For example a fitness freelance writer knows to build himself in writing better in that field, seek to know as much as he can about the field, know all the resources available for his work, focus on specific targets for job leads and guess what? Employers value you better when you are specialized.
Making an attempt at defining health writing may seem quite vague but we’ll start from here;
WHAT IS HEALTH?
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
So it follows that health writing is any writing that drives towards achieving that end in a reader or audience; the end of total well-being.
The concern of any health and wellness freelance writer is “if I write this, would my audience get motivated to make changes in their lives that would improve their whole wellbeing”
The health conversion writer would ask “would my audience get motivated about caring for their hair so they’ll purchase my hair product”
For the blogger, she’ll ask “would my readers see this blog as a resource to improve their health and thus come back to it or sign up on the email list or tell their friends about it?” "Would my readers grow to trust me?” (I ask myself this too everyday).
Almost everyone would ask "would my blog or business get to the first page of google? But that's not the end of health writing. The ultimate goal is to improve wellbeing in the audience.
A TWIN?
At this point I’ll like us to distinguish health writing from its fraternal twin; medical writing. The two are often confused but are quite unique although with a lot of overlaps. Let’s take a shot at defining medical writing.
Medical writing focuses on disease and infirmity. Medical writing is writing that relates to diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. So it could be a field almost solely for professionals alone or people with some qualifications or proven level of skill in scientific and medical writing. Yes, I just said through the corner of my mouth that a lot of freelance writers aren’t skilled and just know how to produce their language in paper.
So one may ask at this point, “what is the scope of health and related writing?” I'll start by saying it is quite broad.
THE SCOPE OF HEALTH WRITING
Examples of what is included under the umbrella of "Health Writing" includes fitness writing, lifestyle writing, diet and nutrition, food etc. These are all very big areas so it could be very beneficial if you decide to specialize or focus on one alone
The content types you’ll find include the following:
- Blogs
- Advertisements
- Product reviews
- Social Media
- E-Books
- Press releases
- Magazines
- Website content
- Essays
- Product information
- Conversion sales and Copywriting
- Campaigns
- News
WHAT DO I NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN HEALTH WRITING?
For a start all you need is the passion, focus and determination to grow your career in this aspect of writing. At times, employers may need some level of qualifications to employ freelance health writers. While possessing a medical degree may give you some advantage and improve your profile, you have to know that most health writers out there don’t possess one (well, I do). The market out there is just competitive and you have to be apt at consistently improving and proving yourself. On this blog, you'll also be learning what it takes to become a most successful freelance writer so it would be rewarding for you to become part of this family. You'll see how you can improve yourself into becoming a better writer. This would serve as an effective health writing course for you. Do you have any opinion on what health freelance writing is about? Feel free to comment in the box below. This blog is a resource for you, Yes, I’m referring to you.
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-difference-between-health-writing-medical-michelle-guillemard
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