I used to think ghostwriting was evil.
Now I realize that negative belief stood in the way of me making real money as a writer all along.
My Writing Journey (It Might Be Like Yours)
I started my writing journey a year and a half ago when writing my first novel. That novel birthed a blog detailed the process, and from that blog came a writing blog contest. From that contest came my blog winning a spot on the “Top 10 Blogs for Writers” list.
When that happened, life quickly changed. My blog traffic spiked, my subscriber count quadrupled, and I was getting dozens of messages from readers who told me that my writing, and my story, had a profound affect on them.
Amidst all the wonderful but sudden craziness, I started to follow my fellow Top 10, some who were freelancers and ghostwriters themselves.
I quickly learned a lot about ghostwriting and freelancing. Soon, I was offered an opportunity to ghostwrite.
Why I Thought Ghostwriting Was Evil – Until I Started to Ghostwrite and Realized I Was Just Being Stupid
As I said, I used to think ghostwriting was evil.
Now I’m a ghostwriter and see how truly stupid it was to allow that belief to keep me from making money.
Once upon a time I thought:
Ghostwriting Meant Other People Taking Credit for My Work
But I was being stupid. Ghostwritten work isn’t even my voice—how could it be “mine,” and how could someone “steal” it, or claim it as their own?
Besides, the person I write for doesn’t approach the world the same way as me (she’s not even my gender). Our agendas are similar, but we achieve our ends differently.
When I ghostwrite, I never feel as if someone is taking credit for the work I created. They are taking credit for “the work” required to create—not my ability to “create” it.
Ghostwriting isn’t a “Pure” Way to Make Money
Again, I was being stupid. Ghostwriting actually makes me money. Did you hear that part? It makes me money, and what the heck is wrong with that? My “pure,” unfinished fiction novel makes me approximately zero at the moment.
Ghostwriting Takes the Time and Energy I Need For My Novel
There’s this thing called “adjusting your writing schedule.”
You don’t have to dedicate 20 hours a week to your novel. Five is enough and you can pay bills with the rest. Adjusting your schedule is necessary if you don’t want to end up broke. If you’re sweating every cent, you’ll have a ton of trouble setting aside any time for you novel.
Ghostwriting Will Take Me Down the Wrong Path and Potentially Damage My Fiction Career
Ghostwriting allows you to practice, boost your confidence, increase your credibility, improve your writing, sharpen your responsibility, amplify your respect and industry authority, legitimize yourself as a writer, and increase your bank balance enough to let you finally fund the projects you really care about—like writing fiction.
Why Negative Beliefs Are Bad For Writers
Many of these negative beliefs were due to simple ignorance.
I remember reading many writing blogs when I first started, adamant that any kind of writing that wasn’t fiction was bad for my novel because it would drain all my energy from following my passion.
Yet it is only the “belief” that something could drain your energy or keep you from following your passion that saps your vigor or sets you in place.
Ghostwriting and freelancing are inspiring me to follow my passion. Far from thwarting my determination, ghostwriting and freelancing have only confirmed my conviction.
Not only that, but I’ve learned that when it comes to things you don’t know much about, you should try it before you form your opinion.
If you hear someone say that ghostwriting—or anything else for that matter—is unfair, or evil, make sure you ask them whether they’ve tried it themselves.
If the answer is “no,” chances are that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and you shouldn’t believe them, because they’re just being stupid.
What Negative Beliefs Are Standing In Your Way?
Recently, I had a reader tell me that I was giving “false hope” to writers by telling them they could make money writing. Not everyone, she said, can accomplish this feat. She included herself in the category of those doomed to fail.
It’s true, nothing in this life is guaranteed (including making a living writing) but I wonder where that negative belief is leading this person.
It certainly can’t be helping. Because that belief is a brick wall keeping her stuck, and blinding her to the many wonderful possibilities that are available to her.
You, like this reader, may have similar negative beliefs that have led you to your own “brick wall of impossibility.”
But what if instead of just standing there at that wall, you started to figure out ways to overcome it? What if you started asking yourself: How can I get a ladder, or rope, or anything that can help me scale this this wall? Or maybe I can find someone else who can give me a boost, and make the wall that much easier to climb?
If all else fails, I could just blow the entire wall to smithereens?
What would happen then?
The answer is simple. You would find your way to the other side of that brick wall.
Negative beliefs can be self-fulfilling prophecies that get you nowhere. Shedding your limiting ideas like so much dead skin may lead you toward infinite possibility.
That is how I stopped being stupid and started making money as a writer—and that’s how you can, too.
Ollin Morales is a writer. His blog, Courage 2 Create, offers writing advice as well as strategies to deal with life’s toughest challenge. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
That’s an interesting take, one I haven’t really considered before. I also have, and still do, see.it as someone making money taking credit for my work, yet I write blogs for others and never have seen it this way. Something new to consider on my behalf; thanks.
Interesting.
I think if you try it Mitch, you’ll see it is just not the case. It does not feel at all as if someone is taking credit for MY work.
They are just paying me for the “work” not the creation of it. The creation is really up to them.
Great words of wisdom.
To worry about someone else taking credit for your work, you are limiting yourself in a way. You are saying, or at least suggesting, that you’ll never write anything this good again. I highly doubt that to be the case, though. In my experience, the more I write, the better I get at it. So why not write as much as I can to get to greatness that much faster?
The way I see it, as long as you’re making a living doing what you want, who cares who gets the credit? Especially when the idea isn’t even yours to begin with. You can always write your own book with your name on the cover, but you also need to pay the bills.
As for the writer who complained that you were giving false hope to others, perhaps you were giving false hope to writers like her, those who are committed to failing because of their own self-fulfilling beliefs or lack of skills. In any event, I believe any decent writer can get better and make money if they’re willing to work at it. But as you said, there are no guarantees — if you want guarantees find a job which offers one, but I can’t promise you’ll a) find one or b) you’ll be happy doing it.
Great point.
Nothing comes with guarantees, especially these days.
Just keep trying and who knows? Wonderful opportunities could be just around the bend!
Ollin,
You present a good perspective here with this piece. A large part of our success or failure depends on our attitude.
Great point! It’s all about attitude and perspective.
By the way, Sean, I’m loving these funny avatars! Haha!
Hi Ollin,
I didn’t realize you wrote this until making my way down to the comments. I also wouldn’t have any idea who you are if it wasn’t for your winning as a top 10 writer blog. Congrats on that.
Thanks for the great post. Ghost writing seems like a great way to fund novel writing. I hope that goes really well for you.