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As a new freelance writer, you have worked diligently to impress others with your resume, portfolio, and profile. You open your email and stare with bleary eyes to see – is it? – yes! – your first assignment! Will the client ask you to describe the best pack to carry as you hitchhike across Europe? How to whip up a perfect bouillabaisse? To choose the best video game ever, and defend your position to the death? Fingers shaking, you tap your phone to reveal…
Please write a 300-word ad for the Supercharger SuperDeluxe Blender(TM).
Your heart sinks. Your rosy dream blows away on the cruel winds of fate. Still, it’s work, right? There is no guarantee your client will require an article on one of your most cherished interests. There are two roads you might take, next.
Searching for blender inspiration in the fields, as one does.
The First Road
Buckle down and whip something, anything out. This blender chops stuff super-well. It has a fast, good motor. It is made by a reputable company. This is an excellent blender.
Yawn!
This way leads to a neutral rating, and no recommendation or referral to new clients. Certainly this client will never bring you their work again. Why should they? You have told them exactly what you think of their product.
The Second Road
Let’s be honest: passionate writing is the only kind that feels authentic and honest. Why should the reader get excited about anything the author finds so boring that the tedium drips off the page?
Instead, find an angle that interests or impresses you, and chances are, your reader will be interested and impressed. Clients and customers can spot false enthusiasm a mile away, and if they see it, they won’t trust the product and they won’t trust you.
An ad that describes a blender may not interest you, but a delicious soup or smoothie recipe might. Perhaps the client would like a 300-word blog entry describing such a recipe with a link to the client’s blender at the bottom of the page.
This potential customer agrees that her blender can be fascinating – under the right circumstances.
Show Your Geeky Passion!
The key to writing is to find what grabs you, and then share it with your client and their customers. Your writing should be a fangirl, holding your reader’s hands and jumping and down, saying, isn’t this amazing? Isn’t this the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?
Perhaps you are having trouble locating that passion. If that’s the case, the answer is research, research, research. The more you learn about a topic, the more likely you are to be able to find the idea that hooks you. No matter how strange or flat or boring an assignment may seem, no tedium survives contact with the internet.
Now, go forth and immerse yourself in that blender! (Er, not literally, of course.) You really can find the excitement in any idea!
“After this, I’m going to write about the top ten most exciting new tax laws!”
Media Shower is known for making even the most bland topics more compelling. Find out how our service works here.
Media Shower writer Jaime Seltzer is well-known for her work in education, heath, and medical writing.