Non-compete · Writing
Non-compete in writing: what is normal
A freelance writer's specialism is their market; a broad non-compete is off-market and often unenforceable, an NDA is the right tool.
Typical range
No topical or industry non-compete. A confidentiality clause covering the client's private information, and at most a narrow bar on working for a specifically named competitor for a short window.
Off-market
A clause preventing the writer from writing for any competitor, or in the client's industry, for six to twelve months after the assignment, with no added pay.
One-line fix
"Writer will keep Client's confidential information confidential. Writer may continue to write in this subject area for others. Any competitor restriction is limited to [named competitor] for [60 days]."
What we see
For a specialist writer, an industry non-compete is close to a bar on practicing their profession. A healthcare writer told not to write about healthcare for a year has effectively been asked to stop working, in exchange for one assignment's fee. That is not a proportional trade, and courts in many places treat such clauses on freelancers skeptically.
The client's real interest is almost always confidentiality: keep our unpublished plans, data, and internal materials private. An NDA scoped to that information protects the client fully without claiming a veto over the writer's whole subject area or future clients.
Where a specific competitor concern is real, narrow it: a named competitor, a short window, and nothing about the general subject. The version to push back on hard is the broad "no competing work in this field" clause, which asks the writer to surrender the exact expertise that made them worth hiring.
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