Who needs a ghostwriter now that we have AI!

As a ghostwriter, I was strangely excited yet simultaneously afraid when I was shown ChatGTP. The awe came from seeing both the speed at which a question was answered, and the humanness contained within the interaction. No longer was it clear I was dealing with a bot dishing out a set of standard text boxes; instead, I was being addressed in a disarmingly familiar way.

Where AI falls short

As a writer I have traversed the era in which eBooks thankfully did not entirely replace physical books, though they were expected to make them obsolete. Though there are perhaps fewer bookshops around, plentiful physical books are still being produced. Despite the initial surge in sales in the early 2010s, the narrative that eBooks would obliterate physical books, thankfully, hasn't materialised. According to industry reports, eBook sales saw a dramatic rise until about 2014 but have since plateaued and, in some cases, declined. (Yey!)

Print remains the preferred format for many readers - young and old - and hardback books have even seen a recent surge in sales. In 2022, the UK saw record book sales, an enormous 669 million!

Books are beautiful objects and the best kind of decoration for any room. Whether the orange spine of Penguin books or the leather and gold of a rare Antiquarian book, they bring warmth, depth, and the silent promise of enticement.

Depth.

I compare the explosion of various AI platforms to the advent of eBooks, for I believe it will reach a certain point and similarly plateau. Like many other writers, I've had fun playing around with ChatGPT. For non-fiction, the uses are obvious; it's like a people-pleasing Google on speed. As a ghostwriter of primarily memoirs and biographies, I can learn what it's like to dive in the Red Sea or climb a hill to view a coffee plantation in Kenya. It can't, however, replicate my clients' way of seeing things.

Soul.

When you ask for fiction, you are often met with melodrama, with too many adverbs and, again, a dose of people-pleasing. I can see my MA lecturers shaking their heads at its output. The rules that make writing an immersive and believable experience, producing an encompassing fictional dream, seem all but absent.

So, what makes AI fall short on the fiction front? That's easy. It has no soul. No heart or soul. It hasn't had a disturbed childhood or a traumatic divorce, isn't a recovering alcoholic or a prisoner of its own mind, and it certainly hasn't felt ousted from society. It's simply surfing an entangled web of information and doing its best as a good robot to satisfy you. People pleasing again! It can't grasp the nuances of personality, emotional depth, cultural differences, and consistency of style. In fact, what you're getting is likely to have no originality whatsoever considering, well, it's origins.

Intuition.

Therefore, don't give up on writing your novel yet. AI might have its uses when it comes to research or even structure, but as to the main bulk of the novel, well, that requires the things that science and robots cannot replicate and most likely never will: intuition, depth and soul. The pieces that, in essence, make a human, a human and not a robot; that elusive spark that separates the awake from the dead.

If you need a little human support in getting there, I offer writing coaching programs from 6 weeks up to a year. I have guided writers to the point of publication and inspired many others to complete a first draft. It's not cheating to want someone's support, it's human.

Take a look at my website for details: www.katerosewriter.com

A journey shared is a journey made simpler. I offer a free 15 minute introductory call to see if we might be a good fit. I look forward to speaking to you!

Kate Rose x

Publishing a Business Book

In the vast sea of marketing strategies and business growth plans, writing a book might not be the first tactic that comes to mind for entrepreneurs and business owners. However, authoring a book related to your field of expertise offers many benefits that can significantly elevate your brand, enhance your credibility, and open new doors of opportunity.

Writing a book on a subject related to your business is a powerful way to position yourself as an authority in your industry. What seems obvious to you is enlightening to a layperson. A well-researched and insightfully written book can set you apart from competitors and showcase your expertise to potential clients, partners, and peers. This heightened credibility can be invaluable in attracting new business, securing speaking engagements, and contributing to industry discussions.

Publishing a book for your company increases your visibility and extends your reach far beyond traditional marketing channels. Your book can be distributed worldwide, appearing in bookstores, online platforms, libraries, and more. This global presence allows you to connect with audiences you might not have reached otherwise, spreading awareness and attracting international opportunities. Furthermore, your book serves as a lasting marketing tool that can continue to promote your business long after its publication.

A book can be a potent lead-generation tool too. By offering valuable insights and solutions to your target audience, you can capture the interest of potential clients. Readers who benefit from your book are more likely to seek your services, view you as a trusted advisor, and recommend your business to others. Additionally, your book can open doors to new business opportunities, such as consulting offers, partnerships, and speaking engagements, further expanding your professional network and influence.

In a crowded marketplace, a business book signals to clients, competitors, and the industry that you are committed to excellence and leadership in your field, particularly impactful in niche markets, where demonstrating specialized knowledge and thought leadership can set you miles ahead of the competition.

The process of writing a book with a ghostwriter is beneficial not only for your business but also for your personal development. It challenges you to articulate your thoughts, refine your ideas, and deepen your understanding of your field. Additionally, a book is a lasting legacy that contributes to your brand and the enduring impact of your business. It’s a testament to your contributions to your industry and can inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

In conclusion, writing a book is a strategic business move with the potential to transform your professional landscape. It requires a significant investment of time and effort, but with a professional ghostwriter, this is minimised, and the payoff in terms of brand enhancement, credibility, and new opportunities can be extraordinary. If you want to elevate your business and establish yourself as a leader in your industry, authoring a book could be the game-changer you need.

Life-writing in the 19th Century

As the nineteenth century progressed, a spotlight was shone on modern autobiography and biography. In the previous century, confessional and spiritual autobiographies had been the dominant genre and were primarily concerned with moral or spiritual transformation. However, the 19th century saw a greater shift towards more secular life stories.

Biographies, too, gained in popularity. One of the significant transformations was the shift from hagiographical biography, that is, one that treats its subject with undue reverence with depictions of the 'Great Man', to more realistic and detailed accounts of a subject's life, including their flaws and complexities. Forms and styles were experimented with as were various mediums even involving gossip and satire. In addition, authors played with narrative structure, often employing non-linear chronologies and fragmented narratives. The innovation offered more nuanced ways of understanding life, acknowledging that human experience isn't always linear or neatly categorized and that often, the flaws or early life traumas are what built the ‘Great Man’ in the first instance.

The 19th century, therefore, marked an increase in life-writing from groups historically marginalised, such as former slaves like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, who published narratives detailing their inhumane experiences, thereby providing a powerful counter-narrative to prevailing racial biases of the time. Women's life-writing, too, was on the rise, with authors like Mary Shelley and Elizabeth Gaskell portraying their personal experiences and perspectives, challenging traditional gender roles and offering insights into women's, more often than not, challenging lives.

It could be said that life-writing in the 19th century developed within the broader socio-cultural context, demonstrating a shift in understanding the self and individuality, marked by introspection, reflexivity, and an increased emphasis on personal experience. This period witnessed a surge in autobiographical and biographical narratives, with numerous notable authors contributing to this genre, including William Hazlitt, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Their works provide a rich tapestry of individual and social insights, pioneering various forms and styles of life writing that remain influential today.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, although active in the 18th century, cast a long shadow over the 19th century with his ground-breaking autobiographical work, ‘Confessions’. This was one of the first works to focus on the author's subjective experience, exploring not just events of his life, but also his thoughts, feelings, and motivations. It served as a prototype for many subsequent autobiographies and inspired writers to delve deeper into personal introspection and the exploration of the self. Rousseau’s honesty in detailing personal highs and lows, his virtues and vices, set a new standard for autobiographical candour and greatly influenced the genre's development in the 19th century.

Likewise, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the most important figures of German literature, wrote ‘Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit’ (‘From my Life: Poetry and Truth’), his autobiography, releasing it in four parts between 1811 and 1833. It became an influential work of life-writing in the 19th century because it blended factual biography with artistic invention. Goethe managed to map his evolution as a poet and a human being. His focus on individual experiences and the shaping of his artistic consciousness made his work a significant contribution to the Romantic autobiographical tradition.

William Hazlitt was a prolific English writer known for his essays, but his work ‘Liber Amoris’ (1823) stands as a remarkable example of life-writing. It is a detailed account of his passionate yet unreciprocated love for a maid in his lodging house. This work is distinctive because Hazlitt lays bare his soul and presents his unvarnished emotions to the reader, which was quite bold and unconventional for its time.

Across the pond, Ralph Waldo Emerson, a central figure in American Transcendentalism, used life-writing in a somewhat different way. Rather than focusing on recounting life events, Emerson's essays often contain autobiographical elements that serve his philosophical and spiritual ideas. Works like, ‘Self-Reliance’ and ‘Experience’ use personal anecdotes and reflections to elaborate on his concepts of individuality, non-conformity, and the human connection to nature.

All in all, the 19th century was a pivotal period in the development of life writing, and a time of both reflection and revolution. It saw life-writing evolve from focusing on public achievements and moral lessons to a more intimate exploration of personal experience and values, directly addressing human complexity. And most importantly, it set the stage for the diverse and vibrant tradition of life-writing that we see in the 21st century. Gone were the old didactic, chronological, and impersonal accounts and what arose were more introspective, subjective, and personal narratives. It became a means to chronicle the author's life and explore and construct the self with a sense of playfulness within the narrative structure and opportunity give to the rise of voices from the margins.