6 Big Reasons the Client Backslides

The manuscripts are almost done. After more than a year of conversing, probing, analyzing, writing, receiving feedback, and rewriting, I have two clients who appear to be backsliding.

One client rewrote the entire manuscript, in the process ignoring the outline we agreed on and the feedback from his brother, a journalist who wrote his own book.

Another client provided a list of stories he wanted to include, even though he and I had already been through the list and decided they don’t fit our agreed-upon narrative.

Ghostwriters might recognize this late-stage phenomenon where a client, at the end, tries to rewrite the book and changes something. My clients want to change the structure, but other professional ghostwriters might have clients who want a complete shift in voice, tone, message, or even identity.

This phenomenon goes by various names:  “client revisionism,” “scope creep,” “late-stage pivot,” or “backshadowing.” It isn’t random and tends to be driven by a mix of psychological and situational forces.

Here are six.

1. Proximity panic. Clients are often very cooperative as they move through the ghostwriting process, but once the end is near, they realize the book is no longer theoretical and is about to become real, which scares them. They suddenly feel exposed because they come to understand that their story is closer to being shared and judged, so they reach for control and try to change something to make them feel better.

2. Identity dissonance. Throughout the ghostwriting process, clients have an idea of who they are, and the manuscripts often reflect that. Now at the end, they want to be something or someone else, perhaps a person who has gained the wisdom that they’re trying to impart in the book, and they don’t feel like they are. They might feel imposter syndrome. There is a gap, and it creates discomfort, so the client tries to rewrite the book to reflect the present self.

3. Audience anxiety. As the manuscript becomes closer to reality, the client might start to imagine specific readers such as family members, friends, business colleagues, and critics, then guess how they’ll react. That often leads to softening, omitting, or reframing parts of the story.

Both my clients have done some of this. The first client talked openly about his sexual exploits with women in his younger days but refused to do the same with his current wife. The second client has a sister he wants to include more, but she really doesn’t fit in with the narrative of the two brothers. I had to convince him that she only belongs when she’s interacting with her brothers.

4. “I could say it better now.” This one is a bit ironic. The client has been talking to the ghostwriter, telling the story over and over and over, resulting in the client becoming more articulate. The client starts to think that they can tell the story better, so they try to change it by distrusting earlier (and stronger ghostwritten) material.

One client did this when he rewrote the entire opening. We started with the devastating Palisades Fire, and he changed it to his early childhood because he believes it works better. I find it very amateurish.

5. Fear of finality. Finishing means letting go. Some clients can’t handle that. For them, the ghostwriting project has become not just their priority but their meaning and reason for getting up in the morning. They genuinely like the ghostwriter and want to keep working. Blowing up the project keeps the process alive.

Lauren Ogren, a California-based marriage and family therapist, told psychcentral.com that a relationship ending might not be a physical loss, but something significant is gone, and people have to mourn the past memories.

6. External influence late in the game. A new advisor, spouse, business partner, friend, or other person the client values has entered the picture and tells the client, “You know what this book really should be?” and suddenly, all the work the ghostwriter did goes out the window.

My business advisor has something to say about that: “You should be more than happy to have a book project extend for years, as long as they’re paying you. Why would that bother you? They want it rewritten ten times, they pay for it.”

However, if a ghostwriter wants to protect the manuscript, and by extension, protect the client from a bad decision, coming out and telling them they’re wrong never works. The goal is to make them feel heard and bring them back to the original agreed-to outline.

Here are three ways to do that.

1. Reconnect them to the original vision. Show them the outline, early notes, or relevant recorded conversations. Tell them, “When we started, the book was about X for Y audience to achieve Z goals. Do these changes serve that, or is the scope of the project shifting?”

By doing this, the client is forced to consider the strategy of the changes and ignore the emotion.

2. Politely call them on it. Sometimes simply identifying the pattern is all that’s needed, as long as it’s done tactfully. The ghostwriter is normalizing the feeling without validating the impulse: “It’s actually normal to want to rethink everything as we near the end.”

The client will probably ask what to do. If the ghostwriter senses a client’s fear, he or she can help the client see the irrationality and help them not act on it. Or the ghostwriter can suggest a cooling-off period, give them a small percentage of the manuscript to play with that won’t destroy it, or tell them that what they want to do sounds like a great second book but isn’t a revision of this one.

Regardless, the advice becomes, Stay the course.

3. Document everything. If the client insists, the ghostwriter should happily acquiesce, but he or she should keep a paper trail, electronic or otherwise. That way, the ghostwriter protects from liability and forces clarity.

“Just so we’re on the same page, these changes are a departure from the original concept and will require X more months of time for X amount of money.”

Sometimes, making it real causes the client to reassess and go back to the ghostwriter’s original outline.

Near the end, the manuscript has become a mirror to the client who doesn’t always like the reflection. The ghostwriter’s job isn’t to “win” the argument, it’s to help the client see whether they’re making a creative change that improves or negatively affects things. Ghostwriters who understand that can guide their clients back from the brink.

If you are looking for a ghost writer in San Francisco to help navigate your story and the complexities of the publishing process, I am here to help.  Feel free to read and check out my other posts related to ghostwriting. Go to https://leebarnathan.com/blog/