Authors – Quit whining about being busy

There are a number of successful authors, some who are even SUCCESSFUL authors, and all I seem see them do on Twitter and Facebook is moan about how busy they are. To me, that’s like a salesman saying he’s getting too much commission, or Richard Branson complaining that yet another one of his companies is successful.

Every time I see this, I get slightly pissed off. I’m approaching my fortieth birthday – yes I know I don’t look that old, people tell me all the time – so I think that I’m gradually turning into a grumpy sod, and seeing people complain about how successful they are really isn’t helping.

A few days ago I read an article by the wonderful @N_VincentAbnett titled Antisocial Behaviour. In it she talks about how she met someone who had reached out to her and her husband, Dan, because he was lonely.

That article was still in my mind when there was a knock at the door. It was pissing it down and there was a chap wearing a couple of jumpers and a baseball cap. He was utterly drenched and shivering in the cold as water dripped from the tip of his nose and streamed off his cap as he tipped his head.

Slung over his shoulder was a huge carryall. He dumped in onto the ground and passed over some I.D. saying that he only wanted a bit of my time, that he was unemployed and that he couldn’t claim benefits so was working with the charity that helped keep the unemployed busy and earning.

Normally, I’d be ‘Nope, not interested.’ But he was trying so hard. Did I mention that he was drenched and that the water was dripping from his nose? He showed me what was in his bag and I saw some chamois leathers that I would have liked to buy, but I could only find a fiver. Looking at this poor sod, I just gave him the money and told him to not worry about selling anything. I also gave him an old top that was treated.

This was someone determined to do something about his life and get out there and work, no matter what the conditions. I can’t ever imagine him complaining about being successful, or about having too much work (and therefore income) and I truly hope that he finds a job he enjoys and is able to settle down into a good career.

Which brings me back to the point of this article. If you’re successful, don’t piss and moan about it. Don’t moan that you’re struggling to find the words, or that you’re on the tenth edit of the chapter. Because there are people out there that a) would love to be that successful in anything b) that would love to be successful authors. I might moan about a lot of things, but I promise that I will never moan about being a successful author.