I literally only remember like the outlines of events, I don’t remember like the colors of clothing, or exact words of converasations, or like smell of the room. How the f do people remember that stuff? Like, no way they have photographic memory, do they just partly invent detail?
This is very much true. Ghost writing is also done to keep the voice of the author, as much as possible. Doug Stanhope, notable comedian, drunk, and drug abuser, has a very entertaining book called Digging Up Mother. There’s no way he remembers all this stuff, and he admits it. But in the audiobook versions, he adds meta-asides that indicate when a name is fake, for example, or add a story that contextualizes something, or he’ll straight up say “I’m tired, so-and-so is taking over” and let someone else read, making it a much more authentic experience of how an “autobiography” comes together.