Ghostwriter

Most projects start with interviews. The ghostwriter records hours of conversation, reads letters, diaries and press coverage, and talks to people around the client. From that material they build an outline, write drafts in the client's voice and revise with the client until the client is ready to put their name on the result.

Capturing a voice is the core skill. A good ghostwritten memoir sounds like its named author, with their vocabulary, humor and rhythm, rather than like a professional writer. Ghostwriters also manage structure, pacing and the hard conversations about what goes in, which is why the job is part writer, part interviewer and part editor.

A book-length project often takes six months to a year, and the writer may spend more time listening than typing. The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), written "with the assistance of Alex Haley" from years of interviews, is one of the best-known examples of the process, and the credit line shows how a collaboration can be acknowledged without changing whose story it is.

Screenwriting has a recognized form of uncredited work: the script doctor, a writer brought in to polish dialogue, fix structure or rewrite scenes. Carrie Fisher, Robert Towne and Tom Stoppard all did well-known uncredited script work. Under Writers Guild of America rules, screen credit goes only to writers whose contribution meets set thresholds, so much rewriting stays invisible.

The ghostwriter as a character has its own film genre too. Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (2010) follows a writer hired to finish a former prime minister's memoir who discovers what the book was meant to hide. The premise works because the ghostwriter sees more of a powerful person's life than almost anyone else.

Credit is set by contract. Some ghostwriters are named on the cover with "with" or "and", some in the acknowledgments and some not at all, often under a confidentiality agreement. Pay is usually a flat fee, sometimes with a share of royalties; for a full book, fees vary widely with the writer's experience and the client's profile.

The ethics depend on the field. Ghostwritten memoirs, speeches and executive articles are widely accepted because readers understand that the named person owns the story. Political speechwriting is the oldest accepted form: Judson Welliver, often called the first presidential speechwriter, wrote for Warren Harding in the early 1920s, and every president since has relied on a staff of writers. In academic work, journalism and some competitions, presenting someone else's writing as your own is plagiarism or fraud, and the same practice is not acceptable.

Most ghostwriters come from journalism, editing, copywriting or published writing of their own, because the job needs proven speed, interviewing skill and versatility. Samples that show you can write in more than one voice matter more than a single strong style.

Start with shorter work, such as articles, speeches and blog posts for executives or experts, then move to books. Agencies, publishers and word of mouth supply most book projects. Because clients often can't reveal who wrote their books, a ghostwriter's reputation travels through editors and agents more than through bylines.