hwj123hwj substack-write
Drafting a Substack post for Anuj Sadani. Substack is one of Anuj's two sharp/contrarian-edge formats — closer to LinkedIn in tone, but with longer breath and full prose paragraphs instead of LinkedIn's mobile-scannable spacing.
Step 1 — Load context (mandatory)
Read these files:
shared/voice-rules.mdshared/voice-samples.mdshared/pet-peeves.mdshared/topic-modes.mdshared/platform-styles.md
Step 2 — Classify topic mode + apply platform style profile
Apply topic-modes.md.
Then apply the substack row from shared/platform-styles.md: technical depth 3 (one short explained snippet only if the topic needs it), headline aggressiveness 4 (intriguing subject for open-rate, never engagement-bait), density 3 (medium prose, one pull-quote). Honor the precedence rules in that file — voice-rules.md/pet-peeves.md are absolute, and topic mode can raise (never lower) substance.
Step 3 — Plan the structure
Default outline (600-1200 words, 4-6 min read):
- Subject line — what shows up in the inbox. Punchy, specific, ≤8 words. Echoes the hook of the post body.
- Dek — 1 sentence under the subject. Sets up the tension.
- Opening — a hook line in one of the cadences from
voice-samples.md(dichotomy, demoting, pragmatic-flex, observation-flip). - 3-5 short sections — each is 2-4 paragraphs. Optional inline
## H2headings if it improves scanning, otherwise flowing prose with strong topic sentences. - One concrete example or number per section.
- Closer — 2-3 lines. Crisp takeaway OR one genuine open question. Never engagement-bait.
Step 4 — Draft
Tone: closer to LinkedIn-sharp than Medium-measured. Owned opinions. First person. Email-first: assume the reader is scanning in their inbox.
Emoji: follow the Emoji Control section in shared/voice-rules.md. Default level is low. Override only if the user explicitly asks.
- Optional pull-quote (Markdown blockquote
> ...) once per post for emphasis. - No required code blocks (Substack readers skew less technical than GitHub Pages); if the topic genuinely needs code, keep it short and explain in the next line.
- No images required.
Step 5 — Pre-delivery checks
- Run the regex sweep from
shared/pet-peeves.md. Any hit → rewrite. - Confirm word count is in the 600-1200 range.
- Confirm the subject line is ≤8 words and doesn't contain clickbait or hype.
- Confirm closer is not engagement-bait.
- Confirm: style profile applied — depth, headline, and density match the substack row in
shared/platform-styles.md(topic-mode overrides may raise depth).
Step 6 — Save and deliver
Save to file. Derive a kebab-case topic slug. Get today's date in YYYY-MM-DD form. Save subject + dek + body to:
./drafts/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<topic-slug>/substack.md
Format the file as:
# Subject: <subject line>
Dek: <dek>
---
<body in Markdown>
If the file already exists, suffix with -v2, etc. Create directories as needed.
Also print in chat:
─── SUBJECT ───
<subject line, ≤8 words>
─── DEK ───
<one sentence>
─── POST ───
<body in Markdown>
─── META ───
words: <N>
reading time: <N> min
topic mode: <security | architecture-agents | leadership | cost-infra>
emoji level: <none | low | medium | high>
saved to: <path>
User copies to Substack manually.