Gracewriters Podcast #76: Lisa Stilwell, author, senior editor and ghostwriter

In this episode, Belinda Pollard, Donita Bundy and Alison Joy interview Lisa Stilwell, a veteran of Christian publishing. She rose to the position of senior acquisitions editor with major Christian publishing houses, and then moved into authoring devotionals and ghostwriting memoir for Christian leaders and people from the music industry.

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Episode summary:

• How Lisa first moved into writing, unexpectedly, after stepping down from her long career as an acquisitions editor to care for her husband who had Parkinson’s.
• The initial uncertainty Lisa felt about her ability to write, despite so many years of working with words, and her tips for others who long to write but are not sure if they have the ability.
• How Lisa sets herself deadlines, which helped her cope by establishing a sense of routine during the years of caring for her husband.
• Counting back from the deadline to work out how much needs to be written per day, but also allowing grace for when things don’t go to plan.
• How Lisa – reluctantly at first! – moved into ghostwriting. Lisa hadn’t ghostwritten before and thought the timing was wrong for her to work on this project because her husband had just moved to hospice, but God knew what He was doing.
• The process of being selected to work with Helen Smallbone, mother of singers Rebecca St James and the duo For King & Country.
• The gentle and respectful process for Lisa of working with Helen Smallbone, welcomed into the home, and guiding Helen regarding how much she asked her children vs her own memories of what happened.
• How to set word count targets relevant to the project, and stick to them.
• Connection and trust as the core of a relationship when ghostwriting someone’s memoir. Having the courage and skill to ask probing questions, while respecting the person’s right not to answer.
• You have to write in their voice, not your own. Listen constantly, for key phrases and the pace of their speech, for formal vs casual expression, for seriousness vs humour and how the two moods interact.
• Transcribing interview recordings is a painful task, but it’s a process where you can really absorb elements of the story and see what extra questions you need to ask.
• Protecting yourself, because ghostwriting is draining work.
• The initially rocky and then smooth road to getting The Heavens Proclaim His Glory published – a coffee table book with Hubble telescope images combined with excerpts from authors and pastors Lisa had worked with across her editing career.
• How Lisa worked her way up to the senior position of Acquisitions Editor.