Place Hooks

Mode 1: Fast (argument provided)

When invoked as /place-hooks [topic]:

• Parse the topic for implicit PLACE elements
• Generate 5 hook variants immediately
• Skip interview

Mode 2: Interview (no argument)

When invoked as /place-hooks with no argument, ask in two rounds (AskUserQuestion supports max 4 questions per call):

Round 1 (3 questions — the story core):

1. Person: "Who is in this story — you, a client, someone else?"
2. Action: "What is the single event or action?"
3. Cost: "What went wrong, what was the cost, or why does this matter? This is the tension."

Round 2 (2 questions — context): 4. Location: "Where did it happen? Physical place, platform, situation." 5. Era: "When did this happen? Specific date, time, or period."

Cost is the most important question after Action — it creates the tension. Never skip it.

Then generate 5 variants.

Generation rules

Structure

• Every hook uses at least 3 of 5 PLACE elements
• Prefer 4-5 element hooks. 3-element hooks are acceptable as contrast variants
• Tag each hook with its elements: (P+A+C+E)

Variant strategy (produce exactly 5)

1-2 hooks: PLACE + "Outcome + Blindspot" pattern (truth the reader recognizes + thing they haven't noticed) 2-3 hooks: Pure PLACE (narrative/story-driven) 1 hook: PLACE + a WRITING.md opening pattern (Discovery moment, Counter-narrative, Specific problem, or Honest stake)

Quality rules

• Max 2 sentences per hook. Ideally 1 sentence + 1 fragment, or 2 short sentences
• Concrete over abstract: "$14k contract" not "a big deal"; "7pm last Thursday" not "recently"; "mid-mozza stick" not "while eating"
• Tension or gap required: every hook must create an information gap. Either a contradiction ("Awesome. So why don't I feel anything?"), an unexpected detail ("Two different shoes"), or a reversal ("I lied")
• First person default. Third person only when the story is about someone else
• No questions as hooks unless the question IS the gap, following a concrete setup
• Tone: PLACE provides the ingredients, but tone follows WRITING.md. No melodrama, no performative vulnerability. Let facts speak

Anti-patterns (enforced from HUMAN-WRITING.md)

• No banned openers ("In today's fast-paced world...")
• No negative parallelisms ("Not X. Not Y. But Z.")
• No puffery or superlatives
• No trailing participles (", highlighting...", ", underscoring...")

Output format

Hook 1 (P+L+A+C+E):
[hook text]

Hook 2 (P+A+C+E):
[hook text]

Hook 3 (A+C+E):
[hook text]

Hook 4 (P+L+A+C):
[hook text]

Hook 5 (P+A+E):
[hook text]

Then ask: "Which one lands? I can refine it or write the full post."

If the user picks one, offer to continue with /founder-voice-ghostwriter for the full piece or write inline.

Reference examples

These demonstrate the PLACE framework in action (original examples by Magali De Reu):