9 requirements to write great hooks (+ advanced writing tips)

In partnership with

Hey,

Content is pointless.

Ok, lemme backpedal a second…

Even if you write great content.

Even if you use engaging visuals.

Even if you find the right audience.

If your hook (or first sentence, or headline, or whatever you wanna call it) sucks, then the content is pointless.

Nobody’s gonna get past the first 5 seconds.

Let’s dive into hooks and how to write them:

What do you want people to do with your content?
→ Read it.

How do you get them to read it?
→ Get them interested.

How do you get them interested?
→ Write a great hook.

For a hook to really work, it has to fulfill at least one of the following requirements (and the more you can stack in a short sentence, the better):

1. It captures attention

2. It clarifies your offering

3. It gives a portion of truth

4. It creates a desire to know more

5. It drops readers in the middle of the action

6. It jolts an emotional connection

7. It takes the reader by surprise

8. It leaves the reader with questions

9. It meets the reader where they are in that moment

Above all, a hook needs to make the reader curious.

Your goal for the hook is to be interesting enough that the reader wants to move on to line 2.

And the goal of line 2 is to get them to line 3.

And so on.

Some bonus tips for great hooks would include:

• Make the first 1-3 words of the hook a “power word” (e.g. Steal, delete, free)

• Use numbers to get a point across

• Use emotional words

• Make a crazy promise that the rest of the content can live up to

• Spend 90% of your total writing time on the hook

• Foreshadow the end or takeaway

I know, this seems like a ton. And it is.

But think about this logically…

If you don’t have a great hook, no one is reading your content. And your time (and the reader’s) is largely wasted.

Most writers begin with the body content and work on the finer details, like the title and hook, later.

Start with the hook.

This will give you supreme context as you write the body content on how to live up to the promise of the initial hook.

Your writing will be much better received.

A few examples:

Hope this hooked you in and gave you some usable tips!

I’m basically just looking to write marketing ideas that help you with whatever you want to learn for free.

Reply to this email if you have a request for an email — I’ll respond and probably end up writing it relatively soon!

— Blake

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