The Golden Pencil: The Freelance Writer’s Resource

Discovering What’s Missing in Your Writing

by Anne Wayman on June 12th, 2007

I got off to an 800 word start on the new ghostwriting project this morning. It’s a workman-like piece of writing, but far from exciting or more than moderately interesting, particularly considering the client’s goals of teaching persistence in business.

I read the piece, did some editing, knew something was wrong, but had no clue what so I took a shower. And there it dawned on me. I’ve got the story of the initial business, but have no information on the struggle.

And the struggle hasn’t shown up in the interviews either. The client tells a good story and it wasn’t until I got to writing that I realized something was missing.

Of course, not every book or story has to have a struggle, exactly, but this one sure does and it took me actually writing, then taking a break, to figure out what’s wrong. The good news is it’s fixable. All I need is some more information from the client, and I’ve asked for that.

The ghostwriter is truly dependent on the client for information and it’s often the ghost who will figure out what’s missing. And you know what? Finding the problem feels almost as good as getting the writing done.

Write well and often,

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POSTED IN: Ghostwriting, The Kitchen Sink