Hiring Someone to Write Your Screenplay For You
For many aspiring screenwriters, the idea of hiring a professional to write their screenplay can seem like an attractive shortcut. After countless hours of struggling with writer’s block, drafting and redrafting scenes, it’s understandable why the prospect of paying someone else to shoulder the burden is appealing. There are important things screenwriters need to consider before opting to outsource the writing process. While hiring a ghostwriter may seem like an easy way to get a finished product, doing so comes with significant downsides and risks. Screenplays are intensely personal works that reflect the unique perspectives and voices of their authors. Hiring someone else to write yours risks losing that authenticity and sense of genuine authorship. Here are some of the key things screenwriters should keep in mind before deciding to hire a ghostwriter for their screenplay.
Lack of Investment and Ownership
No matter how talented the ghostwriter, having someone else write a screenplay for you means there is less personal investment in the story and characters. As the originator of the initial concept or idea, the ghostwriting client may end up detached from the final product and lack a true sense of ownership over it. Without going through the challenging process of discovering the story themselves through countless drafts, rewrites and changes, it will be hard for the client to feel fully invested in or proud of a work they did not personally craft from beginning to end. This lack of personal creative ownership can undermine a screenwriter’s confidence presenting the script to studios or producers. Executives will likely be able to discern when a screenplay was written by someone other than its credited author.
Difficulty Controlling the Direction and Vision
When outsourcing the writing, it is impossible to fully control the creative direction and maintain a consistent vision throughout the process. No matter how closely involved the ghostwriting client aims to be, with notes, guidance and oversight, there is an inherent disconnect when another writer is implementing the story and characters according to their own interpretive skills and style. Subtle and not-so-subtle differences in tone, pacing, characterizations and more may emerge that do not fully match the client’s intentions. Important plot points, themes or perspectives could end up missed or misunderstood in translation. Major rewrites may then be needed to get the ghostwritten work back in line with the desired overall vision, negating much of the efficiency promised by outsourcing. Maintaining a singular, cohesive artistic voice and controlling the story’s direction throughout outweighs any superficial gains from hiring a ghost.
Inability to Take Credit or Build Your Career
One of the primary motivations of an aspiring screenwriter is to break into the industry, find representation, and ultimately have produced scripts that can be credited to launch their career. By having someone else secretly pen the writing, none of those crucial goals are achievable. Studios, producers and agents want to see authentic, original work they can attribute to a writer’s distinct talents and perspective – not empty placeholder scripts ghostwritten by nameless professionals. No matter how polished and cinematic the end product, ghostwritten screenplays provide no actual career advancement for the credited client. They cannot take the work around town or submit to contests and fellowships designed to identify new writing talent. Hiring a ghostwriter renders a script essentially unrecognizable as the client’s own. It squanders the prime opportunity careers are built upon.
Loss of Creative Control and Ownership Down the Line
While money changes hands for the initial product, ghostwriting arrangements do not transfer full legal ownership or copyright control. The actual writer retains those underlying rights. So no matter how hands-on involved a client aims to stay, ultimately they have no unilateral ability to further develop, adapt, produce or merchandise a ghostwritten work independently down the line. Major assignments or franchise opportunities emerging from a ghostwritten concept could end up out of reach with ownership divided. Opportunities to creatively expand or continue the story would need to involve locating and compensating the original ghostwriter, adding levels of bureaucracy that could easily kill promising projects. Full ownership and creative control over one’s own intellectual property are surrendered to a degree that limits ongoing career prospects and profit potential from even a successful initial work.
Lack of Authenticity and Voice
Perhaps the greatest liability of ghostwriting is an inherent lack of authenticity and distinct voice in the credited script. No matter how talented or skilled at mimicry, a ghostwriter will never convincingly portray someone else’s perspective, imagination, concerns, essence of character or cultural fingerprints as effectively as the originating author. Even if allowed unfettered access to produce notes, outlines or conversations with clients, a ghost has neither the intrinsic life experiences that inspired and shaped the initial concept, nor the firsthand insights and instincts needed to craft truly vivid characters and lived-in worlds. The work will lack that spark of idiosyncratic personality that marks memorable, engaging screenplays and draws industry advocates.
However Polished, Still Not Original or “Worthy”
While ghostwriting aims to produce a quality finished product, the cold reality remains that studios and industry gatekeepers place immense value on identifying and fostering new, unique creative voices and sources of original intellectual property. A ghostwritten work, no matter how skillfully rendered, strategically fails to fulfill that core function that inspires behind-the-scenes champions within the system. Craft cannot compensate for lacking the primary virtues career-building scripts demand—individuality, authentic invention and the promise of fertile ongoing creativity from identifying noteworthy new talent. A ghostwriting client has already implicitly conceded they lack confidence their ideas or voices stand out sufficiently on their own merits for the industry to take notice.
Cost Versus Value Analysis
On the matter of costs as well, would-be screenwriters need to carefully weigh whether the considerable fees required to hire top-caliber professional ghostwriters are a worthwhile investment commensurate with returns. The $15,000-$50,000+ budgets often quoted are very substantial sums that could vanish with no career momentum actually gained if the script ultimately goes nowhere. Many emerging writers craft several original works without pay before catching a break—giving up ownership and control of even just one idea could prove a costly mistake with little payoff. Strong writing skills developed through persevering on one’s own might just be a more prudent use of finite funds better spent on professional development, networking or simply living expenses while refining craft.
Alternatives to Consider Instead of Outsourcing
For screenwriters serious about developing their careers but in need of outside help getting ideas on the page, more constructive options exist than full ghostwriting:
Hire a script consultant or story analyst to provide tailored feedback and targeted developmental notes on outline or draft manuscripts the writer themselves generates. This fosters growth through a collaborative process without losing ownership or authentic voice.
Enroll in a reputable writing program offering writing/story workshops and individualized assignments with instructor guidance and peer reviews to sharpen skills from the ground up.
Utilize a writing/development partner or writing group to help brainstorm, troubleshoot problems, and act as a sounding board for workshops—again with the writer actively authoring their own scripts.
Consider commissioning script coverage services meant to replicate what industry readers might perceive as strengths and weaknesses to better tailor future submissions—not to originate works from scratch.
If financial support is the main hurdle, investigate sponsorships, grants, fellowships and writing contests that nurture original voices without ghostwriting middlemen diluting artists’ authenticity and control over destinies.
Only screenwriters who understand the career risks should ever consider ghostwriting as an option, and even then, it remains a last-resort fallback when less problematic developmental solutions prove unworkable or insufficient. Original ideas and distinctive cinematic voices, not just finished works, drive success. Screenwriting’s creative rewards stem from individual effort and overcoming personal challenges–hiring ghosts may feel easier but ultimately defeats the purpose of recognizing and cultivating new talent. While ghostwriting has industries, staying dedicated to one’s own imagination and learning through craft generally delivers superior, more fulfilling long-term results inscreenwriting.
Andrew Stroud