Nicolas Cole: Unwinding the Thread

Nicolas Cole: Unwinding the Thread

Tonight I'm getting back to unpacking the most talented writers on Twitter with a recent favorite of mine, Nicolas Cole.

It's a bit of a snake eating its own tail scenario, considering I'm dissecting Nicolas' tactics to glean insights on writing effectively...and his main focus is sharing those exact tips. But I'm more interested in form and structure than the actual content in this case, and the way Nicolas writes about writing is a lesson unto itself.

In a recent thread on maximizing the mileage of your writing, I started to appreciate the power of a technique that had previously been an afterthought.

Symmetry.

It feels too obvious to point out, but a Tweet is more than just words... it's impact is just as easily traced back to its aesthetic. Its shape & design, the way a scroller is nudged to engage in a particular way.

Writing out bullets in order ascending by length is not some mind-blowing innovation, but it's the easiest example to grasp the power of enforcing a specific flow to your writing. In this case, it leads you down to a punchline, which of course hits harder thanks to the priming.

These tactics are preserved in more typical threads too, like this one from Nicolas on his biggest mistakes.

I love this setup because it takes the trope of the tech bro brag thread and inverts it — listing accomplishments only to stop at the last minute to explain that this won't be about the good times — it's about mistakes made along the way.

Another thing that struck me while I checked in on his feed with an analytical lens was the frequency with which Nicolas challenges assumptions.

Not in a hot take kind of way, moreso with a curious spirit. This is his superpower.

You don't expect anyone to tell writers that improvement is the wrong goal... let alone the guy who literally produces content all day to help writers gather skills. Coming from him, that's a jaw-dropping statement.

But here, as in many of his mental model reframes, he takes that dismissal of convention and forges it into a new, more helpful angle. Is it hyperbolic? Of course – it's Twitter. But the simple idea that domain expertise is as important (if not more) than the writing itself is a wonderful jumping-off point to help his audience overcome the intimidating task of mastering the art of writing. Instead, lean into what you know and the rest will follow.

I'll end with this one, because it hits on something I connect with deeply.

Hitting publish even when you don't want to.

Maybe I'm taking some liberties here, but I interpret that as permission to suck. And as I finish writing this post, I am far from ecstatic about how it's ended up. Truly, I wonder how many readers will even get to this point (if you do, tweet the code word "coconut" and tag me).

But rather than spend double the time revising, I'm going to publish this in a few minutes.

I know that's the right decision in this scenario because there are no stakes (other than public humiliation, which I clearly am immune to) and the time spent rewriting this piece would cut into time spent writing my next (hopefully better) post.

If admitting my writing is mediocre doesn't convince you to subscribe then I don't know what will.