What’s it like being a ghostwriter for a celebrity?

When people ask what I do for a living (and after I’ve explained what a ghostwriter actually does) the next question is inevitable.

‘Have you ever written any books for anyone famous?’

Then the person leans in and smiles, on tenterhooks for a little gossip. And who doesn’t love a gossip about the rich or famous?

Ever since the 1500s when printing presses began creating newsletters for the public to read, celebrity culture has been obsessed with the comings and goings of royalty, politicians, performers, and anyone of ‘note’. It’s why PopBitch, the infamous celeb gossip newsletter, is steadfastly popular after over two decades. It’s why celebrity stories in magazines and newspapers are a source of constant clickbait.

Celebrity sells. Whether it’s a perfume, a clothing range, a bedding range, or books. If someone famous does something, we lean in, we get curious. We often feel like we know them. And it’s why celebrity memoir still rides high in the top of the bestselling book charts.

Celebrities’ lives provide the average Joe a form of escapism. They provide intrigue or curiosity. They make us laugh, make us empathise. Make us scornful. Over the years we share their journey. Sometimes we watch them grow up, get married, have kids. We share successes and failures. We celebrate with them and commiserate with them. In both life and even in death. This occurs safely through the portals of TVs, magazines and newspapers or books.

We love to know what drives the behaviour of the famous (quite often in more extraordinary or dramatic ways than we do), what makes them tick, and what they’ve done or are going to do next. We like to judge them. Lay claim to understand them. Question them. Or just simply exclaim to our friends, ‘Have you read what X did?!’

‘I bet you have some stories to tell,’ is often the next comment, perhaps followed by a wink. And I smile again.

I do.

I could tell them how I conducted interviews sliding down a leather seat on a private jet (there wasn't a seat belt and the plane was taking off!).

Or how I’ve waited for hours in the foyers of posh hotels like The Dorchester, or George IV hotel in Paris.

Or how a celebrity answered a doorbell naked, except for a towel.

Or how a celebrity dealt with a stalker while writing their book.

Or how I was invited to a celebrity’s book launch but not introduced as the ghostwriter and had to pretend I had nothing to do with writing it.

Or how I was driven around in a open-topped sports car, trying to take notes.

Or how I sat for hours with a celebrity, bouncing around words they wanted to use but they couldn’t connect with how they really felt.

Or how a celebrity tried to kiss me.

Or how I interviewed the parents of a celebrity because they had almost no memories from their childhoods.

Or how the real person behind the public personae was almost nothing like how they come across on TV.

But of course, I can’t reveal much in my reply to The Big question. For some of my books I have signed NDAs. For others I know I can never tell the true story behind the scenes because it’s simply not professional. Just like a doctor or therapist cannot ( or indeed should not!) discuss confidences with others, neither should a ghostwriter.

The public personae is only ever one side of a famous person. Some celebrities like Lorraine Kelly have even publicly admitted they put on an act.

But it’s my job to discover the real person behind what the public first see. To make a memoir work it must include authenticity, real experiences, a self-awareness that’s not always easy to tap into. This is not the script they sing or dance or read an autocue for. This is the real human being.

To write a 70,000-word memoir usually involves around 25 hours of interview time. Most celebrities, like most people, don’t just sit down and shoot the breeze. They need to warm up first, think about what they want to say, how much they want to reveal. They need to trust me, feel comfortable talking to me. I am, temporarily at least, a safe space for them. I am there to unravel their experiences, memories. Like a therapist, I listen deeply. Try not to interrupt. Encourage them to explore certain parts of their life which I think the average reader will be interested in.

I decide what to leave out as much as what to keep in.

Having gotten to know the real person behind the fame, I can safely say, for all the celebrities I have written for, they are as normal as you or I. Often, they worry about what other people think. They are pushed for time, struggling to keep up with whatever day job they have alongside this new project, the book they do not have the time or expertise to write.

They have good days and bad days. On bad days, they turn up for interviews, tired, unkempt, not in the mood. They are late and apologetic (not always) or even half-irritated they even agreed to a book deal in first place and now need to deal with a pesky ghostwriter (this happens rarely, most celebrities are really invested in their book and even find the experience enjoyable).

They struggle with pain, rejection, insecurity, regret, and have all the human foibles we all deal with day to day. In many cases, fame makes this even harder to cope with. They worry about their industry, what their agent thinks, what the readers might think, what I think. Whether they are saying the right or wrong thing for their book. Whether it will sell or flop.

Being famous, I have discovered, is an intense, privileged, insecure, exhausting experience. Those that survive it best, are the ones who distance themselves from the madness of fame and focus on their authentic lives behind closed doors.

To be allowed an extended peek behind the curtain, is one of the huge privileges of being a ghostwriter but quickly I understand the fame to be an irrelevance in so many ways. It’s the power of the person’s story ( whether they are famous or otherwise!), their revelation of ordinary moments, and how I capture their voice is what will make or break a book.

Shannon Kyle