Writing online is too complicated, and I think I am pretty qualified to say that.
As a product guy for a media company, you could even say I am part of the problem.
I support and profit from the machine that tracks your behavior to figure out the optimal time to present you with a paywall, prompt you with one of our client's ads or fill up your inbox with another newsletter. I prod editors to add a few more keywords and nag designers to reduce image sizes by just one more kilobyte.
To be honest, that's fine by me.
I like working for media companies that pays its writers good money at scale. And to do that, a pop up modal presented at just the right time can go a long way in paying a mortgage or two.
But just like how some people like to work in an office to keep their home life separate, I can't write where I work.
Using WordPress for my personal blog feels like being asked to work overtime for free; Substack had promise, but let's be real: the venture funding will eat its soul from the inside out (if it hasn't already); and Ghost is a vibe, but ugh, there are so many buttons to click and why do I feel pressured to find cool hero images for every post?
I just want to log in, write 250ish unpolished words, maybe slap in an image or two, press publish, and move on with my day.