More Than Just an Editor

TL;DR A skilled co-writer / ghostwriter is a valuable thought partner—so it worth investing a little time and effort to figure out the best way to work together.

This is Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio. Today’s journal entry is brought to you by Stress-Baking: Buttermilk pancakes, cranberry pistachio biscotti, and a loaf of rustic crusty bread.

My job as a co-writer / ghostwriter is to lead my author through the process of writing a book with as much confidence and certainty as possible. At the beginning of each engagement, however, the only thing I know for sure is that I have no idea what combination of tools and techniques will work best for that particular person—and won’t know until I’ve worked with them for a little while.

This go round, I actually have an author that writes (and well at that), which over the past 15 years has been the exception, not the rule. Most of the time I am taking in information verbally and then converting it to prose.

It had been so long since I’d had a writing author that I may have taken too many liberties in my test edit. Ooops. My bad. And exactly why I always do a test edit and run it by the author before I dig in. Being wrong is…awkward, but necessary. I redid it, he was thrilled, and we are dialed in now. No harm, no foul.

I’d rather just try something and have the author correct me. They know the material lived this approach for years. It’s part of their DNA. I’m coming in cold and trying to wrap my head around the concepts and then articulate them in a way that the reader will be able to easily understand and energize them.

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Note: This is my “all things co-writing / ghostwriting” Substack. I’m giving it the journal treatment. If you are thinking of writing a book and have questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll address. And, subscribe!

P.S. If you wonder what I write when left to my own devices, check out Running Wild.