To think that David Walliams hasn’t written all his books?

[myohmywhatawonderfulday]

I have read a lot of David Walliams books to my children before bed.
Gangsta Granny, Ratburger, Mr Stink, The Midnight Gang..but there is something off about The Worlds’s Worst Children (read vol 1 and 2). They don’t have the same ‘narrator voice’ nor use of vocabulary. They just don’t sound like him, I don’t think.

I have looked for some reference to who could have written them but they are marketed as if it’s him.

Does anyone else think that?

@icerebel It's possible because some people write quickly and cleanly.

I'm very impressed that you have a full time job and manage to write 2 novels a year, however I wouldn't think that to be the norm

Two a year is about average, from what I see. And I'm very active in the writing community, from forums to Twitter.

Hormonecure

The most prolific writers I know have multiple pen names and do a mix of trade publishing and self-publishing, since their publishers can't keep up with their writing.

I can't write that quickly, but I've just signed a contract with a Big 5 imprint for a novel that went from conception to completion within three months. Some writers would "question the quality" because they take much longer, but it doesn't mean I have to!

I know writers who have spent TWENTY YEARS working on a single novel. The norm is somewhere in between, as I'm sure you know.

P.S. It's good to meet other writers on here. It's a shame the writing topic isn't more active, but I can't complain when I hardly ever venture into it...

Who cares! My son adores his books (and I do to) I couldn’t care less who has written them!

The late, much lamented Sir Terry Pratchett wrote two books a year.

(I am not, in any way comparing the talents of the two of them. God forbid)
Just pointing out that it is possible.

I read one of David Baddiel’s early adult novels, years ago. I was rather taken aback to discover he is now, apparently, a children’s author. I am awaiting the MN thread ‘My child loves David Baddiel’s books but we have just bought one that is about a protagonist who wants to have anal sex. Should we read the new David Walliams instead?’

nannyogg I loves Sir Terry and he was never mean.

I find it very depressing that people are so snide and judge about books that have ignited a passion for reading in so many small children. Not everything has to be to your taste. They’re not to mine either - but that’s because they’re not written for me.

Ghost writers are almost always credited somewhere. Using ghost writers is not a scam or a trick. It’s just a way of co-writing Thad non-writers who are the face of a big brand or who have an interesting story to tell but don’t feel experienced enough to tell it themselves use.

David Walliams is known as a comedy writer performer so I am certain he writes his own comedy fiction. Of course he has a heavily involved editorial team - that’s how books are made.

Hermagsjesty

Sometimes the ghostwriter is acknowledged by the author or publisher for his or her writing services, euphemistically called a "researcher" or "research assistant", but often the ghostwriter is not credited. ... In other cases, the ghostwriter receives no official credit for writing a book or article; in cases where the credited author or the publisher or both wish to conceal the ghostwriter's role, the ghostwriter may be asked to sign a nondisclosure contract that legally forbids any mention of the writer's role in a project.

I am a school librarian and Walliams' books are hugely popular - naughtier versions of Roald Dahl - but I do suspect he is not the author and has them ghost written maybe from a title or initial idea. Authors sometimes write in different styles but more often than not they have a distinctive writing voice. Walliams' writing voice changes between books.