Ghostwriting

There are two questions I’m asked when I tell people that I’m a ghostwriter.

“Why don’t you just write your own stuff?” and “What’s ghostwriting?”

The second question is the easiest of the two. Ghostwriting is when someone is hired to write something with the idea that someone else will be getting credit for it. You see this done a lot with memoirs, particularly of famous people. But there are ghostwriters for fiction as well. Most ghostwriters don’t get royalties. They are paid one lump sum and once the manuscript is handed over, it’s out of their hands.

The first question makes me angry.

There seems to be this assumption that people write for the perceived prestige of it, that they want the attention that writing supposedly provides. While there are individuals who feel this well, any perceived prestige or fame is only experienced by a small percentage of writers out there. The majority of us write because we love it. It’s a calling, one that is difficult to ignore, especially when you have so many stories to tell.

Also, it’s a completely ignorant question.

I always have multiple writing projects happening at once. Yes, I’m ghostwriting a novel for a client, but I’m also writing my own and recording an audio drama I wrote last year. Most writers I know have at least three works in progress hanging out in their drafts.

I can’t speak for other ghostwriters, but for me, ghostwriting is a great writing exercise. I get to work with someone on crafting the story they want. This involves a lot of creative problem-solving and writing things in a way I wouldn’t typically do if it were my own work. When you find a client you work well with, it becomes a joint project and I almost always have constructive criticism that has helped me grow tremendously as a writer.

I got started ghostwriting by answering a job listing back in 2018. A ghostwriting company that used to focus on non-fiction had recently opened a fiction department, primarily focused on romance, and they were looking for writers. Once I did some research into what ghostwriting entailed, I felt it was something I could do.

I have been writing fanfiction since I was thirteen, probably even younger, and there are a lot of similarities between the two. In both, you’re taking someone else’s characters or setting, and telling a story. I had also done writing commissions for a short time so I was used to working with clients and building stories their way.

They reached out quickly about an interview and before I knew it, I got the job.

The next four months were equally educational as they were frustrating. For one thing, working with a company connected me with clients, however, I had no say in which clients I took on or which projects I wrote for. They handled the assignments and barring any huge clashes, you were stuck with whoever they gave you.

For another, there were tight deadlines. Unrealistic deadlines. They wanted full-length novels completed within less than three months. And that is a generous estimation of the timeframe. I’m sure in some cases it was less than that.

Not only were they unmoving on those deadlines, but you also had to upload the document after each specific word count. These uploads were available to clients in real time.

For someone like me who likes to write the bare bones of the story, then go back and flesh things out, it was a nightmare. I would be trying to write while repeatedly being spammed by clients with their thoughts and comments on what I had already written. It was challenging and often hindered the process rather than helped, as I had to stop what I was doing to answer their questions or explain that what they were reading was a rough draft.

At one point, I was working on three separate projects. One, I asked to be reassigned because I had worked with the client before and I knew I was not the right person for the job. They had pitched a fit after one of our interactions which led to a stern talking to from my boss without a chance for me to explain my side of the story.

The other two I tried to bounce between but I couldn’t keep up. At the same time, my mental health had taken a nosedive and I was struggling in my personal life. I asked for an extension, reminding my boss that I was working on multiple projects.

I was given a week, then received a condescending email about not keeping clients waiting and that I was going to miss out on money for “a few hours work”. I would like to note that the total amount I was being paid for writing two novels at the same time was barely $1000, an insultingly low amount for any writer, let alone one with my experience.

The last thing that said was, “If you don’t finish this by Monday, I will have to reassign it.”

My response was two words: “Go ahead.”

I promptly logged out of their system and my boss never emailed me back.

But, from that dark time, many positives came from it. First and foremost, I left a toxic work environment knowing my worth and vowing to be treated with the respect I deserve. Second, the client whose novel I didn’t finish tracked me down through my website, allowing me a chance to apologize for my departure and explain why I left. Not only was she incredibly kind and understanding, she offered me a job in the future, should I choose to return to ghostwriting.

A few months later, I reached out to her and we’ve been working together ever since.

Ghostwriting isn’t for everyone. Even with all my experience and the years I’ve been doing it, there are still moments of frustration. But that can be said about writing in general. I also get tired of repeatedly telling people, “I legally CANNOT tell you who I write for.” Because most people don’t quite grasp the concept of ghostwriting even when it’s explained.

It’s all about balance. If you are thinking of looking into ghostwriting, you really need to look into what it entails and ask yourself if you’re comfortable with someone else taking credit for what you’ve written. If you’re only doing ghostwriting and not focusing on your own creative endeavors, it can be discouraging. There was a stretch of time where I found myself in this position and I had to make a conscious effort to work on projects that were important to me.

With my ghostwriting projects, since the story’s premise and characters aren’t my creation and I never supply my own ideas, it allows me to remain objective and unattached. I also enjoy being able to write a story and then pass it on to someone else for editing and marketing, never having to think about it again. Throughout this process, I have learned so much about myself and gained confidence I didn’t have when I first started.

If you want to hear more of my thoughts and suggestions on ghostwriting, listen to Episode 019 – Ghostwriting of I Got Nothing, a podcast for exhausted writers.