What is your book ghostwriting process?

This is a common question asked of book ghostwriters, and there are as many answers as there are ghostwriters. I, too, have a process for ghostwriting books. In brief, it is:

1) Set the goals and expectations.

2) Conduct initial interviews and research.

3) Create the “string draft.”

4) Adjust the “string draft” based on the client’s input.

5) Conduct a second round of interviews and research.

6) Improve and expand the “string draft” into a draft manuscript.

7) Adjust the manuscript with the client’s input.

8) Conduct a third round of interviews.

9) Perfect and polish the manuscript.

10) Obtain approval before proofreading and publishing.

My process is successful, but I sometimes set it aside because I prize flexibility and prefer to work intuitively. I like to dig deep and occasionally push boundaries.

Most of all, I enjoy responding to what happens as the work progresses. Sometimes the work goes exactly as expected; other times, there are surprises.

Process: React to the Storytelling

I worked with Bruce Krysiak on his memoir, intended to be an amusing behind-the-scenes look at the deals he had made and the people he had met while holding high-level positions at 7-Eleven, Toys”R”Us, and other major corporations.

We began by meeting twice a week to capture his stories. Soon, however, we noticed that many of his stories ended with lessons about creating your best life—not just making the most money but enriching your life regardless of your situation.

It became clear that Bruce wanted to focus on this theme, so we set aside the standard process and plunged into writing a book with no preset rules or format. In fact, we weren’t even sure how to make your best life, for Bruce had not fully thought through the procedure before now.

So Bruce hung a large corkboard on his office wall and wrote the names of his stories and ideas about life on 3x5 index cards, which he pinned to the board. We arranged these cards into columns according to chapters and continually rearranged them over the next several months as Bruce’s ideas about leading your best life—and our ideas about how to structure the book—evolved.

We wound up with a book neither of us had anticipated writing, and neither of us initially knew how to structure. However, remaining flexible allowed us to craft a compelling book about life - and still include many of his amusing, behind-the-scenes stories.

Process: Layer the Writers

In 1997, I was engaged to coauthor Diana & Dodi: A Love Story, which recounted the fabled romance between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed from the perspective of Dodi’s butler, Rene Delorm. Rene had been with the couple throughout their brief romance. Shortly after they perished in the car crash, Rene returned to Los Angeles and asked me to work with him on the book.

This should have been a straightforward process: setting goals and expectations, conducting interviews, and drafting until we had a polished manuscript.

But there was a problem: We had to write the book in about six weeks for it to be published on the first anniversary of the crash.

So we improvised a new, faster approach. I asked my wife Nadine, also a ghostwriter, to join us. We met with Rene numerous times so he could tell us the story, draw diagrams of the apartment, hotels, and yacht the couple used, sing the song he and others serenaded Diana and Dodi with on the beach one night, and otherwise paint a vivid picture of the romance.

Then Nadine and I wrote. However, with the deadline looming, we couldn’t leisurely pass complete drafts of the chapters back and forth several times as we normally would. Instead, we divided the duties: I wrote the first draft of each chapter, laying out the story and basic dialogue, and she immediately wrote the second draft, adding atmosphere, expanding the dialogue, and bringing the story to life. Meanwhile, Rene read every chapter several times, offering corrections.

With the deadline looming, we had to toss aside our standard process in favor of this layered, faster, approach. It worked!

Process: Cut and Paste

In the 1990s, a cancer survivor named Selma Schimmel created the world’s largest cancer support group, “The Group Room,” conducted nationwide on the radio.

I was asked to help her write a book based on “The Group Room.” Initially, this seemed straightforward: setting goals and expectations, interviewing Selma and others, writing the string draft, and so on, using the radio show transcripts as research material.

However, it was immediately obvious that this approach was not ideal. Selma wanted the book to convey the feeling of being in the room with the group. She suggested using the radio show transcripts to create the book.

It was a brilliant idea! So we set aside the standard ghostwriting process and got to work with a pair of scissors, literally cutting 110 radio show transcripts into pieces, grouping them by topic and arranging them into chapters.

Once this was accomplished, I wrote the chapter introductions, wrap-ups, and transition pieces.

Selma participated in every step, and together we created a book that gave readers the feeling of being there, in the room, with other cancer patients and survivors, family members, doctors, and therapists.

Process: March Through the Steps

The process for writing What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines for Alexander Mauskop, M.D., was straightforward.

I began by studying migraine headaches. Dr. Mauskop and I had several conversations where he explained his unique approach to treating migraines. He also sent me scientific studies to read, which we reviewed together.

We quickly agreed to use a “knowledgeable, concerned physician” voice and the “Problem, Breakthrough, Plan” structure for the book. (For more on health book structures, click here.)

I wrote the book step by step, sending material to Dr. Mauskop for correction throughout the process. He promptly returned it with corrections and comments, and we followed the process without deviating - not a jot.

Yes, I have a process…

And it’s a good process, landing my books on the bestseller lists more than once.

But sometimes, you get the best results by remaining flexible.

By moving with the material instead of trying to cram it into a mold.

By seeing where it wants to go, and helping it get there.

By keeping your eye fixed on the prize, which is always creating a compelling book.

If you'd like to discuss the process of creating your next book, schedule an appointment to chat with Barry.