Gatchamania.net - Print: Shakespeare or not Shakespeare..THAT is the question!

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Posted by imaqtz on 06-07-2004 at 06:39:

Shakespeare or not Shakespeare..THAT is the question!

Will the REAL Shakespeare PLEASE stand up!..

Just WHO penned the literary masterpieces of the 17th century?

Came across this article a couple of weeks back, arguing this very point...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040624/80/ewlb8.html

It thoroughly intrigued me it did..and led me into a different tangent of thought...

Thinking about , imposters, non de plume writers, and the anonymous authors out there.

DID J.K Rowling really pen and take credit for her fifth book " The Order of the Phoenix" or did she employ ghost writers to help her?

Was it the Bronte sisters that had used false names, in order to be taken more seriously as authros at the time?,,<darn it where did I hear that?>

And did Stephen King not do the same thing with some of his earlier works?

A year ago, a book by "anonymous" was making quite a stir " The bride Stripped bare" ....till the author was revealed by some journalists... The subject matter was quite risque and quite derogatory of the male character based on the author's husband..<hence her anonymity>

I dont know....just WHY would you write and publish a book icognito? ...I mean would YOU do it?..would you take credit for someone else's works.., would you go with a non de plume and for what reasons?

and WAs it Shakespeare or De Vere??

Shrug

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Posted by meridianday on 06-07-2004 at 07:03:

If I could get paid to write a book, yep, I'd have no problem doing it incognito. I like my privacy. I'd be more likely to do it incognito than put my name on it, if it was likely to happen at all.

Out of us internet users here, how many of us are using our real names on every post we make? Everything we do with our netnames, until we give out our real names, is incognito.

Race, gender, ethnicity, everything except dyslexia can be kept incognito Wink

Dunno about Shakespeare though. I thought the Mona Lisa did it.

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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Devilstar

Posted by imaqtz on 06-07-2004 at 07:23:

I can understand and fully endorse the need for ID names on the net...but what about publishing your work?

Would you still call yourself Meridian Day?...

I know many actors and singers have had to change their name to make it more appealing to the public...<Isnt Elton John's real name Reginald Dwight?.> but would you seriously consider not owning up to your own work in the publishing world?

Oh...and personally I have a suspicion it was your Galactor Captain who penned "Macbeth" ..*grineyewagglewink*

Big Grin

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Posted by Firebird on 06-07-2004 at 08:18:

It 17th century up til I believe Victorian times Women writing literature (books) was frowned upon. You were seen as a blue stocking and therefore not suitable wife material. Hence this is why they wrote under pseudonyms.

Likewise as a male you were expected to be manly so if I guy wrote a romance novel it tended to be under a female name so the book sold.

Ghost writers these days can make a decent amount of money assisting in writing chapters of a book (this is what it tends to be rather than the whole thing) They work from an authors chapter plan and go from there.

As they tend to write just the chapter rather than the whole thing the book remains under the authors name.

Some people just dont like the limelight so are happy to write this way. If they change how they feel they tend to go on and start writing their own works.

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Posted by meridianday on 06-07-2004 at 11:11:

Come to think of it, in the extremely unlikely event that I was to get anyting officially published I probably wouldn't use the name Meridian Day for it either. As long as I could still get access to the money, I'd invent yet another pen name. Like I said, I like my privacy. What is the point of having a load of people I'll never meet knowing my name? Any people I might feel a need to tell that it was my own work, I would tell, and I'd have contractual documents to back it up. Anyone else, it's none of their business.

Likewise if I happened to win the (real cash) lottery or the pools, I'd be ticking that "no publicity" box as soon as I saw it.

And like I'm going to own up to writing MacBeth... I'm not that old, you know Wink The only time I'd come up with a line like "Out, damned spot" is if I was writing about a skin condition. Tongue

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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Devilstar

Posted by CricketBeautiful on 06-07-2004 at 19:23:

Several print authors use pen names when they're branching out into other types of work.

Sometimes it's because of the material -- the 17C concerns as a above. They don't want their neighbours associating them with the wrong material.

Sometimes it's because they don't want to be stereotyped under their real name -- do the Controverisial Montly for money under one name, and keep the real name for their legit stuff. Be a fresh name for the publisher to evaluate, rather than someone who can only write whatever.

Other times it's because they already have been stereotyped one way, and want to try a different style. If you don't like the romances written by Jennifer, you're less likely to try her sci fi stuff, even if she's using a different style. Alisa Craig/Charlotte MacLeod writes different series under different names -- Alisa Craig is slightly sillier, if that's possible.

And then there's good old-fashioned privacy. They don't want to live in the limelight. But, that only works until your first book tour.

I know when I started fanfic, I was pretty sure that I'd keep one name for the "true to canon" stuff (well, true to the way canon made me feel), and, if I ever wrote more risque or darker, use a variation -- as a warning to the reader rather than a way to hide. There's only one of me, and most people will sort it out despite aliases. Then I learned about warning labels and such.

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In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

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Posted by Drive on 28-07-2004 at 08:36:

looks at post count. Jaw drops

ACK! That's not much. Well...what can I say? I er, kinda got lost on the way here...for about 12 months! *grin*

Now, what was this thread about again?

Well, if I was going to publis XXX rated material about Ken and Jun going for it, I'd probably not attach my name to that as long as my poor 75 year old Catholic Grandmother was alive to read it! Bwhaaa!

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Posted by Buffy on 28-07-2004 at 13:18:

I've thought often about this issue.

Considering I live in the Bible Belt, where Religion and Social Politics run roughshod, if I were to publish, I would most likely do it under a pen-name. While I believe it is important to understand the vast difference between what children should be exposed to, and what adults may choose to be exposed to. Most of my neighbors wouldn't believe that I value that difference if I publish a violent erotic novella about a love affair between two assassins, say. Or any number of other books I would care to write about. The results would be akin to a homosexual soldier admitting his preference to his commanding officer. He'd be drummed out of the military before the words finished leaving his mouth.

Another reason I might go for anonymity is demographics. I know a favorite author of mine, P.N. Elrod, writes hardboiled vampire detective novels. She doesn't use her whole name on her books because 'men won't be inclined to read her books if they knew immediately that she was a woman'. She'd cut her new reader base down significantly if she used her real name. Of course the same could be said of new authors no matter what gender/race/religion/etc. It is just a smart marketing move if you are writing in a genre that leans more towards a demographic not your own.

Then there is Meridian's reason. I am very protective of my privacy and just generally protecting what's mine.

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Posted by imaqtz on 06-08-2004 at 18:14:

ya know..Im hoping if ever you guys get published..you WILL let us know what your pseudonyms will be...

you know...just in case we have to ask you to autograph books..then sell autographed copies for exhobortant prices!!

Big Grin

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