How much influence did the ghostwriters really have?

[Chad32]

Sometimes I wonder how much of what happened later in the series was really part of KA's vision, or if it was the ghostwriters pushing their own ideas. For starters, the series took a turn into darker territory after book 20. Which is also the point where the ghostwriters came into the picture. Rachel's character began to focus more and more on her violent half, and less on her mall rat half that fights more for the sake of broken families and duty than for the actual battles. Marco's character focused more on his comical half, and less on his strategical half. Cassie had some character development that suggested she would become less morally rigid, but towards the end that rigidness returned.

How do we, as fans, determine what is true to KA and the series, and what might have been inserted by those who are merely supposed to follow her vision? Not insert their own. Should we really accept everything as is, or should we find it suspicious, and be open to the possibility of ghostwriter meddling? Those like me enjoy the series in the early stages. There were dark parts, but the darkness was not all consuming. The series didn't focus more and more on battles and such. There were other things like sneaking into parties, saving people and animals that didn't involve Yeerks, and just having fun.

Or are the fanfic writers no better than the ghostwriters for making their own changes? Are we who believe the series should be different any different from those hired by KA?

[EscafilDevice]

I think there was meddling, but it wasn't intentional. The books were just badly written.

Many of the ghostwritten books were filler, so I doubt there was as much emphasis on ensuring that they stayed in-character. KA claims that she looked over the books to see if they were okay, but I doubt it - if she had enough time to do that, then why not write it herself? Animorphs books aren't very long, they're under 200 pages and mature readers can easily read two or three in one sitting.

I'm cynical. I think KA got bored with the series and passed it off for other people to write. Some ghostwritten books like #45 were better than other ones, but I think it's only because it was so important that she HAD to make sure it was good.

It's not that the Animorphs drastically changed when KA stopped writing the books, it's that they became caricatures of themselves.

Does anyone else feel like Animorphs has a bit of George Lucas syndrome?

[Shark Akhrrana]

Well i can't remember where i read that KA wanted the ghostwriters to use their own ideas in the books too. And wanted them to be creative. When someone who is not the original writer does the writing they have their own style and their own ideas. There is no way they could be the same as if KA wrote them herself.

I would have loved to be one of the ghostwriters yet at the same time i would be afraid to ruin the story.
Also teh changes are more drastic if you read an early book like 2 and than move along and read book 42 or something (just picked a random number didn't pick 42 for any particular reason)

[anijen21]

I think when the ghostwriters picked up the series, it definitely took a dip in quality that returned on occasion when there was a well-plotted book, but I don't think you can blame it exclusively on the ghostwriters. I mean, TV shows are always written by writing teams, yes there is usually a show runner or EP who has executive story telling power, but other people write the shows. The emergence of the ghostwriters was more of a shift in concentration and effort I think than simply the introduction of new writers into the mix.

I mean, she introduced the ghostwriters because she started working on Everworld, right? I'm not like *grossly intimately* familiar with their career or anything, but it sounded to me like they were working exclusively on Animorphs up until they started writing Everworld, at which point they had to delegate. A perfectly reasonable move. And exactly how much weight they had vs. the ghostwriters is irrelevant, I think. There were some really good ghostwritten books. There were also some not-so-good ghostwritten books. KA came up with the plot, right? For each one? And she was busy with other things. And sometimes, it showed.

idk. The first ghostwritten book wasn't even that bad, was it? Wasn't it #25? And #23 was written by her, and it certainly was chock-full of filler, really the only reason that book is memorable because Tobias finally found out Elfangor was his father, and that took all of two pages. The last book KA wrote before the finale was the one where Rachel got split in half and I remember thinking that was the stupidest idea ever.

Anyway, in conclusion, I think it was a combination of creative stagnation, an exhausted premise, shifted focus, and yeah, some ghostwriters who maybe weren't as familiar with the characters and universe as they should have been.

[Hylian Dan]

idk. The first ghostwritten book wasn't even that bad, was it? Wasn't it #25? And #23 was written by her, and it certainly was chock-full of filler, really the only reason that book is memorable because Tobias finally found out Elfangor was his father, and that took all of two pages.

How does that make the rest of the book filler? The books aren't just a series of plot points, they're stories, and the rest of 23 was story and characterization setting up the revelation at the end.
 

The last book KA wrote before the finale was the one where Rachel got split in half and I remember thinking that was the stupidest idea ever.

She rewrote most of 30 herself I believe because she wasn't happy with how the ghostwriter wrote it. She also wrote 32 herself to make sure Rachel's two "voices" were handled the way she wanted. She was very happy with how one ghostwriter wrote 29, so KA gave her another Cassie book, 34. But that ghostwriter apparently had another project going on and 34 suffered in quality because of it, so KA didn't go back to that ghostwriter again. KA did not just turn a blind eye to the series. That said, Michael's commented that he and KA learned during this time that they're better off as writers than as managers.

The reason KA reverted to ghostwriters in the first place was because the one-book-a-month treadmill was the business model of the Animorphs series. As much as we sit here a decade later talking about how we'd rather wait longer and get "true" KA quality, we're ignoring how most Animorphs fans would not have had that patience. The series was a best seller, and it needed to keep up its momentum.

And KA didn't abandon Animorphs out of boredom or whatever. She was expecting that some fans were going to leave the series because they had outgrown it. Therefore she launched Everworld to attract those older Animorphs fans. That business model demanded three books every two months, which she could not do on her own, so she turned to ghostwriters. Which is not that surprising, given that she had previously ghostwritten some books in other series. That's how the business works.

Did Animorphs suffer at times because of the ghostwriters? Probably. Was it because KA just didn't care? No. Based on how KA and Michael have described this period, I expect that it was in some ways a learning process for them. Maybe there were some missteps along the way, and maybe they would have done some things differently in retrospect, but that's how it goes.

[anijen21]

How does that make the rest of the book filler? The books aren't just a series of plot points, they're stories, and the rest of 23 was story and characterization setting up the revelation at the end.

I define filler as anything that didn't have any real bearing on the overall arc of the series. Filler, by itself, is not bad. In fact I think she wrote a lot of great filler, filler I looked forward to, filler I wish long-running myth arcs like LOST could emulate.

Anyway, I agree with pretty much everything you said. It was a business decision, and any dip in quality cannot be blamed on one aspect any more than any other. I think the one-book-a-month thing is ridiculously impressive and the fact that they upheld that for as long as they did speaks volumes, even if a month felt like for the clock to hit 3:00 on the last day of school before summer when we were 12 years old, and I took *another Helmacron book* after that wait a little bit personally.

But it's so hard to be objective about something like this when you love it so much :'(

[CrimsonRose15]

There were dark parts, but the darkness was not all consuming. The series didn't focus more and more on battles and such. There were other things like sneaking into parties, saving people and animals that didn't involve Yeerks, and just having fun.

I understand what you are saying, but it was KAA's intention all along to bring the series down a darker path.  The entire premise was to show the ravages of war and the effect it has on a soldier's psyche, all the while highlighting the gray area between good and evil.

Also, when the series started they were a bunch of 13 year old kids.  By the end of the series they were 16 and had been fighting in guerrilla warfare for three years.  I can understand why they no longer had an interest in crashing parties in rat morph.

[SkyMorpher]

How does that make the rest of the book filler? The books aren't just a series of plot points, they're stories, and the rest of 23 was story and characterization setting up the revelation at the end.

I define filler as anything that didn't have any real bearing on the overall arc of the series. Filler, by itself, is not bad. In fact I think she wrote a lot of great filler, filler I looked forward to, filler I wish long-running myth arcs like LOST could emulate.

Anyway, I agree with pretty much everything you said. It was a business decision, and any dip in quality cannot be blamed on one aspect any more than any other. I think the one-book-a-month thing is ridiculously impressive and the fact that they upheld that for as long as they did speaks volumes, even if a month felt like for the clock to hit 3:00 on the last day of school before summer when we were 12 years old, and I took *another Helmacron book* after that wait a little bit personally.

But it's so hard to be objective about something like this when you love it so much :'(

Ah, The Journey? I have mixed feelings there. It was a fun book but the science geek part of myself is yelling at the big problems the whole time.

[anijen21]

lol idr which one specifically set me off. Anytime they showed up after the first time I got a little irritated.

[wotw2112]

I hate the idea of ghostwriters as a rule.  Guess where that feeling started. 

I concur with Chad: the ghostwriter influence was way too prevalent in the series (and in my opinion ended up ruining it).  The characters were inconsistent in the later books and even openly hypocritical at times (*cough* Cassie *cough*).  All told, their presence percluded the possibility of developing a narrative flow and a strong guiding voice that is crucial to strong and consistent character and plot development (good potential characters and storylines are just forgotten or dropped between books - i.e. MelissA Chapman).

Too many possibilities were left on the table as a result of the varied voices.  They ruined the series for me and have tainted just about every memory I have (until recently I had actually blocked out memory of the entire series for about 5-8 years as they sat in a box in my basement).

[Gafrash]

On one hand I like how there is this difference in writing spanning from the start of the series to the finish, adds to demonstrate the change in which the characters, who as we know started at 13 and ended with 16 after a run on this war.
I think it definitely shows.

But to return to Chad28's ponder, it's hard to spot the decisions that were made in the series that were done by the Ghostwriters.
I like to think that inconsistencies, such as the buffa-ant-touch-the-Blue-Cube-and-go, or the creative slackness in The Return, would not have been Michael and Katherine's doing.

[wotw2112]

I like to think that inconsistencies, such as the buffa-ant-touch-the-Blue-Cube-and-go, or the creative slackness in The Return, would not have been Michael and Katherine's doing.

Maybe not directly but ultimately it was her name on the front of the books.  She should have kept a closer eye on the series.

[skyflyerjen]

That's right.  Bottom line, each book had KAA's name on the cover, so she really should have paid more attention.  I despise the idea of ghostwriters.  I understand the need for them but that doesn't mean I have to like it.  To me, the ghostwriters almost made me hate the series- almost.