Gotham Ghostwriters

"Unconscionable" presumes these "mo...

2012-02-10T17:22:12.572-05:00

"Unconscionable" presumes these "monsters" of ennui have consciences. Should we go back to the beginning and examine that idea? Good universities may turn out students who know better, but knowing better, it could be, doesn't pay in the corporation.

Thank you, Michael. I have read several of the spe...

2012-02-02T05:39:29.314-05:00

Thank you, Michael. I have read several of the speechwriting books on your list but will get the others. I learned a lot from the 'Lost Art of the Great Speech' by Dowis. There's also a new book on speechwriting called 'The Art of Great Speeches' by Australian speechwriter Dennis Glover.

I really liked your article.

2012-01-09T05:02:09.500-05:00

I really liked your article.

Great piece, David. Sounds like the holiday party ...

2012-01-04T01:12:03.187-05:00

Great piece, David. Sounds like the holiday party was a huge success.

Is "pain in the pooper" supposed to refl...

2011-12-17T14:48:58.065-05:00

Is "pain in the pooper" supposed to reflect Mr. Goldsher's talent?

"Not caring about the project = poor product ...

2011-11-23T06:53:26.002-05:00

"Not caring about the project = poor product and bored writer."

Exactly!

Great interview ... and what a fascinating career Erin has.

I'm right with her on that first cup of coffee, too!

The overwhelmingly positive response claiming root...

2011-11-11T14:03:33.484-05:00

The overwhelmingly positive response claiming roots in CNN studies is far from illustrative of the nation as an entire. The majority of us have studied LONG in the past not to trust CNN to be even REMOTELY unprejudiced.

Our faces are about as red as our pens right now. ...

2011-10-30T21:46:43.046-04:00

Our faces are about as red as our pens right now. Thanks for catching the error. It has been corrected!

I posted before I finished. I realize the author i...

2011-10-28T19:31:23.050-04:00

I posted before I finished. I realize the author is talking about punctuation and not grammar, but my answer then is that some loose punctuation or small error is not a big deal, but not following basic grammar rules does matter, at least for this audience, I'd think.

Not when it comes to egregious punctuation errors ...

2011-10-28T19:27:47.969-04:00

Not when it comes to egregious punctuation errors in a blog post by and for writers! Really, now, "Any editor worth THEIR red pen" violates one of the most basic rules of grammar!

There have been a few very interesting studies abo...

2011-10-05T19:05:39.966-04:00

There have been a few very interesting studies about how the brain processes content read online as compared to the same content read offline, and indeed deep differences were found. But to my knowledge no such study has yet been done with e-readers. I'm sure they'll come out soon though; this e-reader explosion happened so fast!

Ms. Don hit on a subject that I've thought abo...

2011-10-04T18:28:33.666-04:00

Ms. Don hit on a subject that I've thought about often as eBooks have proliferated. IS the experience different, reading a book on Kindle as compared to reading the same book print volume in hand? Research says that when people view a story on video it goes to a different part of their brains than a story read on the printed page does. But that's a video. Do words read on a screen go to the same place as words read ink-on-paper? That's a research subject I hope someone takes on.

@ Bill, in fact I did attribute most of the differ...

2011-10-04T15:15:03.836-04:00

@ Bill, in fact I did attribute most of the difference to a change in personal tastes. From the post: "I attribute most of this to my changing tastes as a reader." My analysis about other factors is exploratory. I really don't know, I can only say in all honesty that my relationship with a book on an e-reader feels very different. @ Amy, I agree that the calculus must be very different from person to person. On another website, this post sparked a surprisingly vitriolic debate, and I noticed that it was split by gender. Completely split by gender. Which makes me think this might have something to do with differences in spatial thinking, because my reaction to e-readers has less to do with smell/touch and more to do with the visual/spatial processing and memory experience.

Interesting question--and thoughts. I can think of...

2011-10-04T12:35:42.362-04:00

Interesting question--and thoughts. I can think of one time when my reaction to a book was entirely different on Kindle & on paper--I read the free Kindle sample and had no interest in continuing, then some weeks later, having read something else by the author, I checked the book out of the library, and once I started couldn't put it down.

More generally, I tend to be a big re-reader--and for this reason, having books on shelves to peruse plays an important role when I'm thinking what to read next. I've yet to re-read anything purchased for my Kindle.

Last, I suspect that the kindle v paper calculus will vary person to person, in part due to neurological wiring. Some of us are far more tactile, visual, smell-oriented than others.

Ms. Don apparently supposes that the difference i...

2011-10-04T12:00:02.121-04:00

Ms. Don apparently supposes that the difference in the way she perceived the book six years ago and the way she perceives it today is attributable to the form in which she read it. Is it possible that the difference is attributable to a change in personal tastes that six years can bring, and that the form has nothing to do with it?

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like w...

2011-09-28T08:15:58.444-04:00

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like wanting to live without wanting to breathe.

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like m...

2011-09-24T18:24:57.973-04:00

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like my son in second grade. Luckily, he's grown out of that.

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like w...

2011-09-23T19:33:26.147-04:00

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like wanting to chew without wanting teeth.

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like w...

2011-09-23T14:05:56.595-04:00

Wanting to write without wanting to read is like wanting to kiss without wanting to hug.

Hey - thanks for the shout-out! Love being called ...

2011-09-07T14:46:01.345-04:00

Hey - thanks for the shout-out! Love being called a corporate communications cop - much more glamourous than my usual title. THanks again.

I agree with Murray.

2011-08-25T10:35:25.655-04:00

I agree with Murray.

It totally says that Michael Jackson is such a gre...

2011-06-20T12:46:07.734-04:00

It totally says that Michael Jackson is such a great performer. Everyone knows him even in death because of how he contributes good deeds in this world. In the case of Albania, who don,t if he will be the peace maker of the country for I am witness of the pop star peacemaker. Such an informative article, thanks for sharing.

To Aliceg's point, a CEO of a major U.S. corpo...

2011-06-07T10:03:24.003-04:00

To Aliceg's point, a CEO of a major U.S. corporation once said to his speechwriter, "You make me sound more like me than I do." His remark demonstrated both her insightful delineation of what ghostwriters do and why he needed one!

I have done ghosting work on several novels, all w...

2011-06-03T10:42:21.439-04:00

I have done ghosting work on several novels, all with newbie writers, helping them with everything from line editing to fleshing out scenes to writing a query letter. It's alot like being a creativity coach and quite rewarding. Should be no different for the famous...I'm willing to believe the Snookster came up with some of her own ideas, if not actually writing the novel with her name on it.

One of the problems with admitting one uses a ghos...

2011-06-02T18:16:27.863-04:00

One of the problems with admitting one uses a ghostwriter is that many don't understand the traditional role of the ghost. Although it can vary along a broad spectrum, the typical role of the ghostwriter is to put the author's own words on paper in a way that fully reflects the author's thoughts, ideas, and yes, even rhythm and syntax, if the context calls for it. The goal of a good ghostwriter therefore is to digest and then regurgitate the author's thoughts -- not invent something from whole cloth and staple the author's name to it. Whether this holds true for works of fiction by reality-TV stars, of course, I couldn't say, but if it doesn't, it's a shame. Such fictional acts of fiction-writing will only worsen the existing prejudice against ghosts.