Making a career out of pretending to be someone else

 I had an epiphany the other day. 

Actually, I’ve had this epiphany countless times in my career, but for whatever reason, it took the perky employee at Dutch Brothers to bring it back to the surface.

It started when she asked, “What kind of books do you write?”

If you're a writer, you must write books, right?

You see, their employees are trained to ask scripted questions like “What are you doing today?” to enhance customer engagement. Starbucks is polite, with a focus on efficiency. Dutch Brothers wants to be your pal. You'll get the coffee when you get it. 

While I was waiting, I got sucked into a conversation about my day and what I do for a living. I’ve learned better than to say “writer” because people either think I’ve written books (I have) or write for TV (I have if commercials count).

But few understand what a copywriter is.

I was trying to think of a way to succinctly describe what I do when the epiphany hit me.

I’m a frustrated actor who writes his lines instead of speaks them.

I use my imagination to get inside the head of the person or brand I’m writing for and put words together to tell a story. As a copywriter, my job is to craft that story so a specific type of person will want to take a specific action after reading my story.

In short, my job is playing pretend all day. 

If you’re curious about how I answer a frequently asked question on how I adapt to writing in various styles, you might want to check out my latest article (a 2-minute read): Can You Write in My Voice?