Marie Ellis on Mapping and Outlining

About this episode

Marie Ellis shares her insights on mapping and outlining in writing, drawing from her extensive experience as a ghostwriter.

Ted is joined by Marie Ellis, a Sunday Times number 1-bestselling ghostwriter and editor for books as well as the founder of the boutique content agency Muse. When she’s not working with clients on nonfiction projects, she’s applying her 15-plus years of experience to her own novelistic pursuits. After taking us inside the world of a professional ghostwriter, Marie shares her best writing tip, which involves mapping out where she’s going ahead of time, in part because it helps her find some u...

People in this episode

Host: Ted Fox

Guest: Marie Ellis

Topics covered

• ghostwriting
• outlining
• mapping
• nonfiction
• novel writing

Keywords

• ghostwriter
• writing tips
• mapping
• outlining
• nonfiction
• novel

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sunday Times, Muse

More episodes of My Best Writing Tip

• Marc S. Perlman on Leaving Things Unresolved (Temporarily) · May 15, 2026 · 28 min
• Fanning Out: The James Bond Franchise · April 26, 2026 · 41 min
• Fanning Out: Seinfeld’s ‘The Invitations’ · March 31, 2026 · 44 min
• Shobha Rao on Not Becoming Attached · March 15, 2026 · 29 min
• My Best Writing Tip Trailer · February 15, 2026 · 2 min
• My Best Writing Tip · January 15, 2026 · 12 min