by Gail Kavanagh

Created on: November 11, 2009

Writing is a job, like any other, and like any other job, it has times when you are just pressing the buttons. But there is a way to relieve the boredom of your routine, have fun and still write. Join Helium and it's much more than part of your day job, it's a place to relax and share your day with other writers.

First and foremost, for a writer, Helium is a place to hone your skills and perfect your craft. But helium is also a community, a busy intersection of writing traffic, like a giant water cooler where writers can gather and congratulate or commiserate with each other over the ups and downs of the writing life. There is always some lively discussion going on in the forums when you need to take a break.

Helium's huge international membership means you need never get bored. You discover that writers from other countries share the same lows and highs of the writing life, and connect with them. You can talk about your successes, your failures, and your concerns in a friendly forum atmosphere. Queries are generally quickly answered, and if you get stuck in your writing (as we all do from time to time) there are experienced members who will be happy to critique your work, and help you out with any problems you encounter.

When you are just sick of the whole subject of writing, you can talk about other things on the forum - go into one of the channels and talk about the subjects you write about, or pop into the Helium Cafe and strike up a conversation. If you are new to Helium, be sure to introduce yourself in the Get Started forum and make new friends.

Rating can be a chore, just to get stars, or it can be an inspiration and a sure cure for boredom. When you need to take your mind off your current project for a while, start rating. Reading other member's writing is fun, and takes your mind off your own problems. It may also inspire you to add your own take to a title. Looking at rating as a boredom killer and a fun way to pass the time will take away that `chore' aspect that puts so many people off rating at Helium. Don't worry about your stars. Just enjoy the opportunity to share the thoughts and efforts of other members.

Entering contests should also be undertaken in a light hearted way so they are fun, rather than a fight to the death. Choose a title that interests you, or one that is right out of your comfort zone, and challenge yourself to come up with something.

Another way to kill boredom on Helium include setting up your very own Helium Zone. Helium Zones are writer showcases where you can put up almost anything related to your chosen topic. You can make a zone page about yourself or your favorite subject, and spend time uploading images, videos and other snippets.

Helium certainly offers writers many ways to overcome boredom. The only trouble is, you may end up having so much fun, you forget to write!

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