Friday, August 17, 2018

How Writers Make History With Memoirs Ghostwriting

By Shirley Reed


Most writers achieve only a shadow of what they intended while attending college. For most of us, newspapers, television, or online articles are the most we are likely to achieve, as we live in a world of hostile competition and slim opportunity. However, if one has the opportunity to conduct memoirs ghostwriting, it can take them right out of the mediocre, and catapult their career into a colorful new direction.

To write such stories, the ghostwriter must pay particular attention to every facet of the history of their subject. They need to have a genuine interest in the story that is being shared with them. A great deal of trust is being placed in their ability to be non-biased, entertaining, thorough and creative as they record events their subject carries strong emotions on.

Without free access to the home the job is nearly impossible to accomplish. In fact, sometimes the subject must issue their storyteller a temporary Limited Power of Attorney so that they are able to obtain any legal, medical, or historical documents which might be of a private or protected nature. Many a history teller has had to meticulously organize the documents, photographs, and other memorabilia in homes that can only be described as a hoard.

This gets rough when their subject is an elderly person possessing phobias of theft and murder. Elderly men and women suffer various forms of dementia, and this can cause paranoia. Fears erupt into conflict when they observe hands being placed on their belongings.

Writers are cautioned about accepting the oral account only, as this exposes them to the possibility that their subject is lying or misrepresenting significant events in some way. Sometimes elderly people suffer dementia, and when their condition is revealed, the world disregards their story as being without credibility. Physical evidence such as photographs or journals are the only protection a writer has.

In order to make their work entertaining and engaging for the readers, ghostwriters have the power to utilize creative license where appropriate. Just as Mark Twain did when writing Pudd'nhead Wilson, ghostwriters are masters at creating an Ebonics alphabet, mimicking the accent and colorful language of their subject. When done expertly, such a writer can win the Pulitzer.

Anyone who is friend or kin to a ghostwriter might wish to keep tabs on them while they are in their writer limbo. Artists often suffer for their work, especially when their work requires them to truly experience events in their imagination so that they can describe vital details. This process is often stressful, and can actually cause post traumatic stress.

This clarity is what the world needs when ghostwriters must recount the most horrific tales of humanities past. In order to give wisdom and clarity for future generations, they must plant seeds of compassion for all sides of a conflict. Understanding is just as important as notoriety when one is setting down historical facts for the record.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment