Our Diary

In our ongoing series of unpacking what exactly it is we do here at Book Architecture, we’ve shared what both a Phase One and Phase Two of developmental editing looks like, with the former featuring manuscript evaluation and the latter manuscript revision. But what about the clients who don’t have an existing manuscript? What if they’re looking to us to largely help generate that?

What we’re talking about, then, is ghostwriting.

Ghostwriting is a term that can have a lot of negative associations, but while we have ghostwritten dozens of books in as many disciplines, we’ve never once ghostwritten someone their philosophy. We are hired writers, the way a business hires an accountant or a lawyer — but those professional service providers don’t take credit for an organization’s success. With that out of the way, let’s get into the nuts and bolts of what the process looks like.

The First Draft: Generating Material

When a ghostwriting project commences, we begin by digesting all of the material that already exists on the topic, be it the client’s video presentations, white papers, collections of notes, stabs at an outline, and/or general research. Then, we begin to generate new material with purpose, but openness, as everything that is unearthed during this phase has value. Zoom-based video interviews that we transcribe often form the heft of this step, but we might also send the client a series of email prompts to which they are encouraged to respond in an unselfconscious way (i.e., no copy editors here). They might keep notes on their phone of anything that comes to them, or in a journal that they will later type up and send to us. Whatever adds to the expanding vision is of help here. By the end of this stage, we will have a glorious mess of between 50,000-70,000 words…the length of an actual first draft.

Between The First and the Second Draft: The Outlining

Time spent here in analysis both allows our creative mind to rest, and pays huge dividends for a reorientation to a successful second draft. We use a series of proprietary exercises from the Book Architecture Method to see the work from different angles than the mindset we previously applied. Without forcing it, the end goal of this interim stage is the generation of a detailed outline which accounts for all of the best material that has been generated thus far, and that serves as our personal roadmap for moving forward. 

The Second Draft: Bringing the Best Parts Up a Level

Draft two focuses on three things: what is truly working (something that was identified during the previous analysis), on new opportunities for generating first draft material to be woven in, and of course, on what can be cut. During this phase, the client becomes the editor, reviewing drafts and offering comments through whatever mechanism is comfortable for them. Much of the collaboration during this step also occurs via video calls that will be transcribed, only this time around the questions have grown much more focused. 

Between The Second and the Third Draft: Working with Beta Readers

Beta readers are people who read a work before it is finished and offer feedback, and they should be chosen for their diversity — while also being part of what the client sees as the audience for the book they’re writing. We can recommend and hire beta readers on the clients’ behalf, or they may have people they are connected to personally and/or professionally that they want to bring into the process. Beta readers are then given a questionnaire with ten specific questions that we have generated to weigh in on, thereby targeting their responses into useful, actionable insights. 

The Third Draft: Making It Shine

The first draft is about getting it down, and the second draft is about making sense. The third draft is about making it good. Beta reader responses can contribute powerful information to this last stage of the drafting process. With the client, we populate a punch list of changes that we want to make and sections we want to improve. The best way to keep the momentum here—an inevitable challenge at this juncture—is to keep the subject matter of the revision fresh. Or, as a mantra for this draft might read: “Hit it, and get out.” Where we land at the back end of this is the polished draft, and it is this draft that will go to copy editing—a palpably exciting moment!