The ghostwriting project was an interesting one. Who knew I could write something for someone else and actually make it sound similar to their voice? I learned a lot about my own writing style, and also about my friend's style. I've never considered myself especially creative, or having a unique writing style, however this project changed my mind. While evaluating my friend's writing style, I was also able to evaluate my own and see how it is unique.
There were a few parts of this project that were easy for me. Because the person I chose to write for has been my friend for over 10 years, I have become accustom to both the way she talks and writes. Since grade school, we have taken the same grammer classes and writing classes, so our writing styles are pretty similar. Because our writing styles are similar, it was easier for me to pick out the differences and work with them in the writing process. I was able to put in a few sentences that you could say were my "voice", and because our "voices" are similar, when combined with her stylistic devices, it sounded like her.
However, I did run into a few problems in my ghostwriting experience... My choice to write for a close friend had positives (as I mentioned above) and a few negatives. My friend wanted her own ideas in the paper and wasn't even willing to hear any of my suggestions for an addition to the paper in order to lengthen it. Also, after I showed her the first draft and asked for her to write in any corrections she would make, she returned it to me with no revisions. She said that she wouldn't change anything and it was perfect the way it was. I'm not sure her reasoning for this, but I think it was either one of two reasons: 1. She didn't want to offend me because we're friends, or 2. She simply didn't have enough time to look over the draft. Either way, this was a frustrating moment for me because I don't feel like the paper was my best work. However, it was what she wanted, and after all, the paper would have been signed with her name (if I were a real ghostwriter).
Although this may sound a bit selfish, I think that all the difficulties I encountered during my ghostwriting experience would've been less troubling if I were getting paid for it. But, I do wonder how long I could ghostwrite (and be paid for it), before no amount of money could lessen the frustration.
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The author I was writing for felt the same way-he wanted his ideas in the paper, but unlike your author, mine just shot mine down and harshly revised the work I had done. I also agree that it would be easier to get paid!
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