My fourth book, Musta’s Mixtape, published earlier this week. You see, I never planned on becoming a writer.
It just happened.
It started off with a business blog. Then a mixtape, then a book, and another one, now a fourth.
I can officially claim I’m a writer. Sometimes these definitions can be limiting, you start to do things that you think writers are supposed to do.
Like the story of when I was in Paris and thought I’d go write in cafes like some of the famous writers and artists I had heard of.
I did that exact thing. I went to those cafes and pulled out my phone to write. Very unassuming. I wasn’t wearing a beret or smoking a pipe, in plaid pants. I was in my hoodie and sneakers, writing on my phone. I realized that I was being a writer of my time.
Doing my own thing for the moment, the same way those writers did theirs.
This was a reminder to embrace the moment.
Past or Present
It’s so easy to fantasize about the past.
The good ol’ days.
How about the future?
A lot of us live there too.
“When I become this, I’ll do that.”
Like Kanye, you might say: “wait till I get my money right…”
And you work for that moment.
“Where they can’t tell you nothing, right?”
Excuse me, can I tell you something.
No? Well. The present is all that’s important.
The most important time in history is NOW.
The process is all that matters. Enjoy it.
7 Quotes From Famous Writers Who Wrote in The Same Cafes I Wrote Musta’s Mixtape:
Back to the story of the cafes.
In 2022, my wife and I lived in Paris for four months. I never had the Parisian dream, I was really just tagging along.
While I worked on my business remotely, the thoughts of writing my next book started taking root. I decided to open up the software, where I start a lot of my book planning – excel. I wrote down a quick plan, story structure, and started a 60-day writing challenge.
I’d write for 15 minutes every weekday on my phone.
Since we were in Paris, I thought I’d be a little romantic and created a list of famous cafes where some legendary writers wrote in. I’d take the metro, sit down and order something (usually an espresso and croissant), pull out my phone and write.
15 minutes later, sometimes 30 minutes, I’d take a picture of where I was at, attach it to the writing of the day, and head back home to continue my day.
I wrote everywhere on my phone for three months. What I compiled became the manuscript for Musta’s Mixtape.
I thought I’d share a few of those moments with you along with quotes from the writers that wrote at some of these cafes.
“I am always looking for something that doesn’t exist.”
~ Pablo Picasso
Le Palette – July 11, 2022 (Picasso was a patron here)
Creating something out of nothing can be intimidating but you have to push through the discomfort.
Most times I remind myself that “no idea is original, there’s nothing new under the sun.”
To take that line further, the poet, Nassir Jones said on the lost tapes: “it’s not what you do but how it’s done.”
Even if you are about to write or create something, it’s more about how you do it that brings a unique take to it. Writing an entire manuscript on my phone at the moment was the “unique thing” for me.
Find your way to create something that’s unique to you.
“The only way to write is to write”
~ Henry Miller
Le Liber’tea – July 19, 2022 (Not in Paris but Nice, Henry Miller wrote here)
When I wrote this book, I didn’t have anything but an idea.
I created a general structure that I followed and showed up to write everyday. What I learned is that I’d usually get into the flow of writing towards the end of my 15-minutes sprint. So when the timer went off, I’d spend a few minutes writing down the first couple of sentences for the day after.
The next day, I’d have a starting point. I was recently on a podcast explaining this and the host told me Ernest Hemingway did the same thing.
There’s no right or wrong.
The right way to write is to just write.
“The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.”
~ Ernest Hemmingway
Speaking of Hemingway, I was at La closerie des Lila’s with my wife and sister when I saw this.
La closerie des Lilas – July 27, 2022. (Ernest Hemmingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Gertude Stein, and others frequented this cafe)
Storytelling is all about hope.
We use the past to inform the present with a dash of optimism that tomorrow will be better than today. Without hope, you become a victim. With hope, you are an agent of change. Telling your story allows you to wield that power.
Tell your story to fight for a better tomorrow.
Fun fact: Do you know that one of the reasons artists patronized the famous cafes is because their rooms upstairs were too cold? They would come to the cafe on the ground floor to stay warm because the cafes had heaters. They limited their time in their frigid rooms.
Reminder: As you romanticize the life of others, count your blessings if you’re warm and comfortable.
“We are all of us, in the end, alone.”
~ Djuna Barnes
Le select – May 30, 2022 (Djuna Barnes was here)
Storytelling is one of our first technologies as humans. We have used it to coordinate.
When you tell your story, you are doing a very human thing. I find when I write and people resonate with what I share, it makes the world feel less lonely.
The vulnerability in sharing my thoughts or feelings through words and characters allows me to build bonds with people.
Share your story to build bonds.
“The only way to change the world is to change ourselves.”
~ James Baldwin
Cafe de Flore – May 6, 2022 (James Baldwin wrote much of his 1953 classic “Go Tell It On The Mountain“ while drinking cognac and coffee on the cafe’s second floor.)
Les Deux Margot – July 5, 2022. (opposite Cafe de Flore)
Storytelling is a process of transformation.
Over the last three years, I have transformed ideas to words on my phone. I changed those words into a manuscript on my computer. Then morphed that manuscript to a book that you can click to purchase on your phone.
It’s an amazing transformation.
But more important is the internal transformation within.
I practiced and learned the process of self-reflecting and growth. It’s a discipline to follow through on things that are important to you, while fending off the need for immediate gratification.
The most important change you want in this world is going to start within.
Don’t stall, start today.
“Just do your thing” ~ Me
This was not one of those classic Parisian cafes. It’s The Hoxton.
I remember this day because this was the send off breakfast we had when my sister visited. It also coincided with the last day of my writing sprint. I compiled all the words I had written in my doc and it was a surprising 46k+ words.
I know I had enough material in there to make a book out of.
Two years later, through the process of editing, that manuscript became a top new release on Amazon.
The present is the process….
The most important time in history is now.
Don’t dwell on the regrets of the past or the anxieties of tomorrow. Be in the moment, at all times. When you catch yourself drifting away, remember you can always pull yourself back to now.
When you focus on the present, you can create and document, these then become memories that you can cherish at any moment.
Be present.
Create. Document.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
P.S. If you read this far, do me a favor, get a copy of Musta’s Mixtape for yourself. Thank you.
