“Whoever lives true life, will love true love.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I must confess that I had my fair share of ghostwriting since I was in high school —mostly involving love poems and letters. It all started with my male friends approaching me, telling me who they fancy, and that they had been thinking about expressing their affection or confessing their love in writing, but did not quite know how to start. Although, I provided advice, they were generally clueless in expressing their feelings in writing that they wound up persuading me to write it for them.

I did not take this task lightly because if I were to receive a love letter or poem myself, I would like it authored by none other than the person himself and definitely not by some ghost writer. So, prior to writing, I did informal ‘interviews’ by way of asking what they like about the person they fancy. On hindsight, I guess that would have been the inception of my interviewing style.

This ghostwriting expanded from writing poems to academic reports during my college days. Unlike professional ghostwriters, I never got paid. Well, at least not monetarily. I got free lunch or dinner instead. I was also reasonable. The quality of the reports I produced was based on that person’s academic standing and writing style. I initially did this for very close friends. Then word got around and, the next thing I knew, I was writing academic reports for fields of study I had very little knowledge of. I learned a lot about dentistry, economics, engineering, music appreciation, literature, etc., by the time I graduated.

For all the romantics out there, there is no hard and fast rule in writing a love letter or note. Some structure is indeed helpful as it directs the flow of the thoughts and feelings. However, I believe, a good love letter is one that expresses what one truly feels in one’s heart.

The 14th of February, for a lot of people, is all about the affairs of the heart; for others, in some religions, it is to celebrate the feast of Saint Valentine. In keeping with Valentine’s Day, I did a little research on a couple of Victorian poets whose work I read when I was very young — Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In the process, I happened upon Robert’s love letter to Elizabeth from 1845.

Additionally for Valentine's, I piloted a mini-competition asking friends to send me a love note, letter, poem, or wedding vows they wrote. I received a few submissions and they were reviewed by two independent judges — one is a poet and novel writer, the other a web developer and digital and paperback book publisher. I would like to congratulate Carlie for his winning entry, “Poor Duke of Orleans”.