The Significance of Mutual Participation in the Collaborative Process
Gabriella Gafni
Managing Agent at GMG Ghostwriting Services, International Best-selling Ghostwriter
"Write a book for me. You know me, go on! I trust you." While such words evoke a heightened connection between ghostwriter and author, they can be daunting for the writing collaborator sitting in front of a blank page and fashioning someone's life story or vision from pure imagination. This process can work for fiction narratives but not for non-fiction.
In either case, true collaboration ensues from an interactive dialogue—a conversation in which the author reveals, and the ghostwriter absorbs and translates information onto the page. With autobiographies and memoirs, for example, the author must take the ghostwriter into a time past or revisit an experience remembered. Otherwise, the ghostwriter will be lost in a sea of vagueness, floundering in uncharted waters, adrift without a life raft.
Be a lighthouse.
The author must elaborate on what they wish to communicate in more than a sentence. Monosyllables—"yes" or "no" responses—do not produce a complete manuscript, especially when writing non-fiction.
Think about your idea;
Say what you wish to say;
Don't hold back;
Be present and speak with intention.
You are the ultimate architect of your creation. Your ghostwriter is your muse and guide—often a magician—but not so much so that you lose your purpose. Delegating creation to your ghostwriter is only feasible when you have a meeting of the minds and hearts, a willingness to participate in the creative process, and a genuine vision of what you wish to produce.
Writing is not simply the production of words on a page but expression, purpose, emotiveness, mood and ambiance creation, recollections relived and resurrected—the most cathartic, worthwhile experience any author can have, especially when the result is uplifting, inspirational, informative, and thought-provoking.
? Gabriella Gafni 2023