How to Write Viral Hooks With the Xerox Technique

David Schwertfeger -

Let me tell you about one of my biggest mistakes when I started writing on 𝕏.

I spent hours writing threads, tweaking every word to what I thought was perfection. But no matter how hard I tried, no one was reading.

I was stuck in a loop.

Write. Publish. Crickets… Repeat.

The more I wrote, the less I seemed to exist. Every silent post was like a punch to my gut. A glaring scorecard of zeros:

  • 0 likes
  • 0 shares
  • 0 comments

Doubt crept in.

Was my writing not good enough?

I had been putting off hitting publish for years. But my fear of judgment quickly turned into frustration of being ignored. And I was almost ready to quit.

But then I realized something.

A post without a strong hook is like fishing without bait.

As legendary copywriter Joseph Sugarman famously said:

The role of the first sentence is to get your reader to read the next.

So, if your hook doesn't catch attention, no one's going to read the rest of your post. Your goal is to create curiosity, evoke emotion, and persuade people to keep reading.

This can be difficult—especially if you're new to writing hooks.

But there's a way that almost guarantees your hooks slap. I learned this little secret from my friend Taylin Simmonds and I'm calling it…

The Xerox Technique

Here's how it works.

  1. Pick a topic you want to write about
  2. Find viral hooks from top creators you like
  3. Templatize these hooks into frameworks
  4. Fit your topic into the framework

Let me show you this in action.

Topic: How to have more ideas than you have time to write about

I randomly picked three hooks from my swipe file, templatized them, and fit my topic into the framework.

This is just for illustration. I never actually wrote any of these threads… yet!

Original

Template

New Hook

Not too difficult, huh?

Let's look at another example.

Original

Template

New Hook

And because all good things come in threes, I have one final example for you.

Original

Template

New Hook

See how easy that is?

Now it's your turn.

Before your next thread, write down your idea in one simple sentence.

Then, go for a hook hunt. Don't overthink this. Just pick whatever resonates with you. Templatize and squeeze in your idea.

Share your results. I'm curious what you come up with.