Ghostwriting is an Art

Ghostwriting is an Art

By Mark Graham

The best ghostwriters are generally successful authors in their own right. They are typically highly published and very often critically acclaimed.

The books that ghostwriters author for their clients require all of the skill and dedication they demonstrate in writing material for their own literary collections.

Ghostwriting is a business, but it is no less an art than any other kind of writing. In fact, it is, in many ways, an art with more entanglements. A ghostwriter takes a client’s idea and/or vision, embraces it, and crafts it into something that effectively and creatively reflects that idea or vision.

The ghostwriter who is authoring a novel will honor the plot inspired by his or her client, while also infusing that plot with elements that the client may not have considered. The ghostwriter takes the characters his or her client envisions in the novel, and then adds depth and emotion beyond the client’s point of view. All the while, the ghostwriter is building a collaborative relationship that includes the client’s input, desires, and aspirations. It is a balancing act.

This balancing act applies with equal vigor in producing a memorable biography, stimulating business book, or inspiring self-help book.

Ghostwriting is different from authoring your own book in a number of ways, not the least of which is the relationship-building that it requires with the client. This is an art form of its own. The voice, tone, and style that a ghostwriter creates in writing a client’s business book, memoir, or novel has to be a product of the client’s personality and world view. This takes a delicate hand.

The interactive nature of working with a client also requires effective communication, an insightful eye, and, very often, a degree of patience the ghostwriter might not need in writing his or her own material.

At Iron Fox Creative, we team with ghostwriters who not only write with exceptional skill, but who recognize the importance of the client/writer relationship. We know without a doubt that ghostwriting is an art that only a few can truly master.

About Mark

Mark Graham, Mark Graham Communications, is a critically acclaimed author who has been writing and editing professionally since 1988. He has written and published five critically acclaimed novels. His credits included collaborations on such notable publications as the educational expose Scars of Love (At-Risk Educational Services, 2008), the acclaimed business book Everything I Know as a CEO I Learned as a Waitress (It’s All Good Publishing, 2007), and the World War II biography Spearhead: Advance and Defend (Amur Books, 2006). He is the owner and operator of Mark Graham Communications and Graham Publishing Group.

 

The views expressed herein are not those of Colorado Independent Publishers Association, its officers or directors.  They are solely and completely those of the author. The Colorado Independent Publishers Association will not be held liable for any legal action resulting from information published in this newsletter, and the organization’s insurance will not cover any such action.