My cousin Jennifer introduced fellow Washingtonian Kim Pearson to me. I am fascinated my Kim’s primary profession as a ghostwriter because I used to do something similar; one of my favorite jobs was as a speechwriter. Both ghostwriters and speechwriters have to get inside the heads of the people they’re writing for and write in their voices. And, as Kim discusses in her Q&A, knowing and writing for your audience is the most important aspect of ghostwriting — or any kind of writing, including speechwriting. I’m really tickled to present this Q&A with Kim. This Q&A will run over the next five days.
Bio: Kim Pearson is an author, ghostwriter, editor, and the owner of Primary Sources, a writing service that helps others become authors of polished, professional, and compelling books, articles, and blogs. Her books include: Making History: how to remember, record, interpret and share the events of your life; Dog Park Diary: the social round of Goody Beagle; Eating Mythos Soup; and several e-books. She has ghostwritten or edited more than 40 non-fiction books and memoirs, which tell the stories of a wide variety of people and cover a broad range of topics, from saxophones to finance, city histories to hypnotherapy, psychic horses to constipation, and many points in between. Kim teaches workshops and teleclasses on writing and history, and an interactive online course on ghostwriting. She writes From the Compost, a blog about writing, history, and storytelling.
Q&A with Kim Pearson:
Q: As a ghostwriter, you get inside people’s heads and write their stories. Given that you also teach others how to ghostwrite, what skills do you feel are required to be able to tell other peoples’ stories? Are there people who are not cut out to be ghostwriters, or can anyone learn to do it?
A: First and obviously, to be a good ghostwriter you must know how to write well. Writing is a skill and an art, and it takes time and practice to be proficient. But you must also be aware that writing for yourself is different than ghostwriting. A ghost needs to write compelling prose that is close to another person’s voice, not their own. You need to put your ego in the background and write what is important to your client, in a way he or she might say it — only better. This skill involves more than writing ability. You must be able to ask penetrating questions that elicit sparkling stories and deep emotions. You must be able to listen compassionately to the answers, and then delve even deeper. You must be able to translate what you find in someone else’s head into written words that convey someone else’s truth. You must share the passion of your client, at least temporarily, and to do this you need to be insatiably curious and in love with learning. You must be fiercely dedicated to producing an excellent work of art, yet recognize that this work does not belong to you. A ghost is a different kind of writer. Not all good writers make good ghosts.