Nicolas Cole 🚢👻 Profile picture
Aug 30, 2021 23 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Today is The Art & Business of Online Writing 1 Year Anniversary

• Self-published
• Sold 4,000+ copies to date
• Still selling ~300 copies/mo
• 5 Stars on Amazon

Thank you to everyone who grabbed a copy!

Here are my favorite 20 quotes from the book, visualized:

👇📗
Give away 99% of your best writing for free. Monetize the last 1%. Image
In the game of Online Writing, volume wins. Image
The Golden Intersection of great writing is:

Answering The Reader’s Question

&

Telling Them An Entertaining Story Image
You are not the main character in your story. The reader is. Image
If the “sweet spot” of an online article is 800 to 1,200 words, then your job as a writer is to pack as much value into your Main Points as possible—without inflating the piece’s word count. Image
The size of your audience is a direct reflection of the size of the question you’re answering. Image
The Curiosity Gap in your headline tells the reader what this piece of writing is about, who it’s for, and what it’s promising—all without revealing the answer. Image
It’s only “clickbait” if you fail to keep your promise to the reader. Image
Anytime you fail to deliver on your promise to a reader, you’ve lost them. Image
Consistent output is the secret to every growth metric on the internet: views, comments, Likes, shares, etc. Image
Data doesn’t lie. But data is also a reflection of the external crowd, and not necessarily your internal compass. Image
If your goal is to be a successful writer, then social platforms are for publishing first, and consuming second. Image
When it comes to writing online, platforms will always change, but the rules will stay (pretty much) the same. Image
Categories are created at unlikely intersections, spotted by writers with an intimate understanding of one or multiple sub-categories. Image
What makes a badge of credibility valuable isn’t really the badge itself. It’s how the writer chooses to wear it. Image
The inverse rule of “Specificity Is The Secret,” is “The Broader You Are, The More Confusing You Are.” Image
When I was in college, one of my teachers used to say all the time, “If your story is reliant on the reader making it past the first few pages, then chances are, your story doesn’t need those pages.” Image
Categories are how we organize information in our minds. Define your category and you’ll know where readers “fit” you into their minds. Image
Successful writers play the game of Online Writing consciously. Unsuccessful writers play the game unconsciously—and then wonder why they aren’t succeeding. Image
There are 2 types of writers today: those who use data to inform and improve their writing, and those who fail. Image
If you haven't read The Art & Business of Online Writing yet, you can grab a copy here:

amzn.to/2Yf1tKR
Special thanks to @SACHIN_RAMJE for doing an amazing job visualizing all these quotes from the book.

If you are looking for someone to help you visualize your own content, I can't recommend Sachin enough. Such a joy to collaborate with. Hit him up!

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More from @Nicolascole77

Mar 13
How Game of Thrones was created is wild: Multiple plots. No single hero. No clear villains.

But it won 59 Emmys and held the World Record for "Most pirated TV show" for years.

I studied its storytelling and psychology tricks.

Here's the philosophy I found: 🧵 Image
George R.R. Martin didn’t just write multiple plots—he made four unstoppable forces clash:

• Power struggle over the Iron Throne
• The Stark-Lannister war
• The White Walker threat
• Rise of Daenerys

Each story crashed into the others, reshaping TV forever. Image
The brilliance was in how these plots connected.

While most writers struggle with 1-2 storylines, GOT made its complexity an advantage.

Every major moment in one plot created ripple effects in all others.

The secret? It's not what you'd expect: Image
Read 18 tweets
Mar 7
With 300+ million books sold, James Patterson holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 NYT bestsellers in history.

But many refuse to call him a "real" writer, and Stephen King called his work "terrible."

Here's the controversial writing method behind his $800M empire🧵 Image
Born in Newburgh, NY, in 1947, James was a good student but confessed that he did not enjoy reading until after high school.

He attended Manhattan College before studying at Vanderbilt University.

In 1971, he worked as a copywriter at J. Walter Thompson. Image
While working his way up at J. Walter Thompson, Patterson wrote his first novel on the side.

After 31 rejections, "The Thomas Berryman Number" won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1977.

But his big break came in 1993 with "Along Came a Spider."

That's when everything changed: Image
Image
Read 20 tweets
Mar 4
5 dead-simple steps to write a 60,000-word book in 30 days—even if you've never written a book before:🧵 Image
For context:

It took me 4 years to write my 1st book and it took me 4 months to write my 2nd book.

Now, I can write a 60,000 word book in 30 days.

Here's the framework: Image
1. Your book's Main Title/Subtitle is 80% of the work.

• What question (of the reader's) are you answering?
• What problem are you solving?
• What solution are you unlocking?
• How are you going to get there?

Don't start writing till you can answer these 4 questions.
Read 9 tweets
Feb 28
The Rick and Morty approach to storytelling is fascinating:

• 1 circle
• 8 plot points
• Repeated over 71 episodes

Dan Harmon adapted The Hero's Journey framework to create one of the most successful TV shows ever.

Here's how it works (and how to master it):🧵 Image
Before Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon was struggling as a writer.

He kept starting scripts but could never finish them. Until he discovered something that would revolutionize television:
He wanted to use Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, but there was a problem:

It was too complex for TV writing. So Harmon did something nobody expected.

He stripped it down to its core and created the Story Circle.

Here's how it works: Image
Read 16 tweets
Feb 21
I'm a TV addict.

Over the last 10 years, I thought I had seen it all, but when I found Seinfeld 'a show about nothing,' it blew my mind.

Everyone should understand the psychology that created one of the most successful TV sitcoms in history.

Here's how it works: 🧵 Image
Larry David had two simple rules for every episode:

"No hugs and no learning."

While other sitcoms taught life lessons and showed character growth, Seinfeld did the opposite: Image
Most sitcoms follow 4 key themes:

• Work
• Hobbies
• Romance
• Friends/Family

What Seinfeld did with these themes would change television forever: Image
Read 18 tweets
Feb 16
This guy has published 83 novels and more than 200 short stories.

He is a towering figure in the world of writing.

All writers should memorize these 14 epic tips from Stephen King's book "On Writing":🧵 Image
Image
Tip #1: Above all others: read and write a lot.

Your fingers have to learn the feel of the keys and your mind must acquire the habit of story-making.

Combine the two and copy a short story by hand to absorb the style.
Tip #2: Stories consist of three parts.

• What happens: Narrative moves the story forward.
• How it happens: Description creates a vivid reality for the reader.
• Who said what: Dialogue brings characters to life with speech.

Leave one out, and the reader will feel cheated.
Read 16 tweets

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