The old adage of learning from your mistakes is as true in medical writing as it is in any other career. Thinking back to my first months as a medical writer, I was blissfully unaware of all the things I would need to learn to become competent in my role.

Here are just a few of the things I learned as a newbie writer, you may recognise some of them…

You won’t ask enough questions.

There’s no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to starting off a new project. Understanding the what’s, who’s and why’s of any project will mean you do a better job in the long run, so make sure you get time in with a senior person before you put pen to paper.

You’ll forget to ask what the budget is.

The client’s budget determines how long you can spend on each project. By exceeding the budgeted hours, you’re essentially working unpaid. Find out from your accounts team how many hours you can spend – before you get started – and let them know if you think you’ll need more time.

You’ll forget to ask what the deadline is.

In your enthusiasm to prove yourself in your new role, you just want to get started. But you must know your deadline in order to plan your work. When does the client need this, and what steps must be taken before it’s client-ready?

You’ll plan to keep writing until about an hour before that deadline.

The medical writer is only one cog in the med comms machinery. Your work is likely to be reviewed, fact-checked and edited before it’s client-ready, so allow enough time for your colleagues to work their magic as well as you.

You’ll write long complicated sentences.

One should seek to avoid over-inflated an excessively lengthy verbiage, in an effort to incorporate clarity into accessible scientific content. You just have to write clearly, right? Even formal scientific content is best when written clearly and concisely in the active voice.

You won’t be brave enough to leave some information out.

In your first few months, you may lack the experience and confidence to recognise what information is important and what can be omitted. Talk to your team to pinpoint the essential information for your audience.

You’ll completely underestimate the time it takes to write your first and second drafts.

I advise junior writers to overestimate the time it will take them to complete a project. The time to address review comments from senior writers can be a lengthy process, so be sure to factor it into your timelines if you want to avoid stressful late-night amends.

You’ll forget to keep other team members informed of your progress.

As experts in written communication, we writers often forget to communicate in the real world. A simple email to update the project team on your progress can make all the difference towards meeting your deadline and keeping your colleagues happy.

You’ll forget about version control.

Ah, finally, your work is ready for review! Don’t forget to add a date and version number into your filename, and save it somewhere that your team can access it. There’s nothing worse than finding out your manager has reviewed an old, out-of-date draft.

You’ll put the word ‘Final’ in a document filename.

The ultimate rookie mistake. Take it from me, there’s always a last-minute guideline update or new publication that must be added to your shiny new document. It may be SentToClient, but it’s not Final. Ever.