INKWELL Copywriting, Ghostwriting, PR

Ghostwriting Project 2 & 3

I have had two interviews with a first-time author who has employed me to ghostwrite her book.

It's a curious mix of memoir and the powerful effect of coincidence on her life. The author is keen to tease out the connection between some fascinating events in her life with the profound feeling that they were pre-determined. Like the author, I was a little sceptical at first, but that won't stop me weaving a compelling story.

The client has written about 30,000 words in note form - in some cases the scenes are fleshed out a little - effectively opening a door into the book. But nothing can substitute for sitting down and hearing her tell her stories. The 'voice' is crucial to making the book unique and these recorded interviews will form the basis of the story and dialogue.

It also helps that the client loves to talk and doesn't mind being probed by searching questions.

To inspire a greater love of words, in business and in life

26 is a writers' collective, a group of writers that have a common love of words, and their use in business and in life.

I am happy to be one of them.

The group has created some great writing projects.

26 Flavours of Cornwall matched 26 writers with 26 designers and 26 foods from the west country.

26 Treasures matched 26 museum pieces with 26 writers at the V&A, the National Museum of Scotland, the Ulster Museum, and the National Library of Wales.

26 Malts created new whisky labels with 26 writers and 26 designers.

Throwaway Lines is the latest project - 26 stories created from a diverse collection of handwritten notes found on London's streets over the last couple of years by Andy Hayes. It is curently being uploaded here. Expect one from me some time over the next 26 days.

And if you have not worked out why we are called 26, you probably haven't recited your alphabet lately.

Creative hub by the river

As a ghostwriter and copywriter in Lancashire it's essential to connect with other writers, to read what they're writing and discuss both my work and theirs.

My writing group - First Novelists' Club - is taking a break at the moment but I have been spending a little time with the folks from the Lancashire Writing Hub. 

Their website is a focus for writers in the county and a clearing house for events and courses throughout the north west of England.

Their own events tend to be held at the New Continental pub in Preston, which also hosts jazz, theatre, comedy and readings. Tasty food, good beer and a unique spot in Preston on the river all help the creative juices flow.

Ghostwriting project

Last week I took on another ghostwriting project. I am looking forward to it greatly.

For this book I plan to chart the progress of a ghostwriting commission from start to finish to give readers an idea of how a ghostwriter works - at least in Lancashire, UK anyway.

My client (and future author) has given me about 20,000 words of notes to read. There is a mixture of anecdotes, memories and bare facts to sift through so I should be well prepared for our first interview in a couple of weeks' time.

I have a few ideas about which angle the ghostwritten book might take but that won't become clear until I can tease out the client's goal for the book. Why is she writing the book? Why now? Who is it for? Who is likely to be interested in it?

Seems a good time to delve into the world of ghostwriters, what with the new movie Anonymous questioning the authorship of all that drama and poetry purportedly by yer man, W. Shakespeare.

Outsourced copywriting solves a problem

I fulfilled an interesting 15-month contract copywriting for a Manchester-based consortium of social housing organisations called GM Procure (now rebranded as Procure Plus).

It entailed writing internal reports, newsletter stories, member interviews, brochures, conference materials, press releases, rewriting the website and anything else that required some well chosen words.

The consortium handled procurement worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year but seemed to run it quite frugally, with very few staff who had very little time. The solution was to contract out the work to Inkwell.

Similar organisations might have hired someone in-house for the tasks I performed. So if you need quality copywriting in your organisation but cannot justify hiring another member of staff, give me a call.

Lancashire Ghostwriter Prospers

Reaching the end of a ghostwriting project stirs up conflicting emotions. On the one hand you are excited to agree on the final proof with the client and yet there is a whiff of sadness that the story has come to a conclusion. Sometimes I wish it would never stop.

A JOURNEY TO PROSPERITY by Lionel Gorick has been 12 months in the making and the book has just gone to print. It is a memoir of Lionel Gorick's climb from a sheltered childhood in Lancashire deprived of parental love to business success and industry recognition. He has a great story to tell about how he not only built a large company from scratch but also created an industry.

As ghostwriter on the project it was my pleasure to find the words and put the flesh on the story as told to me by Lionel.

 

 

Sláinte - It's Bloomsday

I hope it's a warm June day with the occasional cloud in Dublin - or wherever you are - so you can celebrate Bloomsday in style. 

Pour yourself a glass of Burgundy and nibble on a gorgonzola sandwich of fresh clean bread, with relish of disgust, pungent mustard, the feety savour of green cheese, then open Ulysses just one more time - 'Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead... '

It's also Youth Day in South Africa, so best wishes down there too.

Lancashire Copywriter Sure Enough

Sure Events venue finders and event management specialists based in Lancashire came to Inkwell copywriting when they required some punchy copy for their new website.

Theirs is a fiercely competitive field so keywords and Google search terms are crucial to potential customers finding them on the internet.

They came to a Lancashire copywriter with years of experience writing targeted copy that not only describes their operation and explains their offer but also satisfies the needs of the search engines.

To be sure of dynamic copy that persuades, explains, encourages action and is good for your business, call Inkwell Copywriting. 

Copywriter WLTM Gobbledegook for Long Term Relationship

If there's one thing Inkwell does well (people have told me), it's translating gobbledegook into plain English.

Not that this client speaks gobbledegook, but to many people outside his rarefied field of work the language they use is quite opaque: Application Performance Management, anybody?

Anasis needed a series of case studies that gave clear examples of their expertise - all copywritten with the usual Inkwell precision (and working under a tight deadline). 

They also required a closely-targeted follow-up letter written to potential clients who visited their stand at an industry exhibition.

If you need words to persuade, convince, illuminate and earn their keep - on the page or on the screen - give me a call. 

Twitter Countdown to African Brew Ha-Ha

The countdown to publication of my travel book African Brew Ha-Ha starts in a couple of days with daily Tweeted extracts from the book on Twitter.

There will be three different extracts - one for tea drinkers, one for bikers and one for adventure travellers.

To be sure you get them, follow me on Twitter @ACWhelan.

Want a Free Copy of African Brew Ha Ha?

Go to www.abhaha.com then pop your email address in the Get Email Updates box in the top left corner of the blog. There will be a random draw from all the email addresses for a free book giveaway on publication day - April 5 2010. Good luck.