And That’s When I Knew I Was a Writer

When are you what you say you do?

“Hey, Michael Jr, why do all black people look alike?”

Michael Jr is an African American Christian comedian who got his start performing at the legendary Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach: home of Jay Leno and “The Tonight Show.”

For me, Michael is the only comedian who leaves you hysterical without using curse words or any form of profanity. He is my favourite.

When Michael was asked this question by a man in the audience, the crowd immediately went silent. No one knew what was going to happen or how he was going to respond to such an ostensibly racial slur.

Before I share with you Michael’s response, however, it’s important to first explore another question he was asked by a stranger while sitting on a plane; “So when do you know you are a professional comedian?”

I am sure just like me, when it comes to our crafts and careers, the question we often ask ourselves is when can we truly say, we are what we say we do? For most people, we take courses, get certificates, and practice our craft. But that’s the easy part.

I’m guessing when you graduate as a medical doctor or as a lawyer, you know when you are issued your degree and license to practice.

But as a writer, when do you know you are a writer?

I’ve struggled to understand the boundaries and what is required to consider myself a writer. I have written and published over a hundred articles in the last three months. But recently, I struggled to have my heart believe I was a writer. In fact, I felt a little silly saying I’m a writer.

The mainstream rhetoric would have you believe you’re only a writer when you commit to writing daily, have written X amount of articles, and made your first $100. But is this really true?

Malcolm Gladwell has been in journalism and writing for over 30 years. In those years, he has worked for The Washington Post newspaper and The New Yorker.

Malcolm is one of the most influential personalities in the world and has garnered the following accolades through the few but powerful books he has published;

The Tipping Point was named as one of the best books of the decade by Amazon.com customers, The A.V. Club, The Guardian, and The Times.

It was also Barnes & Noble’s fifth bestselling nonfiction book of the decade.

Blink was named to Fast Company’s list of the best business books of 2005.

It was also number 5 on Amazon customers’ favourite books of 2005, named to The Christian Science Monitor’s best nonfiction books of 2005, and in the top 50 of Amazon customers’ favourite books of the decade.

Outliers was a number 1 New York Times bestseller for 11 straight weeks and was Time’s number 10 nonfiction book of 2008, as well as named to the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of the 50 best nonfiction books of 2008. ––Sources: Wikipedia

Gladwell just released his new book titled; The Bomber Mafia — A Dream, a Temptation, and The Longest Night of the Second World War. Making it his 7th officially published book. His first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, was published in 2000.

It is safe to say then that being a writer isn’t about how much you’ve written. It is more than that — and we are going to find out what it is.

My best performing and most engaged article, 5 Lessons From Diaspora — What I Have Learned Living Abroad, where I wrote about a few lessons I have learned in my journey so far, was a fascinating piece for me when I think about how and where I got the idea.

I was working on a Uva farm in Castelvetrano in Sicily, applying fertilizer when my mind wandered about my ordeals and life in general. I thought about home, and where I am. Out of nowhere, the words started drizzling, just like the sweat serpenting down the creek of my face on that sun scorching day.

Immediately, I flung off the gloves from my hands, quickly snatched my phone from my pocket, and started scribbling the words — the ideas and pointers for the piece. I jotted the main points and message I was trying to convey. Then slid the phone back in my pocket, picked up the gloves and went back to work.

It took me two days while sitting in a coffee shop to make the story coherent, organised and well structured.

A couple of days ago, I was talking to a friend, and I said to her, “I noticed something whenever I am about to write. I feel a little bit of fear and tension.” She asked, “why?” I said, “because I usually do not know what to write, even after picking a topic and outlining the entire piece.”

When I sit and have my hands dangling over my keyboard with my notepad opened, I know what am going to write about, but I do not know how to fill the canvas. And that is why I feel a little nervous — because I do not know and feel like I should know everything.

But I have come to learn that I do not write to only pen what I know — writers write to find out what they know, to explore the side of themselves they can’t willingly reach. That is how I learned to overcome the anxiety of writing. I’m an explorer––I’m interested in finding out what I know about a certain topic, idea, story or experience. That… is what writers do.

As a writer, you seek to unravel your darkness to help shed light on someone else's own darkness. Whether you do it daily or not, you are a writer — a professional writer. You are a professional not only because you got the license, but because you are effective. Effectiveness is not measured in monetary metric but in the impact, made.

When Michael Jr gave the answer to the man with the funny question. He didn’t know what he was going to say.

“When I said this, I was hearing it for the first time myself,” Michael Jr would later say.

The man asked me; “Hey, Michael… why do all black people look alike?”

After taking a moment to think about it, “We don’t all look alike… you just gotta cut the eye hole in your sheet a lot bigger.”

The crowd went hysteric! It was a standing ovation for Michael Jr., for his prompt but yet, remarkably funny and ingenious response.

“And that was when I knew I was a professional comedian.” He added.

And finally…

You are a Writer whether you write every day or once a week. You are a writer whether you published twenty books in 20 years or you publish 7 books in 21 years.

You are a writer because your mind is able to mine ideas and contents from life — from experiences, from moments, from a simple conversation with a friend — even from working on a farm — for the sole purpose of making an impact.

You are a writer because you have an ever-curious mind — a spirit ever willing to explore the world as well as the depth of her soul. You are a writer not because you always know what to write, but you write to discover what you know, how you feel and ultimately, who you are.

You are a writer because you can’t help but see inspiration everywhere you go.

Six years ago I took a raft from Africa to Italy to find myself. Writing is helping — follow along if you like to explore too.