Prompts for writing titles, hooks, and openers across platforms - articles, social posts, videos, emails. Use them when your work is good but no one's reading it.
Same content, ten angles.
Write 10 headlines for this piece: [PASTE]. Spread across modes: descriptive, contrarian, listicle, question, secret/reveal, transformation, news-style, how-to, story-led, taboo. For each: 1) the angle, 2) target reader emotion, 3) the curiosity-gap quality. End with the 2 to A/B test and the 1 to never use because it bait-and-switches.
Earn the swipe.
Write 5 opening hooks for a short video on [TOPIC]. Format: spoken, under 8 seconds. Modes: contrarian-claim, pattern-interrupt, question, stake-raise, visual-cue (described). For each: the line and the visual it pairs with. End with the hook best for first-time viewers vs returning viewers.
First 2 lines that beat the see-more cut.
Write 5 opening lines for a LinkedIn post about [TOPIC]. Constraint: first 2 lines must land before the "see more". Modes: confession, contrarian, numbers, question, story-fragment. For each: 1) the opener, 2) the next line that earns the click, 3) the reason this works for LinkedIn specifically. End with the version least likely to read as cringe.
First line that earns the scroll-stop.
Write 5 first lines for an X post on [TOPIC]. Constraint: each must be standalone-readable. Modes: blunt take, numbered claim, callback, observation, threat. For each: the line and the second sentence (which is allowed to soften). End with the one most likely to get a quote-tweet.
Open me without lying to me.
Write 8 email subject lines for [CONTEXT]. Sender-recipient relationship: [PASTE]. Modes: curiosity, benefit, urgency-light, personal, news, question, blunt, lowercase-casual. For each: the preview text that pairs and the open-rate hypothesis. End with the 2 to A/B test.
Same piece, two contexts, two titles.
My piece: [PASTE]. Write the title for it on a blog (SEO + clarity), and the subject line if I'm sending it to my newsletter list (intimacy + curiosity). Explain the difference in mode. End with the headline for a social-share image (visual + emotional).
Stockpile hooks for one topic.
For topic [PASTE], generate 20 hooks across formats: contrarian, numbered, secret, before/after, question, story-fragment, threat, promise, callback, definition. Tag each with platform (X, LinkedIn, video, email, blog). End with the 5 hooks I should use this month and the 1 I should sit with for a bigger piece.
Does this hook earn the body?
My hook: [PASTE]. My body: [PASTE]. Stress-test. 1) Does the hook over-promise vs deliver? 2) Does the body pay off the curiosity gap by paragraph 3? 3) Where does the hook leak energy? 4) The rewrite that aligns tighter. End with the version of the body's first line that confirms the hook.
Build my own templates from my best hits.
Here are my 5 best-performing headlines: [PASTE]. Extract the underlying structure of each. Output: 1) 3 reusable formulas, 2) a fill-in version per formula, 3) the topic types each formula fits, 4) the formula to avoid overusing. End with 5 new headlines from my formulas applied to [NEW TOPIC].
Open the loop without baiting.
My headline candidate: [PASTE]. Score the curiosity gap: 1) too small (boring), 2) just right (intriguing), 3) too big (clickbait). For each cluster, explain the symptom. Rewrite my headline 3 times across the spectrum and pick the one that lands inside "just right" without leaking the answer.
Same topic, sharper angle.
Competitor's headline: [PASTE]. My piece's angle: [PASTE]. Write 5 headlines that beat theirs by being more specific, more contrarian, more useful, more visceral, or more credible. For each: which dimension it wins on. End with the one to use and the angle they're vulnerable on for future pieces.
3-5 words that earn a click.
My video: [PASTE]. Write 6 thumbnail text options. Constraint: 3-5 words, readable on phone, paired with one visual idea. Spread across modes: number, contrarian, secret, blunt promise. End with the one I should test against my current and the visual concept that anchors it.
Title that survives a list view.
Episode: [TOPIC, GUEST IF ANY]. Write 8 episode titles. Modes: descriptive, contrarian quote, story-led, listicle, "the X who Y". For each: how it reads in Spotify list view, the curiosity gap. End with the 1 title and the 2 alternate phrasings I should test in subject lines if I'm emailing about the episode.
Make each slide title tell a thread.
My deck's slide titles: [PASTE]. Rewrite so the titles, read together, narrate the deck's argument. Output: the rewritten titles, the read-them-together narrative, and the 2 slides that should be cut because their title is filler.
Give the issue a name worth remembering.
My next issue: [PASTE]. Write 5 issue names (not subject lines). Modes: numbered, themed, personal, contrarian, meta. For each: 1) the name, 2) the recurring pattern this could establish, 3) the reader's mental file-name. End with the name that earns the open and the pattern I could extend.