The Article Writer

I’ve been waging an on again and off again battle with a web hosting company regarding a website I manage for a client. Turns out, the account expired and my contact information hadn’t been updated in some time. No way to notify me and everything disappeared. Or so I thought. Turns out that a paperwork calamity (no better words to describe it) resulted in them losing what I faxed to them, information needed to help me regain control over the account. Worse, a language barrier (technical support is in India) made communicating difficult which likely contributed to the problem. I believe the worst is now behind me as I was finally able to access the control panel today, no thanks to Powweb (the web hosting company).

I realize “you get what you paid for” when it comes to shared hosting. Still, I can’t imagine too many people forking over $129 monthly for a dedicated server. On the other hand, GoDaddy has worked well for me and every new site I have created over the past year is hosted with them. I know not everyone is thrilled with GoDaddy (their control panel takes some getting used to) but the sheer size of that company seems to keep things on an even keel.

The last thing I want to do on any given day is to mess with administrative tasks. I’m not the best person when it comes to confronting as I either back off or I go for the jugular vein. Powweb has seen both sides of me so far and I’m hoping that very soon they will see a third side: me running far, far away from them!

Over on Writing Thoughts, the freelance writing blog owned and operated by Laura Spencer, I read her article titled, Does Blogging Stress You Out? where she shares information gleaned from a New York Times (NYT) story about the hazards of blogging. In the NYT story, Some Brand-Name Bloggers Say Stress of Posting Is a Hazard to Their Health I learned that a brand-name blogger, Om Malik, suffered a heart attack late last month which he attributed to stress over blogging. Thankfully, Malik is recovering from his health crisis and has returned to work.

Of course, when I read Laura’s article and saw the supplied link, I immediately went to the NYT article for more information. I occasionally read the tech blogs — TechCrunch, for one — but I am not familiar with Om Malik or his blog. As I scanned through the article and then read an update by Malik I learned just how stressful blogging is for him. In addition, he shared how some bad habits have contributed to his health problems including eating fatty foods, smoking, and a lack of exercise. To have a heart attack at such a young age, 41, is not a good sign and I hope that Malik can change his lifestyle to embrace healthy living practices.

Blogging (or any writing for that matter) can be stressful especially if time constraints are involved. Yet, I know I blog/write better when I take the time to eat right, exercise and get a good night’s sleep. The more visible your blog, the more likely you’ll feel the pressure to peform as your readership is dependent on what you have to say about a particular subject. With updates occuring in rapidfire succession daily in the tech world, staying on top of the game is a must.

How about you? Do you stress out over blogging or do you maintain a good balance throughout the day? Like Laura, I can sometimes feel pressured to blog, but I have to push away from my laptop and do something else when the stress builds. I can’t imagine brand-blogging — there seems to be too much pressure to meet rolling deadlines!

Photo Credit: Walter Groesel

When it comes to writing, there isn’t much more that I am passionate about then pay. I believe we should paid a fair amount of money for our work: the higher, the better.

Today, Sandra Williams sent to me a link to a Harlan Ellison clip where he takes a passionate stand for getting paid for everything that he writes. With the Writer’s Guild of America strike now in its 11th week, it should serve as a reminder for all writers that we should get paid for all that what we do. Curiously, we wouldn’t ask a doctor to remove our spleen for no pay nor would we expect someone to clean our house for free. Why is it that when it comes to writing, we cave in so easily?

Personally, I don’t mind helping a writing colleague out, but I get mad when this person does their work for low wages, setting up the rest of us. How so? Because the expectancy of many employers becomes this: “Person A worked for X amount, why should I pay you more?” My answer: because I am worth more.

The Ellison video is candid, emotional, and he uses foul language. But, he gets his point across — I am curious to hear what you have to say about the video and this subject.