Maybe the most important skill for a ghostwriter is mastering the author’s voice and syntax. There’s only one way to nail this: time and work.
Today’s transcription software is incredible. What once took most of a morning can now be done in minutes with nearly flawless results. But if you use transcription software, you hear your author’s voice speak the material once during the interview. If you manually transcribe it yourself, however,–the old fashion way, word by word, sentence by sentence, story by story–the voice is imprinted in your mind.
Now, there can be a subtle difference between the voice on a page and spoken voice. I have a friend who transcribed a famous Southern politician’s interviews. When my friend started writing, the man sounded like Foghorn Leghorn on the page. The pol wasn’t all too happy with the results. The author’s voice might need to be refined or made relatable. But that’s where craft comes in.
Having your author’s voice in your head, however, is a superpower for ghostwriters. Get it right, especially in business books and memoirs, and you can make some magic on the page.
