Table of Contents
TL;DR: A holiday poem in the spirit of Clement Clarke Moore, reimagined for the author who has a book inside them and a ghostwriter who actually shows up to help bring it out. Light reading for the season, with a real point underneath: the relief in the verses is the same relief most authors feel when they realize the book does not have to be a solo struggle how ghostwriting actually works. Below the poem you will find what it actually captures about the ghostwriting process, the serious version of the joke, and a short FAQ for authors thinking about the work.
The poem
Every December I think about the authors who carry a half-formed book through another year. Notes in the drawer. A chapter file that has not been opened since spring. The sense that this thing is going to happen someday but maybe not this year either. The poem below is for them. Read it the way you would read any holiday verse: out loud, with a small smile, and only if you are in the mood.
‘Twas the night before writing, and all through the air,
Ideas were swirling, a plot to prepare.
The notes were all scattered, the structure unclear,
In hopes that a ghostwriter soon would appear.
The author lay tossing, their vision half-formed,
With dreams of a bestseller ready to be born.
While characters waited, untold in the mist,
And the plot begged for twists no reader could resist.
When out of the blue, there arose such a tapping,
A ghostwriter arrived, their keyboard a-clapping!
They unpacked their craft with a smile so bright,
And dove into the project with lyrical might.
“Now pacing, now style, now arcs that compel!
On tension, on dialogue, on tales to retell!
To the heart of the story, the soul of the theme,
Let’s write it together, a reader’s dream!”
With fingers like magic, they flew through the prose,
Adding richness and meaning wherever it goes.
From chapter to chapter, the story took shape,
Each sentence so vivid, no detail escaped.
The author looked on with growing delight,
Their vision transformed, the words now just right.
The characters sparkled, the plotlines now soared,
And every last page left readers wanting more.
Then the ghost gave a wink, their work now complete,
And left the tale polished, a literary feat.
But I heard them exclaim as they closed up the draft,
“Happy writing to all, and may your stories last!”
What the poem actually captures
The lighter the verse, the more honest you can be in it. A few things the poem gets right about the real work, which I would not say half this directly in a serious post.
The “notes all scattered, the structure unclear” stanza describes about ninety percent of authors I meet on a discovery call. They have substantial material. They have lived the experience or built the expertise that would make a real book. What they do not have is a structure that connects the material into something a reader could follow start to finish. The structure is what most authors think they should have figured out on their own before bringing in help, and it is usually the first thing the ghostwriter actually solves.
The “vision half-formed” line is also accurate. Authors often arrive thinking they need to know the entire book before the project begins. They do not. They need to know enough to start, and the rest emerges through interviews, drafts, and feedback. The vision arrives through the work, not before it.
The closing stanza, with the wink and the polished draft and the ghost departing, is the part most authors do not believe until they have lived it. A book gets done. The author has it in their hands. Relief is real, and it is the relief of a problem that has been carried around for years finally set down.
The serious version of the joke
Underneath the meter and the alliteration is a real claim that I will defend on a regular weekday. Some kinds of work are not improved by being done alone, and ghostwriting exists because books are one of those kinds. Brain surgery, structural engineering, tax law, and books are all in that category. The person whose name goes on the work brings the substance and the judgment. A professional brings the craft of converting that substance into the right form. Combined, the two produce a better outcome than either party would produce alone.
The poem makes this look magical because it is a poem. In real life the magic is six to eight months of structured interviews, careful drafts, several revision rounds, and a manuscript review at the end that is closer to surgery than to lyric verse. The result is the same though. A book gets done. The author has the book they meant to write, instead of carrying the half-finished idea into another year.
For authors thinking about it
If the first stanza of the poem describes your situation right now, the project is more accessible than you probably think. The first move is not a full ghostwriting engagement. It is a structured conversation about whether your material is ready, what the book would actually be about, and what the working relationship would look like. The Book Discovery Intensive exists for exactly that purpose. Ten hours of interviews, a Book Strategy Report, and a sample chapter, and you walk away knowing whether the book is real and what it would take to finish it.
From there, some authors continue into full ghostwriting. Others take the report and write the book themselves with a clearer plan than they had before. Both outcomes are legitimate. The point is to move the project out of the “someday” file and into a form where a decision can actually be made.
If the poem made you laugh, that is fine, and that is mostly what it was for. If it also made you think about a project of your own that has been sitting too long, that is fine too. The ghostwriter in the verse is not as quick as the meter suggests, and the book in real life takes longer than four stanzas to write. Relief at the end, however, is exactly as described.
Frequently Asked Questions
2 Responses
Super fun and well-written (duh) Richard Lowe Jr! 🤗
Merry Christmas to you and yours, my friend!
Oh, this gave me all the feels!
The playful spin and lyrical flow had me smiling from ear to ear. I can definitely relate to the scattered papers and half-formed ideas ~ sometimes I feel like my brain is a live orchestra of thoughts… all playing different symphonies at once!
The rhythm of your words is such a joy, and I love how it captures the creative chaos so perfectly.
It’s a reminder that even when the process feels overwhelming, there’s magic in the mess.. and was a reminder that I needed today 🫶🏼
Cheers to those midnight writing frenzies and the ghostwriters who swoop in with their lyrical might!
This was fun and inspiring—thank you for sharing!