I AM A NEW YORK-BASED COPYWRITER who writes like people speak. I write because I have to, not because I want to. Writing is my sole creative outlet, and how I bear my soul. When life is too much, too intense, or just too hard, I write best. A love-hate is my relationship status with writing, and we've been together my whole life.

 

I’ve had cancer twice. The first time, I was 25 and went through a grueling regimen of high-dose chemo, something that only a single-digit percentage of cancer patients experience, no radiation, and two surgeries. I paid a high price for remission. After two years, my oncologist said the chance of recurrence was very low. After five years,  the likelihood of recurrence was less than 2%, they said. So when it returned nearly 10 years to the day, they were shocked. They held a special conference in the hospital auditorium the day after I was admitted to discuss my case. For the first week as in-patient, my room was the scene of oncologists, department chiefs, residents, and interns pouring in and out of my room to examine me and ask questions.

 

But I was mad. It felt like blackmail. The first time, Cancer said, “If you want to survive, you have to give me this, this, and this.” And I did. I had no choice. I gave Cancer what it wanted just so it would leave me alone. So when it knocked on my door 10 years later, I felt like a victim, like a sucker because it wanted to get paid again.

 

Pharma copywriting is cathartic because it adds urgency and a sense of importance to what I do. And I need to feel that my work matters. I already know disease and illnesses are not theoretical. They’re not what happens to other people, or something that might happen to someone somewhere. It’s also my way of repaying, and paying it forward,  the small army of doctors and nurses who saved my life twice, and who will help save or better the lives of future patients. On top of that, pharma writing pays my rent. 

 

Of course I utilize generative AI writing tools like ChatGPT, and Gemini, but for research, exploration, and speed only. These LLMs do not write for me. Their time might come,  but for right now, Gemini can’t do what I do. Chat doesn’t write or ideate better than me. It’s a great feeling.