The Myth of the Author

“What?!” you say. “But an author is almost like God. Authors create a universe and inhabit it with people and weave the tapestry of their fates.”

Just stop, okay? Besides being borderline blasphemy, it isn’t that simple. Sure, authors have a tremendous role in the creation of their book, but they are hardly like God creating in a vacuum. They receive all kinds of help from agents and editors and publishers and even ghostwriters.

Read the Acknowledgements page. Those people wrote the book together. You’ve seen movies written and directed by the same guy, right? Authors are like that. The vision is theirs, sure. But a whole crew of people brought the work to life.

There may be a few exceptions. Authors who disappear into a cabin somewhere and come out with a book that just needs to be retyped at the publisher. But I’ve never seen one of these monsters.

Have you ever seen a book by two people? The name you don’t know is probably the person who wrote the book. The ghostwriter. Often, a ghost will interview the author for ideas and vision and sequencing, then get to work on a draft. These collaborative efforts are usually acknowledged with a double byline.

The Left Behind series is one of the most famous examples in Christian literature. Tim LaHaye had a wonderful idea for Christian speculative fiction, but he lacked the narrative skills to bring his book to life. Working with Jerry Jenkins wasn’t unethical. It was smart. Jenkins brought the narrative craft that LaHaye lacked; LaHaye brought the theological vision. Together, they and Tyndale changed Christian publishing.

On every Left Behind book, you see both names.

But the law doesn’t require a ghostwriter to be acknowledged at all. If “authors” want full credit, they can buy it. Hilary Clinton bought her ghost’s silence for $120,000. Does that make her an author? What do you think?

And why does this matter?

Other than acknowledging the need for ghost writers to be careful and ethical, it matters for people who want to write. Aspiring writers need to understand that their work is a draft. Their ideas and their style are not holy creations. A book is a product that other people will help them refine.

Professional writers should not be surprised when other people—editors—change their sentences and change their endings. That’s part of how the publishing industry works. Everyone helps everyone else make the book shine as much as it can.

A writer’s affirmation is the fact that editors and publishers are working with them. A big part of that work is the process of change and polish and revision. It’s a painful process, but not one that we should take as an attack on our abilities as writers or our personal worth. It’s just the way publication works.