Last Sunday’s Magazine (16th July 2023) carried the article on the Ghostwriting industry article written by Swati Daftuar. It spoke about how it is popular among stars to write their memoirs with talented writers or ghostwriters. Early memoirs only carried star-personalities names for marketing and sales purposes. Now there is a growing demand to pair up good and renowned writers with star celebrities.
These days it is not rare to see Ghostwriter’s name being mentioned alongside the celebrity whose memoir has been written. In a rough sketch of what a ghostwriter does and how to best showcase, talents, experiences, and skills acquired and discarded are spoken with great flair for public to garner and support their public and private personalities. It could be because the star wishes to clear some of the yellow journalism strikes to their personal lives and private matters.
The article was professionally written, and it did speak about its origin and its current trends in the publishing industry. My first experience in publishing industry was my first exposure to Library Archives of The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times. I got interested in journalism and back then BVB (Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan) College was conducting a Journalism course which was later clubbed with Corporate Communication. I was lucky to do both the courses at the same time.
Journalism and Its Attraction Factors
I felt so inspired by the topics managed in the course. We had great tutors who were supportive and encouraging the students to learn and to explore. But despite the great experts teaching us journalism through guidance and care filled supervision, I still did not like present-day news being reported by the press.
So, there were some topics with reference to reality, that my mind naturally rebelled. Reporting was my least interesting topic, but it gave me such inspiration from my teacher, that I became so attached to the basic ethical principles of reporting.
There must have been many excellent reporters from the past and present. These reporters who dealt with current affairs and policies must have inspired and encouraged a lot of people in power to take a studied course of action that would help the masses.
Writing as Mainstream of Expression
I got fascinated with writing when I began to read a lot of books to make do for lack of friends. The interesting part was that it was no longer enough to just read the written words, but I wanted to create them too. Easy route of Poetry followed journal entries, then to work on hybrid of both.
MIT Writers Mailing List a channel of MIT for writing in English opened a method to explore the world of writing with more seriousness. It was here that I felt strong enough to separate emotion from my writing. Journalism according to me back then meant writing logical and clear articles for information dissemination.
It is often my situation in life, that if I find out that I don’t know something, then I jump to learn about it. Sometimes, I have self-taught, or sought out courses, but always, I was just a curious person finding a path of a lifelong career. My passion for the various writing field ebbs from the depth of my psyche.
Ghostwriting and My Experiences
I love to write about other people’s lives. For me other people’s lives are far more interesting to represent through my writing. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort to bring out the best that is hidden from common sight. Memoir writing is one such thing that explores the venues of commonplace things becoming something extraordinary for everyone. But I have not been a ghostwriter so far.
Yes, it is a kind of channel that makes revenue available for personal projects for struggling writers and recognized writers. Ghostwriting may allow you to explore topics which the writer may considered unworthy. Of course, all of us would have heard Shakespearean plays were not written by him but a noble who wanted to hide his name.
Ghostwriting Is Not a New Anomaly
What I feel is that ghostwriting might not have been a recent decade or centuries phenomena but something that existed much beyond the BC days. In India, the Vedas and other literature are assigned to Vyasa. All writers who added to the literature wrote in the name of Vyasa. The name Veda Vyasa meant compiler of Vedas.
There are many anonymous writers who haven’t taken credit for the work they have created. Even today, the industry thrives in keeping a specific pen name, live and active. But the stand for the work lies in the hidden strength of the anonymity of the writer.
In Pursuit of Happiness in Writing
To remain anon and let my work stand on its own merit is sometimes an aspiration that I hold within me. The joy of writing cannot take precedence over the recognition of being the writer of the said piece. Countless times I was swept away by emotions and wrote something that truly inspired me and that satisfaction itself for me.
There is a lot to learn from the experience of writing. Especially, when the mind is muddled with diverse thoughts and each claiming importance then the precise brain needs whet the chaff from the grain. The seed of germinating thoughts comes from patient brewing of tea or coffee.
Where Attention Expands the Way is a Blur
The best way to learn from any activity, be it reading or writing, lies in being fully present and prepared for the moment. At that moment of event the muse and the talent culminate in being involved in the creative process and to bring out the product of other worldliness in the attempted work.
There is much that I learnt while trying to write distinct kinds of topics and realizing that being in one state with the writing brings the most sort after moment of inner innovation and understanding. Every time I write something I am egged by the next piece which I dare to hope will be my penultimate piece that defies me to exist in this world as a standalone piece of artwork.
Itinerant Storyteller 