Over 300 years ago, the prolific French writer, Voltaire, said, “Writing is the painting of the voice; the closer the resemblance, the better it is.” Those wise words still remain true today.

Finding the right match in a writer or collaborator is one of the most important tasks for an author. If the wrong individual is chosen, the author’s writing will sound flat. The author’s story will be diluted, discounted or even deleted. The audience will be different than anticipated and the impact not at all what one expected. Unnecessary delays and never finishing the book may be real possibilities.

Can the retained individual assisting with your book comprehend your ultimate objectives? Can your collaborator relate or connect with you? Does this person have knowledge or at a minimum, an innate curiosity and willingness to learn your sport, industry, art or subject matter?

Readers are looking for authenticity. Does your collaborating writer capture your signature phrases, personality, and spirit? Does this person “get you?” Can he or she paint the scenes, locations, and characters in your story? Can you visualize that person writing through your “lens”, seeing the story through your eyes? A great listener is just as critical as a great writer. Translating your vision for the reader audience is imperative.

Are you lifted up, encouraged and inspired when meeting and working together? The creative process is more successful when it’s a positive experience. When present, discourse and negativity will show in the end product, as well. Writing a book and publishing it is an exciting chapter in your life— you want to have fun and relish every moment.

When a director is hired to make a film, the executive producers don’t want to make a change or continual changes mid-picture. The cinematographer, painting with light, translates the director’s vision. The music is the eye into the soul of the director. As in film, your book’s true voice, continuity, flow and fulfillment of your vision is vital.

“A writer’s voice line is the stroke of an artist’s brush-the thumbprint of her whole person-her ideas, wit, humor, passions and rhythms”-Patricia Lee Gauch