Writing is solitary. It involves nibbling your pencil, doodling with your mouse and cutting phrases while wondering if they really mean what you think or thought. The fact is that while many of us enjoy a good story yet finding the appropriate words seems impossible. Every good idea doesn’t end in a book, every specialized knowledge doesn’t make interesting reading. That’s when a ghostwriter's number comes in handy. Call, sign and discuss your book while it gets written to your fancy.
Ghostwriting might seem a white lie to people but the fact that it exists and creates a lot of word magic makes it an interesting option. It gives words to people with stories and adds color to descriptions. Ghostwriting is not an invention of the communication age but was an important tool used by leaders, media darlings and heirs of large conglomerates in ages past to put words to their ideas.
The publishing world has also used ghostwriting as a tool to reach out to their favored audience. Carolyn Keene and Franklin W Dixon never wrote Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys. They were characters thought of by publishers and etched out by teams of ghostwriters.
When ideas need a medium of expression ghostwriting will always come in handy with its invisibility cloak and flow of words that never seems to dry out.
You mentioned ethics. For me, ghostwriting works from an ethical point of view only if the named author's ideas are accurately reflected in what is written. Sometimes, I feel like a glorified stenographer -- I just write down what my client tells me, and make it pretty. I'll organize their ideas and maybe add an analogy or two so as to explain things. It's rewarding -- I help people get their ideas into words and help them further their own goals.
ReplyDeleteYes, the glorified stenographer it is; yet there have been occasions when my views too found a place in the client's view and more importantly his books! You can also compare it to creative photography wherein we airbrush the faults and help glorify the thoughts:-) The best part of ghost writing is that i get a peek (and more) into diffferent thought processes. The ethics stand if the ideas are respected and not blown away by the ghostwriters opinions.
ReplyDeleteBut what do u think of ghostwriting for blogs camouflged in different views for different articles- that too is ghostwriting.