The 12 Hook Frameworks
Every hook in the NIBVOK corpus is one of twelve shapes. Here they all are — what each one does, how it is built, and real examples from the corpus (quoted with their hook id). Free to read, free to use.
Before/after
Shows a change over time, in the first person.
Shape: Pairs a past state with a present one ('used to… now…', 'before I…').
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
Same prompt, two different setups, completely different output. Let me show you why.
VHP-031 · AI toolsBefore I started giving the AI examples, my output looked like everyone else's.
VHP-032 · AI toolsI used to rewrite everything AI gave me. Now I barely touch it.
VHP-033 · AI tools
Bold claim
Makes a large, confident assertion that invites disagreement.
Shape: A sweeping statement about most people, or a superlative ('the fastest…').
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
The quality of your AI output is decided before you type a single word.
VHP-041 · AI toolsMost people use AI as a search engine, which is the least interesting thing it does.
VHP-042 · AI toolsYour prompts are not the bottleneck. Your examples are.
VHP-043 · AI tools
Challenge
Asks the reader to do one concrete thing and observe the outcome.
Shape: Opens with an action verb and names the payoff the reader will watch for.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
Try this: use AI for one task for a week without touching the settings, and watch what happens.
VHP-046 · AI toolsTake your last AI output and rewrite it yourself. Tell me which version you would publish.
VHP-047 · AI toolsDelete every AI tool you have not opened in a month. Just try it.
VHP-048 · AI tools
Contrarian take
Takes a position against what the audience assumes is the priority.
Shape: Sets up an expected thing and argues something else matters more.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
You don't need twenty AI tools. You need one you actually understand.
VHP-006 · AI toolsPrompt engineering is mostly theatre. Context is doing the real work.
VHP-007 · AI toolsSwitching to the newest model won't fix a vague request.
VHP-008 · AI tools
Curiosity gap
Names a specific gap and withholds the answer.
Shape: Teases 'there's one thing' / 'nobody talks about…' and does NOT resolve it inline.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
There's one setting inside your AI chat window that changes the quality of everything else you get from it.
VHP-001 · AI toolsThe best AI workflow I use takes about ninety seconds and almost nobody talks about it.
VHP-002 · AI toolsI found a way to make AI output sound less like AI, and it has nothing to do with prompts.
VHP-003 · AI tools
Direct address
Speaks straight to a specific person, naming them as the subject.
Shape: Opens with 'If you…' / 'You are…', addressing the reader directly.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
If you use AI to write your posts and then delete half of it, this is for you.
VHP-021 · AI toolsYou are not bad at prompting. You are asking for the wrong thing.
VHP-022 · AI toolsIf your AI tools feel like a second job, the setup is wrong, not you.
VHP-023 · AI tools
Mistake callout
Names something the reader is doing wrong and implies a fix.
Shape: Opens with an imperative ('Stop…', 'Never…') or 'You are…' plus the behaviour.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
Stop asking AI to be creative before you have given it anything to work with.
VHP-026 · AI toolsYou are burning your best ideas on prompts you will never reuse.
VHP-027 · AI toolsHere is the mistake almost everyone makes on their first AI automation: automating a broken process.
VHP-028 · AI tools
Myth bust
States a belief the audience holds and contradicts it.
Shape: Uses a negation about a common claim ('… is not a strategy', 'you do not need…').
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
The idea that AI will replace your creativity is backwards. It exposes how much you were relying on luck.
VHP-051 · AI toolsJust asking again is not a strategy, it is a coin flip.
VHP-052 · AI toolsEveryone says AI tools need to be complicated to be powerful. Mine are boring on purpose.
VHP-053 · AI tools
Numbered list
Promises a small, countable set the reader can scan.
Shape: Opens with a number word and a countable noun ('Three things…', 'Five ways…').
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
Three things I check before I trust anything an AI writes for me.
VHP-011 · AI toolsFour prompts that quietly replaced hours of my working week.
VHP-012 · AI toolsFive signs your AI workflow costs you more time than it saves.
VHP-013 · AI tools
POV
Frames the reader inside a moment, as if it is happening to them right now.
Shape: Opens with 'POV:' and drops the reader into a specific scene, with no explanation.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
POV: it's eleven at night and you are still tweaking an AI draft that was supposed to save you time.
VHP-056 · AI toolsPOV: you finally saved your prompts and you will never start from a blank box again.
VHP-057 · AI toolsPOV: you open your AI tool, you know exactly what you are asking, and it takes one pass.
VHP-058 · AI tools
Question
Hands the reader a question they answer silently, which pulls them into the post.
Shape: Ends on a question mark, usually opening with what/why/how/when.
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
What would you automate first if you only had one hour?
VHP-036 · AI toolsCan you tell the difference between AI writing and human writing? Often you can't, and that is the problem.
VHP-037 · AI toolsWhy does your AI output sound the same every single time?
VHP-038 · AI tools
Story opener
Opens mid-story, so the reader wants the rest of it.
Shape: Opens with a person and an event ('I spent…', 'A friend asked…').
50 hooks in the corpus use this shape.
I spent a Saturday building an AI setup that I abandoned by Sunday evening.
VHP-016 · AI toolsA friend asked me to look at her AI-written landing page and I could tell within one line.
VHP-017 · AI toolsThe first time I automated my content workflow, it broke in a way I did not expect.
VHP-018 · AI tools
These are shapes, not results
Nothing here ranks frameworks by performance. The corpus has no engagement data — no views, likes, clicks or retention for any hook. So no framework can be shown to work better than another. This library describes structural shape: how a hook is built, and how often that shape appears in a curated set of 600.
Every example above is a real row from the corpus (the id next to it is its row id), so this page cannot drift from the data it describes.
Want to see how a hook of yours compares? Use the Hook Strength Checker.