More On: The Fine Art of Collaboration: Excerpt from my book: A Friendly Guide to Writing and Ghostwriting
When I started teaching writing in 2016, I had students in my classes and seminars who wanted to write for a living but they couldn’t find an agent to represent them or a publisher to buy their manuscripts. In order to fund their creative process while they searched for someone to be their champion, they wanted to learn how to ghostwrite and collaborate so they could practice their craft and make some money. I shared with them some of the ups and downs that are involved in ghostwriting.
A successful collaboration is not stagnant. It is dynamic, changing from moment to moment, and it requires constant awareness. If you’re working with celebrities, they are used to getting what they want and they really know how to throw a hissy fit when they get scared. You have to find courage to shift them from what they think they want, to what they need to write a good book.
They often test me to make sure I’m strong enough to work with them. I call this “The Spaghetti Test,” as they throw me against the proverbial wall to see if I’ll bounce. She might toss out an insult or a threat to fire me. He might pretend to cancel the book or constantly change our meeting times at the last minute. They want to make sure I can handle what they’re dishing out so I wait for it, aware that my reaction will make all the difference. It might come at the beginning of the project or during the last month. When they see that I can take it, whatever it is, that I won’t back down and I’m not going anywhere, they give it up.
As far as getting work, I have no definitive answer when people ask me how to break into ghostwriting. It has to happen organically. I was lucky since this work came to me when I wasn’t expecting it, but my best advice is to keep your eyes and ears open and let your writing friends know that you’re looking for work. Not to sound woo woo, in my experience, if you focus on what you want and be prepared to find it, it often lands in your lap and you have to overcome your fear and say Yes.
Since most ghostwriting jobs come from word of mouth, when a potential ghostwrite or a collaboration comes your way for the first time, I suggest you take it, whatever it is, to gain valuable experience. However large or small the paycheck, however famous or ordinary the client, just show up. If what you're doing doesn't work, you’ll learn what does. If it’s a rewarding collaboration, so much the better.
When I meet a celebrity for the first time, her reputation precedes her. That means I have to ignore the rumor mill and the aura of greatness that envelops her. I have to tuck away my ego, look my client in the eye, laugh at her jokes and empathize with her difficulties. I have to see her as a peer and I need a plan so I can keep the client happy and meet the deadline that is often as short as a sixties miniskirt.
I once worked with a singer who had fired a writer right before she hired me. Two months had been wasted before I even started and the deadline was painfully tight. I wrote as fast as I could but when she feared we’d miss the deadline, she told me she was hiring another writer to pen a couple of chapters. I tried to talk her out of it, not because my ego was hurt. I would have given anything to get some help, but I knew better. “You can't have someone else just step in,” I told her, “even if she’s a professional writer, because she’ll be writing in a different voice. If you do this, you’ll be asking me to rewrite it at the eleventh hour when there isn’t any time left. Let's try to avoid that.”
She called me “stroppy,” and refused to listen. She reminded me that she was calling the shots (she was having a hissy fit) and she hired the other writer to fill in. Sure enough, I got the call when the deadline was one week away. “Andrea,” she cooed as if we’d never had the conversation, “could you take the two chapters Lucille wrote and put them in ‘our’ voice?”
Saying “I told you so” was out of the question. I groaned on the inside and sped along, something I like to avoid, but I made the deadline, one more thing I thought I couldn’t do.
You just never know what you’re capable of until it stares you in the face. This is true in life and it’s also true in writing. You may be hired to do minor editing or you may be asked to write an entire book. One time, a woman hired me to edit a manuscript that her late husband had been working on. I read it through and found out that he hadn’t finished it. I would have to write the last chapter. It made me uncomfortable but I said Yes. It turned out fine, she was satisfied and she believed it would have made her husband proud.
The work varies with each job, sometimes the client and the publisher don't know exactly what they need, so you have to be flexible, figure out what someone else wants, and give it a try. But I can assure you that whatever your role in the process, finishing a book and submitting it on time will impress the agent and the publisher who are always on the lookout for collaborators they can trust. That means someone who can get along with the client, avoid complaining, and get the book finished on time.
Although ghostwriting and collaborating can unnerve you and push you to your limits, they can also teach you how to manage tough situations, stay neutral during disagreements, think on your feet, be mindful of where you are in the process, pull material out of thin air, and hit those deadlines. You have to believe in yourself. When you put in the work required and end up with a good product, you’ll feel like you achieved the impossible and you can look forward to more work coming down the pike.