Can Ghostwriting Make You a Better Novelist?

September 14, 2021 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

Yes.

Without a doubt.

Recently, I was asked how ghosting reflects on my work as a novelist. That stopped me. I’d just never considered the comparison. Lots of what I’m told as a ghost, never shows up in print, often never discussed out of the room in which it’s shared.

Sorry, I’m nkim,,not about to spill the beans with tales of who did what to whom or quote chapter and verse about the secrets that have been shared.

That said, I wrote for a health “celebrity” who enjoyed showing me photos of her lovers and swore me to secrecy to never share this with her family, especially her husband. Like I would have done that? Not.

Another client told me of a sweet, innocent crush he had decades before. He’d never told a soul about. When he finished, he smiled as if a weight was off his shoulders, although his precious wife had passed 20 years prior and no one, including late spouse, would have cared. I was the only person on the planet who knew his lustful thoughts, innocent as they were.

Then there was the nationally known actress who entertained me while her “boy toy” waited on us and as they flirted. To have that come out would have been awkward to her clean, all-American household name.

As a ghostwriter, I’m privy to secrets in the lives of notable people. I guess it’s much like confiding in a doctor, priest and hair stylist. Oh, boy, the things we tell our stylists, right? Yes, looking at just the three examples above through the eyes of a novelist, I know there are twists and what ifs, which are the basis for fiction.

Ghosting has exposed me to worlds I would certainly not have entered. I’ve gotten to dine and casually hang out with people far removed from my normal writing/freelancing life. I’ve seen how they live, drink, react to whatever has happened. All good material for fiction. Recently, I shared some lunch with a client in a café and up came the owner of one of NFLs leading teams. I was introduced again as the ghost on the book and the owner actually remembered me. A year or two before the pandemic, I got to sit in the co-pilots seat with a client and his wife as the private plane took us to a fabulous beach resort so we could work on his book. Here I was, that the little girl with a severe hearing loss and who wore hand-me-downs and I was treated like the rich and famous. Then there was the time when I was called by the Oregon state police to help identify the remains of a past ghostwriting client. The ghosted book was about how he was being stalked by a cult and he died mysteriously. All these things are true.

Ghostwriting has made me a better writer and shown me that self-editing many times over before ever sharing writing with clients is mandatory. I do a lot of editing on the screen and then print the material. I read it out loud and often imitating my ghostwriting clients’ voices.

Ghostwriting has made my fiction better because I’ve learned to be ruthless self-editor. Most of my clients would be horrified with the first five or six drafts. They want near perfection when I hand over a manuscript. That was good training as a novelist. I would never have succeeded in the competitive ghostwriting field without going far above what is expected.

Ghostwriting has even benefited me dealing with failure and rejection. Years back, a ghostwriting client wanted me to “just use” some research from a colleague’s material. I told her I wouldn’t. Not pretty to hear from someone who only wants “yes.” I was fired and had to return a fat advance. I lived through it.

Ghosting has sharpened my writing skills. I have learned to listen and see to nuances in language, including body language and translate them into unique speech patterns. I’ve developed an eye for finding vivid, dramatic ways to bring dry nonfiction material to life. I’ve learned to develop dialogue that reveals scenes and describes people in autobiographies and the principles also apply to fiction. I’ve honed my skills with descriptions to make the places that my clients want to include vivid and real. These have included writing what it was like to nearly starve in war-torn Germany, feel the heat in a sweltering federal prison as prisoners were grilled and dance at a lavish debutante ball where more money was spent in an evening that I made in five years.

For instance, as I was writing “The Seer” I had the opportunity to visit some of the grandest homes in New Orleans, the location of the novel. I also visited all the places mentioned in the book. All while ghostwriting for a client.

I’ve been hired by the rich, famous and sometimes infamous and they expect me to be efficient, meet deadlines, write just what they dreamed of and most of all be totally discrete. I take the work seriously. I consider ghostwriting to be a service, translating the words of my clients in ways that are readable, interesting, and marketable. It lucrative, exciting and challenging, and it’s made me a better novelist.

Just fyi, if you choose to ghost, you must leave your ego at the door. These are not your words or your stories.

While I’d never use real details of people or situations in fiction, I could certainly take a bit of this and add a tad of that and pop the best stuff into my next novel. Just like you can do if you choose to be a ghost.

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Eva Shaw, Ph.D., is the ghost/writer of more than 100 published books and 1000 articles and essays. The Seer, a historical mystery, has just been released by TorchFlame and is available where books are sold. Please visit her at evashaw.com.

THE SEER

It’s February 1942. War grips the world. Asian hate runs rampant, and New Orleans is a dangerous place for Chinese-English scientist Thomas Ling as he collides with self-proclaimed psychic Beatrix Patterson. She’s a good liar with an excellent memory, which in truth is her only gift—well, that and conning the well-heeled out of their money and secrets.

Hired by the US Army to use her connections to expose Nazi saboteurs and sympathizers, Beatrix recruits the reluctant Thomas. Together, they pit their skills against a government conspiracy, terrorist cells, kidnappings, and murderous plots. As Beatrix grapples with the truth of her own past, she must come to terms with her ruse. Exposing the Nazi war machine about to invade the country could cost Beatrix everything she’s worked so hard to build. But the information she and Thomas uncover could change the outcome of the war.

The question remains: will anyone believe a liar and a suspected traitor?

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