Well, having agreed to give it a go, i.e. contribute "something"
that would be suitable for the theme of this issue of The Write Stuff,
I panicked, phoned up Judi, gave up trying to get out of it and decided
I had better look willing, so here goes:
Scientific medical writing started to be taken seriously as a career
within the pharmaceutical industry over 20 years ago when requirements
for the reporting of data to regulatory bodies became considerably
more complex. At that time, most of us "at the bench" considered
this intrusion to be a "pain in the proverbial", after all,
"who were these medical writers, what on earth would they know
about OUR research?" was one comment. "Did they really need
to be so pedantic?" was another. Well, it was a long time ago!!
I soon realised how important it was to have a system to follow and
to have well constructed, easy-to-read documentation. I was only too
glad to use the services of medical writers.
-
But what of the other side? – Following are
a few of my observations on being a freelance medical writer.
You are suddenly alone. When working for a company, there’s
cover for illness, cover if a job doesn’t materialise and of
course, a regular income.
-
Soon after I started, I encountered problems of
1) getting myself known (because of confidentiality agreements,
it is virtually impossible for freelancers associated with R&D
to advertise their wares), and of 2) branching out into other areas
of writing (there are no in-house training schemes which will lead
to at least some chance to try out your new skills). Why should
clients take you on trust? Time is money. One needs a lifeline here
- perhaps "phone a friend"?
-
A new client – great! Often a brief communication
for reassurance that you and the client are speaking the same language
is important – but it doesn’t always work out like that
even though it may have been agreed during the negotiations. Ever
had a client that receives your quick preliminary draft (almost
an outline but with an explanatory email) halfway though the time
allotted and sits on it? There is that nagging feeling that they
are never going to get back to you in time. If only they were just
down the corridor, you think. It is at times like these that you
almost regret being freelance. Of course they could be out of the
country, on holiday or ill or dead or they could have deleted all
their emails or they might be too busy editing your brief draft
under the misconception that that was it. Shudder!!
-
One of the hassles of being a freelancer (which
is often not appreciated by "clients") is finding the
best way to access published data, reference books and pharmacopoeias
without spending a small fortune. It is possible to obtain general
information by surfing the net, and by using Medline abstracts,
but obtaining in-depth data always requires some financial outlay
– ever enquired how much it is to access SCRIP?
Deadlines – tell me about them!! I’ll always regard them
as the major complication of being a freelance writer. I can never
seem to win. Do the following examples sound familiar? (no they
were not members of EMWA)
-- "Our deadline is - - - - - " – "fine by me"
says I, as I sign the agreement and plan my workload accordingly.
I even refused another job to avoid a clash and a month of seven
day weeks of 18 hour days. So what happened? It went very very quiet.
The job did come in eventually, but I could have done the original
job and I had yet another clash with a later deadline!!! Did I moan,
did I create merry he--? No of course not. I said nothing. I nurtured
the client, completed the job, resigned myself to the loss of income
and vowed never again to refuse anything.
-- "Our clients have no idea of how to approach it - we’ll
leave it up to your judgement." Flattery gets people everywhere.
I made a judgement, agreed a deadline with my client, signed up
and, following a comprehensive literature search, I sent the list
of required papers off (as requested). Oh dear!! Three months after
they were due, all the references eventually arrived and, of course,
deadlines had come and gone and were clashing all over the place.
So there we are, I am almost at the end of my allotted space. The
title was "the complexities of client/freelance interactions".
On either side of the fence, these interactions are complicated if
there is lack of communication and no give and take. If in doubt ask.
The speed and convenience of E-mail helps to avoid many communication
problems and I have found it is often far better to communicate by
email than to use the telephone – voice mail – ugh!! Negotiating
skills are important – how far can the writer push the client
to wait and how far can the client push the writer to finish early?
Not easy - unforeseen circumstances always seem to take over. However,
give and take did help me in my deadline predicaments and I was compensated
– stressed, but compensated!!!
I have been lucky overall and interactions with clients are mostly
synergistic – information is adequate and they are helpful. Problems
come and go, well they did before, and deadlines will always be a
problem. On the other hand, I would rather have the clashes than no
deadlines at all!!
Linda Mizen
Consultant and Medical Writer
Pharmaceutical R&D
Phone/Fax: (+44) 1420 83698
Lmizen@compuserve.com
|
