hook-writer

---
name: hook-writer
description: Write the hook for a LinkedIn post, short video, carousel cover or email subject in ten proven patterns from the author's real material, score them, and pick the best two.
---

# Win the first line so the rest gets read

Ten hooks from your own numbers and stories, scored, the best two picked and logged.

## Claude does
1. Substance first. Get {FORMAT} (LinkedIn first line, short-video open, YouTube open, carousel cover, email subject), {AUDIENCE}, and the body condensed to one sentence, {POINT}. No body, no hook.
2. Collect {SPECIFICS}, real material only: numbers exactly as given (873.47 beats 900), names, a concrete thing, a dated result, one first-person failure. Ask for what is missing; never guess a number.
3. Add the targets: the belief {POINT} contradicts, the named enemy, the question they already ask and its tension, for video the Target, Transformation and Stakes, and the skeleton of any past post that worked.
4. Set {GOAL} and the patterns that earn it: controversy earns comments, value earns saves, story earns watch time, curiosity earns engagement.
5. Choose {OUT_DIR}, fill CODEX.md, run the hand-off.

## Then Codex does
Codex drafts ten hooks in the shape {FORMAT} needs (first line plus escalation line under 210 characters on LinkedIn; on-screen, spoken and visual for video), scores them, marks the top two, writes hooks.md and hook-log.md. Bulk drafting to a fixed rubric, so Codex does it.

```
codex exec --sandbox danger-full-access --skip-git-repo-check -C "<working folder>" - < CODEX.md
```

Fill first: {FORMAT}, {AUDIENCE}, {POINT}, {SPECIFICS}, {GOAL}, {OUT_DIR}.

## Claude checks
1. Ten hooks, each true to its pattern: a confession confesses, a question carries a specific tension.
2. Every number, name or concrete thing is in {SPECIFICS}, unrounded. Anything else was invented.
3. Re-score all ten, counting words and characters yourself; over 210 characters on LinkedIn fails.
4. Read each aloud: a banned phrase, ALL CAPS, greeting or "How to" fails it.
5. Line two escalates line one, never restates it.
6. Top two are the highest scores (ties by {GOAL}), one sentence each, winning pattern stated, hook-log.md gained a line.
7. Any failure: send Codex the hook number and the check, rerun, recheck. Nothing reaches the user until all pass.
8. Show all ten scored, the top two, the winning pattern, and the test rule: same body, new first line, compare saves and comments, not likes.

## Rules
- Ten patterns, one each: contrarian, number, confession, result then method, the question they already ask, unfinished sentence, time-boxed lesson, list promise, named enemy, direct address.
- Score: specific (number, name, concrete thing) +2; under 12 words +1; opens a gap +2; only this author could write it +1; cliché, emoji or "game-changer" -3.
- Show all ten scored, top two with a sentence each, and the winning pattern, so the author learns which patterns the audience rewards.
- True material only: nothing invented, rounded or unprovable; confess instead.
- No bare questions ("Thoughts?", "Agree?"): 34% fewer likes than statements.
- One pattern per hook; no ALL CAPS, greetings before a video hook, em dashes, "In today's world", "Here's the thing:", "Let that sink in", "Let's dive in" or "I'm excited to share".
- "How I" not "How to"; benefit or pain before topic; 1 to 5 word first lines beat 11 to 15.
- No "comment X" gates or "change my mind" closers.
- Test the hook, not the post; after five videos under 1% completion, change the hook family.

## If Codex is not installed
Claude does the Codex section itself, to the same format, and says so.

## Built from
- coreyhaines31/marketingskills social skill: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/social/SKILL.md (46,908 stars, api.github.com, 5 Sep 2026).
- sergebulaev/linkedin-skills hook-formulas.md: https://github.com/sergebulaev/linkedin-skills/blob/main/references/hook-formulas.md (867 stars).
- blacktwist/social-media-skills hook-writer-sms: https://github.com/blacktwist/social-media-skills/blob/main/skills/hook-writer-sms/SKILL.md (478 stars).
- kvsdileep/linkedin-writer hooks-framework.md: https://github.com/kvsdileep/linkedin-writer/blob/main/references/hooks-framework.md (18 stars; matches Kallaway's video transcript verbatim).
- Justin Welsh: https://justinwelsh.me/essays/the-anatomy-of-a-viral-linkedin-post (one post, 4.766M impressions).
- George Blackman: https://www.georgeblackman.com/write-on-time/my-3-step-framework-for-writing-killer-hooks (86% retention at 30 seconds).

# Win the first line so the rest gets read - Codex task

## You are given
- {FORMAT}: LinkedIn first line, short-video open, YouTube open, carousel cover or email subject.
- {AUDIENCE}: who reads or watches.
- {POINT}: the piece in one sentence. Hooks promise only what it delivers.
- {SPECIFICS}: real material only: exact numbers, names, a concrete thing, a dated result, a first-person failure, the belief to contradict, the named enemy, the question they ask and its tension, Target, Transformation and Stakes for video, and any skeleton of a post that worked.
- {GOAL}: what the piece should earn and which patterns earn it. Breaks ties.
- {OUT_DIR}: output folder.

No other context exists; every word comes from these inputs.

## Produce
Write {OUT_DIR}/hooks.md in three parts.

**Part 1: ten hooks**, numbered, one per pattern, in this order. Quotes show the shape; words come from {SPECIFICS}.
1. Contrarian: "Cold calling isn't dead. Bad cold calling is."
2. Number, exact: "13% of your spend goes to systems that don't talk."
3. Confession: "I don't read most of what the AI writes me."
4. Result, then method: "22 meetings in March. Here's the boring part that did it."
5. The question they already ask, with its tension: "Why does every follow-up sound like begging?"
6. Unfinished sentence: "The best salesperson I ever hired had never sold anything, and"
7. Time-boxed lesson: "Three years running restaurants taught me one thing about software:"
8. List promise: "Five calls your team should make and never does."
9. Named enemy: "The spreadsheet behind the till is the most expensive software you own."
10. Direct address, Target then Stakes: "If you send 200 emails a week for two replies, read this."

Shape by {FORMAT}:
- LinkedIn: first line, then one line that reverses it or raises the stakes (But, Yet, Except); under 210 characters in total; loop left open.
- Short video: ON SCREEN (under six words), SPOKEN (inside two seconds), VISUAL (the first frame). No greeting.
- YouTube open: the title restated with its stakes, under eight seconds.
- Carousel cover or email subject: one line.

Under each hook: `Words: N | Chars: N | Score: N (items applied)`.

**Part 2:** the two highest scores in full, ties broken by {GOAL}, each with one sentence on why it works.

**Part 3:** `Winning pattern: <number> <name>`.

Append to {OUT_DIR}/hook-log.md (create if missing): `<date> | {FORMAT} | pattern <number> | after 48h: saves ?, comments ?`.

## Rules
- Score exactly: specific (number, name, concrete thing) +2; under 12 words +1; opens a gap the reader must close +2; only this author could write it +1; cliché, emoji or "game-changer" -3.
- Every number, name or concrete thing must be in {SPECIFICS}, un-rounded. Invent nothing; the confession is the one given.
- "How I", never "How to"; benefit or pain before topic; 1 to 5 word first lines beat 11 to 15.
- One pattern per hook; no ALL CAPS, em dashes, "In today's world", "Here's the thing:", "Let that sink in", "Let's dive in", "I'm excited to share", "Thoughts?", "Agree?" or "comment X" gates.
- Line two never restates line one.

## Return
Print: the ten hooks with words, characters and score; the top two with reasons and the winning pattern; both file paths; and one line, "Specifics used:", listing every number, name and concrete thing used, so Claude can match each to {SPECIFICS}.