5 Things a Ghostwriter is NOT by Bobbi Linkemar

5 Things a Ghostwriter is NOT

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Bobbi Linkemer 

Thanks Bobbi - Douglas

If you are ever going to work with a ghostwriter or are thinking of becoming one, yourself, there are many things you should know before you take the step. For example, it is important to understand what a ghostwriter does and does not do. A ghostwriter is many things to an aspiring author, but there are 5 things a ghostwriter is not.

1. A ghostwriter is not an agent and won’t get your book published, though she might help you through the necessary steps to find an agent. There are several ways in which these professionals interact. First, an agent usually knows acquisition editors at publishing houses. Then, an editor may hire a ghostwriter to work with an author who has a great concept but weak writing skills. On the other hand, as an author, you may hire a ghostwriter and then look for the right agent. An agent’s job is to sell your book idea to a publisher.

2. A ghostwriter is not a publicist and won’t promote your book, though he might work with you to develop a marketing plan if that is part of the contract. Publicists specialize in letting the world know about your book. Not only do they know a lot about book promotion, they have also spent years cultivating valuable connections with the media. A publicist’s job is to get you and your book exposure so that it will sell.

3. A ghostwriter is not a graphic designer and will not design your book for you or get it ready for the printer. Graphic designers see the world in patterns and images. Book design is a specialty within the larger field of graphic design. Book designers not only know how to create beautiful books but also how to produce them by setting up digital files for printers and online publishers. A book designer’s job is to package your book in the most appealing way.

4. A ghostwriter is not a copyeditor or proofreader and will not take responsibility for the final product. Every writer, including a ghostwriter, needs at least one editor, often more than one. The last editor to review a manuscript before it is ready for the designer is a copyeditor; the last person to review the page proofs before they ago to the printer is a proofreader. A copyeditor’s and proofreader’s job is to catch and eliminate every possible error from your book before it is published.

5. A ghostwriter is not a website designer or technical expert. Web design requires a good eye for arranging the elements of a site, marketing savvy to understand what will attract viewers and keep their attention, and the technical know-how to create a site that functions seamlessly and is easily found by search engines. A web designer’s job is to work with am author or ghostwriter to bring the right words to life in the World Wide Web.

A ghostwriter has one job: to write or help you write a book that says what you want it to say in the way you want it said. A ghostwriter is, in a sense, your alter ego.

PS by Douglas Not Ewan McGregor either!

Conversational Writing Tips

I found this via Write to Done

http://writetodone.com/conversational-writing-2/

Thanks Mary

Douglas

Top tips for creative writing

From - http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/top-tips-for-creative-writing

Crafting an original work of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction takes time, practice, and persistence. While there’s no exact science to creative writing, the following tips will help you get started:

1 Write about what you know

Beginning writers always get told ‘write what you know’, but it’s good advice. Use settings, characters, background, and language that you’re already familiar with and create new stories from the world that you already know. This is like using research you’ve already done. And remember, your background, what you bring to the act of writing, is as valid as what anyone else can bring.

2 Write about what you don’t know

Use your imagination to create new situations, new characters, new relationships, even new worlds. Choose to write about a different period in history, or a place that you’re not familiar with. Where your imagination needs help, fill in the gaps with research. The best thing about being a creative writer is creating.

3 Read widely and well

Writers love reading. Make yourself familiar with thepublished landscape of writing in your chosen field, whether it’s modern poetry, literary fiction, thrillers, short stories, or fantasy. Nothing encourages good writing like reading good writing.

4 Hook your readers

Nobody is forced to read your novel or short story, so it’s important to hook readers right away. Your opening sentence or paragraph should encourage them to continue, perhaps by making them laugh, or exciting theircuriosity, or just making them want to find out what happens next.

Consider the intriguing sting in the tale of the opening sentence of George Orwell’s 1984:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

It seems like a very traditional opening and then -thirteen? You want to know more and so you read on.

Now look at the first sentence of Raymond Carver’s short story Viewfinder:

A man without hands came to the door to sell me a photograph of my house.

Just a short sentence but with so much that we need to have explained. We’re hooked.

5 Get your characters talking

We find out about the people we meet through what they say to us, how they say it, their choice of words, theiraccents, their verbal habits. Readers should be able to do the same with fictional characters. People on the page really start to live when they start exchanging dialogue.

Writing dialogue needs a lot of work - making it fresh andauthentic, editing repeatedly to get it right – but it’s worth the effort.

6 Show rather than tell

Too much description, too many adjectives and adverbs, can slow up your narrative and cause your readers to lose interest. Where possible, it’s better to show you readers what a person, the atmosphere in the room, the relationship between your characters is like - show, that is, by what they say, how they interact, what they do. It’s more effective than telling the reader through wordy piles of information.

This is a tricky one. You have to do some telling so it’s important not to become obsessive about avoiding it.

7 Get it right first time

Try to get your first draft as near perfect as possible. Few writers manage this kind of quality the first time but no one ever wrote great literature by aiming low. On the contrary, aim for the best and do your best from the very start.

8 Keep polishing

If you don’t get it right first time, you can do what most writers do – polish and perfect through the editingprocess. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that editing is the same as proofreading; it’s about much more than correcting errors. Rather, editing involves carefully going through your work to see what to leave out, what to change, finding out what you have to do to improve your writing, make it sharper, tidier, better.

Editing can be hard work. It’s said that Ernest Hemingwaytook the last page of A Farewell to Arms through nearly 40 drafts, so don’t give up if you feel you’re getting nowhere.

9 Make the most of your opportunities

Many aspiring writers claim they simply don’t have the time to make the most of their ideas. Yet, if you analyse a typical day, there are always those intervals – using public transport, waiting for a friend, time spent in the waiting room of the doctor or dentist – when it’s possible to pull out a writing pad, a laptop, a tablet and just write. Identify your opportunities – five minutes is enough to get a few sentences down – and use them.

But most of all, enjoy your writing!

Thanks to OED for these tips.

Douglas

Editing clauses in publishing contracts

You are published but has YOUR book become the PUBLISHER'S OR THEIR EDITOR'S BOOK?

Even J K Rowling is reported to have bowed to pressure to vary the end of her book The Casual Vacancy for the televised version. 

See what Victoria Strauss has posted for Writer Beware in the following link. 

Victoria Strauss

My thanks to both Douglas

Tips for avoiding burnout

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Ruth Ann Nordin

I’m sure you’ve heard it said over and over again how important it is to get the next book out.  One of the most effective marketing techniques out there is to publish the next book.  Ideally, this will be a compelling story, but in order to create a compelling story, you need to be energized.  If you’re facing burnout, your work (and other areas of your life) will suffer. See more ...

http://selfpubauthors.com/2015/02/13/tips-for-avoiding-burnout/

Thanks Ruth

Douglas

More Russell Blake

http://russellblake.com/consider-the-novella/

The photos speak volumes. Glad we live in calmer places until the weather changes.

Thanks Russell maybe worth a read.

Douglas