He's a Twitter sensation

So I examine his writing and give you 10 reasons why

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SHEEHAN QUIRKE was sweeping cigarette butts in a London McDonalds when he opened a Twitter account and started writing about the arts. In just over a year he amassed 1.5 million followers, 100,000 newsletter subscribers and received patronage that now lets him write full-time.

He goes by the name of Cultural Tutor and his work has a unique blend of specificity, authority and groundedness. In this post we're going to look at it up close. Five minutes. One piece. Ten tactics you can use to hone your writing craft.

First, go and read his piece. It’ll take a few mins and without it you will lose the value of this essay.

Welcome back. Let’s dive straight in. Here are ten qualities of Quirke’s work that will help you be a better writer.

1) Ask what others don’t think to ask

From the outset, his topic—wall finishings—is dated and unsexy. But why is that important? And how did he come up with it? Allow me a quick fantasy for a sec…

I imagine Quirke down the pub with his mate, swigging the last of his drink, staring at the bar wall’s swirly pattern, when the question suddenly occurs to him, "What happened to walls with texture!?" His mate just shrugs, assuming the question is rhetorical. But for Quirke, it isn’t rhetorical—and he adds it to his notes to research later.

That's what Quirke does well. He notices things. Even mundane things. Especially mundane things. And he doesn't leave questions unanswered. Being uncommonly curious allows him to go unusually deep, learn something specific and surprising and write things nobody else writes.

2) Open with a mystery

Quirke opens his piece with a simple question that presents a mystery you can only solve by reading on: What happened to walls with texture? There's a name for this in psychology—the Zeigarnik Effect¹—where our brains remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones. Questions work well for this. And it’s a tactic all the best writers use. So. What exactly did happen to all those walls with texture?

3) Find the tension

Quirke’s tweet centres around a common enemy that creates high stakes: the dangers of plain white walls and our worrying rupture with nature. Stories die without tension. And even though he's not writing a novel, he still frames his analysis within a story that matters. Loss of productivity? Deteriorating health? This has real implications for humanity.

How incredible that he’s able to find tension in something as humdrum as wallpaper. If he can find tension in walls, then you can find tension in anything.

4) Add an intriguing hero image

Next, take a look at the hero image he used. What job is it doing?

Firstly, it sets up a visual comparison and comparisons grab your attention.

Secondly, it introduces us to a strange new language—Popcorn, Orange Peel, Sand Swirl—which increases intrigue and suggests a puzzle to solve or knowledge to gain. It creates curiosity about the stories and traditions that went on behind the language and I simply gotsta click!

5) Build convincing arguments

Throughout his piece, Quirke lays down strong supporting arguments drawn from a range of sources like tech and fashion, the evolution of calculator design, images of leaves and the many brick walls—all of them familiar.

By the end, it’s hard to disagree with him. And now I even find myself looking for more examples of featurelessness in the world around me. The room I’m in right now, for instance. Plain walls, plain ceiling, plain everything.

6) Pre-empt challenges

Building on the previous point, Quirke anticipates potential counterpoints—like this one about decoration being valued over texture—and he deals with it, showing close readers that he’s considered alternative viewpoints and done his homework.

7) Inject “aha!” moments

As well as his main thesis, Quirke’s woven in at least four “aha!” moments, each of which is secreted gradually, serving as replenishing little dopamine shots propelling you through the piece:

💡 Our culture has entered a minimalist design phase (3rd tweet of 20)

💡 There are no featureless finishes in nature (7th tweet)

💡 Natural texture is not simply repetitive (12th tweet)

💡 Texture doesn’t distract; the absence of texture distracts (16th tweet)

8) Relate to your reader

If we think of Quirke’s mystery opener as functioning more like a title, then his first real sentence begins “Once upon a time…” I'm curious to know, what effect did that have on you? For me, it conjured all the familiarity of a cosy bedtime story.

It also reveals his personality. With those four short words, his writing becomes warm and playful, telling me a lot about the kind of writer—and the kind of man—that he is. And that’s the sort of relationship I want. As the writer William Zinsser said, “If we care about the writer we’ll follow him into subjects that we could have sworn we never wanted to know about.”—yes, we’ll even follow him into walls.

9) Embrace coined phrases

Readers don’t remember essays; they remember sparkling sentences and coined phrases. And Quirke employs many: decorative detail, visual distraction, and my favourite: visual silence. It’s so cool seeing the juxtaposition of two different senses!

New language is tied to unique cultures. These coined phrases hint at a different way of life, a different worldview, stoking the imagination and giving readers new ways to see the world.

10) Write like a real person

Quirke’s use of solid nouns grounds his writing and gives it life. Words like brick, stone, bamboo, thatching, wood, terracotta, ceramic, forests, meadows, beaches, mountains, rivers and cliffs sit with integrity on the page and intimacy in the mind. Unlike abstract notions and isms, this is language we can grab a hold of. It’s the world of real people doing real actions in real places. And it feels damn good to read.

When you look closely, a simple Twitter thread turns out to be a rich tapestry of writing that combines:

1. an uncommon curiosity

2. a mystery opener

3. tension

4. intriguing images

5. solid arguments

6. preempted rebuttals

7. well-placed “aha!” moments

8. relatability

9. lovely coined phrases and

10. down-to-earth language

This is what it takes to make work that millions of people read. But did you spot anything I missed? What new questions did it raise? And do you think some of these qualities are more important than others? Let me know in the comments.

I might do more craft deep dives like this. I learned a lot and I enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it too.

See you next time folks! Happy writing!

—Harrison

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Thanks to Jonny at

Jonny Bates

, Fis at

Thee CansaFis Foote Show

, Lee at

Show Up Powerfully

, Ian at

Measuring Design

and Justin for helping me with this.

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1. Here are 30 examples of top writers hooking readers using the Zeigarnik Effect→