For agents that write posts, articles and stories a reader finishes: how to choose the piece, how to shape it, and how to check it.
What is in it
7 in the kit
Open why-this-pieceReaders read for a gain they can take and for standing among their peers. AnswerBefore you write, answer these in writing, from the material in front of you:1. What is the point of this piece?2. Why would a reader care about it?3. What is the business goal of this piece?4. What does the fact that we made the thing it's about say about us, and why doRules for the answers:- Each answer cites its source: a sentence in the material, a number, a run, or - The neighbour test: put the nearest similar piece in place of this one. Any an- Name the kind: a craft showpiece (shows a novel solution generously, workflow Read references/model-answer.md once: the user's own answers for one piece, the
Before you write, it asks four questions in writing: the point of the piece, why a reader would care, the business goal, and what making it says about us.
Open but-thereforeA story is a causal chain. Each beat exists because of the one before it: eitherThis is the cheapest kind of meaning for a reader to decode. Cause and effect be## The testWrite the beats as single lines, one event each. Read the joint between each pai- therefore: this beat happened because of the last one. It's a consequence, a d- but: this beat pushes against the last one. It's a failure, a surprise, a cost- and then: neither. This beat is just next in time.Every "and then" joint is a place to work. Repair it one of three ways:1. Find the real cause. Usually there is one and the draft hid it. "We added a d2. Cut the beat. If nothing caused it and nothing depends on it, the story doesn3. Move it. A beat can be orphaned because it's in the wrong place. Put it whereA chain that's all "therefore" is a plan going well: a reader trusts it and does## Building a chain from raw materialThe source is a diary, a transcript, a commit log, an interview, a pile of notes
Rebuilds a devlog or post as a chain of "but" and "therefore" instead of "and then".
Open cognitive-prophylacticsA prophylactic protects before the exposure. A story does that for situations: tThe currency is status. A story shows what to do in a situation to lift your sta## What the reader takes awayBefore drafting, write the dose in one line: the situation the reader might meet- "When a client asks for a discount on day one, the freelancer who names a smal- "When an agent you trusted closes another agent's window, the fix isn't a warnA piece with no dose is a diary entry. Find the dose, or cut the piece down to a## How to deliver it- Put a character in the situation. The dose lands through someone it happens to- Show the cost. Status has to visibly move: someone's face, a reply that doesn'- Let the failure happen on the page. The most protective beat is the one where - Couch information in real dialogue. What a person says, in their voice, with w- Arcs take time. A character who learns in one scene teaches a trick; one who c- Match the decoding cost to the reader. A situation a reader can see (a face, a
Before you draft, it asks for one line: the situation your reader might meet and the move that lifts or lowers their standing in it.
Open no-flinchIn words a customer reads in our name, say what we know plainly and leave out wh1. If we don't know something, don't raise it. Don't tell the reader that we don2. Don't hedge in advance. Cut "may vary", "we can't promise", "results depend",3. Cite sources on every page, sales pages too: agents and readers trust a claim4. When you brief a model or a neighbour to write for customers, don't ask it to5. Everything you say must still be true. Don't invent prices, results, customer
Customer-facing copy states what we know and leaves out hedges and what we don't know, with sources on every page.
Open gutcheckcheck: Score a screenshot for each persona: for me, trust, want to try, polisheddirections: Score design directions that are still words.polish: A 0-10 polish estimate per named part of a screenshot.
Shows a screenshot or written design direction to buyer personas and tells you where they look, what they trust and what confuses them.
Open write-a-pieceThe steps for writing a post, page, email or offer that a person outside your te### 1. Before writing1. Check what you already know. Search your notes and earlier pieces on the topi2. Purpose. Use the why-this-piece skill. Write what the piece demonstrates, who3. Reader and stake. Name the one reader and what they stand to gain or lose, in4. Payload. Write the one thing the reader leaves able to do or know.5. Collect failure cases. Keep a list of the ways earlier pieces failed, and rer### 2. Drafting1. Title. Write several, pick the one that names the reader's stake, and write o2. First screen. The stake, then a trusted name's own words, then your data unde3. Body. Open several questions early and keep them open until the end. Join bea4. Email. One person, something real from their own site, and the offer in the f5. Offer. Work through an offer checklist: the buyer's problem, the proof, the p### 3. Before it ships
The steps for writing a post, page, email or offer that a person outside your team will read, in order.
why-this-piece: Before you write, it asks four questions in writing: the point of the piece, why a reader would care, the business goal, and what making it says about us. but-therefore: Rebuilds a devlog or post as a chain of "but" and "therefore" instead of "and then". cognitive-prophylactics: Before you draft, it asks for one line: the situation your reader might meet and the move that lifts or lowers their standing in it. no-flinch: Customer-facing copy states what we know and leaves out hedges and what we don't know, with sources on every page. aion: Asks a model that has no tools one question, with spend caps, one call per run. gutcheck: Shows a screenshot or written design direction to buyer personas and tells you where they look, what they trust and what confuses them. write-a-piece: The steps for writing a post, page, email or offer that a person outside your team will read, in order.