Writing Blog

20230420 Ghostwriting

April 20, 2023, 3:00pm

After too much messing about, my latest ghost-writing gig is over.

Thank goodness.

For a life he wanted to share with his family and the local RSL in time for ANZAC Day (April 26 - he'll get it done because the local copy centre will do the book for him as a rush job), this was boring. It started well, with him describing what it was like to have his birthday drawn out of the draft lottery, and how nervous he was in basic training and stuff like that.

Then we hit his army life - in stores because of his background in running a shop, which he'd done since he was fourteen. He quickly rose to be running a secondary Australian storage depot in Vietnam. And... that was it. Giving out things, arguments with soldiers and officers, struggling to get some things, one time getting a year's supply of underwear in a week, and it was so dull.

But it is done.

It was actually done over two weeks ago, but he wanted changes, and then more changes, and then more changes, and then a professional editor asked for some more changes. But, look, it's his book, I got paid, and so I did what he asked. And this morning I went with him to the copy centre, formatted the book the the way they wanted it (to save him money), gave them a USB stick and now it is out of my hands.

So, it was a tedious story but I did a job everyone else seems happy with (including his two sons).

I hope to have another job start at the end of this month. Very different and a lot more emotional, and I like the woman who asked me better than this guy. Look, he was fine (I didn't not like him) but we have very different world views.

So, for writers looking to make some extra cash, if you don't mind getting no credit and just the money, if you can put your ego aside to write with someone else's voice, and if you can take all instructions without argument, then it might be for you.

Why did I say that in that way?

Because my first attempt at ghost-writing (excluding my grandpa's World War II story) was a disaster as I put too much of my own ideas into it. It was not my story to tell, and it resulted in me arguing with the guy a lot. In the end, I gave him what I wrote, didn't accept any money and he found someone else. My second attempt was when I just went with the client's flow, and that worked really well, at least, according to him. This guy, then, was my fifth client, and the woman coming up will hopefully be my sixth.

Ghostwriting is not a time to be adventurous and create your own world or put your own stamp on things. You are a conduit for someone else. Leave your own sense of self at the door and let them live through you. It can be surprisingly rewarding. Even this old guy who bored me, seeing the look on the faces of him and his sons did make it worth it. Oh, and the cash.