Webwords

We move among you, invisible but not silent. You read our words. You learn from the material we write. Perhaps you think about how helpful our work was, or you think a piece of ours wasn’t very good. But you don’t see us, the writers behind the words. After all, we’re ghosts.

I didn’t realize how fitting the term “ghost writer” is until I became one.

They: “So, what do you do for a living?”

We: “I’m a writer.”

They: “Ah, a real live writer. What do you write? Can I read some of your work?”

We: “Sorry, I can’t tell you what I write.”

They: “Oh? Why not? Do you [whispering] write adult content? You know…?”

We: “No, nothing like that. I’m a…ghost writer.”

They wander away. What can you talk about with a ghost?

It isn’t actually that bad. Depending on my audience, I can share the general idea of what I write about. I’m not after fame, and I recognize the reasons for having some work ghost-written rather than under the author’s name. Of course, I get paid for my ghost role.

As a ghost writer, I don’t get public credit for what I write, but I’m also not accountable to my audience. If you don’t like what I write, you can’t tell me. If I make mistakes in my work, you can’t criticize me. I am no longer one with my words, which in some ways is liberating.

Still, my words are my voice. I identify with them even if I’m not connected with them. Writers and words go together like bodies and souls. With my words published in various places without my name attached to them, I feel like a…ghost.