Expert tips from a nurse-turned-writer

P.S. I’m not an expert-expert, but I do make a living by stringing words together and want to share everything I learn with you!

A first time for everything

Hello writers,

Thank you for being here, and for reading the very first edition of my very first newsletter. I hope what you peruse below helps, entertains, and makes you feel a part of the incredible writing community I’ve grown to love.

Enjoy!

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK

What makes headers so important?

I once met with a prospective client who wanted me to write an in-depth 2,000-word newsletter with no headers. They wanted one looooong block of intense, technical text. She hated how quippy everything has gotten, and wanted a newsletter that catered to a highly intelligent audience with a mammoth attention span who loved deep dives.

Quite a niche, huh? And for some, that kind of content may entice. But, I think I can confidently say that most busy adult humans prefer skimmable, easy-to-read content they can zip through over their morning coffee/tea/Red Bull. (Uh, I mean… green smoothie and balanced breakfast.)

Headers give your readers the option to skip over sections they don’t like, or that don’t interest them. It offers a snapshot of the ideas you’re presenting and lets them choose where they want to dive deeper. And whether you love it or hate it, it’s what the people want. So, for now at least, headers are here to stay.

That client ghosted me after a few convos, and I can’t say I lost too much sleep over it… How do you feel about headers? Love or hate? Don’t really care one way or the other? Tell me here.

(Fun fact: Just now, when I wrote “ghosted,” I first typed “ghostIED” and now I kind of prefer it.)

TRIVIA-PALOOZA

Your classic fish-to-human story

Your trivia question for the week is…

💡 Who wrote The Little Mermaid? 💡

(…the book, not the film script, silly!)

(The answer’s at the bottom!)

HIGHLIGHT REEL

They were the worst of times…

A few weeks ago, I experienced a worst-case scenario. (I have many of these…I’m an anxious over-thinker who is never surprised by bad news.) A long-term stable client who gave me about 50% of my monthly work decided to lay off a bunch of their editors (including my absolute favorite!) and shut down freelance work for the foreseeable future.

I cried.

I have lived in fear of this happening since we decided to drain our savings to move to another country…and it happened. I had heard some rumblings about the possibility, so I had already started to reach out to editors I knew. I even started sending cold pitches to new editors. Yes, I know that’s completely out of vogue, now. But I was nail-biting, sleep-losing scared.

And, guess what? I just signed a contract with a new client and I’m writing a (paid—always paid) test piece for a second new client. I met with another potential new client and got a “no” to my proposal. But, I also heard back from one of those cold pitches asking me to contact an editor about work.

I’m still not out of the woods. But I feel like I can breathe again. If all these media layoffs have affected you, too, I hope this encourages you to keep trying. More than once, persistent bothering people has really paid off for me, and I bet it will for you, too.

IT’S PERSONAL

A hike, some mud, and a castle

I live near Edinburgh in Scotland, so you’ll probably hear a lot about my castle adventures. (#sorrynotsorry) A few weekends ago, my husband and I forced our four children to go hiking near Roslin. As expected, we heard much, much, complaining, whining, and generally annoying sounds leading up to and during the hike. (Mostly from one kid, who I won’t name.)

Yes, it was cold and muddy, but I loved it! As we crossed a small bridge over the River North Esk, we saw the ruins of Rosslyn Castle through the trees, far above us. The oldest section still standing was built in 1304. 🤓 Turns out you can stay in the restored area for about £250 per night. (Whaaaaa?)

‘Til next time

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

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You can view all my work on Authory and also feel free to check out my website!

💡 Find the trivia answer HERE 💡