Expert tips from a nurse-turned-writer

Hello writers,

Hope you all had a fun Halloween! My three youngest dressed up as:

1. A security guard from the FNAF world,

2. Eleven from Stranger Things, and

3. An adorable spider

Fun fact: in Scotland, the kids have to do a trick, tell a joke, or show off a talent to get candy at each door. The candy haul after trick-or-treating definitely isn’t as massive here, but the kids love the new tradition!

Talk soon,

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK

Stay out of the weeds

Have you ever dug into article research and ended up wandering down a few (dozen) proverbial side roads? Spent waaay too long reading about a fringe aspect of your topic that you shouldn’t even include in the piece?

Just me?

Probably not. I can’t speak for other niches, but in medical writing, I can get lost in the weeds fast — embarking on side quests like it’s my job.

For example, a few weeks ago I dove into the study pool for an article on “Silent Killer Cancers.” Here’s what happened:

1. I found one study on ovarian cancer detection that referenced another study on the demographics of this cancer type, and I followed that link.

2. In that study, I found reference to yet another paper about new treatments available for ovarian cancer.

3. I read that one for a few minutes — until I remembered this article was not about treatments and this research wouldn’t help me. 🤦‍♀️

It can feel wrong to close an interesting tab! But when you need to get focused research done, you have to stay focused on your goal. From now on, I’ll try to implement these tips to keep me on track:

• Before I start reading any new study, I will look back at my article title/brief and ask, “Will this study inform this piece?”

• If it doesn’t apply, but I still want to read it, I’ll add it to my “To Read” Bookmarks folder so I can wave goodbye for now, knowing I won’t forget it later.

• If I catch myself spending too much time combing through a study, I’ll pause and ask if I’m still gathering needed information, or if I’m making it too complicated.

Do you ever get lost in the weeds? Does it happen more in research or writing?

TRIVIA-PALOOZA

400+ definitions

Your trivia question for the week is…

💡Which English word has the most definitions (over 400!)💡

(The answer’s at the bottom!)

FREELANCER/INDIE AUTHOR CORNER

Expert sources: how I keep my sanity

Recently, I’ve been taking a lot of assignments that require expert interviews, and it feels a little chaotic. I typically need two experts per story, but I’ve learned through painful experience that I can’t rely on source responses, even if they’ve promised them up, down, and sideways.

That means for every piece I have to cast a wide net and ask at least four PR contacts for help finding experts. With all those email threads, it would be incredibly easy to lose track of who has responded, confirmed, or even provided responses or set up a video call.

That’s why I finally got my rear in gear and created a nerdy spreadsheet system to keep track of everybody. In my “Open Projects” tab, I have columns for:

• Number of sources needed

• Last date for responses/call

• PR/source emails

• Where we are in the process

Like so:

In the last column, I created a handy drop-down menu I update after each email. Here are my options:

• 📤 Sent: I have emailed a request.

• 📥 Responded: The source replied, but has promised nothing yet.

• ✅ Confirmed: The source has promised me answers or set up a call before my due date.

• 👋 Reminder: I have sent a follow-up email double-checking replies are still incoming. (I’ll typically send this the day before I need them.)

• 🙌 Received: Responses received or call complete!

• 🚫 No Response: I never got a response from my initial email.

• 👻 Ghosted: The WORST. This means they promised me answers, then ghosted me.

I have also started creating an email folder for each piece, so I can quickly go to one place and see all my correspondence for each one.

What do you think? Am I making it too complicated? How do you handle organizing your sources?

‘Til next time

Thanks for reading and see you in a few weeks!

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💡 Find the trivia answer HERE 💡