Anne Frank

Recently whilst perusing the shelves in The Bookshop at Queenscliff I came across an all time classic favorite story - Anne Frank.

For me, this story will forever resonate as it was a childhood favorite, staying firm in the memory.

I couldn't leave the bookshop without buying my own copy of this children's rendition of her story.  The cover is so cute!

About ghostwriting

Sounds awesome, doesn't it...write someone else's story, get paid (and paid well at that), jobs done, and move onto to the next piece of work, but is that always really the case, even though it's the theory?

I never considered myself being a ghostwriter and still don't for that matter, but after some extensive research into the type of work I'm performing, I can't help but think, yes, I must be ghostwriting, the only true difference is I'm not being paid for my hard work; that's right, you heard correctly, I'm not being paid, and perhaps that's my fault more than whom I'm writing for, and here's why.

"You have to meet my mate, you won't believe the story he's about to tell you."

" You could write a book about it for him."

Well, of course like every writer on this planet, what do we like more than a story? 'A great story' a story like non-other you've ever heard, or likely to hear ever again, a story you can see selling millions of copies just like J.K Rowling.

Before I  go on, I have to be honest here, the money, the accolades and the sales of millions of copies - although would be wonderful - never came into the equation when I gave serious thought into actually pursuing this project. 

So, firstly, I listened intently to this story being shared with great passion by it's subject.  It's not fictitious, although you could be excused for thinking it was, but you wouldn't dare tell it's subject that, for he has already contended with years of disbelievers and that's where I came into all this, I was willing to listen, to read, to investigate, research and write what I was being told for what it was, it's not my story, I am merely just the conduit in breathing life into this story that would otherwise remain untold, and as a writer I looked at this opportunity being my job.

So now I'm intently reading pages upon pages of true encounter's all dated and documented.  I pool over them, they're confusing because I don't know and have never met these characters (people), and there are a lot of them.

It dawns on me I have indeed placed a tremendous amount of responsibility on my shoulders undertaking this project.  No money has been discussed, in fact it never really entered my head when I offered to take a look at the project more deeply. I did say, I can't promise anything, but I will try my best, and try my best I am. 

My initial thought was not to complete an entire manuscript, but instead, enough prose as a submission to a publishing house, after all I'm a writer and I'm using my writing prowess to help this story be told, to be seen and read by the widest audience possible.

I've made pages upon pages of note taking, I've done hours upon hours of research, library visits, interviewing my subject, recording, writing chapters, writing and more writing. 

But here's the thing, the most difficult of things being a ghostwriter when writing factual details compared to fiction; is not knowing all the underlying facts, not having enough to go on because the details and facts are just not there, I didn't grow up with my subject, I barely know him really. In my interviews I've pulled and prodded for sensitive information, for more detail, but it just doesn't seem to be enough, so do I use creative non-fiction methods to fill the gaps, am I giving due justice and respect to my subjects work by doing such a thing?

I have a great story sitting before me, that I do recognise, but without enough detail to add the depth required to carry this off I'm worried this will rob my subject of his story, which I believe should be told and if and when it's told will capture an audience like no other, so where from here?

Yes, I'm doing this job out of love, I don't want to fail as a writer, I don't want to lose any credibility and most of all I don't want to let my subject down; ghostwriting's a tough gig.