Probably my weirdest hook-writing advice yet

Hey!

In recent months, the best lesson I've learned about writing YouTube scripts came from watching a band I love write music.

This slightly weird tactic will help you write hooks more easily.

You'll stop overthinking every single word and will create the hook structure much faster.

Find the melody

Ok... I’m not a musician.

So I instinctively assumed the lyrics would always be the first thing a musician came up with when writing a song.

Which is why I found it fascinating to learn that musicians often create the melody first.

When watching behind-the-scenes footage, you'll see bands improvise their way to a sound that feels good - one that conveys the emotion they're trying to express.

Then, afterwards, they create lyrics to match the melody.

It's such an interesting process to watch - particularly when you see footage of a band creating a song you know incredibly well...

...back when they had 0 lyrics and were just "feeling out" the sound.

They hum along, occasionally throwing in a phrase that you know will eventually become "that famous part" of the chorus... but their priority is nailing the melody.

Without meaning to, this is how I have started approaching YouTube scripts.

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Ok, let's get back to it...

Blob scripts

Because YouTube is such a visual medium, I can often see a kind of "blob" version of a video in my mind before I know exactly what I want to say.

It probably comes from having watched a LOT of YouTube… but I can almost visualise the ebb and flow of the hook before I’ve thought about the words.

Imagine I’m writing a script about a 5-step system to help students pass their exams.

Immediately, my brain starts to imagine something like this:

“Dum dah, dum dah, dum system.”

“A system that’s gonna blah.”

“And once you dee dee dee dee doo”

“Your grades are gonna dum dum dee!”

This might sound a bit mad.

But remember, as viewers, we rarely remember a video because of the words alone - we remember the pacing, the visuals, the sounds... all the stuff that comes together to create a video's "melody".

And considering you’ve probably watched a lot of YouTube [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], you’ll have an intuitive sense of how hooks often flow.

But how does this makes writing easier?

Quite simply, once I start writing and get into a flow state, I allow myself to "skip" certain words.

If pausing to think of a "fancy adjective" or the "perfect verb" is going to ruin my flow, then it's not worth it.

If I've got momentum, I don't want to lose it.

I'll write "X" or "Y" or "[thing]" or whatever I need to breeze over if it'll keep my flow state going.

I can always come back to those tiny gaps later.

My priority is nailing the script's "melody".

Here’s an extract from an actual hook I wrote a few weeks back… the first time I tried to “sound out” how it would flow:

Not only does this approach generate faster progress…

…but it also gives you a better chance of writing a video that looks and feels like you dreamed it would when the idea first came to mind.

Rather than a video that has perfect verbiage but no soul.

Give this a try and let me know how you get on.

That's all for this week!

Any questions, just let me know!

Speak soon,
George 👋

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