by Jeffrey Jason Hill

Created on: June 02, 2009   Last Updated: June 04, 2009

Helium is so addictive because the writers' desire to see their articles highly ranked can be all-consuming. That means complete strangers prefer your work to that of others on a consistent basis. Such a chance is compelling, and too interesting for many writers to ignore.

Writing articles at Helium forces the writer to work regularly, and offers as a reward immediate publication and a chance to earn money. There are as many opportunities to publish as there are days in a year. An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. This means that a writer is not in a rush, but they're not letting a day pass either in which they don't write on a title. Over time and with patience, a steady output can be achieved.

Being addicted to Helium is not the same as, say, gambling or online poker. That is not to say one's emotions are not involved. On the contrary, a writer's mood on a given day can all depend on whether they got enough stars that day or if one of their articles was highly ranked or not. (This makes the writers pay more than the usual attention to quality, which is always a good thing.) It can send a writer's mood up and down in ways the writer never expected. Helium can definitely affect the way a writer feels.

The rating side of Helium is a requirement of the site. Sometimes it can feel like a chore, but that feeling quickly vanishes when you realize that you want other writers reading your own work as well. Honestly, who would not want to bring the same care and attention to other writer's articles as we want for our own? When given the chance to have your rating of an article measured as to whether you truly chose the best of two pieces, almost every writer would want to bring their A-game to that task.

Helium is addictive because it combines everything the serious writer wants - publication, readership, compensation, community - into one easy to understand forum. What's more, the writer makes up his or her own schedule. Don't feel like writing on a particular day? Fine. It's up to you. Or sometimes life happens and you just can't get to the keyboard that day. Helium, by its easy-to-navigate user pages, lets you go at your own pace. No cigar-chomping editor breathing down your neck.

Publication is immediate. Feedback is almost as immediate. Through the reading and rating process, writers learn what works and what doesn't. Just as addictive can be the rating of other writer's articles. You know the articles you select as most valuable will affect whether you attain those little yellow rating stars, which are the key to compensation. Writers continually strive to improve in this area to ensure a small payback for all that other work, the writing. Such an arrangement is what makes Helium a success and ensures the writer will remain addicted for some time to come.

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