Ladies, in the fall of 2009 I started a novel on my parent’s lives. I am currently 20,000 words in. However, it keeps getting put to the back burner for work and other writing commitments. (Life). So far the book reads journal narrative. I want to add dialogue and depth, but I also want to get it to its natural conclusion. What keeps throwing me off is that I am discovering my parent’s oridinary life is tied to some of the local historical events that occurred during that time so I want to add them too.
Here is my question to more experienced writers out there: what is your opinion of hiring a “ghost writer” to add the dialogue and depth so that I can continue to move the story forward ? If positive, have you ever used a ghostwriter, what was it like and how do I find one?
Thanks, in advance, for the wise counsel.
i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
A ghost writer is a professional writer who will use your information to create the book you would have written yourself — if you had the skills and experience! A good resource for hiring professional writers is ASJA Freelance Writer Search. You would create a brief project description including compensation (hourly or flat fee), and professional writers who see themselves as a good match for your needs will contact you. Then you’d email or phone those who interest you and eventually choose the one you want to work.
I would suggest that you contact the Association of Ghostwriters http://www.associationofghostwriters.org/index.htm for both general information and some idea of cost.
I don’t personally have any working knowledge of a ghost writer but I do have a question. You call your book a novel but you also say it is based on real life experiences of your parents? A novel is fiction so are you stretching the imagination of the reader by mixing fact along with fiction? Otherwise, I believe it would be a memoir. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
It would be a memoir but I’m playing with the truth a bit to make it fit and to keep the extended family from going bonkers…so I didn’t think memoir would work. I’ve changed the names and compressed some of the historical events to make the story move along. Also, because my mother’s family is so religious, I don’t think they would appreciate my sharing of my father’s young man expolits with moonshine running. speakeasies, and his meeting with John Dillinger.
Wow! What a story. Have you considered writing the memoir anonymously? Your father’s story is his truth (as is your mother’s), so you might write it as a novel based on a true story. Or write a novela about your father’s pre-marriage exploits. We’re running out of great adventure stories from that time period.
Forget about the ghostwriter and write the book yourself–you can do it. You’ve already written a quarter of the novel (average is 80,000 words), just don’t rush yourself and each morning you will wake up with new material and memories to add to the book. If your family has access to voice recognition software that can be a tremendous help to you as they reminisce and forward those musings to you for inclusion in the novel.
Happy writing.
Excellent advice…thanks….
I’m currently ghostwriting a page one autobiography and fortunately for me the subject has a remarkable memory, journals, and a treasure of photographs from which I can recreate her life. The backdrop of history is vital to this project and I have spent countless hours researching and substantiating information.
The risk in using a ghostwriter is that you’re paying to have a book written which has no guarantee of being published. The average fee for a ghostwritten novel ranges from $22,800 to $36,229.
Wishing you success.
Gulp! :]
Thanks…btw…I wanted to say something about the historical research. It’s amazing isn’t it? I love that part of it. I grew up hearing what I thought were Mom stories and Dad stories. Through researching to ensure I have the correct dates and names, I’ve discovered amazing connection between historical events and my folks. It’s been like discovering them all over again.
I love the researching process, too. I’m writing chapter backdrops of the times and how the culture and attitudes of those periods effected my subject’s journey. Ask each family member how much they feel comfortable with revealing, you might be (and I hope you will be) surprised at their candor and excitement in wanting to be a part of the story. They will cooperate.
Happy writing.
Thanks. Unfortunately we have so much Alzheimer’s in our family, it’s all very twisted. One of the reasons I want to get it all down on paper while I can. Still, I’m digging for pearls each chance I get.
I am quite a novice writer but have been blessed with an incredible writers group. From the 16 months I have been a member I have learnt a great deal. My NaNoWriMo is gradually becoming a novel but it is very hard work!!! My suggestion is to write everything down about your parents lives – beginning to end – then insert using dialogue between them the historical events.
Hope this gives you a new direction to ponder. Good luck.
My writers group site – if you want to take a peek – http://wfscsherwoodpark.com
You’re more than a novice writer at this point LilTigg–you are a writer, period.
Happy writing.
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice and the references. As always, you ladies rock!
There are writers who make a living as ghost writers. If you want to hire one, you should be prepared to pay a hefty sum. After all, that person will be devoting full-time for several months in order to complete the job in a professional way. You can adversite on http://www.IWWG.com .
BTW, the weaving of your parents personal lives with historical facts and narrative of the time sounds wonderful.
Good luck!
Thanks. It’s been fun and my sister is enjoying its progress. So the book has one fan. However she is also a big critic. She wants it to be just the parents story, but I believe the historical side (or backdrops as Yakkity called it) is important too and adds anchors for the chapters as I am going from 1910 though 1960s, 50 years in 50,000 words. During this time are locusts, moving from living in tents to farm houses, moving from horses to cars, moving from agrarian to industrial society, depression, the great flood, loss of father’s first wife to a national pandemic of the time, loss of mother’s first love to a cave in, and finally their meeting and marriage. I hope to get it to the birth of the 3 girls and the death of one…but we’ll see where the book wants to stop.
People are always the product of their environment. If your parents lived in China, their stories would have been entirely different. Historical forces, political ideologies, economic upheavals, religious practices—or drought (weather) and plagues—are part of any person’s narration. While you should not write a history book and must keep the amount of information dolled out to just the necessary portion for each part of the story, ignoring the relevant background and the setting is also ignoring your parents’ reaction to them, which is how writers develop characters in any book.
The part where you move away from straight telling of the story to narrating the background is called “exposition.” If that is the voice and style you choose to write. However, there are fine ways to weave the background into the story without exposition, but it takes some skill that can be acquired through learning from books, or better yet, writing workshops. In my upcoming novel, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, I’ve done just that because the historical events can only be glimpsed from the protagonist’s eyes; she cannot tell what’s happening in the big world (in this case the fall of the Ottoman Empire) but can certainly hear conversations and feel the hunger and scarcity. In that novel, I never retorted to exposition outside the protagonist’s point-of-view, nor entered as an author with the message to the reader, “you must know XYZ in order to grasp the background of the protagonist.”
These are writing choices that apply both to fiction and to what we call “creative non-fiction,” where you stay close to the facts of your parents’ lives, but you fictionalize conversations or interpret events.
I find the story of your parents’ lives fascinating, and I hope that with or without a ghost writer will see the project through. Just be aware that after you write it all down, there will be numerous revisions and editing, taking much longer than writing the first draft. It’s a long journey, but very satisfying.
Good luck!
Talia Carner
Author
http://www.TaliaCarner.com
Thanks so much for this. I appreciate the advice and knowledge you’ve shared here. I also agree with you about this being a marathon, not a sprint. Please let us know when your book hits Amazon. I’d love to read it. I was in Israel in 1992 and loved it and its people. It would be great to read about a place I’ve been. I was there in a spring following a large snow so the whole place was in bloom and just beautiful. Thanks for reminding me of a great memory.