Copywriting Hooks

The method

A hook's only job is to make the reader want sentence 2. Voice, structure, formatting, all of it, follow from that one job.

What makes a reader want sentence 2 is one of five levers:

1. Open a gap. Pose something incomplete that the reader needs to close. Curiosity gap, question, open loop.
2. Break a prediction. State something that violates the reader's prior. Contrarian, definition reversal, surprising statistic.
3. Drop into a scene. Load sensory or specific detail that builds a vivid frame. In medias res, concrete detail, time anchor.
4. Promise a payoff. Name an outcome the reader wants. Benefit, "if you... then this", direct problem.
5. Borrow weight. Lean on a name, number, or quote that carries embedded authority. Authority hook, statistic, quote with disagreement.

A strong hook usually pulls two levers at once. "Frank Sinatra, holding a glass of bourbon..." is scene plus open loop. "Most people think X. They're wrong." is prediction-break plus gap. Single-lever hooks can still work but are easier to ignore.

Three further principles: