Write a hook that survives the first three seconds, not just reads well
Most hooks are written to be read, not to stop a scroll.
- Use it for
- Anyone writing content for a feed where attention is the first fight.
A hook that "reads well" in isolation and a hook that actually stops someone scrolling are different things, and most drafts optimize for the first without checking the second. A well-written sentence that takes three seconds to parse has already lost against a scroll — the hook needs to land its point almost instantly, specific enough that skipping it feels like missing something, not vague enough to preface anything.
This prompt asks for multiple hook variants built around a specific tension or stake, then picks apart which actually earns the next line.
When not to use this
For long-form content someone already chose to click into — an article, a newsletter someone subscribed to — the scroll-stopping pressure is lower and a more measured opening works fine. This is specifically for feed content competing against an infinite scroll.
Did this work?
The hook creates a specific, immediate reason to keep reading — not a generic curiosity gap that could preface any piece of content.
Tested on claude-opus-5. Evidence status is draft; it moves to battle-tested only on recorded runs, never by hand.