From Ghost to Flesh-and-Blood Novelist

My first career was in publishing: acquiring, commissioning and editing fiction and general non-fiction. Writing was what other people did and, as an editor, I tried to help them make what they wrote the best it could be and publish it in the most successful way possible. Even when I embarked on my second career as a journalist, I had no plans to become a novelist.

The first piece I was commissioned to write was 300 words long. I was so anxious about getting it right that it took me more than a week to finish. However, as more work came my way, my confidence grew and I was soon busy with books-related, travel and lifestyle journalism. When I was asked to write a tie-in for the TV show Grand Designs, I leaped at the chance.

From there, it was a logical step to move to other property-related TV tie-ins for programmes such as House Doctor, A Place in the Sun, Location, Location, Location and so on. Those books came quite easily simply because there were scripts and videos to work from and they were extensions of the sort of journalism I was doing. Yet, as I wrote them, the strangest thing began to happen. I realised that I wanted to write more, and try my hand at writing in other areas.

At the time, celebrity memoirs were big news. Almost anyone who pricked the public consciousness could place their story with a publisher. But however fascinating, they weren’t always able to write it themselves. Their talents lay elsewhere and their time was precious. When a literary agent asked me if I’d like to meet one of their clients with a view to ghosting their autobiography, I was intrigued and agreed. The client and I hit it off and so began the next stage of my writing career, that of a ghost. Once I had ghosted one successful memoir, I was thrilled when requests came for me to do more.

Looking back, I realise that the ghosting process was an invaluable step towards my writing fiction. Although I had edited countless novels, that’s very different – I can’t emphasis that enough – from actually writing one. There were all sorts of skills that I needed to learn for myself, and ghosting taught me a great deal.

What many people talk about when writing is ‘the voice’. Whether writing fiction or non-fiction, the writer needs to search out and maintain a consistent voice throughout their book. Ghosting showed me how to find and sustain other people’s voices. These were not necessarily identical to the celebrity’s way of speaking but captured the way a reader might expect that person to sound on the page. After up to sixty hours of interviews, it was as if the author was sitting on my shoulder correcting me as I wrote. By that stage, I could hear the inflections in their voice or the phrases that they used most often, the words they repeated. Just as important, I knew what they would never say.

Every one of the memoirs I ghosted took me into a world I didn’t know. Whether fashion, singing, Red Cross nursing, professional athletics, the army, so many different childhoods – my job was to recreate those worlds for the reader by worming the necessary detail out of the celebrity. I loved hearing about these different lives in such detail, all full of experiences that I will never know for myself. Creating a rounded world is another demand the novelist faces.

Like a novel, an autobiography needs a structure and plenty of pace. The life needs to be turned into a story with a strong narrative arc that will draw the reader through the pages. One of my first tasks would be to pick through the subject’s life to find the climactic moments that might be used as key scenes through the book, and particularly for an arresting opening chapter that would grab the reader’s attention and lead them on to the rest of the story. Every subsequent chapter needs a structure of its own and a reason for being there.

However many hours are spent listening and discussing, not everything can possibly be covered. That’s where the ghost’s imagination is justifiably employed. Scenes must be brought to life by putting oneself in the celebrity’s shoes (as far as it’s possible!) and imagining the detail they may not have thought to mention. You’d be surprised at how often you get it right. All useful practice for writing a novel.

Over and above all this is of course, the deadline. These memoirs can be time-sensitive. The publishers understandably want the books to hit the shops when the celebrity is at the height of their popularity or newsworthiness. Contracts are signed and the book has to be delivered only months later. The pressure to meet the deadline is intense but boy, does it teach you to focus and write like the wind.

What a brilliant apprenticeship this was for writing a novel. Beyond those invaluable lessons, ghosting gave me the necessary self-belief that I could get from the beginning to the end. That may sound obvious, but starting with a blank screen, knowing that you’ve got to conjure 100,000 words out of nowhere is a daunting prospect. It requires staying power – both mental and physical. You have to show up at your desk every day until the book’s finished. Writing other people’s lives convinced me I had the stamina to do it.

After ghosting a good number of memoirs, I was ready to try something new. Now, five published novels later, I’m surprised and delighted to be able to call myself a novelist.

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Fanny Blake was a publisher for many years, editing fiction and general non-fiction before becoming a freelance journalist and writer. She has written several bestsellers and acted as ghost writer for a number of celebrities. She is also Books Editor of womanandhome magazine. Her novels include The Secrets Women Keep (Orion), With a Friend Like You (Orion) and House of Dreams (Orion)

Find out more about Fanny Blake at http://www.fannyblake.co.uk/

Follow her on Twitter @FannyBlake1

Buy House of Dreams  HERE

Buy With a Friend Like You HERE

Tags: fiction, ghost writing, inspiration, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing