Medical writer since 2006: reliable, efficient, meticulous I Creator of the online Agency Ready training and coaching programme for medical writers
A medical writer's greatest fear? For me, it's a client finding mistakes in my work or saying it's not good enough. That'll keep me awake at night for sure. I build in lots of editing/proofing/checking steps to make sure it doesn't happen. What's your greatest fear as a writer? 😱 [Prompted by a discussion with one of my Agency Ready mentees this very morning!] #medcomms #medicalwriting
I have more or less the same fear Sarah Nelson, PhD plus imposter syndrome - I don't feel experienced enough or good enough.
Guys please don't live in fear of this! Everybody gets negative feedback at some point in their careers. You might be having a bad day. Or you might have a bad boss (a bully's MO is to slowly undermine confidence). My greater fear is people *don't* say anything about my work for fear of giving offense. Knowledge is power!
My only fear is not getting paid for my work. I don't mind revisions but I hate it if someone uses my content without paying me
Like many (if not all) of fellow freelance writers, taking pride in the work we deliver is really important to me and so thinking that the work is not of the quality our clients expected would be really disappointing. That said, and as others here have pointed out, we will get negative feedback at some point, so we will then need to view the feedback constructively (easier said than done sometimes, I understand)! 🙂
I can relate to that fear! Even though I say I like constructive criticism, I can't lie that sometimes it stings a bit - especially after consistently hearing praise. But I'm getting better!
my greatest fears are related to plagiarism and content overlap. Ensuring originality and unique content is a top priority for me.
Like you, I’m also afraid of overlooking any mistake I may make in my deliverables. My other greatest fear I have is missing a deadline (and not being able to communicate with my client) because I had an accident or there was a major event out of my control… 😟
Not having enough work to keep me busy!
Regulatory Medical Writer
10moNot to be contrary or anything, but my biggest fear is to be so hard on myself that I lose sleep over it. I want to be self-compassionate enough to forgive myself for my mistakes and believe that my clients know that I do my best and that if there are any mistakes in my work, it is because I am human, not lazy or mediocre.