The Writing Man's Burden and Other Ghosting Tales for Women

By Anthony F. Shaker, PhD

If my omission of women writers in the title (who make up a clear majority of writing professionals, including ghosts and editors) shocks you, please keep Sir Rudyard Kipling and his "White Man's Burden" in mind.

As far as we know, Kipling composed his famous poem on his own. No ghostwriters; nobody to fill the yawning gaps in his brain while he trumpeted British pretensions to "civilize" the world. But then, he had a genius for versifying the most garish ideas of his day.

I believe his poem has withstood the test of time precisely because it, mercifully, ignores women--on either side of the British colonial divide!


Ghosts and the womenfolk
Poetic preference aside, writing is not different from the poetry of empire-building and warfare, except in one respect. Ghostwriters are its "womenfolk," and they form a silent, if restive, majority.

As little as I object to women being in the army--where they can exhibit higher endurance than men!--it pains me to hear of female casualties.

There are lots of ill-wishers out there. Some denounce us out of envy, the rest just highfalutin casuistry. Consider what some purists are saying about ghostwriting, a profession that has allowed countless writers--talented or medoicre as they may be--to bypass the tyranny of traditional publishers.

There are even "religious" ones who take their cue directly from the ninth commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." Others have taken to quoting St. Paul, to whom the following words are ascribed: "We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:2).

It disconcerts me to think of women being thrown in with men of obvious ill-repute just to quench the mob's thirst for public tarring.


Ghosts of the past
Dwindling as the writing output of males may be in the grand scheme of things, every ghost worth his or her salt ought to do the valiant thing and fight the bad rap that all ghostwriters have had to endure, before Polanski's film "The Ghost Writer" came along to rescue us.

We have a long legacy to preserve. Our detractors conveniently forget that ghostwriters have been around well before Moses needed a mouthpiece named Aaron to gloss over his stammer in front of calf-worshiping, thieving, lust-ridden tribesmen.

But ghosts were walking the earth long before either Moses or his illiterate predecessors. They have been with us since the invention of writing itself, and probably even before that. When the human race developed language and storytelling and social hierarchy and monarchy, not everyone could speak with equal eloquence. People suddenly needed writers to compose on their behalf.

Some princelings of the Renaissance, famed for their sponsorship of literature and science, kept a retinue of scribes whose works they could attach their names to. Ancient kings had all their moral edicts and battle prowess to engrave in stone. Who to do it but their trusty ghostwriters?

It's been like that for millennia.

The truth is that ghostwriting happens to be, not just a legitimate but, a necessary profession. And the writing and publishing worlds couldn't possibly turn in its absence.


Writers denouncing writers
Thanks to a century of sociological changes, ghostwriting has managed to regain some of the prestige it had lost in the recent past. More players are involved in the creation of written content than at any time in history: ghostwriters, copywriters, advertising agencies, web creators, SEO experts, editors, agents, publishers, printers, lawyers, judges, legislators, private secretaries, etc.

This wholesale institutionalization of the creation process explains ghostwriting deepening importance, which fellow writers have only grudgingly accepted so far.

Then there are those who continue to suffer banishment. I call pseudo-writers those who insist on churning out student and peer-reviewed papers for profit. As much as i hate to say it, they richly deserve what they get.

Like every legitimate profession, ghostwriting has its limits. I just dislike the idea of tarring the "women's section" of the writing profession--its ghostwriters--with the same brush stroke we use on the worst sinners in our midst.

May he that has not sinned throw the first stone. We ghostwriters are nobody's punch!


Anthony F. Shaker, PhD, has been ghostwriting and editing for 25 years. He is fluent in several languages, has traveled widely around the world, and writes in both fiction and nonfiction. He works for individual clients and businesses the world over.

For comments, write to afshaker@aol.com
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