One of my earliest memories is lying on the kitchen floor, pounding away on the orange keys of my plastic Fisher Price typewriter while my mom cooked dinner. I was not yet in kindergarten, but I was “writing” a story. I paused my typing to tell my mom that I was going to ask Santa for a typewriter for Christmas. 

My mom looked down at me. “You have a typewriter,” she said, gesturing to the toy I was playing with at that very second. 

“No, Mom,” I said to her. “I need a real typewriter. So I can become an author.” 

I don’t remember how I knew then what an author was, but a few weeks later I sat with the coveted typewriter amidst a flurry of wrapping paper and discarded bows at the foot of the Christmas tree. I wasted no time “writing” a story and then crawling into the La Z Boy chair with my dad so he could “read” me the story I had written. The story he came up with was something about a dog and a pumpkin patch. 

I have been writing ever since. 

Throughout elementary school I would type stories and then draw pictures for them, mostly stick figure people and the typical trees that every kid learns to draw with the fluffy, cloud-like mass of leaves. When I got to high school I enrolled in a journalism class my sophomore year. By my junior year I was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, and in college I took every writing class my schedule would allow. 

In 2018 I decided to try freelance writing. I was teaching high school, and freelance writing seemed like the perfect way to earn some extra money while doing something I enjoyed. My very first gig was small; I wrote a few paragraphs to enhance a fiction story for a client, but then I started ghostwriting articles, blog posts, and eventually books. I continued to freelance and started to take on bigger projects. Ghostwriting brought a whole new perspective and outlook on writing. As a ghostwriter, I quickly realized I was doing what I loved – writing- while meeting new people, helping them create something, and learning a lot along the way. 

Ghostwriting gives me the chance to write across a variety of genres, something I might not have done if I continued to just write for myself. As a ghostwriter, I have had the opportunity to write fiction, romance, and self-help books for clients. I’ve gotten to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise come in contact with and have researched the topics they wanted to write about, which has broadened my knowledge. Still to this day, I am excited each time I sign a contract with a new client and begin the writing process. 

Ghostwriting has always been more than just a job or a way to earn money; it is a way for me to share my talents and help others create something they have been dreaming of. Writing for myself has had just as many benefits. For me, writing is my talent, a way to be creative, and an outlet for expressing myself. Writing has gotten me through times of sadness, uncertainty, and loneliness. In the good times, writing makes me feel energized and creative. 

A month before the Covid pandemic started, I had to say goodbye to one of my dogs, Ellie, a rescue dog I had had for several years. As the pandemic took root and my daily routine was altered drastically, I spent my time writing a children’s book featuring her as the main character, then I wrote a fiction novel loosely based on my experiences as a high school teacher. I submitted portions of the fiction novel to my online workshop classes in my MFA program, and it was well-received. This encouraged me to start a second novel. 

I once read somewhere that the more we practice and use our creativity, the more creativity we will have, and I wholly believe this to be true. As humans, we are not meant to be sitting in front of the television or glued to our phones for hours on end, traumatized and exhausted after a long day of work. We are meant to use our talents and share them with others. 

I can’t imagine my life without writing, and my typewriter still serves as motivation to keep writing, as well as a reminder of how far my writing has come. That little girl on the kitchen floor would be so proud of me today.

About the Author

Stacy Frankenberg is a Ghostwriter for Fiction and Non-Fiction at REINK Publications, as well as a Freelance Writer specialising in memoirs, health and wellness, and self-help. Additionally, Stacy teaches English to freshmen. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

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