elkl111/reels-editing-lab-beta

Hooks

A hook has one job: make the right person want the next 3 seconds. It does that with curiosity, not hype. The test we hold every hook to: would a real person say this to a friend, and does the reel actually pay it off?

Read patterns.md (next to this file) before writing. Read brand/preferences.md and brand/hooks.md if they exist; they hold what this user picks and rejects.

1. Mine the reel before writing anything

From the locked lines (or, before filming, from what they tell you), write down for yourself:

• Payoff: the one thing the viewer gets by the end. One sentence.
• Tension: what it pushes against: a mistake, a common belief, a frustration, a wasted effort.
• Concrete detail: a number, an object, a moment, a name, or a phrase the speaker actually said that's vivid.
• Who it's for: as specifically as the reel allows ("people paying for 3 AI tools", not "entrepreneurs").

Every hook is built from these four. If you can't name the payoff, the hook can't be true, so look again at the reel.

2. Write three options, each with a different pattern

Patterns (examples are in patterns.md):

• name the mistake
• flip the belief
• show the result, hide the how
• call out who it's for
• start mid-thought
• lead with the number
• before/after

Use a different one for each option, so the user gets a real choice and not three versions of the same line.

3. Keep only options that pass all four checks

Check	Passes when	Fails when
True	The reel delivers exactly what the hook promises	It teases something bigger than the reel gives ("this changed everything")
Specific	It contains a detail from this reel; it couldn't go on someone else's video	It fits any reel in the niche ("Stop doing this with AI")
Curious	The viewer can't guess the answer, and wants it	The answer is obvious, or it's a yes/no question they can answer "no" to ("Do you use AI?")
Human	Said out loud, it sounds like a person texting a friend; it uses the speaker's own words where possible	It sounds like an ad or a guru

Human, in practice:

• Short: an on-screen hook is about 8 words max. The eyebrow is 2–4 words.
• No hype words: game-changer, unlock, secret, hack, insane, crazy, mind-blowing, "you won't believe", "nobody is talking about", "this will change your life", ultimate, guaranteed.
• No clickbait dressing: no ALL-CAPS words for shouting (a kit's uppercase style is fine), no "!!!", no emoji stacks, no "POV:" unless it's genuinely a point-of-view setup.
• Their voice: if they say "honestly" and "my business brain", the hook can too. Never put words in their mouth that they'd cringe at.
• Plain over clever: a pun that needs decoding loses to a clear line that opens a loop.

Rewrite or drop any option that fails a check. Don't present it with a caveat.

4. Text works with the voice, not against it

The viewer hears the first spoken line and reads the hook card at the same moment.

• The card adds what the voice doesn't say: who it's for, what's at stake, or the tension.
• Never put the spoken first line word for word on the card. Captions already show it.
• Example:
  • spoken: "While most people are debating which AI tool is best…"
  • card eyebrow: "STOP SWITCHING AI TOOLS"
  • card text: "Build your business brain"

In build.json, eyebrow is the small caps line and text is the hook. Put exactly one *emphasis* on the word that carries the curiosity: the object, the number or the twist. It gets the kit's italic or highlight.

In the new-reel flow

A. Opening check (after the rough cut, before showing the lines)

Look at the first 2–3 seconds of the cut.

• Warm-up openings cost the reel. Trim them in cut.json before review, and say so in the review message ("I started you at 'Most people…' and skipped the 'so today I want to talk about'"). They include:

  • "so", "okay", "hey guys", "hi everyone"
  • "today I want to talk about…"
  • "so I've been thinking…"
  • restating the topic before saying anything

• Cold open: if a later line is clearly the strongest opener, offer it in the review. Don't apply it unprompted, because it changes their story. A strong opener is:

  • a surprising claim
  • the result
  • the most vivid moment
  • the line the reel is really about

  Offer it like this:

  Option: start with line 7 ("I deleted all my AI subscriptions but one") as a cold open, then the rest as is. Say "cold open" to try it.

  If they say yes, move that entry to the top of cut.json (play order follows the list), re-run roughcut and verify, and check line 2 still makes sense after it. If it doesn't, drop or trim the line that now repeats.

B. Hook card and cover title (in the build)

1. Write 3 options (steps 1–4). Pick the strongest as the hook event; store all three in it: {"type": "hook", "line": 1, "eyebrow": "...", "text": "...", "options": [{"eyebrow": "...", "text": "...", "pattern": "name the mistake"}, …]}

2. Cover title: the profile grid is browsed by topic, so the cover is clearer than the hook:

   • 3–6 words
   • names the subject
   • curious but not cryptic

   Put it in build.json as "cover": {"text": "...", "eyebrow": "..."}. Use the hook only if it already names the topic.

3. In the two-line build report, show the pick and the alternatives:

   Hook: "Build your business brain". Or say hook 2: "One folder, every AI" / hook 3: "Stop paying for 3 tools".

C. When they swap or change it

• "hook 2" / "hook 3": copy that option into the hook event's eyebrow/text, rebuild (graphics only; it takes about 30s), and confirm in one line.
• "punchier", "softer", "less salesy", "more me": write 3 new options in that direction, with the same checks, and pick one.
• Log every pick to brand/hooks.md, one line each, with the date, the reel, the chosen hook, its pattern, and any rejected options with the reason if they gave one.
• When they've picked or rejected the same pattern 3 times, add a line to brand/preferences.md ("prefers 'start mid-thought' hooks"; "never 'call out who it's for'").

Before filming ("give me hooks for a reel about X")

1. Ask one question only if the payoff is unclear: "What's the one thing you want them to walk away with?"
2. Give 3 options, each with:
   • Say: the spoken first line, conversational, under 2 seconds to say
   • Card: the on-screen eyebrow plus text that pairs with it
   • the pattern name, in a few words
3. Add one line of delivery advice when it matters: "say the first line before you smile", or "start mid-sentence; we'll cut the breath before it".

Keep it in the chat, and short.