This might be saying the bleeding obvious, but I’ll say it anyway because it’s so important… Treat every single writing commission you commit to with the same professional approach and diligence. & it will pay off in terms of your reputation, future commissions and your ability to sleep at night.

Some of the nicest feedback I’ve received was hearing from an editor that they knew they could always rely on me to produce print-ready copy to deadline.

But how do I do that in practice?

  1. By allowing enough time for editing and polishing, and reading a draft feature aloud before I submit it to check for clunkiness & repetition.
  2. By not bullsh*tting where facts are concerned. If I can’t find evidence to support a point I’m making, then I say so and don’t pretend. I avoid using sweeping statements like “Scientists agree…” etc unless I’ve found peer-reviewed research papers & I keep a log of those indexed by feature.
  3. And, perhaps unusually, by asking anyone who has contributed to a feature I’m writing – scientists, naturalists, friends & family – to read through a draft before it’s submitted to check for facts and whether they’re happy with the way I’ve quoted and represented them. I want individuals to feel positive about the feature too. I’m not an investigative journalist, but I do always reserve the right to not change the opinions I’ve expressed, despite pressure on occasions from media teams.