Ghostwriter

Summary

The author describes the experience of writing and the joy of receiving genuine appreciation for their work when it was shared anonymously.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses a love-hate relationship with their own writing, often seeking validation from family members. However, they realize that their husband and sister's feedback is not as genuine or attentive as desired. The author's sister, unaware that a beautifully written article about "women" was penned by her sibling, expresses deep admiration for the piece when it was shared anonymously in a Whatsapp group. This incident leads the author to appreciate the value of anonymous feedback, free from personal biases or obligations, and to continue writing with renewed enthusiasm.

Opinions

The author values the authenticity of feedback when it is free from personal ties.
There is a sense of frustration with family members not fully engaging with or appreciating the author's work.
The author believes that anonymity can lead to more sincere and impactful reactions to their writing.
Writing is seen as a labor of love, with the author working diligently from sunrise to sunset.
The author is introspective about the intermittent nature of inspiration and the preciousness of the creative process.
The experience of being a "ghostwriter" by chance brings a new perspective and joy to the author's writing.

How I managed to charm my sister’s heart

“Photo by Cottombro from Pexels”

I love it when I write something I think is great. But sometimes I don’t like what I write. I read it many times, I wrinkle my nose, I think it is quite silly. I know that poetry is not a constant guest in my soul, it comes from time to time for a quick visit, but when it comes, even furtively, it brings gifts so precious that I receive them very happy, full of gratitude. And I go on working from sun to sun, cultivating stories and dreams, reaping the fruits, the facts, and the deeds, and trying to transpose all this to paper or to the blank canvas that looks at me interrogatively as at this moment.

It is over the time I used to go after my husband and my sister with an article ready for them to read. It was imperative to hear their opinion about what I had written. Well, it was not once or twice I realized that my husband had long since lost the thread of my reading aloud, who knows where his mind wandered. And my sister, after days I waited anxiously for her opinion, just said without much enthusiasm: as always I liked it!

I dropped that. Without any sorrow, I assumed that I didn’t need to put pressure on my two beloved literary cobias. Saint at home doesn’t work miracles and the prophet is not well received in his own land. My cousin wrote a brilliant doctoral thesis that shook the bulwarks of nursing in Brazil, and however, she whispered to me that none of her brothers and sisters read her work. That’s it. Now I just write and post.

It happened that some time ago I wrote an article about “women” and I asked a friend of ours, to post for all of us on our Whatsapp group. And my sister, so distracted, read delightedly, thinking: Wow, how beautiful! I would like to know the author of this wonderful article! And she became more and more enchanted. She was seriously thinking about sending that article to me. In a certain paragraph, she noticed that the author spoke of our mother. And she stopped and thought: what? Is this article from Misa? Until the end when everything was confirmed. We laughed a lot.

Maybe if I had sent it to her before, she would have said: It’s fine, as always! We don’t know, but I thought it was great to be anonymous. My sister was enchanted by the article without knowing it was mine. As a strange ghostwriter, I managed to charm her heart!

Nothing like a genuine testimony devoid of any affective ties, influences, or obligations. And while poetry is pleading my pleas, I keep working from sun to sun. I go to the sources, consult the masters, read poems that inspire me, and I write. That’s it. I loved that, being a ghostwriter by chance.