Love Letter To A Freelance Writer #5: I Fell In Love With A Stripper (How Original)
This is one of a select batch of emails I sent to a group of writers I was coaching. I intend to publish the entirety of them as a collection, but I’ve released several “selections” in a three-part series. Here you can read Love Letters #2, #3, & #4.
Well, technically you can’t fall in love with someone you don’t know, right? Here’s the story:
We sat in the same coffee shop every single day, and I eavesdropped on her conversations with the barista/owner (a friend of mine). I watched her raise a blade to a Mexican gangster’s neck after he catcalled her once, and after that I was intrigued by this petite bronze woman with the personality the size of the universe.
Let’s call her “Marisol.” She apparently used to be a stripper. Her past and choice of work were of no concern to me, but after listening in on her conversations, the way she chose to deal with her emotions and with the people she shared those emotions with… well, that was a red flag I couldn’t ignore. So I stayed away. Years of therapy have proved to me that people like her throw me for a loop.
But I continued my observation and funneled my thoughts into story. I wrote a short film script about a guy sitting in a coffee shop thinking of every reason why he shouldn’t go talk to the girl he has a crush on. It gets better…
There was a film competition coming up I wanted to enter, and I hoped to film the script I wrote. I only had two weeks, and the owner of the coffee shop agreed to play the male lead. So one fall day I schlepped over to the same coffee shop, walked in to talk to him about finding a female actress to play this gal, and lo and behold… she was there.
Not only that, but she now worked there and it was one of her first days on the job. John (the co-owner) hadn’t read the script, so when I walked in, he (knowing I was still looking for a lead actress) turned to her and asked: “Oh, Marisol, do you want to be in a short film?”
My eyes bulged, and my heart started thumping. “Sure, let me read the script,” she said.
If John had read the script, he’d have known that I had taken words directly from her mouth and turned them into dialogue. And this girl was about to read a script she was written into. I had to cast her — there was no time to find anyone else. So I sent her a copy.
I hate to do this to you, but I’ll share the conclusion in the next email (it’s worse than you can imagine, trust me). PLUS, I have a ton of stories like this I want to share with you in the future.
This is where the “most interesting copywriter in the world” handle came from. My friend and mentor, Jennifer Hudye, bestowed that title on me, and I guess I’ll run with it, but this brings me to my point for today: If you want to make money as a freelance writer, you have to be different. You MUST stand out. Otherwise, you’re lumped in with everyone else. This can be as simple as knowing more about a certain topic or niche than anyone else. Or, it can be that you’re a copywriter focused on sales conversions, who also happens to travel, make films, and falls in love with people you shouldn’t, and then you run away with a title when someone dubs you interesting.
Also, a word of caution… don’t stand out for the sake of standing out; I’m not saying you should chase fame here. But when you stand out, your clients will respect you more, pay you more, and you’ll have an easier time achieving your goals because money will flow. I’ll share exactly HOW to do this in the future, but if you need a little refresher, check out the bonus chapter of the guide I sent you (here’s the link in case you somehow lost a digital ebook).
- M
P.S. Yes, the answer to last email’s question: the point of the email was to inspire you to think bigger. Every single sentence was geared toward that outcome. Hope it worked!
