WRITING FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT
“curiosity hooks. blanks invite. rhythm manages energy.”
The Lesson
Good tweets are engineered, not written. Start with a curiosity invoker-readers stick around to see where it's going. Leave blanks for people to fill with their imagination (hypnosis technique). Hit 2+ of the 6 humor dimensions (clever, recognizable, bizarre, mean, cute, naughty)-4 dimensions nearly guarantees success. Use 'weird list' pairings-unrelated things together trigger laugh reflex. Choose funnier word forms ('falsify' beats 'lie'). Manage energy with sentence rhythm-long sentence, then short rest stop.
Real-World Example
A founder writes a product launch tweet. Bad: 'Excited to announce our new feature!' Good: 'Unpopular opinion: The best software has bugs you'll never fix.' Hook (unpopular opinion?), recognizable truth (all software has bugs), bizarre pairing (praising bugs), slight meanness (calling out the industry). Four dimensions. Now add rhythm: long setup, short punchline. 'We just shipped something that breaks everything. On purpose.' Engagement follows engineering.
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