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Probal Dhali
Probal Dhali

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100 Content Creation Lenses: A Practical Framework for Hooks, Storytelling, Video, SEO & Marketing 🚀

Creating content consistently is harder than creating a single good post.

The difficult part isn't only writing.

It's deciding:

  • What should the opening hook be?
  • Which format fits the platform?
  • Where will audience attention drop?
  • How should a technical idea become a story?
  • What should become a short-form video?
  • What belongs in a newsletter?
  • How should existing content be repurposed?
  • Which claims need evidence?
  • What should the audience do next?

I started thinking about this as a content-system problem rather than a writing problem.

Instead of asking:

“Can AI write my post?”

a more useful question is:

“Can I give AI the right lens for the communication problem I'm trying to solve?”

That led me to build a second collection of 100 content, social-media, storytelling, video, SEO, and marketing lenses.

Content Creation Is a Pipeline

A useful mental model is:

IDEA
 ↓
AUDIENCE
 ↓
ANGLE
 ↓
HOOK
 ↓
STORY / INFORMATION
 ↓
FORMAT
 ↓
EDITING
 ↓
CTA
 ↓
DISTRIBUTION
 ↓
FEEDBACK
 ↓
ITERATION
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AI can potentially assist at almost every stage.

But the quality of the result depends heavily on what problem you're asking it to solve.

For example:

“Write a post about AI”
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is extremely broad.

Compare that with:

/hook
Create 10 technically accurate opening hooks
for a developer audience interested in AI coding agents.
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The second instruction defines the task more precisely.

1. Attention Is a Design Problem

The first group of lenses focuses on attention.

Examples:

/viral
/viralhook
/hook
/hook10
/hook50
/retention
/retentioncurve
/patterninterrupt
/openloop
/curiosity
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These shouldn't be treated as guaranteed “viral buttons.”

There is no reliable command that guarantees virality.

Instead, they help explore different communication strategies.

For example:

Topic:
AI coding agents

Basic opening:

“AI coding agents are becoming popular.”

Potential stronger opening:

“Your AI coding agent can pass every test
and still make the wrong engineering decision.”
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The second version creates a specific tension.

The reader immediately has a question:

How can code pass tests and still be wrong?

That's a much stronger starting point for a technical article.

2. Retention Is More Than a Hook

A common mistake is focusing entirely on the first sentence.

But long-form content has an entire attention curve:

Attention
  │\
  │ \
  │  \___
  │      \__
  │         \__
  │            \
  └─────────────────→ Time
     Hook → Value → Payoff
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The /retention and /retentioncurve lenses are useful for thinking about the whole journey.

A strong article should continuously answer:

“Why should I keep reading?”

That can come from:

  • unanswered questions,
  • new evidence,
  • examples,
  • progressive explanations,
  • visual changes,
  • useful discoveries,
  • practical takeaways.

3. Storytelling for Technical Content

Technical content doesn't have to be boring.

A useful structure is:

Problem
 ↓
Why it matters
 ↓
Unexpected observation
 ↓
Investigation
 ↓
Evidence
 ↓
Solution
 ↓
Lesson
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This is where lenses such as:

/storytelling
/herojourney
/narration
/monologue
/dialogue
/podcast
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can help structure communication.

For example, instead of:

“I implemented a programming language in Python.”

you could structure the story as:

I wanted to understand what actually happens
between source code and execution.

So I started with a lexer.

Then I discovered that tokenization was
only the beginning...

Lexer
 ↓
Parser
 ↓
AST
 ↓
Interpreter
 ↓
Runtime
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Now the technical information has a narrative.

4. Short-Form Video Is a Different Medium

A 2,000-word technical article shouldn't simply be read aloud over stock footage.

Short-form content needs different information density.

A useful structure is:

0–3 sec
HOOK

3–10 sec
CONTEXT

10–35 sec
CORE IDEA

35–50 sec
PROOF / EXAMPLE

50–60 sec
PAYOFF / CTA
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That's why these lenses exist separately:

/script30
/script60
/script90
/script180
/viralreel
/viralshorts
/reels
/shorts
/tiktok
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The goal isn't merely shortening the article.

It's restructuring the information for the medium.

5. Video Needs Visual Thinking

A good technical video needs more than narration.

For example:

Voice:
“An AI agent can pass tests but still
make the wrong architectural decision.”

Visual:
Architecture A

API
 ↓
Service
 ↓
Database

CUT

Visual:
Architecture B

API
 ↓
Event Bus
 ↓
Service
 ↓
Database
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Now the audience can see the context shift.

That's where:

/broll
/shotlist
/cameraangles
/storyboardpro
/sceneplan
/transitions
/motiongraphics
/cinematic
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become useful.

6. Repurposing Is a Force Multiplier

One research project can become multiple pieces of content.

For example:

                    Research
                       │
          ┌────────────┼────────────┐
          ▼            ▼            ▼
       Article       Video       Thread
          │            │            │
          ▼            ▼            ▼
      Newsletter      Reel       LinkedIn
          │            │            │
          └────────────┼────────────┘
                       ▼
                   Community
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This is the purpose of:

/repurpose
/series
/contentcalendar
/postingplan
/newsletter
/linkedin
/twitter
/instagram
/communitypost
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The important distinction:

Repurposing isn't copying.

A technical article, LinkedIn post, short video, and newsletter should preserve the idea, not necessarily the exact wording.

7. SEO Is a Discovery Problem

SEO shouldn't mean stuffing keywords into every paragraph.

A better workflow is:

Search Intent
 ↓
Topic
 ↓
Keywords
 ↓
Structure
 ↓
Useful Content
 ↓
Internal Links
 ↓
Search Visibility
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Useful lenses include:

/seo
/keywords
/headline
/titles
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The objective is not:

“How can I trick the algorithm?”

It is:

“How can I make the content clearly match what someone is actually searching for?”

8. Headlines Are Information Compression

A headline has a difficult job.

It must communicate:

Topic
+
Value
+
Specificity
+
Curiosity
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For example:

Generic

AI Coding Agents

Better

How AI Coding Agents Understand Large Codebases

More specific

AI Coding Agents Can Pass Tests and Still Make the Wrong Decision

The third version introduces a contradiction.

That contradiction creates curiosity while still telling the reader what the article is about.

9. Marketing Is Not Just “Selling”

The marketing-related lenses include:

/copywriter
/landingpage
/salespage
/emailmarketing
/coldemail
/sales
/branding
/brandvoice
/positioning
/offer
/usp
/valueprop
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These are useful for structuring communication around:

Problem
 ↓
Audience
 ↓
Value
 ↓
Differentiation
 ↓
Evidence
 ↓
Action
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For a developer product, for example:

Instead of:

“Our AI tool is powerful.”

A stronger proposition would explain:

Who is it for?
What problem does it solve?
How does it work?
What makes it different?
What evidence supports the claim?
What should the user do next?
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10. Evidence Still Matters

This is particularly important when using AI for content.

A content-generation system can make something sound extremely convincing without making it true.

Therefore, a useful workflow is:

IDEA
 ↓
DRAFT
 ↓
CLAIM IDENTIFICATION
 ↓
SOURCE VERIFICATION
 ↓
REVISION
 ↓
PUBLICATION
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For technical content, I strongly prefer:

Primary documentation
Academic research
Official engineering blogs
Official datasets
Technical reports
Reproducible experiments
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over unsupported claims.

A polished article with incorrect technical information is still a bad article.

11. Ethical Persuasion vs Manipulation

Some of these lenses deliberately explore psychological mechanisms:

/psychology
/dopamine
/emotion
/fear
/shock
/surprise
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These should be treated carefully.

There is a difference between:

Creating curiosity

and

Manipulating people with misleading claims.

For example:

❌

“This AI will replace 99% of developers!”

when there is no evidence.

Versus:

✅

“AI coding agents are changing how developers interact with large codebases. Here's what the current evidence actually shows.”

The second may be less sensational, but it builds credibility.

12. Content Should Be Designed for Its Audience

The same idea can require completely different communication.

For example:

Developer 

Architecture
API
Repository
Benchmarks
Implementation
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Executive 

Cost
Risk
Productivity
Security
Business impact
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Beginner 

Simple explanation
Examples
Analogy
Visuals
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That's why lenses such as:

/psychology
/branding
/brandvoice
/positioning
/premium
/minimal
/modern
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can be useful.

The underlying information remains the same.

The communication layer changes.

13. A Complete Content System

Putting everything together:

                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │    IDEA      │
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           ↓
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │   AUDIENCE   │
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           ↓
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │    ANGLE     │
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           ↓
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │    HOOK      │
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           ↓
              ┌────────────┴────────────┐
              ↓                         ↓
          STORYTELLING              EVIDENCE
              ↓                         ↓
              └────────────┬────────────┘
                           ↓
                        FORMAT
                           ↓
          ┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
          ↓                ↓                ↓
       ARTICLE           VIDEO            SOCIAL
          ↓                ↓                ↓
          └────────────────┼────────────────┘
                           ↓
                      DISTRIBUTION
                           ↓
                       FEEDBACK
                           ↓
                       ITERATION
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This is the bigger idea behind the 100 lenses.

They aren't 100 random commands.

They're different ways of interacting with different stages of the content system.

100 Content Creation, Social Media & Marketing Lenses

# Shortcut Purpose
101 /viral Rewrite for maximum virality
102 /viralreel Create a high-retention Instagram Reel
103 /viralshorts Optimize for YouTube Shorts
104 /viralhook Generate a scroll-stopping hook
105 /hook Write opening lines
106 /hook10 Generate 10 hook options
107 /hook50 Generate 50 hook ideas
108 /retention Improve audience retention
109 /retentioncurve Plan engagement across content
110 /patterninterrupt Add attention-grabbing interruptions
111 /openloop Create curiosity loops
112 /curiosity Increase curiosity
113 /psychology Apply psychological principles
114 /dopamine Make content more rewarding
115 /emotion Increase emotional impact
116 /fear Use fear ethically
117 /surprise Add surprising twists
118 /shock Create a shocking opener
119 /storytelling Narrative storytelling
120 /herojourney Hero's Journey structure
121 /script Generate a script
122 /script30 30-second script
123 /script60 60-second script
124 /script90 90-second script
125 /script180 3-minute script
126 /narration Voice-over script
127 /voiceover Natural narration
128 /monologue Single-speaker script
129 /dialogue Conversation format
130 /podcast Podcast episode outline
131 /youtube Long-form YouTube format
132 /shorts YouTube Shorts style
133 /reels Instagram Reels style
134 /tiktok TikTok style
135 /linkedin LinkedIn post
136 /twitter X post/thread
137 /facebook Facebook-friendly post
138 /instagram Instagram caption
139 /caption Generate captions
140 /caption10 Generate 10 captions
141 /hashtags Generate relevant hashtags
142 /cta Create a call-to-action
143 /engagement Increase discussion/sharing
144 /shareworthy Make content shareable
145 /saveworthy Make content worth saving
146 /commentbait Encourage discussion
147 /poll Create a poll
148 /communitypost YouTube Community post
149 /newsletter Newsletter content
150 /blog Blog article
151 /seo SEO optimization
152 /keywords Generate keywords
153 /headline Write headlines
154 /titles Generate title options
155 /thumbnailtext Thumbnail text ideas
156 /thumbnailaudit Review thumbnail concept
157 /titleaudit Review title effectiveness
158 /contentaudit Review content quality
159 /copywriter Professional marketing copy
160 /landingpage Landing-page copy
161 /salespage Sales-page copy
162 /emailmarketing Marketing email
163 /coldemail Cold outreach email
164 /sales Sales-oriented messaging
165 /branding Brand positioning
166 /brandvoice Match a brand tone
167 /positioning Market positioning
168 /offer Craft an offer
169 /usp Unique selling proposition
170 /valueprop Value proposition
171 /campaign Marketing campaign
172 /launch Launch strategy
173 /contentcalendar Content calendar
174 /postingplan Posting schedule
175 /series Content-series ideas
176 /challenge Challenge campaign
177 /trend Analyze current trends
178 /evergreen Evergreen content
179 /repurpose Repurpose existing content
180 /broll Suggest B-roll
181 /shotlist Generate shot list
182 /cameraangles Suggest camera angles
183 /cinematic Cinematic treatment
184 /cinematicsketch Cinematic sketch prompt
185 /storyboardpro Detailed storyboard
186 /sceneplan Scene-by-scene planning
187 /transitions Editing transitions
188 /motiongraphics Motion-graphics ideas
189 /vox Documentary-style structure
190 /johnnyharris Visual documentary-inspired structure
191 /magnatesmedia Business-documentary-inspired structure
192 /kurzgesagt Animated-explainer-inspired structure
193 /netflix Documentary tone
194 /bbc Documentary presentation
195 /natgeo Science/documentary presentation
196 /applekeynote Product-presentation structure
197 /minimal Minimalist presentation
198 /modern Modern clean presentation
199 /premium Premium editorial presentation
200 /aesthetic Stylized visual presentation

How I Would Actually Use These

I wouldn't run all 100 commands on every piece of content.

That would create more noise than value.

Instead:

Technical article 

/research
/factcheck
/firstprinciples
/storytelling
/seo
/titleaudit
/contentaudit
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YouTube video 

/hook10
/retentioncurve
/script
/storyboardpro
/broll
/shotlist
/thumbnailaudit
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LinkedIn post 

/hook
/insights
/storytelling
/engagement
/cta
/linkedin
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Product launch 

/positioning
/valueprop
/usp
/launch
/campaign
/landingpage
/emailmarketing
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The trick is selecting the right lens, not using the maximum number of lenses.

The Real Lesson

AI doesn't eliminate the need for communication strategy.

In many cases, it makes strategy more important.

When generation becomes cheap, the scarce resource becomes:

Good Ideas
+
Good Judgment
+
Good Evidence
+
Good Context
+
Good Communication
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AI can help generate ten hooks.

But a human still needs to determine:

Which hook is accurate?

Which hook matches the audience?

Which one supports the actual content?

Which one builds trust rather than cheap attention?

That's where human judgment remains extremely valuable.

Final Framework

I think a useful content workflow is:

                    IDEA
                      ↓
                  AUDIENCE
                      ↓
                    ANGLE
                      ↓
                    HOOK
                      ↓
              ┌───────┴───────┐
              ↓               ↓
          STORYTELLING      EVIDENCE
              ↓               ↓
              └───────┬───────┘
                      ↓
                    FORMAT
                      ↓
                 DISTRIBUTION
                      ↓
                  FEEDBACK
                      ↓
                 ITERATION
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The 100 lenses are simply different tools for improving each stage.

The goal isn't to generate more content.

The goal is to communicate better.

And that's probably the more important shift AI is creating in content creation.

Question for the Community

If you could keep only 5 of these 100 lenses, which five would you choose?

For developers, creators, researchers, founders, and marketers, I suspect the answers would be very different.

I'm especially interested in whether people would prioritize:

/research
/storytelling
/hook
/repurpose
/seo
/contentaudit
/factcheck
/strategy

or something completely different.

👇 Which five would you keep?

AI #ContentCreation #ArtificialIntelligence #SocialMedia #Marketing #ContentMarketing #AICreators #CreatorEconomy #SEO #Storytelling #DevCommunity #Productivity #AITools

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