Writing hooks that stop the scroll

On every feed, your first line competes with everything else on the screen. If it does not earn attention in a second or two, the rest of your post does not matter. The good news is that strong hooks follow patterns you can learn.

Ten patterns worth stealing

• The bold claim: state something most people would push back on.
• The specific number: numbers feel concrete and promise a clear payoff.
• The direct question: ask the question your reader is already asking themselves.
• The mistake callout: name an error your reader is probably making.
• The before and after: show where you started and where you ended up.
• The contrarian take: disagree with common advice and say why.
• The story opener: drop the reader into the middle of a moment.
• The curiosity gap: hint at an answer without giving it away.
• The challenge: invite the reader to try something.
• The result first: lead with the outcome, then explain how.

Make it specific

Vague hooks fail. Compare a line about growing your audience with a line about going from 200 to 10,000 newsletter readers in a year by changing one habit. The second one is longer, but it is concrete, and concrete earns attention.

Match the hook to the platform

On LinkedIn the hook must work in the preview before the see more cut. On X it must stand alone as a single post. In a short video it has to be spoken in under two seconds while something interesting happens on screen. The Video Hook Ideas tool in Refract generates ten openers at once, each using a different pattern, so you can pick the one that fits.

Test more than one

You rarely know which hook will land. Write three, publish the strongest, and keep the others for when you repost. Over time you will see which patterns your audience responds to, and your first drafts will get better.