The 4 Most Common Misconceptions about Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting has existed as an honorable profession that goes back centuries. It may have been deemed unethical by many professional writers but it is a unique skill to shape someone’s thoughts and ideas into compelling text that keeps the users hooked from the first line.

It not only allows businesses or individuals build an identity of their own but also helps writers as an outlet to hone their writing skills for future prospects. With so many commitments to fulfill, business owners cannot find time to create content themselves or at times they do not possess the required writing skills. Ghostwriting has now evolved into something more than just helping the unlearned by writing for them, instead it is now a profitable profession for many new writers.

A professional ghostwriter is someone who writes quality content for his clients and in turn gets paid for it. With having a mutual agreement between the client and the ghostwriter, a ghostwriter cannot have the control over the rights of the content he creates.

But as most writers and individuals find ghostwriting an unethical act, there also exist more misconceptions about ghostwriting that have emerged from the unfamiliarity of individuals regarding this profession.

1. Any writer can be a ghostwriter

The ability to shape a person’s idea into quality content is not something any writer can do. A writer can be good at conveying his thoughts into text but to convey someone else’s imagination takes a lot of practice and experience. Most ghostwriters have a certain writing style which distinguishes them from the other writers in their field. Therefore, what differentiates a great writer from a novice is his ability to transform his client’s ideas into compelling content that is not uniform but changes with context.

2. They don’t follow content guidelines

 Some people think it is difficult to work with ghostwriters as they might not follow the content guidelines given by their client. That is by no means true as there is a contract made between the ghostwriter and the client that depicts assurance of creating content according to the client’s requirements. If the ghostwriter fails to do so and deviates from what he was told to write, it may even lead to termination of the contract.

3. The client is not the real owner of the content

The ghostwriter may be the one writing content but ultimately it is the client’s creation. Transforming a client’s ideas and insights into good content is why ghostwriters are hired but in reality they are just expressing it in the form of words. The rightful owner of the content is the person who hired a ghostwriter to help him with creating content as the client himself is writing through the ghostwriter.

4. Ghostwriting is unethical

The most common misconception of all is finding ghostwriting an unethical profession. Ghostwriting is an old and honorable profession which should not be deemed unethical as both the writer and the client consent to it. The writer comes up with content for the client and in turn gets paid for it. Letting a person shape their thoughts into engaging content is by no means unethical. It allows writers make an honest living and improve their writing skills along the way.