Ooooooo! Booooo! --
Well, not THAT kind of ghost!
I was recently hired as a ghost writer. But I can work in a
sheet, my nightgown, or nothing at all. And I can wail or laugh manically as I
type, too! This is why I love to write!
I was hired by a friend. Several years ago, she wrote half of
an untitled outline with several chapters. It was lost and has now reappeared,
but my friend has moved on to other projects. She is paying me to complete the
outline, punch-up the chapters, & write her novel. I can even put my name next to hers on the
cover.
As I first started to read the outline, I thought this is
going to be a challenge, but I was up for it. The story was set in the business
world and lord knows I have no head for business or figures! And second, I
didn't like these characters! They needed alcohol to be happy, relax, or just
breathe! As a non-drinker, they were exactly the kind of crowd I would avoid in
real life. And third, because this was not my concept, I felt an element of
passion would be missing.
However, as I went further into the outline it began to read
like a Lifetime movie. I love those! And they are popular for a reason!
Lifetime has been called the Man Hater channel, even the
Rape Channel. Actually it began as the Womjep (Woman in Jeopardy) channel, where
as CBS was the Sitcom (Situation Comedy) channel. Personally, I call Lifetime
the WCCC (Woman Causing Chaos & Catastrophe) channel.
The outline ended in the middle at the most suspenseful
part. I asked my friend where she intended to go from here. I was informed that
was MY job. Hot dog! I knew exactly where to go! But I didn't have an ending.
The first thing I did was to rewrite the outline
chapter-by-chapter. I added an extra character in the early chapters to move
this story further into where I wanted to go. Suddenly, I felt passion welling
up inside me. I was getting excited as I typed. Soon I could visualize and
ending.
My friend/client loved the title I came up with, and no I'm
not telling! You will have to wait until this book is in print!
I must write at a faster pace than what I am accustomed. The
bulk of my time now is going to be devoted to working on this novel. So until this book is
completed, I'm going to be cutting back on my blog postings to once a month.
