93: Career Tips and Steps to Become a Writer with Loralyn Mears

In today’s episode, we have Loralyn Mears share her career tips for those who are aspiring to become writers!

Loralyn Mears has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, and she shares today the best practices as a scientific health freelance writer. She is also the host of the Women-in-Tech Like a BOSS podcast which I also had the chance to be on. 

Women-in-Tech Like a BOSS podcast –  the whole point is to shine the light on all of these incredible women who are making a difference in so many people’s lives. 

Some Career Tips from Her Own Journey

Loralyn described her career in a very witty way and goes like “ If I would describe my career, it’s like a hockey stick where someone scrambled all the way to the top very very quickly and then jump off the cliff, fell into the thorny jungle with laughing hyenas, clutter way out and now back on the street.”

In the real speech, though, she started off as a Ph.D. scientist only because her parents didn’t want her to go to journalism school. After a while, she realized she was not for it. She is so much happier writing and talking about concepts and translating those technical and scientific concepts across different groups. Along the way, she keeps getting pushed to sales because people say she’s good at it. But that’s what took her off the path, but she quickly put herself back on track. 

Writing as a Scientist 

She works on the content marketing side, trying to craft different strategies and campaigns and all the technical and scientific bits that go along with that. She goes from writing scientific articles to writing marketing campaigns in the life sciences. She worked with a lot of biotech and a lot startups.

Must-Have Career Tips to Become a Writer

• Start with a net. Think about the purpose. Why are you writing it? Who’s going to be reading it? Why did they care? That keeps you focused and stays on point. 
• Find your groove. Some people write really well in the wee hours of the night – the night owls. Other people get up really early to catch the sunrise and grab a coffee or tea before they write. Find that groove and stick to that because that kind of consistency will also help in writing.

Favorite Tool for Setting Goals

• Every morning she starts off with post-it notes or scrap paper and writes what she has to do on that day.
• Trello Boards – satisfying when moving a card and crossing it out once it’s done. 
• Time Block – essential because you have to set aside time every week for invoices and hunting new clients.
• New Year’s Eve – goals for the year ahead

She added a few more career tips to give you some sort of motivation as you go on with your journey. Keep doing all those things in parallel because if you’re not constantly working in your pipeline legs, bases are going to be greater than those you expected. It’s really trying to zone in your niche. So, think about these questions: what exactly do you write, and what exactly type of clients do you write for?

Networking or just being in a tribe of your people is how you’re going to push yourself evermore. 

She is starting an EdTech which is called SteerUs. It is a platform that’s really a power skills academy designed for students to have access to coaching for the soft skills they need. 

If hard science thrillers are your thing, check out her newest novel, “COVID-19 The Battle for Humanity,” which is now available on Amazon!

Follow: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loralynmears/

Website: https://www.toastedmarshmellow.com/

Use your writing skills to empower your nurse career. Learn more career tips from Nurse Keith!

I also personally share my personal career tips from my own experiences as a nurse writer and entrepreneur. Have a listen and get some inspiration!

Are you getting started as a work at home freelance nurse writer? Here is another episode to motivate you!