Ghostwriter Diaries 08

I’ve reached the end of week two of my schedule. I’m six chapters in, and just shy of 16,000 words. The last chapter threw me a curve ball by running on half as long again as any of the others, and therefore taking longer than anticipated to compose. I’ve no idea if that’s because I’ve overwritten it, or there was just lots of story to tell.

No matter. Now isn’t the time to worry about such things. With ghostwriting, the only thing that matters is forward progress. Oh, except for smooth prose, coherent storytelling, convincing motivation, engaging description and snappy dialogue … those count too. By the end of this month, I’ll be ready to email the first batch of chapters off to the editing team; they’ll tell me if it needs cutting. Before I do that, I’ll do my own editorial pass, but I’d rather submit too much and have it whittled down than fall short and have to compose extra material in a rush.

Writing fast and hard this way means skimming over the surface of the narrative like a stone over a pond. I tell myself that’s how the ghostwriter has to live: there simply isn’t time to get too emotionally involved. However … I’m only human. I can’t help but get caught up in the lives of these characters. It’s starting to happen. I can feel it. Soon, just skimming over the surface isn’t going to be enough.

Slowly but surely, this story is going to suck me in.