Yesterday, Paul Chaney of Radiant Marketing sent me an intriguing question, which I paraphrase here:
Is it possible or feasible for a professional writer to ghostwrite a weblog? Is that a potential new career path for content professionals?
My short answer is: Possible, yes. Feasible? Probably not. I think ghostwritten weblogs, if people try them, are likely to backfire. However, I do think there are viable options to employ professional writers to write blog content on behalf of others – which would not constitute conventional ghostwriting…
Here’s what I told Paul (my long answer):
Yes, I do think it’s possible to ghostwrite a blog – but I think that would be much harder than ghostwriting speeches, autobiographies, articles, or other kinds of content that often get ghostwritten. Mainly because:
- Blogs only work if they are written in a very human voice.
- You’d have to “keep up the act” over time, and that gets terribly hard. It’s easier to spot the cracks in the facade – or the discrepancies between the ghostblogger and the real person – over time.
In my opinion, there’s a better approach if someone who wants to publish a blog cannot take the time or does not have the skill to communicate well directly in a blog format. In that case, he or she should employ the services of an editor for the blog and simply be honest with the audience about that. I don’t think that’s admitting a serious deficiency or sin. Rather, I think that would make the blog even more human. People each have unique strengths, and writing/blogging is definitely not everyone’s strength.
In general, I think all kinds of communication would be less stressful if more people would just get over the fear of admitting that they aren’t great writers. Indeed, most people aren’t great writers.
It’s kind of like when you see an autobiography of a famous person written “with” a professional writer or editor. That’s a good example of editorial teamwork, not literary weakness. It indicates that the person with the great ideas or interesting experiences also had the good judgement to team with someone who could communicate that information well, and the integrity to share the credit appropriately.
Also, if someone is a great writer but doesn’t have something substantive to say every day, then remember: you don’t have to post every day! Therefore, definitely don’t hire a writer or editor if the main reason for that would be to maintain a daily supply of postings. I truly believe that even in blogs, content quality is far more important than quantity.
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