Join for FREE | Take the Tour Lost Password?
[x]

deviantART

 
About Me Member Deviant of Many Talents Elanore Hall27/Female/United States Recent Activity Deviant for 2 Years
Needs Premium Membership
Statistics 7 Deviations
13 Comments
1,007 Pageviews

The Darnedest Thing... and I Need Advice

Thu Jul 23, 2009, 5:11 PM
  • Mood: Tired
  • Listening to: Sister listening to Hitchhiker again...
  • Reading: Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (finished)
  • Watching: Daily Show
  • Playing: Ghostbusters and GalCiv2
  • Eating: Hamburgers 'n' Mac 'n' Cheese
  • Drinking: Milk
I know I haven't updated much like I said I would, but that may be changing. It's the darnedest thing, really... As part of an online personal growth class, I resolved to do some writing each afternoon, from about 5-6, to get myself into the habit. I recently joined Helium and I've written two articles for them so far, plus I'm working on a "bible" regarding my magnum opus novel/series (followers of my sister may have heard it in passing).

It's only been about four days and I think it's working, slowly. Right now I'm way tired, partly from the heat, and partly from disentangling spaghetti code in a vain attempt to squish bugs my main client keeps running into. And yet I seem to WANT to write. I should cultivate this slowly and carefully, since my passions tend to behave like bottle rockets.

Of course, one of the reasons I want to write is 'cause I kinda need some advice, though I have no idea if enough people follow me to be worth it, but here goes. I've probably mentioned in past journals that I used to do work as a Web Designer/Programmer, and that in the last year I've come to the conclusion that I hate it. Even so, I have one client left over from my previous life for whom I still do maintenance and debugging as a freelancer. The pay is pretty good, twenty bucks an hour, but the workload is sporadic; she can go for months without needing help and then suddenly need six things at once, usually when I knee-deep in other things. She knows I'm a student and is usually patient, but I keep getting a vibe of urgency, real or imagined. What's worse is that the things she wants to add get more complicated, and since I'm not interested in the field anymore, my skills are rustier than an old wheelbarrow.

Bottom line is, even though it's a sporadic source of money, I don't want to work on the site anymore, especially since I've found new areas to focus my attentions on. I've hinted in the past that she may be better off finding another freelancer, but she says she prefers working with me, and though I've been teaching her how to do some of the maintenance herself, I seem to be the only one she knows who knows how the majority of it works. I know there are people better suited to the job, people with sharper skills who ENJOY it fare more than I do, but I can't figure out how to broach the subject tactfully. I even know of a possible place to find willing replacements, but as I have next to no experience dealing with people (and I hate risking confrontations), I have no clue how to proceed.

My question is basically this. How do I tell my client that she'd be better off finding someone with better skills and focus without sounding like I'm abandoning her, angry at her, or just shirking off? Any seasoned freelancers out there? Ever had this kind of problem? I'm open to suggestions, because it's really beginning to feel like this is holding me back from progressing.

deviantID

No deviantID yet.

Devious Info

  • Current Residence: San Diego, California
  • Interests: Daydreaming (mostly), Videogames, Anime and Manga, Japanese, Sumi-e, Writing, Baking
  • Favourite movie: Almost anything Ghibli or Pixar, plus too many others to list
  • Favourite band or musician: Yoko Kanno/Maaya Sakamoto, Joe Hisaishi, Weird Al Yankovic, The Beatles
  • Favourite genre of music: Anime/J-pop, early Electronica, most 60's era pop, some modern pop, some novelites
  • Favourite artist: Kosuke Fujishima, Hitoshi Okuda
  • Favourite poet or writer: Jim Butcher, Kosuke Fujishima, Hiromu Arakawa, Terry Pratchett
  • Operating System: DOS. I grew up with it. So sue me.
  • MP3 player of choice: iTunes
  • Shell of choice: Scallops! They're so pretty...
  • Wallpaper of choice: Anime and Videogames, plus some of my own designs...
  • Skin of choice: For now, my own's okay
  • Favourite game: Okami, Xenosaga, Ratchet and Clank, Grandia, Folklore, classic Sierra adventures, too many others
  • Favourite gaming platform: PS2/3, GBA/DS, DOSBox
  • Favourite cartoon character: I have to pick?
  • Personal Quote: Artists would rather be good than be seen. Marketers would rather be seen than be good.
  • Tools of the Trade: Ink and Brush, Pastry Bags, Photoshop, PHP/MySQL, the written word

deviantART Community Board

[x]

Friends

:iconjackalopette: :iconone-tough-one: :iconladyrumplestiltskin: :iconmamalucia:

Comments


:iconjackalopette:
:wave: Helloooo!

--
Jack and Sam are stuck in Antarctica and must lay close to share body heat. Sam feels something poking her.
Carter: "Um...Sir?"
OīNiell: "Itīs my side-arm I swear."

"Everyone runs faster with a knife!"
-fps_doug
:icone3rian:
Hello and welcome to dA.
Web Design is a perfectly acceptable form of art :)

--
K!
--
:iconjekkal:
Hello there! Can't wait to see your work!
:iconlombaxchick:
HELLO 8D

RANDOM HUGGIE

:hug:

Luv Lombie :heart:

--
bla bla bla hkfaaajkgal
8)
--
:jedi: yes, young padawan. ~trulyblue9
:iconlombaxchick:
WOOO YOU LIEK GALAXY QUEST :glomp:

--
bla bla bla hkfaaajkgal
8)
--
:jedi: yes, young padawan. ~trulyblue9
:icondusketh:
Welcome to DA ^^

--
~DusK~

Meeeeeeeee-ow!~
Spaceships and Dragons. Sound Good? Read on: [link]
:iconclueless1:
Welcome to dA!

--
I believe in Jesus Christ. If you do, too, copy and paste this into your sig.

I’m Elrond in "The One Crew to Rule Them All"

Hoping to join: ~wonkalovers, ~Wonka-Lovers
:iconladyrumplestiltskin:
Hey, sis! :wave:

--
"I reject your reality and substitute my own." -- Adam Savage, Mythbusters

"Well, there's your problem!" -- Jamie Hyneman, MythBusters
:iconmamalucia:
Hi, sweetie! :hug: :hug: :hug:

--
Life is a game. You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game. So what should you do? PLAY!!!

Site Map