How To Manage Your Ghostwriter Project
Regardless of what you’re paying, where the writer is located, and other variables, something very important that buyers and sellers of freelance services often fail to consider is style – yours and theirs.
As in management in an employment setting, the way you expect to work with someone will largely define how you feel about working with them.
· Do you prefer lots of small updates?
· Do you have a lot of specific ongoing questions?
· Are you very detail-oriented, are you likely to ask a writer to change a word here or a word there very often?
· Do you want justification for each editorial choice the writer makes?
Or…
· Do you prefer less frequent, bigger updates?
· Do you generally only have a few questions about direction and progress?
· Are you inclined to “defer” to the writer’s expertise in most word choices?
There’s no right and wrong.
There’s just your preferences, and the writers. Which should match, or you are asking for trouble.
This can make a huge difference in the success of your project. A self-directed writer with a bigger personality will be a conflict if you are of the first detailed type; a quiet, slow writer who needs continual prompting will be a nightmare if you are the second more hands-off type.
Think a little about the way you like to work, and factor that in when choosing your ghostwriter, particularly if your project is personal in nature.
Also, if a writer asks you questions about your preferences and style, try not to be defensive about it. Chances are he or she is trying to save both of you potential aggravation, and nothing more.