Self-indulgence is killing your writing.
Recently, while digging into why so many of my own articles struggled to gain traction, I realized a trap that ensnares far too many dedicated creators: we fall in love with our own effort inside a self-absorbed bubble. We agonize over syntax, spend hours tweaking phrasing, and naively believe that “good prose” guarantees a good piece. But reality is ruthless: mobile readers decide whether to stay or swipe in just 0.5 seconds. In the digital age, writing online isn’t highbrow literature—it’s a cutthroat attention business.
In The Art and Business of Online Writing, Nicolas Cole ruthlessly pops the bubble of the self-indulgent writer.
Important Readers aren’t here to admire our prose. They’re here to extract value.
If we want to command attention on mobile screens, we have to tear down our old habits and rebuild our craft around a counterintuitive framework.
1. Readers Have Only One Objective: They Aren’t Here to Admire You; They’re Here to Extract Value
We get addicted to self-expression. Our credentials, our emotional venting, the metaphors we spent late nights agonizing over—to the reader, it’s all just noise. A reader clicks on an article with a single motive:
Get what they came for as fast as possible.
Stop expecting the reader to adapt to you. Readers don’t care who we are; they care what we can do for them.
That’s why, after finishing every single paragraph, we need to stare at the screen and ask ourselves:
What does the reader actually take away from this?
If the answer is nothing, cut it ruthlessly.
2. Leverage the Curiosity Gap: A Headline’s Sole Job Is to Build Suspense, Not Spoil the Ending
Most writers try to cram the entire piece into the headline. All that does is kill the reader’s impulse to explore.
A great headline is an invitation. The concept of the “Curiosity Gap,” as Cole defines it, hinges on making readers realize an article is deeply relevant to them without giving away the punchline upfront.
- ❌ The Spoiler (Dead on Arrival): “How I Made $15,000 a Month from Online Writing.”
- ✅ The Slippery Slide: “I Did One Counterintuitive Thing in 30 Days. It 10x’d My Writing Income.”
The reader doesn’t know what that “one thing” is, can’t stand not knowing, and is compelled to click.
3. Respect the 10% Rule: The First Three Lines Make or Break the Piece
Readers have far less patience than you think. Industry data shows that the first 10% of an article dictates whether 90% of readers stay or bounce.
Never start with generic fluff like “In today’s fast-paced world…” It’s a lazy, suicidal opening that drains dopamine on contact.
Your first sentence should be a short, sharp declaration that cuts straight into a pain point like an ice pick. Pull the reader onto your visual slide and compel them to keep reading without stopping.
4. Specific Details Beat Grand Narratives: Specificity Builds Warmth and Trust
Empty adjectives cheapen your writing.
Readers only trust concrete realities. If you write, “Discipline is essential,” readers scroll past without a second thought. But write, “I woke up at 5 AM for 100 consecutive days to write code,” and an image forms immediately. It feels human and authentic.
Grand narratives carry no warmth; concrete details do. Sharing tangible, lived experiences is the one moat that AI can never replicate.
5. Online Writing Is a Science of Data, Not an Elusive Art
Stop romanticizing “innate writing talent.” Cole’s most counterintuitive thesis is simple: treat your writing like data and practice deliberately.
Inspiration cannot be standardized, but feedback can. Click-through rates on headlines, retention through the first 10%, and share rates at the bottom are all quantifiable signals.
When a piece takes off, deconstruct and replicate it. When a piece flops, run an autopsy. The data will teach you how to write compelling content.
6. Free Content Builds Trust; Paid Offers Capitalize on It
The quickest way to fail at monetization is putting the cart before the horse.
Online, trust is the only currency that matters. Too many creators publish a handful of articles and immediately pitch a paid course or consulting offer—only to be met with dead silence.
Cole’s business model is straightforward: generously give away 99% of your best insights and actionable takeaways for free to build rock-solid authority. Once that trust is banked, you introduce the 1% premium product, and readers will gladly pull out their wallets.
Important Resonance first. Monetization second.
7. Cadence Is King in Chinese Writing: Short Sentences and Whitespace Are the Visual Antidote
Dense walls of characters are a death sentence for mobile readers’ attention.
Unlike English, Chinese has no natural spacing between words. When characters pack together on a phone screen, they form an overwhelming wall of gray text. Cole advocates for generous whitespace in English; translated into Chinese writing, that means leaning heavily on periods and line breaks.
One sentence, one visual. Keep paragraphs under three lines, and use deliberate blank lines between them. By alternating between short single-line sentences and slightly longer blocks like rising and falling waves, you give the reader’s eyes room to breathe, pulling them effortlessly down the page.
Final Thoughts
These counterintuitive rules sound deceptively simple.
So simple that 99% of writers will finish reading this and retreat straight back into the comfort of self-indulgent writing.
But that’s the reality of the digital ecosystem: it only rewards the rare few willing to rein in their self-expression and make the reader the hero of the story.
Are you willing to overcome the urge to write for yourself and become the 1% who truly commands digital attention?