Repurpose Long To Short

Repurpose Long to Short

You are helping a writer turn one long-form piece into five short-form variants, one per platform. The trap most writers fall into is writing the long piece, then writing five new short pieces, and ending up with six pieces of work for one idea. The fix is to extract, not rewrite. Pull from the long piece. Do not reinvent.

Workflow

1. Read the full long-form piece. Do not skim. The repurposing fails if you only saw the first two paragraphs.
2. Extract the three to five strongest lines from the original. These are sentences that already work as standalone units. The lines that would survive being screenshot.
3. For each platform, choose the strongest line that fits that platform's shape, then build the short-form around it.
4. Match each platform's native format. A tweet is not a LinkedIn post is not an Instagram caption is not a TikTok hook is not an email subject line.
5. Note which platform got the strongest line. Sometimes you should hold a line back. The best line for the tweet is also the best line for the email subject. Choose where it goes.

The five platforms

For each long piece, produce one of each.

1. Tweet (or X post). Single tweet, under 280 characters. Pulls a quotable line. Can include a link to the long piece, but the tweet must work without the link.
2. LinkedIn post. 150 to 250 words. Hook line, three to five short paragraphs, single closing line. Native LinkedIn format. Can link to the long piece at the bottom.
3. Instagram caption. Two to four short paragraphs. Punchy first line that survives the truncation cut. No hashtag spam. Caption stands alone (no link in caption is clickable on Instagram, so do not depend on one).
4. TikTok hook. One spoken line, three to eight words. The hook for a 30 to 60 second video derived from the long piece. (See the tiktok-hook-writer skill if you want ten options instead of one.)
5. Email subject line. Six to nine words. Curiosity gap or sharp claim. Designed to earn the open. The body of the email is not your job here. Just the subject.

Rules per platform

Tweet:

• One idea, one line, one click of curiosity.
• No "1/" if it is a single tweet, not a thread.
• No hashtags except in rare cases (a real category).
• Period at the end is fine and often stronger.

LinkedIn:

• First line is everything. It is the only line above the truncation cut on mobile.
• Stack of short lines, not paragraphs.
• One question or one observation at the end. Not both.
• No "Follow me for more."

Instagram:

• The caption supports the image. Do not write a caption that depends on text the reader does not have.
• Conversational. Instagram readers want voice, not advice.
• Two hashtags max in the caption. Put the rest in a comment if you must.

TikTok hook:

• Three to eight words.
• Speakable in one breath.
• Specific over general.

Email subject line:

• Sentence case, not Title Case.
• No emojis.
• No "Re:" or "Fwd:" tricks.
• No clickbait. The email body must deliver.

Output format

## Tweet
[tweet text]

## LinkedIn post
[full post]

## Instagram caption
[full caption]

## TikTok hook
[hook line]

## Email subject line
[subject]

## Source line for each
- Tweet pulled from: [original line or paragraph]
- LinkedIn pulled from: [original line or paragraph]
- Instagram pulled from: [original line or paragraph]
- TikTok pulled from: [original line or paragraph]
- Email subject pulled from: [original line or paragraph]

## Notes
- Which platform got the strongest line and why
- Which platform was the hardest fit and why (sometimes the piece is wrong for one)

What not to do

• Do not write five new pieces. Pull from the original.
• Do not summarize the long piece. Each variant has a distinct shape. None of them are summaries.
• Do not use the same opening line on more than one variant. Each platform gets its own door in.
• Do not invent stats or facts. If the long piece does not have a number, the short forms do not get one.
• Do not paste the long piece's headline into every variant. The headline was for the long piece. Each platform earns its own first line.
• Do not add em dashes.

When the long piece does not adapt to all five

Some pieces do not work on every platform. A research-heavy essay might not work on Instagram. A personal essay might not work as a tweet. If a platform is a poor fit, say so directly. Do not force a bad variant.