Why I answer at least one question on Quora a day and why you should too.
I first stumbled upon Quora in December of last year. I was brought here by google’s search engine after typing a question about cryptocurrency in the search bar. I was instantly hooked. People all around the world, debating, sharing ideas, helping each other understand stuff, that is what internet is all about, in my opinion at least.
I read a lot and recently I’ve been trying to actually write. To get on the other side of the pen, or the ink, or the book, or whatever, you get the point. To be an author. To bring value to people, to put ideas in people’s minds just like the author of the books I have read left in mine. But lets face it, it’s not that simple. You don’t become an author by commenting facebook posts or creating a thread (however long it may be) on Twitter. So how then ?
Create valuable content for people
Nowadays everyone is competing for your attention, your time. Wheter it is your wife, your dog, your friend that always wants to go out for a drink, or the big media companies around the world. Attention has become a precious commodity. This is why, to be a successful author, you must bring value to your reader. You have to bring something to the table to make him dedicate some of his precious time to reading your bullshit.
Focus on your audience, what you can teach them. What you can do to improve their lives.
Write consistently
This is obvious but I didn’t get it straight away. I don’t know if I’m stupid but I thought that authors wrote a few weeks a year when they had an idea and the rest of the time they would be sipping wine waiting for the next idea. This doesn’t work. If you want to improve your writing skills, your storytelling ability, the only way is to pick up the pencil (or the keyboard) and start writing. Practise is the key.
Write everyday, about anything. Get used to letting words flow out of your brain, you’ll get better.
Improve with feedback
This part is important. I write a lot on my computer. I journal I guess I could say. Everyday when I wake up in the morning at get onto my computer or pick up a notebook and write what comes to mind. This exercise really helps me come up with new ideas and keep track of what is going on in my life. The only problem is, I can’t share it. It’s boring. Sometimes repetitive. It’s no use to anyone else than me and for that reason I can’t have feedback on it.
Feedback is the key to being a good author because at the end of the day, you’re not writing for yourself. An article or book isn’t great because you say so but because it brings value to the people that read it. The audience is the ultimate judge. It can sentence your content to the abyss or promote it all the way up for the entire world to see.
This is why gathering feedback on your writings and improving upon it is crucial to be a good author.
Enter Quora :
I’ve found that Quora is the best place to actually practice these 3 exercises.
I’ve selected topics that I am interested and somewhat knowledgeable about and answer people’s questions. I’m creating value because I’m directly responding to a demand for a information.
Quora can be quite cruel considering that it is hard to get upvotes (even though they are free, I don’t understand it). You have to really show you have done your homework if you wan’t to get love from the Quoran community. Overall, this is a good thing because it makes you have to show strong arguments and data to get prove your point, exercising your ability to collect and organise information.
Lastly, Quora is the best place to get feedback instantly since users will respond, comment, upvote, downvote your content based on the value you bought to them. Carefully analysing the answers that have to most upvotes and engagement stats will give you hindsight on writing interesting content for mass audiences.
So here is why I decided to answer 1 quora question a day. I think it’s a good way to improve my writing skills while helping others and participate in a purposeful community.
If you liked this article, feel free to check me out on Quora
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