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<<Here's another idea: Volunteer to write for nonprofit organizations in
your area. They'll appreciate the help, you'll feel like you've
contributed, and you'll have something for your portfolio....Environmental
organizations, for example -- >>
This has to be the best advice I've seen here in a long time. I feel this
strongly for two reasons: one, volunteering is important, period, and once
you make time in your schedule to do it, volunteering becomes a part of your
life, whether you're coaching sports, helping with the local STC chapter, or
any other of a hundred areas where help is always needed. Many of us writers
make a pretty good living, and giving back to the community is kind of like
oatmeal -- it's the right thing to do.
Second, I used this route myself to stay active in the writing field during,
shall we say, an employment "lull." I helped put out newsletters for the
Washington Wilderness Coalition and the Washington Environmental Council
back in the days when James Watt and Anne Gorsuch were running amok in the
Reagan White House. At small, cash-starved organizations such as these,
talent rises to the top quickly, and you'll probably soon be chewing on as
much publishing responsibility as you're willing to bite off.
Garret Romaine
gromaine -at- radisys -dot- com
"Well, he ain't a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes."
-- The Outlaw Josie Wales
