journalism, but if you don’t, it may be helpful to take some courses in how to conduct interviews. There are plenty of continuing education and online courses that you can choose from.
Final Thoughts
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in a ghostwriter’s job of doing a book interview. Every author and book are unique, which is why a ghost is expected to be as flexible and resourceful as possible.
Creating accurate content is a challenge even for those who’ve done it countless times before. The one thing you should never undermine is keeping an eye on the littlest details.
Even the slightest misrepresentation in the information you obtained from the author could change the direction of the book.
Joel Mark Harris graduated from the Langara School of Journalism in 2007. Joel is an award-winning journalist, novelist, screenwriter and producer.
He has ghostwritten numerous books in all types of genres including true life crime, business, memoir, and self help. With over 1,000 blog posts to his name, he has helped hundreds of business owners scale their business and increase their visibility. You can email him at info@ghostwritersandco.com
