The New York Times has a fun article about celebrities and ghostwriters. (“Ghostwriter,” for those who don’t know, means “the person who actually wrote the book.”) Hilary Duff, Nicole Richie, the Kardashians, and Snooki have all had (or are having) novels published.
This alone does not upset me. If they have a story they want to tell, and the money to hire a ghostwriter, why not? Snooki, the article claims, admitted last year that “she had read only two books in her life.” Classic rookie mistake. It’s traditional to read at least three books before one begins writing novels. Clearly the services of a professional are in order.
No, the problem I have is with the contempt they display for the ghostwriter who does the real work of bringing their tenuous vision to life. Quoting again from the article:
When promoting their books in the news media, celebrities tend to say they did all the work. When Ms. Polizzi [Snooki] appeared on “Today” in January, Matt Lauer asked, “Did you really write this book?”
“I did,” Ms. Polizzi said. “Because if you read it, you’ll know the first page that I wrote it. Cause, like, it’s all my language.” (When pressed further, she admitted that there was a co-writer.)
Likewise with Hilary Duff:
Ms. Duff, the pop singer and actress whose novel was published in October by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, said in an interview that she came up with the book’s plot and characters. She said she did not consider crediting her co-writer on the book cover instead of in the acknowledgments. “It is my story,” Ms. Duff said. “It is my book. I wrote it and she helped guide me through the process.”
(Emphasis mine.)
What these quotes display is perhaps not so much contempt as ignorance: ignorance of the writing process, of what it actually means to “write a book.” Having an idea for a story, thinking up characters, inventing a plot, none of these are writing a book. Writing a book is the incredibly complex, difficult, time-consuming process of taking all those elements and fusing them into a cohesive whole.
Imagine if somebody said he was an artist. You ask, “Did you really paint that painting?” He answers, “That’s right! I mean, I didn’t actually hold the brush, but, you know, the picture was totally my idea.” How ridiculous does that sound?
There is, of course, a very simple way to thank the person who wrote your book for you: put their name on the cover. (You know, the cover? Where the author’s name goes?)
Looking at the cover of Going Rogue, for example, and judging only by the visual layout, you might by tempted to think Sarah Palin wrote it. The actual author, the much less famous Lynn Vincent, lies buried deep in the Acknowledgements section. By contrast, check out the cover of Heaven is for Real, where the person with the story to tell – Todd Burpo, in this case – is kind enough to let Lynn Vincent’s name appear where it belongs: right there on the front.
Lots of celebrities have this figured out. John McCain credits Mark Salter for Why Courage Matters. Buzz Aldrin credits Ken Abraham for Magnificent Desolation. There are many more examples, but I’m running out of time this morning.
Writing is real work. Give writers real credit.
And with that, I think my ranting is done.
Brian D. Buckley 