It's the first Wednesday in October, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group!
Huge thanks to our hosts this month, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Liza at Middle Passages, JH Moncrieff, and Jemima Pett!
This month's question is an interesting one:
Many people are calling for writers who use AI to disclose it. Most who employ ghostwriters do not admit it - do you think authors who use ghostwriters should have to disclose that, too? To be honest, I wasn't aware that people who use ghostwriters don't disclose it. I've read and seen numerous autobiographies and memoirs that claim to be written by a celebrity in large letters on the cover, but, in smaller type say something like "with Ghostwriter". But maybe this isn't the only context in which ghostwriters are used. Certainly I know some of those long-running book series like Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High weren't all written by the person whose name is on the cover, but by a variety of different authors all using that name. Is that ghostwriting? I feel like it was more a business model like that of book packaging companies who hire authors to write stories they come up with. And I also feel like it's common knowedge and was even back then, in the eighties, when a new Sweet Valley High book came out every month or so.
In general, I think any author who doesn't actually write 100% of their own books should disclose it. But how do we define that? As an author, I write my own books without AI or a ghostwriter, but before publishing they go through my critique group, beta readers and an editor, all of whom play a part in making the finished product what it is. Yes, I'm the one who makes any changes to the MS, but sometimes the feedback I get from others has a huge influence on the direction I take. Is that also something that needs to be disclosed? Other than thanking them in my acknowledgments?
Is asking real people for help with writing a story really that different from brainstorming with a chatbot?
I'm playing devil's advocate here, because I believe it is different. I have never tried brainstorming with a chatbot, but I can't believe you'd get the same give and take you get from unravelling a story problem with another author, one idea sparking another until you suddenly find you've come up with something entirely different to what you thought you'd end up with, but that makes everything somehow, remarkably, work.
I have actually done some ghostwriting. I worked with a woman on her memoir for a while, helping her shape the stories of her remarkable life. She told me the stories, and I wrote them, trying to keep as much of her voice in there while making it readable as a piece of narrative. We never got to the point of publishing it or even finishing the book, but right from the start it was agreed that it was her book, but that I would be recognized as assisting with the writing of it. And most importantly, that I'd get a share of any royalties. I think that's how it should be, so long as the ghostwriter wants to be recognized that way.
I can also see the flipside where a ghostwriter might be brought in on a project they don't want their name anywhere near. A job where they're a writer for hire to either write someone's story the way I did, or to polish up some terrible writing by someone else. In that scenario, the person whose name is on the book should disclose they had help, but if the writer doesn't want to be associated with it, their name never needs to appear.
Transparency is important. I don't care that a celebrity didn't actually write their own memoir - I don't expect them to. Just because you're good at one thing, doesn't mean you have the skill, time or ability to write a book. But I think it's important to acknowledge that. And to acknowledge that the help you got was from a human, not a robot.
