Hi guys, I asked a ghostwriter to write me a novella in the msytery-suspense area. She offered me a plot starter that sounded great. It was about a war between two nations, had wizards, and there was a girl, a demi-goddess that would choose the side that was meant to be victorious. She did mention a small sentence at the end about love. Anyway, the result that came back, well I think it's a really good story, except it was mainly about the love interest so it essentially falls into the romance category. Luckily this is quite a popular category. The general plot is that there are two nations warring for land. The second in command, the protagonist, is a pagan-turned devout christian. The pagan demi-goddess that is supposed to choose a side comes to them, although the wizard they know was involved in this. She doesn't actually know what she's doing or who she is, only that this is her duty. Sure enough the enemy begins to starve as their water suppy becomes contaminated among other things. The Christian 2IC and the demi-goddess begin to flirt and fall in love, and they are conflicted because of their differences in beliefs. Plus they don't know what will happen to her once the war is over as her duty will be finished. So they're constantly fighting their attraction for each other, and the others who disagree. Eventually they get married, and at the end of the novella his wife disappears and he turns to the drink as he cannot bear to be without her. Then there's an epilogue and they hear of another war and similar thing are happening there. It turns out that his wife has been called back by her duty to Mother Nature. What do you think? I'm not big on romance books but the twist definitely had me wanting to read more. It would be an interesting twist if she had to fight for the other side.
I don't understand people who use ghostwriters... Anyway, I'm indifferent. A good idea on paper can yield an awful book, and a terrible idea could be a great book. Just write it.
"I asked a ghostwriter to write me a novella in the msytery-suspense area." Even worse? "Hello, please write a book. Oh, before you throw this in the bin, there's five thousand quid attached chop chop"
Maybe Magnatolia is a celebrity, though they tend to opt for autobiographies rather than mystery-suspense novellas.
You want to be an author, right? Or is this required writing? There's a basic right of passage violation here, or something. I have started 2 books this year, and used my own ideas for both. So, I can't really help with writing someone Else's story. Not many if any writers can, in good faith help develop someone Else's story that is supposed to be your story. Write your own story, and then maybe you will know whether it is a good story/plot.
I join everyone else in being confused--especially since you apparently didn't even create the plot? Fairly frequently people come along thinking that they have a great idea and that the writing is the easy part, for which they can hire someone. (And people here clear up that delusion.) But it appears that you didn't contribute to this book at all?
I'd like to write a witty post to this thread, but am a bit squeezed for time. Any volunteers to ghost-write it for me? But in answer to the original question, I'm not into romance, and as a fantasy novel it sounds pretty derivative. Yes, the book might be great regardless, but the synopsis doesn't make me want to read the full story. On the other hand, I have no idea whether others would like it or not - that's just my personal take on it.
It's an interesting plot. I have some suggestions: I think the demi-goddess should fight for both sides at the same time and then she should betray both of them to a third nation run by evil Elves. This would force the two warring nations to hide all their pizza in secret tombs. The epilogue should show the demi-goddess eating pizza like Katy Perry in Dark horse, only wearing 70s makeup, while the elves dance around her in their underwear. Just kidding. The plot is fine the way it is.
I liked @vera2014 's one, about hiding pizza in secret tombs. Elves in underwear, my favorite thing! Ok, going back to the point: for me isn't good at first time, maybe if it is well written, without falling into commonplace, can be something good.
Isn't it funner to write your own stories. That's were all the creativity comes from. The passion just isn't there to write someone else's ideas. You'd get bored fast, and your heart just wouldn't be in it.
Hi all, wow...just wow. I originally signed up to this forum because I expected a forum where people would be open to all kinds of ideas and journeys. Yet apparently if you don't go down the 'write for the love of writing even if you don't get paid for it.' Most of the responses were unfortunately less than spectaculary and clearly with an underlying message of thumbing your nose at people who don't write for the same reasons you do. Stormr and everyone else who has the same mindset, some people write and publish for financial reasons, others write because it's their purpose or their mission in life to write. Neither are wrong and both are right, unless of course the writing is low quality and provides no value to the reader. Thank you to those who answered the question genuinely. Especially Vera, I might dodge the pizza idea but I did really like the idea of her betraying both of them. Oh, btw, I do like to write, I've actually hit pretty close to the 20k mark on a series of short non-fiction books about motivation and personal transformation all heavily based on my personal life. One topic inspired me to write 8,000 words in a weekend which I was really proud of.
I don't know about everybody else, and I didn't respond earlier, but what put me off jumping into the fray was the idea of the ghostwriter. At what level would you be involved in the story? I am genuinely puzzled. In this latest post you say you like to write, and have written 8,000 words in a weekend. Thats' pretty good going. So why do you need a ghostwriter? And if a ghostwriter is writing your story instead of you, I'm not sure why you need input from the forum? I do get the idea of publishing for financial reasons versus writing for the love of it. But I don't get the link with the ghostwriter. Unless you are a person who wants to do an autobiography and don't feel you can write well enough, I don't get it. Ghostwriters exist to tell stories on behalf of people who can't do it themselves. The financial incentive is there, because they will expect to be paid for their work. By you, the 'real' author. Am I missing something?
No. For starters, they wouldn't starve if their water supply was contaminated. They'd die of dehydration. Secondly, that's barely a plot. In my brutal opinion, it's shit. I've read it a few times and still don't know what the story really is. Why is there a wizard in a Christian/pagan story? WTF? If I were you I'd be grateful you didn't write it. It's pretty awful. But then again, I'm just as confused as the others in what your contribution to this was?
Are you saying that you're essentially investing in another writer and hoping to get a return on your money when the book they've written sells? and for whatever reason you want your name on the cover too? Considering you know so little about the publishing industry that you're having to ask on a forum if the plot is any good - this seems to me to be a terrible investment. I hear it's a tough market to get into, even for those who know what they're doing. If this isn't a joke, you're probably throwing away your money. Why a novella anyway? They're even harder to get a return on than novels. Also she seems to be writing a fantasy with a touch of romance, when you'd asked for a mystery, which sets off alarm bells to me that maybe your ghost writer can't even follow instructions.
