# How to DM Your Heroes Wh... **Covers**:: **Source**:: [How to DM Your Heroes Wh...](https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455410645352914948) **Creator**:: [[@visakanv on Twitter]] # Highlights ##### ^244685976 highlight_tags:: [[favorite]] Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455410645352914948 ###### ^244685976q How to DM your heroes when they follow you 1. specific proof-of-work: “I’ve been a fan of your work and writing since the livejournal days” 2. share sth specific about yourself, their influence on you: “your work shaped the way I now do X” 3. ask easy-to-answer specific Q ^244685976 ##### ^244685977 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455411461933572100 ###### ^244685977q for 3 i would try to have a yes/no component, try to make it something more nuanced than what they’re used to answering all the time, something compelling and slightly personal but not too personal. really smart move is to ask about someone *they’re* a fan of ^244685977 ##### ^244685978 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455411770185580548 ###### ^244685978q IME, if you compress all of this into about 3 short lines, in a single DM, you basically make it irresistible for them to respond, and you’ll likely become friends. This is how I’m friends with some of my mutuals who used to seem like they’re way out of my league ^244685978 ##### ^244685979 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455412476355362822 ###### ^244685979q underlying principles are: - these people are busy, so keep your texts simple and short - they’re used to dealing with people being starstruck, so give them the relief of not having to manage your emotions - they can’t trust u if they don’t know anything about u, so tell em ^244685979 ##### ^244685980 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455413419922755585 ###### ^244685980q when you have a chance for an audience with a king, don’t grovel at his feet for his approval. he gets that shit all the time, it’s exhausting. don’t snark and sneer at him, he gets that too. face him as an equal and give him a kingly gift that’s superior to everything else ^244685980 ##### ^244685981 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455414282774990848 ###### ^244685981q I have like a mental warehouse of such gifts prepared for the top 50-100 people I want to be friends with. If I bump into any of my heroes at a restaurant, I know exactly what I would say to them in 30 seconds “I love your work” over “I love you omg” is like a secret password ^244685981 ##### ^244685982 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455415083610214402 ###### ^244685982q but it’s not just the phrasing of course, a lot of it is about the vibe. you want them to feel “oh my god finally a person who gets me and gets it and they’re not a fanboy or hater, I don’t have to manage them, and they ask me interesting questions too!” ^244685982 ##### ^244685983 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455415621596827654 ###### ^244685983q absolutely do not send them your soundcloud or youtube or novel draft in the first exchange you should have it on hand of course, but your job is to be so interesting that they ask you for it if they don’t ask, you’re going to relegate yourself to opportunist/wannabe ^244685983 ##### ^244685984 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455415883484917761 ###### ^244685984q I mean, not 100% necessarily, but this is a game of odds, and you wanna do things that improve your odds and not do things that worsen your odds ^244685984 ##### ^244685985 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455417649286893569 ###### ^244685985q one of my beliefs that I haven’t articulated clearly yet: I think the irresistability of a great ask is almost independent of the asker and the asked. a truly fantastic ask is something that the universe itself seems compelled to honor ^244685985 ##### ^244685986 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455419678285651971 ###### ^244685986q a fantastic ask is not the same as a dramatic gesture, which can be imposing. a dramatic gesture is like, sending them 10 pages of DMs. it’s intimidating, overwhelming, selfish, unfair. a fantastic ask is small but perfect, like a haiku you hear once and remember forever https://t.co/tqEXy0AwDl ^244685986 ##### ^244685987 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455420972387868690 ###### ^244685987q No “I’m sure you get this all the time” or “you’re probably not gonna see this” typa nonsense. Edit that out. A perfect ask comes without strings, like an oasis in the desert. Talk like you’re casually confident (but not arrogant!! edit that out too) that you’re already peers ^244685987 ##### ^244685988 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455421204097945602 ###### ^244685988q 👑 recognise 👑 https://t.co/O4NFz9k0r7 ^244685988 ##### ^244685989 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1455422169920327680 ###### ^244685989q I have a lot more to say about cultivating this vibe, in an ebook called Friendly Ambitious Nerd 🤓 https://t.co/WgLkjpELkg ^244685989