From Rough Notes to Polished Content: How Ghostwriting Works at Open Book Editing
By Michael Smith, Open Book Editing
A lot of people think they can’t work with a writer until they have a “clean draft.” In reality, some of the best content starts as messy notes—half-formed ideas, bullet lists, or quick voice memos recorded on the way home.
Ghostwriting is about turning those raw materials into finished pieces that sound like you and support your goals.
You don’t need perfect drafts
Here’s what you can bring to a ghostwriter:
- Bullet points from a meeting
- Photos of whiteboard notes
- Voice recordings about a story you want to share
- Slides from a presentation you gave
If it captures your ideas, I can work with it.
What I do with your raw material
My job is to shape and polish, not to rewrite you out of the picture. I:
- Clarify the main point and audience for each piece
- Organize ideas into a clear structure
- Write in a voice that matches how you naturally speak
- Clean up grammar, flow, and formatting
The result is content that feels like something you could have written on your best day—with plenty of time and zero distractions.
Types of content we can create together
From rough notes, we can build:
- LinkedIn posts and articles
- Short blog posts for your business
- Emails and internal messages
- Website updates or service pages
- Client case studies or success stories
Why this works so well for busy professionals
You’re already doing the hard part—living the work and making decisions. Ghostwriting lets you capture that experience without stopping to wordsmith every sentence.
You stay in your lane. I turn what you know into finished writing.