Ten skills every successful ghostwriter needs

In the interests of ‘giving back’, I often speak at career fairs, or to university groups. A question I frequently ask everyone on these occasions is: what makes a good ghostwriter? Cue, quizzical glances all around.

‘Well, duh, you need to be a good writer.’

In reality, being a good writer represents a fraction of the skills needed to be a successful ghostwriter. There are at least ten other attributes which are just as important:

1. Versatility

A ghostwriter wears many hats. They may be writing a reality TV star’s tell-all life story one month, and moving seamlessly on to a serious biography for a captain of industry the next. In all cases, a ghost must be able to create an almost instant rapport with all sorts of characters, many of whom will come from very different walks of life to their own.

2. Trust, empathy and confidence

Ghosts often need to persuade authors to tell them the most important dramatic, traumatic, upsetting things that have happened to them in absolute detail. This takes a balance of skills. Ghostwriters need to be confident by nature, to ask the awkward questions and then they need to listen and show empathy. Meanwhile, they must to do all of this while building trust and a rapport with authors.

3. Observant

Good ghosts do more than just ask the right questions; they look around and gather rich detail about their client with their eyes. That’s why most ghosts prefer to do their interviewing in an author’s home, office, or another place that is of great importance to the subject. It is possible to learn a lot about a person by noticing details such as where they place their TV, whether they display antique encyclopaedias or cricket trophies, and how they interact with those closest to them.

4. Patience

It’s not always easy for a ghost to cut a path through an unruly jungle of anecdotes, which some authors use as a protective mechanism if they are wary of the collaborative process. Generally, the longer a person has been in the public eye, the more likely they are to turn to the tired stories that have sustained their career. A competent ghost has to find a way to patiently encourage the author out of their comfort zone and cut through the easy laughs to find out what it is that makes that person who they are.

5. Flexibility

Ghostwriters need to be able to operate around an author’s schedule. It’s not uncommon for subjects, whether they are big-name stars, busy executives, or simply nervous individuals, to simply not turn up to arranged interviews. Or to cancel them at a drop of a hat.

6. Research

Not all the information and key details will necessarily come directly from the author. For various reasons, a ghost will often have to bring a lot of their own material to the party and this can often require painstaking and thorough research. Experienced ghostwriters will spend time getting to know every detail of an author’s background. This might mean researching the area where they were brought up and popular styles in fashion and music during their formative years.

7. Business acumen

Anyone hoping to make ghostwriting their full-time job needs to be pretty business savvy. It is not enough for ghosts to simply view themselves as writers for hire and wait for prospective authors to find them. They are entrepreneurs running a ghostwriting firm and that means investing time in building up a presence, networking with a steady supply of viable prospects and constantly presenting a corporate face. Working out a way to get a good supply of paying clients and being prepared to do some hard negotiation to get the deal they want with those clients, are business skills that are key to survival.

8. Speed

Related to the above is the speed of work. While many first-time authors will tell stories of the months and years they spend agonising over each paragraph, ghostwriters do not have this luxury. If a book is not completed on time, they won’t get paid or be able to move onto the next job.

9. Industry knowledge

There have been massive changes in the publishing world and the bar is being raised ever higher by the major publishing houses when it comes to signing new authors. Meanwhile, there are several new publishing options, and no doubt the democratisation of the market will continue to increase opportunities for online, hybrid and self-publishing. There are many variables that are baffling to people outside the industry, so a ghost has an opportunity to step in and confidently help authors weigh up the right options for them. There is nothing better to put an inexperienced author at ease than giving them valuable advice about the various directions they might choose.

10. Inquisitive

Ghosts need to love a good story. I’ve got a brilliant quote which I have stuck on the wall in front of me because it always makes me smile. It is from my journalism days, and I can’t remember where it comes from, but it applies just as much to ghostwriting. It says;

‘Can we recommend a career in journalism? Yes. For the bright, inquisitive, mischievous show-off with a short attention span, it is a good choice’.

That describes a ghost’s job to a tee.

Finally, if it needs to be said, the one attribute ghosts least is an ego. If a ghostwriter yearns for the pleasure and delight of seeing their name on the cover of a book when they wander through Waterstones, then they are in the wrong profession.

This is an extract from The Complete Guide to Ghostwriting, by Teena Lyons, published Rethink which is available from 16 January 2024.