Shadow Figure

David had been an avid writer ever since grade school. In line with his love for writing he chose to pursue a career as a magazine journalist. This afforded him the ability to follow his passion for writing… while getting paid for it at the same time. Although he had been offered several opportunities to write professionally in other capacities, David hadn’t pursued them as he preferred to stay out of the limelight.

One day while at lunch, David’s coworker James told him about a unique opportunity that he himself had been presented with.“ David, you’re a fantastic writer that I really admire and often times emulate. I was asked by a gentleman that I met recently about helping him with a book he is writing. In other words he’s looking for a ghostwriter. Right now I don’t have the time to commit to this project so he asked if I could recommend anyone, and you immediately came to mind. Would you like me to put you in touch with him? His name is Don Thompson”. “That sounds like a great opportunity. I would love to speak with him. Thanks! By the way, do you know what the book will be about?” “We didn’t get that far in our discussion so you would have to ask him about that”. “Gotcha”. Armed with David’s approval James called Don to tell him that David was interested.

While David knew about ghostwriting, he had never given it much thought, nor did he know anyone personally that was a ghostwriter. The prospect of it both intrigued and unnerved him. He was intrigued because it was a new challenge whose occasion he knew he would be able to rise to, and unnerving in that it was something new and unknown. Despite being hesitant initially David decided to find out more about what this entailed.

“Hello, is this David Simpson?” “Yes it is, who’s calling?” “Hi David, this is Don Thompson. Your coworker James Miller told me to give you a call”. “Yes, I was expecting your call. It’s good to hear from you”. “Same here. Let’s get right down to business. I’m working on a book where I’m interviewing veterans that participated in the Korean War. Given this war was fought in the early fifties, there aren’t a lot of these men still around and those I do find often times they aren’t in the best health mentally/physically or in some instances both. What I do is engage them in conversation as opposed to an interview so that they are more relaxed. This helps them to be more free to share their memories. A lot of their recollections are poor and their use of broken English is quite frequent. What I need is for someone to take these conversations and transcribe them into ‘The King’s English’ if you will. Does this sound like something you’d be interested in?” “Sure does. I feel I could be a great asset to your project and help bring this to life. Let’s make it happen! “Welcome aboard David! We should meet sometime soon so that we can work out the details and get the ball rolling.” “I’ll check my calendar and send some dates so we can meet.” “Sounds like a plan. I look forward to it.”

David met with Don to discuss the particulars of what the project required. They agreed on payment and David received confirmation from Don that he would be able to do his part while staying in the shadows. “Not a problem at all Dave. Is it alright to call you Dave? I want this book to be all about the veterans so they will be the focal point.” “Yes it’s fine if you call me Dave and that’s sounds great to me. I don’t mind doing my part, just want to do so without being or needing to be seen.” “I understand. The vets will definitely receive the lion’s share of attention as their stories are what this book will be all about.”

Don emailed the transcriptions he had to David so he could get started. Just as Don told him during their initial meeting the conversations were filled with broken English. David rolled up his sleeves and got to work. The more he listened the more interested he became and the less daunting the task seemed to be. The stories he was hearing were fascinating. While their memories weren’t the best, what they shared was both inspirational and jaw-dropping. From the stories about the various battles, to the lack of sleep and/or food, to the constant threat of danger causing them to exist in a state of paranoia and fear, these stories were far more compelling than anything David had worked on previously.

Don continued to seek out Korean War Veterans. In all he was able to locate and speak with a total of 19 – nearly doubling his prediction of 10. David did his best to put the information in a readable format. Once completed, Don took the finished product to various publishers to pitch the idea. After his fourth meeting he found success and got a book deal! The story would now be immortalized in print and shared with the world. David had done a magnificent job of bringing the stories to life and doing his best to, as Don put it, “transcribe them into The King’s English”.

Don received an unprecedented amount of media coverage which he graciously accepted alone – just as David desired. While he had done a significant amount of work to help the book become a reality, as he indicated from the beginning, David’s wishes were to stay out of the spotlight. Don on the other hand relished being in the spotlight and enjoyed every minute of it. While Don was listed and credited as the book’s author, he never failed to mention that he had received assistance from “an outstanding writer who wishes to remain anonymous”.

David enjoyed the experience so much that he sought other ghostwriting opportunities. After taking part in several projects, he turned ghostwriting into a career and left the magazine to focus his energy on this new endeavor. Exercising his love for writing while being able to do so secretly made it possible for David to enjoy the best of both worlds.