Writing...it ain't for everyone

On Wednesday I touched on five elements that can make or break a book in my opinion.  Authors that get it right consistently find ways to incorporate all of the elements.  They've studied their craft and combined it with their passion for writing to produce an end product that readers love.  And then there are those other people.

You, Tyrese, I'm talking about you and your little friend Steve Harvey, along with a host of others.  Remember when Tyrese was all about this:

Oh how we loved that little chocolate boy.  When he crossed over from singing into acting, we went along for the ride.  Sure, he couldn't act (Baby Boy flashbacks, anyone?), but we were okay with that.  He was exploring new thangs and what not.  Then he crossed over into my territory and started writing books.  It wasn't bad enough that Steve Harvey convinced himself he was an author, Tyrese caught a whiff of the dollars Steve was bringing in and decided he could do just as well, if not better.  No ma'am, no sir!

Writing, or should I say attempted writing, isn't just limited to singers, rappers are also getting in on the game.  50 Cent and TI have thrown their hats in the ring and are now writing for the urban youth.  Never mind the fact that neither of them can enunciate worth a damn and I'm always tempted to turn the closed captioning on when they're on the screen. They're writing books for your children to read! 50 Cent, who strikes me as a long time bully, is writing a book on...you guessed it, bullying.  And TI is writing about, hell, who knows? 101 Things to do Before My Next Prison Stint? 

What I do know is that it overcooks my grits to see celebrities get book deals and put out absolute garbage that the masses will consume while terrific authors languish in the Twitterverse practically begging people to buy their wonderful books.  Is there enough room in the universe for real authors and these other people, sure.  But who gets the press and the big publicity campaigns and appearances on The Today Show?  It's certainly not the authors that eat, sleep and breath their characters.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant.  Since it's Friday, I'll leave you with this for the weekend.