As a freelance writer, I’m often called on to be an expert on all kinds of topics. Of course, I’m not really an expert on these things. As a result, I think I may have lost my ability to trust just about anything I find written anywhere, ever.
I mean, I haven’t had a dog since I was in elementary school, and yet I’ve been tapped to ghostwrite articles on how to train search and rescue dogs. I can barely remember to take my pre-natal vitamin every day, but I write a lot of articles about the importance of health foods. I’ve written an entire book on tattooing but have spent a grand total of about 30 seconds in a tattoo shop in my entire life. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right, does it?
Ooh. You want to know what’s even worse? The people that I ghostwrite for often aren’t actually experts, either. I once wrote a how-to guide for people wanted to start a certain type of business. I’ve never been in that kind of business, and neither has the guy whose name actually went on the final product. I’ve written on a really wide variety of topics for that particular guy, too, and I don’t know that he’s actually engaged in any of the stuff he is teaching other people to do. I know I haven’t, and yet I’m the one writing about it.
In the past couple of years, I have been an “expert” on a lot of things:
- Marketing and how to DIY
- Youth hockey
- Fashion
- Mediation
- Job searching
- Hypnosis
Of those topics, I’m not actually trained in any of them. Instead, I do the research and put it all together in a nice package. I’ve said before that my job is like getting paid to do homework, and this is a big reason why.
Some days I feel like a fraud. Other days I’m so grateful for a job that lets me learn all about tattoo needles without having to actually get poked.
The point of this post? I’m not entirely sure. Maybe I just needed to get this off my chest. Maybe I want absolution. Most likely I want someone to tell me that it’s OK. No matter what, though, I sure get to learn a lot of crazy stuff simply by being a freelance ghostwriter.
I hear ya! But I love the work and sometimes get so wrapped up in the research that I forget I’m doing it for a writing assignment. The best thing I’ve ever had to be an “expert” in was kosher Jewish restaurants! I felt guilty at first, but by the time I was done I had learned a LOT!
THIS IS THE GLORY OF WRITING for a living! You aren’t claiming to be an expert, just a researcher, so where is the guilt in that? You have the skills to present information that people want to know in a convenient and concise manner. BRAVO
I love the learning part. Still, I felt guilty the few times I wrote an ebook for people who didn’t know what they were doing. But I draw the line when it’s something that could potentially hurt people. Like writing articles marketing a product that isn’t up to spec or FDA approved.