Writing Techniques Every Ghostwriter Should Know

by Cris Yeager
DIGITAL MEDIA GHOST
Ghostwriting

In addition to being an art, writing is a skill that must be learned and honed over time. Ghostwriters, especially those who want to succeed in the industry, need to know how to become better writers through careful planning and by studying what other successful ghostwriters do. This way, you’ll learn how to approach writing from various angles and how to strengthen your skills to make you the best possible ghostwriter in the industry.

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Ghostwriting requires skills beyond the average writer. To be a successful ghostwriter, you must be willing to learn what it takes to succeed in the industry. After learning about the multitude of skills and various types of ghostwriting services, it’s important to know how to make your work more appealing. Here are some writing techniques every ghostwriter should know.

Conduct the proper research on topics
When you do not understand what your topic is, how can you persuasively write about it? Having a good grasp of your subject is key. Despite the temptation to start writing right away, you have to ensure from the start that what you produce is factual and reliable. Ensuring you are acquainted with your topic will give you additional resources and will also help prevent spelling and grammar errors. This will save you time by pointing out these things for you in your writing like confusing language or inadequate references.

Change the structure if needed
It's common for people to believe that a ghostwriter just transcribes the words from interviews and observations. That's a mistake you shouldn't make. Prepare an outline or plan before you begin writing. You will not only be able to accomplish your promise of completing it on time, but you will also be able to produce better material. 

Structure is just as important for the reader to understand what you are writing about — if something doesn't make sense, the reader won't understand your message either. Organization is necessary, and a goal of ghostwriting is to help an author condense all the information into one, organized text. 

Structure and organization will keep your readers interested in what you're saying after they've read it.

Schedule enough time to write
Ghostwriting means writing on another person's schedule and completing work within that schedule. When a person does a task at the last minute, it doesn't matter if it needs more time — it needs to be done when it needs to be done. Take into account any possible interruptions while writing. If you are ever distracted from your work, your project could end up taking a hit, so it's important to reserve blocks of uninterrupted time, unencumbered by outside intrusions.

Writing as someone else
A common challenge for a ghostwriter is catching another person's voice, especially if it's for a fictional piece. A good tip for writing well in other people's voices is to avoid thinking too much about it. The more you think about what you're doing, the more it will sound like you rather than them. Make it clear that this person wrote this text, but don't mimic their voice or dialect exactly. 

A method for addressing this issue is to speak their language or in a style that mirrors the language and vernacular that the target audience is familiar with. Pay close attention to their tone when you write and make sure that the vocabulary reflects theirs. A good strategy is to research what these people perceive, think, and behave so that your words reflect their reality rather than your imagination.

Take particular consideration with your wording choices
With a strong vocabulary, your writing will be clear and accurate, which is what you want. Take note of the words commonly used in your chosen genre so that you can stay away from unfamiliar words or jargon. When someone reads your work, they want to feel that their time invested in it will be worthwhile — not to be bored or frustrated by long or complicated sentences that make them work too hard to understand. If you are a ghostwriter, you will emulate your client's writing style — and you'd better pay close attention to their vocabulary too!

Remember, they're not YOUR words
Some writers start out by being great bloggers or authors before trying their hand at ghostwriting, while others begin by meeting all the demands of being a successful professional writer without ever taking any courses.

Don't feel like you have to conform to any sort of writing style or you'll make your work bland. These problems are serious and you might not get how to ghostwrite perfectly at first, but you'll improve the more you work at it. Keep in mind that you are not the author - the person who needs the content is. Your job as the writer is to highlight what they want to say. 

Remember that your role as a ghostwriter is to help someone else express themselves through writing. Don't worry about what happens after you're done or if your name will be credited, because it won't. A successful ghostwriter is knowledgeable in writing content — not just any content, but well-written content that is the result of thorough research and careful attention to every detail. Writing for others can be tricky for writers who have a clear understanding of language and have honed their grammar skills. Remember to create what the client wants and not what you want! 

If you want to learn more about ghostwriting, read our other blog posts!

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