You're Making It Too Easy

Last night I was supposed to be sprawled out on my couch getting some much needed rest, but I was taken over by the Idiot Box. Yes, it's true. I can't stop watching television. Every year, I ask myself what it is that I going (to try) to fast. I now have my answer: television.

After crying myself into a tizzy over George being dead on Grey's Anatomy for the full two hours, I watched RHOA. I'll spare you all the messy details and skip to something that caught my attention. Just as NeNe and Khandi were about to verbally attack each other, Khandi does the mature thing and walks away. NeNe (with her messy a$$) continues talking crazy, then some woman tells her, "NeNe, no, you're writing a book. You have a book coming out." You know, as if to say she's about to release a New York Times Bestseller that will take her to the stages of Oprah and Good Morning America, alike. GTHOH!

I've seen the book and besides publicity on the celebrity blogs, I've heard nothing about it. It's chilling on the side bookshelves at Wal-Mart. I just saw it the other day. It pains me to know that someone will make this the reading for their monthly book club.

That brings me to my point, finally. My homie, E. and I were talking last night and she mentioned that now you don't have to be a writer to become an "author." She's right. Look at Toya (Carter). She's coming out with a book. Celebs, left and right, are selling books, but they aren't writing them. They're simply telling their stories to someone else who writes and edits them.

Now, I'm all for telling your story, inspiring others and getting paid while doing so. As I'm writing this I'm thinking of the other side of the coin, too. Who am I or anyone else, to say that someone who has not had formal training or education can't put a powerful story out for others to read? If you can't do something well enough, get someone else to do it, right? For example: Aliyah S. King's (my mentor in my head when I act right) work on a memoir for Faith Evans. Maybe she didn't have the skill or nerve to write it herself, but her story is still a great one. So, there it is. A memoir written by a seasoned, published author is born.

However, the market is TOO flooded with everything. Everybody wants a book, clothing line, television show, music career. It ain't for everybody. For a chosen few, it's an art, a way of life, a career that provides shelter, clothing and food to eat. For everyone else, it's just a way to get paid and it's fleeting. I can only imagine how real authors who were trained and perfected their crafts and gifts feel. Kinda like a published journalist to a blogger (I'm working on it!), an award-winning singer to a Kim, an Oscar winner to a rapper (except Queen Latifah/Ice Cube).

It's just too damn easy. Look out for my new clothing line and book combo in Spring 2010. I might throw in a wig line, too, even though I don't wear one.