All of my most popular Quora answers followed a similar methodology. 800,000+ views: How to become more confident. 783,000+ views: How to stop being … - Nicolas Cole

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

The answers with the most engagement almost always begin at the absolute height of the story: “The first time I became a millionaire, I was living in my parents’ basement.” Boom. You’re in the story before you’ve even decided whether or not you wanted to be there in the first place.

The entire — and I mean this quite literally, the ENTIRE — art and business and “game” of online writing is rooted in understanding what category you’re actually competing within. Unless you can consciously name the category, you will never have a firm grasp as to whether your work is “Better” or “Worse” than the competition. It isn’t until you understand the category, and see “The Ladder” that exists within your category, that you can begin climbing your way to the top.