I’m not promising it will be insightful or great or anything else like that. It’s really only intended for myself to get some things out there and express what’s going on in our life. And it’s intended to have a little fun with it, too. Geeking is what it’s all about. I hope you like it.

See you back here before long!

A lot has been going on. You–my faithful readers–are aware that I’ve been laid off of work. I’m still laid off, and it’s been 4 months already. It seems that even though there are companies out there that want chemists they don’t want me. That’s fine. I’m going in another direction now, anyhow. And I think I’ll be better at this new thing.

Starting at the end of last August, I started classes at MATC to get an Associates degree in Programming. Yes, computer programming! For those who know me, that isn’t much of a surprise. I’ve loved computers almost as long as I’ve loved reading, and that’s a long time. I should have taken this course years ago. No, I’m not regretting the decisions I’ve made in the past. From them I got my wife and my son, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything this world has to offer. What I’m saying now is that, because my current employment status has been decided for me I think now it’s time for a change. Call it a mid-life crisis come early, because I can’t see myself getting a red Mustang when I’m 50.

What does this mean for my writing? Right now it’s taking a back seat to my schooling. It’s still there, and it’s also a love I’ve had since I understood I could also make stories instead of just read them. I think it’s the creative part of me that wants to get out. Programming computers, believe it or not, is very creative. In a way it’s beautiful and elegant, just like a good story that’s well told. It comes from the same love for expression that writing comes from.

Right now I’m taking a short break from writing. Writing fiction, that is. As for freelancing, maybe I’ll tell that story some other time. I’ve tried it, and maybe I haven’t given it the chance it deserves, but for me it’s not a path I want to go down. All the stories in my head are still there. Some day, hopefully a  not too distant day, I’ll get them out into the wild.

No, right now I want to be a programmer. I want to be a computer ubergeek. I want to get into the whole thing. So, I’ll be all about that now. I think I’ll start a blog about the journey to geekdom in the near future, and how life is going on around it. When it’s up and running, and if I really have anything worth saying, I’ll post the link here.

Until then, keep cranking and happy storytelling!

Instead, say you’re the person who has fiddled with their life for years doing one thing or the next without much drive, or with a vague sense that you’d like to write for a living but somehow didn’t know where to begin. Say you’re like a lot of other people who are just like that, and you wake up one day to realize that writing would make your life complete, but maybe the window has closed, leaving you staring out it wondering if the train had already left the station. (Run-on AND mixed metaphors! Sheesh!)

The problem with getting a writing job is that it requires you already to have written. Whether you are applying for a gig writing articles for cheap online or trying to convince the local ice cream shop to hire you and write their advertising, without fail they all want to see a sample of what you can do. If you’re like that cartoon character who pulls his pockets inside out only to reveal the starving moth, you are wondering where the writing sample comes from when you have never been hired to write in the first place.

Good news, buddy. Getting writing samples is a piece of cake. Here, take notes:

• Just start writing: Does the client really care if you are already published? Maybe, and maybe not. What they do want to know is that you can write. Sure, it’s more impressive if you can send a copy of a published article or a link to some major online work. But when you don’t have that, make your own articles. Start with a list of your favorite subject, then write some statements that focus on a specific idea in that subject. A good article will offer a different slant on a familiar subject. Voila! Writing samples.
• Apply to those online writing sites: Most or all of the many online content mills and magazines (Suite101, Examiner, Demand Studios, etc.) ask you to provide a brief article in their style or using their subjects. They will probably suggest an article topic. Take a moment and write a solid article for them. But here’s the trick: save the article for your portfolio. And why not? You put the effort into it. View it as your first writing assignment for a client. But you’re not working for them yet. As far as I know you can keep and use the article as a writing sample for another potential client. (Just don’t take my word as gospel on this. Check out the client’s rules first!)
• Write a blog. Yes, just like this one. Maybe better. If you are writing a blog you are creating writing samples with each post. Now, I’m not talking about your blog where you tell your peeps how you told off the guy in the car ahead of you. Instead, write the kind of blog that is creative and showcases your professional style and the kind of subjects you like to write about.

Keep everything. Post them on your blog. Post them at ezinearticles.com or any of 100 free article hosting sites. Point potential clients them. Link to them from your own site if you have one. Before long, you will have a portfolio to be proud of, one you may add to when the clients come knocking on your door.

Writing a novel is so much easier when you’ve been laid off.

- Guy Wade

May you quote me? Yes, yes you may.

Looking through the subject on the Interwebs it seems the most common question on people’s lips are “how do I get started freelancing?” What’s more, most of the freelance job boards offer work for peanuts. What’s a scribbler to do?

Now my new job is finding a new job. I started as soon as I got laid off. I’m extra glad now that I updated my resume last month. If any of the teeming millions who read this blog know of a chemist position in the Milwaukee area, please let me know.

I’m also putting more effort into writing. Hopefully I can pay more attention to this blog. But I’m also trying to establish myself as a freelance writer. Something good will come of this time away from the drive-to-work-and-clock-in day.

Actually, I am pretty proud of this blog and myself. I read somewhere that most blogs get started in a whirlwind of enthusiasm and hope, only to end prematurely as the blog writer loses steam. I’ve had at least one post every month for a whole year, and though some of the steam has come out of the pipes, as it were, there is still a lot of momentum left in the old thing.

I’d like this blog to be more than just the place I post a semi-coherent article now and again. I read blogs on writing such as Mur Lafferty’s I Should Be Writing (which is more podcast than blog, but you get the point) or Whatever by John Scalzi, or any number of blogs by authors, nationally known or no, who want to connect with their craft and their readers. That’s the kind of powerhouse blog I want this to be. And I know it’s possible. Especially now that I’m in my current position (which I’ll announce soon to all the teeming millions of readers here) very soon. I’ll have some more time to do just that.

Here’s what I think is going to happen in the next year:

• Posting more regularly. Some people believe that writing for a blog that doesn’t make them any money is a waste of time. I don’t buy into that philosophy. I think the Cranking Plot has a lot of potential even if I don’t choose to monetize it. For starters, you are reading it, aren’t you? There, I have a reader. Or two. That’s great!
• Planning out what I’m going to post. Having a plan for the content here will only make Cranking Plot more readable. I started out with a plan, but it was obviously short-sighted. Most professional bloggers will tell you that you have to plan and write ahead of time if you want to make the blog successful.
• Have genuine, honest-to-goodness author interviews. Maybe even as a podcast! Either way, talking with other writers about How They Crank is what I envisioned for this site ever since I started it.
• Move off the WordPress.com server & get my own domain. That is a big move, but one the experts say is necessary to get some recognition as a professional.
• Expand my subjects to freelance writing. Not just fiction writing, but also to web content, articles, whatever kind of writing makes good business. Yes, you heard it here right now: Guy wants to become a freelance writer! If my hopes and dreams take off, I will have to create another website just for freelance discussions and leave this one strictly for fiction.

Let’s see how this year goes.!

Here’s what this means: Examiner.com is a website that specializes in providing local content. When you go to their site, they immediately ask you where you live, and then lists content for your area. They openly recruits writers to supply this content, so one day recently (and I forget how I got there) I browsed their list of available Examiner columns in the Milwaukee area. The one that jumped out at me was the New Dads Examiner, and so I applied. They accepted my application! But, they also thought that I was too far away from Milwaukee to write for that area. Fair enough. I suggested the Kettle Moraine area, since I both live there and work there, and they agreed. The rest is recent history, and soon-to-be future history.

Here is the link. Do me a favor and

1. Read it.
2. Subscribe to it.
3. Comment on it.
4. Give me ideas.
5. If my success inspires you to write for Examiner, please let me be your referral, as Examiner treats their writers well if they refer someone to become a writer.

Now I don’t think I can quit my day job just yet, it’s not that kind of gig. No, but writing for Examiner.com does help me out by giving me some more opportunity to write articles (thus improving my writing), and more exposure so that I can bring in more freelance jobs.

I haven’t left off fiction writing. That is still near and dear to my heart. But I am very excited to finally have even a small writing job!