If it’s something you’ve never done before, and you have no idea how to do it, there’s nothing to do but dive in. A renowned spiritual teacher invited Lydia to rock climb to get to know each other before beginning ghostwriting his new book.

His broken English was difficult to understand and she didn’t know his native language. He offered his hand to steady her (although he wasn’t steady himself) and asked if she was nervous about the project. They had a good laugh about their predicament—a tight deadline, his upcoming world travels, and his lack of interest in the writing process.

“Creating something where there was nothing is soul-satisfying.”

He wanted his book to appear as if by magic without having to do a great deal of work to get it done. Lydia only had one recorded interview with him and a file of his current speeches as source material.

As she wrote the final chapter key ideas were missing and he was unavailable. Lydia generated the missing content by writing intuitively and inventing teachings in his voice. Creating something where there was nothing is soul-satisfying.

He loved the entire manuscript—and especially the final chapter. There are many times during the life of a project when courage is required by everyone involved. It’s always worth it.