Where to Start a Book

One of the greatest joys of ghostwriting is to be able to meet so many remarkable authors who have done so many remarkable things.

I’m working with an author who nearly died when there was a flood in a coal mine where he was working deep beneath the surface.

The water rose in the tunnel where he was working up to his chest as he and a colleague managed to make their way to a ventilation shaft that allowed them to climb up to a different part of the mine. Hours later, they made their way to the surface where the guy found he’d been reported dead.

Bam. That was my start to the book. It couldn’t fail. I was virtually writing the hook before he’d finished telling me the story.

But the author told me, “No. We’re not going to start with that. That's not the most extraordinary thing that's happened to me.”

And it turned out he was right. I was wrong.

What he achieved in the mine was a pure act of survival. But the things he achieved after leaving the coal mine – he quit the next day – put the fact of merely surviving in the shade. They were remarkable on any scale.

And when we finish his book, you’ll be able to find out what they were.