Expert tips from a nurse-turned-writer

Hello writers,

Ok, no more suspense… Big new-client news after the trivia section! (With an obvious hint in the subject line) So thankful for a good start to 2026.

My middle boy turned 13 this weekend. Thirteen! We had an enormous birthday feast and plenty of fun. How was your weekend?

Talk soon,

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK

How to format for scanners

Whenever a reader comes across your work, odds are they don’t have thirty minutes to enjoy a nice, slow, thorough read-through. I know I rarely have that time.

Because of this widespread busyness epidemic, structuring your writing to allow for easy skimming can ensure more readers scroll all the way through.

For example, if a busy reader comes across one long, unbroken block of text, they’ll probably move on. But if you organize your content into neatly categorized headings, subheadings, and bulleted lists, they can choose which sections to read and scan the rest.

The keys to formatting include:

• Plenty of headings

• Short paragraphs

• Bullet points

• Bolded key phrases or words

These things can guide a reader’s eye, increase skimmability, and also make your work clearer as a bonus. Be honest — do you ever skim articles? I do!

TRIVIA-PALOOZA

This fella’s busy, folks

Your trivia question for the week is…

💡What is the most frequently used letter in the English language?💡

(The answer’s at the bottom!)

FREELANCER/INDIE AUTHOR CORNER

I signed WebMD!!!

Holy cannoli, folks. Remember how I set a 2026 goal of landing one more retainer client by December? Welp, I finally saw some results from developing my warm leads last year, and signed a contract with WebMD in January. And I’m almost through with another potential retainer client. (More on that once it’s official.)

I reached out to a WebMD editor at least six months ago but heard nothing back, even after follow-ups. Then, out of the blue, a managing editor messaged me on LinkedIn asking if I was still interested in taking on more freelance work. (Uhhhhh YUP)

After a discovery call with a super friendly editor and a very sophisticated onboarding process, I signed the contract and anxiously await my very first assignment! Thanks for the early start, 2026!

‘Til next time

Thanks for reading and see you in a few weeks!

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💡 Find the trivia answer HERE 💡