Volume wins.
There isn't a writing platform on the internet where this ISN'T the case. Social platforms. Major publications. Every growth period of my writing career happened during months/years of consistent volume.
Period.
[THREAD]: Here are 10 (painful) lessons I've learned writing 3,000+ articles on the internet over the past 7 years.
On writing advice, growth hacks, going viral, and feeling fulfilled in the process 👇
Volume wins.
There isn't a writing platform on the internet where this ISN'T the case. Social platforms. Major publications. Every growth period of my writing career happened during months/years of consistent volume.
Period.
In my early 20s, I spent a LOT of time reading digital marketing blogs about how to get 50% more views here, or 20% more subscribers there.
A lot of it is mental masturbation.
You're far better off just consistently creating new content.
You don't have to "air your dirty laundry," but you do have to say something that makes the person on the other side of the screen pause, *feel you*, and engage.
This can be done through story, tone, before/after photos, etc.
You go viral by publishing day after day, week after week, year after year.
My Quora dashboard is a great example. Out of 1,200+ Answers, less than 100 have gone viral.
That's not luck. That's rolling the dice 1,200+ times.
This is a brutal truth, and one of the first big hurdles you have to overcome as a writer online. If your writing isn't engaging, you might not be saying anything unique/compelling/original.
So? Dig deeper.
The publishing world celebrates best-selling authors. The reality? Most are broke.
The writers with the most creative AND financial freedom are all independent. They monetize in a variety of ways—not just book sales.
It's lucrative. It's a supercharger for building a powerful network. It teaches you how to write in different voices. It allows you to play with words all day long & practice your craft.
Every writer should also ghostwrite.
I became a ghostwriter after I had already built myself as a writer on Quora. Nobody paid me to write online. That was a personal investment in myself, and it changed my life.
Always always invest in yourself.
The easiest ways to make $$ as a writer is by providing a service or teaching. Both, low barrier to entry.
Get here, first. THEN, once you're established as a full-time writer, chase the Great American Novel dream
Anyone who is actively writing is a writer.
Anyone no longer actively writing (IMO) is not. They're a "retired writer."
Don't wait for the accolade to tell you who you are.
Let your habits speak for you.
Join 10,000+ other writers and get them straight to your inbox, every morning M-F:
https://t.co/aB6kuANb2l
More from Nicolas Cole
I started writing threads on Twitter in 2019.
Since then, I've written more than 200 threads and accumulated over 50,000,000 views on Twitter alone.
Want to know a secret?
I (pretty much) use the same 7 thread templates every time.
🧵👇
Template #1: The Framework Thread
The best frameworks all follow this same recipe:
• To solve X [well-known & difficult] problem
• I do Y [unconventional] thing
• To achieve Z [highly desirable]
Template #2: The Curation Thread
Recipe: "I did all this work—so you don't have to."
But the secret w/ curation threads is to niche down HARD.
"Biz books to read on investing" > "Best biz books" > "Best
Template #3: The "This Just Happened" Thread
Breaking News always has a 24-48 hour hype cycle.
The recipe here is:
• Write about a trending topic
• Provide your own unique take
• Unique take must be relevant to your
Template #4: The "If I Had To Do It Over Again" Thread
Recipe =
• I achieved X
• And made a lot of mistakes along the way
• If I were you, and had to do it all over again, here's what I would do
Since then, I've written more than 200 threads and accumulated over 50,000,000 views on Twitter alone.
Want to know a secret?
I (pretty much) use the same 7 thread templates every time.
🧵👇
Template #1: The Framework Thread
The best frameworks all follow this same recipe:
• To solve X [well-known & difficult] problem
• I do Y [unconventional] thing
• To achieve Z [highly desirable]
In 2021, I published 4 books.
— Nicolas Cole \U0001f6a2 (@Nicolascole77) January 3, 2022
In 2022, I plan on publishing 8.
Here's the 5-step framework I use to write 60,000+ words in 30 hours or less (2,000 words per hour) \U0001f447
Template #2: The Curation Thread
Recipe: "I did all this work—so you don't have to."
But the secret w/ curation threads is to niche down HARD.
"Biz books to read on investing" > "Best biz books" > "Best
Over the past 10 years, I have read over 500 business books.
— Nicolas Cole \U0001f6a2 (@Nicolascole77) January 4, 2022
99% were 1 idea stretched across 300 pages.
They should have been blog posts.
Save yourself the time and just read these 10 \U0001f447
Template #3: The "This Just Happened" Thread
Breaking News always has a 24-48 hour hype cycle.
The recipe here is:
• Write about a trending topic
• Provide your own unique take
• Unique take must be relevant to your
Today, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
— Nicolas Cole \U0001f6a2 (@Nicolascole77) January 18, 2022
$68.7 billion. All cash.
But Activision has had a rough couple years.
\u2022 World of Warcraft dying
\u2022 Overwatch delayed
\u2022 Sexual harassment charges
Microsoft needs to fix these 3 things to be successful:
\U0001f9f5\U0001f447
Template #4: The "If I Had To Do It Over Again" Thread
Recipe =
• I achieved X
• And made a lot of mistakes along the way
• If I were you, and had to do it all over again, here's what I would do
I started writing online when I was 17 years old.
— Nicolas Cole \U0001f6a2 (@Nicolascole77) November 10, 2021
Since then, I've...
\u2022 Written 3,000+ articles online
\u2022 Ghostwritten 1,500+ articles online
\u2022 Published 5 books & 30 "mini-books"
\u2022 Built two 7-figure writing businesses
If I had to start from $0 again, here's what I'd do:
More from Writing
I want to talk about how western editors and readers often mistake protags written by BIPOC as "inactive protagonists." It's too common an issue that's happened to every BIPOC author I know.
Often, our protags are just trying to survive overwhelming odds. Survival is an active choice, you know. Survival is a story. Choosing to be strong in the face of the world ending, even if you can't blast a wall down to do it, is a choice.
It's how we live these days.
Western editors, readers, and writers are too married to the three-act structure, to the type of storytelling that is driven by conflict, to that go-getter individualism. Please read more widely out of your comfort zone. A lot of great non-western stories do not hinge on these.
Sometimes I wonder if you're all so hopped up on the conflict-driven story because that's exactly how your colonizer ancestors dealt with people different from them. Oops, I said it, sorry not sorry. Yes, even this mindset has roots in colonialism, deal with it.
If you want examples of non-conflict-driven storytelling google the following: kishoutenketsu, johakyu, daisy chain storytelling/wheel spoke storytelling. There was another one whose name I forgot but I will tweet it when I recall it.
Writing tip: let\u2019s talk about the INACTIVE PROTAGONIST. I\u2019ve seen a lot of amazing books lately with incredible plots, intricate worlds, and just really great writing with one recurring issue, which is the inactive protagonist. I think it can get tough when you\u2019re writing (1/10)
— Briston Brooks (@briston_brooks) January 26, 2021
Often, our protags are just trying to survive overwhelming odds. Survival is an active choice, you know. Survival is a story. Choosing to be strong in the face of the world ending, even if you can't blast a wall down to do it, is a choice.
It's how we live these days.
Western editors, readers, and writers are too married to the three-act structure, to the type of storytelling that is driven by conflict, to that go-getter individualism. Please read more widely out of your comfort zone. A lot of great non-western stories do not hinge on these.
Sometimes I wonder if you're all so hopped up on the conflict-driven story because that's exactly how your colonizer ancestors dealt with people different from them. Oops, I said it, sorry not sorry. Yes, even this mindset has roots in colonialism, deal with it.
If you want examples of non-conflict-driven storytelling google the following: kishoutenketsu, johakyu, daisy chain storytelling/wheel spoke storytelling. There was another one whose name I forgot but I will tweet it when I recall it.
So a final thread from me as your host today: some top tips on how to write for a popular audience about complicated subjects #space #science #writing #storytelling
The essence of any good communication is simplicity. It’s the same in print, television, radio, online, or attaching notes to carrier pigeon’s legs.
In the sixties, a Granada current affairs show set the template for using a visual medium more effective: it was pioneered by a remarkable fellow called Tim Hewat, a flavour of whose personality is here:
Up to this point, most television in this country had been akin to putting radio on television: most of it was beyond parody though this from Harry Enfield is spot on -- the patronising smug tone that meant the BBC was nicknamed "Auntie" --
And take a look at the longest running TV show as it then appeared: https://t.co/T4FdppnQMo
(Patrick was a brilliant broadcaster. The point I am trying to make is the medium was not exactly groundbreaking in the visuals department)
The essence of any good communication is simplicity. It’s the same in print, television, radio, online, or attaching notes to carrier pigeon’s legs.
In the sixties, a Granada current affairs show set the template for using a visual medium more effective: it was pioneered by a remarkable fellow called Tim Hewat, a flavour of whose personality is here:
Up to this point, most television in this country had been akin to putting radio on television: most of it was beyond parody though this from Harry Enfield is spot on -- the patronising smug tone that meant the BBC was nicknamed "Auntie" --
And take a look at the longest running TV show as it then appeared: https://t.co/T4FdppnQMo
(Patrick was a brilliant broadcaster. The point I am trying to make is the medium was not exactly groundbreaking in the visuals department)
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The entire discussion around Facebook’s disclosures of what happened in 2016 is very frustrating. No exec stopped any investigations, but there were a lot of heated discussions about what to publish and when.
In the spring and summer of 2016, as reported by the Times, activity we traced to GRU was reported to the FBI. This was the standard model of interaction companies used for nation-state attacks against likely US targeted.
In the Spring of 2017, after a deep dive into the Fake News phenomena, the security team wanted to publish an update that covered what we had learned. At this point, we didn’t have any advertising content or the big IRA cluster, but we did know about the GRU model.
This report when through dozens of edits as different equities were represented. I did not have any meetings with Sheryl on the paper, but I can’t speak to whether she was in the loop with my higher-ups.
In the end, the difficult question of attribution was settled by us pointing to the DNI report instead of saying Russia or GRU directly. In my pre-briefs with members of Congress, I made it clear that we believed this action was GRU.
The story doesn\u2019t say you were told not to... it says you did so without approval and they tried to obfuscate what you found. Is that true?
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) November 15, 2018
In the spring and summer of 2016, as reported by the Times, activity we traced to GRU was reported to the FBI. This was the standard model of interaction companies used for nation-state attacks against likely US targeted.
In the Spring of 2017, after a deep dive into the Fake News phenomena, the security team wanted to publish an update that covered what we had learned. At this point, we didn’t have any advertising content or the big IRA cluster, but we did know about the GRU model.
This report when through dozens of edits as different equities were represented. I did not have any meetings with Sheryl on the paper, but I can’t speak to whether she was in the loop with my higher-ups.
In the end, the difficult question of attribution was settled by us pointing to the DNI report instead of saying Russia or GRU directly. In my pre-briefs with members of Congress, I made it clear that we believed this action was GRU.
