ur-grue Thread Writer
What This Skill Does
Writes a structured Twitter/X thread expanding on a media story, documentary subject, editorial argument, or behind-the-scenes insight — with a strong opening tweet, logical progression, and a close that invites response.
When To Use This Skill
- You want to share a story or argument that is too complex for a single post but works well as a sequential read
- You are a journalist, documentary filmmaker, or media professional using Twitter/X for editorial positioning
- You have published a long piece (article, essay, documentary) and want to create a thread that drives people to it
- You want to give your audience a genuine inside look at a story or production process
What You Need To Provide
Required: The subject or story you want to thread (a brief description or the key points), the main argument or insight you want to leave the reader with, the intended length (short: 4–6 tweets; medium: 8–12 tweets; long: 12–20 tweets).
Optional: Your voice and register (journalist, filmmaker, critic, investigative reporter, personal essayist), whether the thread promotes or expands on a specific piece of content (article, film, podcast episode), the specific audience you are writing for.
How the Assistant Approaches This
- Structures the thread before writing — identifies the opening hook, the logical sequence of the argument or story, and the close. A thread that wanders or repeats itself is worse than no thread.
- Writes the opening tweet to function as a standalone statement: it should convey the most interesting or surprising claim in the thread so that someone who reads only the first tweet still gets value — and ideally wants to keep reading
- Writes each subsequent tweet to advance the argument or story by one clear step, closing with a tweet that either asks a question, makes a call to action, or lands a final thought that invites response
- After the thread, provides a "Next Step" note: paste each tweet into the Twitter/X composer to verify character counts before posting, schedule the thread for a weekday morning for maximum reach, and whether caption-writer should be run to create Instagram or LinkedIn adaptations of the same content
Output Format
Numbered tweet list. Each tweet: 220–280 characters (within the Twitter/X limit). Total thread length specified by user (default: 8–10 tweets). Each tweet is usable independently if needed. Thread header (tweet 1) clearly marked as the lead. A separate one-paragraph summary of the thread's core argument is provided for reference. No tweet uses all-caps except for emphasis on a single word. Output ends with a "Next Step" note: verify character counts in the composer, schedule the post, and run caption-writer to repurpose the thread content for Instagram or LinkedIn.
Quality Criteria
- Tweet 1 is a standalone statement — it conveys the core claim without requiring the rest of the thread to make sense
- Each tweet advances the argument by one step — there is no repetition or padding
- Thread has a clear three-part structure: hook, body, close
- No tweet begins with "So..." or "I mean..." or other verbal filler
- The close (final tweet) invites response — a question, a provocative claim, or a clear statement of consequence
- Character counts are within 280 per tweet
- Output includes at least one concrete next action the user can take immediately (verify in the composer, schedule the thread, or run caption-writer for cross-platform repurposing)
Example
Input
Subject: A documentary I've been making for two years about climate grief counsellors — people who work professionally with individuals experiencing psychological distress caused by climate change. The film has just been accepted at IDFA. Main argument/insight: Climate grief is real and is being treated by professionals, but most people have never heard of the field — and the counsellors themselves are experiencing the same grief they are treating. Length: Medium (10 tweets) Voice: Filmmaker — personal, direct, not academic
Output
Thread summary: A documentary filmmaker describes two years of filming climate grief counsellors — professionals who treat psychological distress caused by climate change — revealing that the counsellors are experiencing the same grief they are treating.
1/ I've spent two years filming climate grief counsellors.
Most people have never heard of them. They're trained therapists and psychologists who specialise in treating the specific psychological distress that comes from watching the world change in ways that can't be undone.
The field is growing fast.
2/ When I started, I thought I was making a film about a niche specialty — a curiosity at the edge of the mental health profession.
I was wrong. The waiting lists at every practice I visited were six weeks or longer.
3/ "Climate grief" sounds abstract. It isn't.
It's the person who can't sleep because they can't stop thinking about what the world will look like when their children are 40. It's the farmer who watched the crop fail for the third year running. It's the scientist who knows the data better than anyone.
4/ The counsellors I filmed don't use the word "grief" the way it's used in bereavement work.
They call it anticipatory grief. You're mourning something that hasn't fully happened yet — but that you know is coming.
That's a specific and difficult thing to treat.
5/ Here's what I didn't expect.
The counsellors are experiencing the same thing.
Every single one I spoke to described a version of their own climate grief. They're treating it in their clients. They're also living with it.
6/ One of the people in the film — a psychologist with 25 years of practice — told me: "I became specialised in this because I needed it myself. I couldn't find someone who could help me, so I became that person."
That sentence is in the film. I couldn't have written it.
7/ There's a supervision culture growing inside the field. Counsellors seeing other counsellors. Support groups for people who spend their working days inside other people's climate anxiety.
A profession processing its own version of the thing it treats.
8/ The film doesn't answer whether climate grief is a crisis or a reasonable response to a situation that is genuinely alarming.
I think both are true. I think the counsellors think both are true.
9/ THE WEIGHT OF WHAT WE KNOW will premiere at IDFA in November.
If you work in mental health, climate communication, documentary, or if this is just something you think about — I'd be glad if you watched it.
[Link to announcement]
10/ I'll be sharing more from the making of this film over the next few months.
One question I'm still sitting with: at what point does a profession specialising in treating distress start to change the way we collectively process the thing causing it?
I don't know yet.
Known Limitations
- Threads work best when the underlying subject has genuine complexity or a surprising angle. A thread that simply recaps a press release or makes an obvious point will not perform well regardless of how it is written.
- This skill writes the copy; the actual character count of each tweet will vary slightly depending on how links are added. Always paste tweets into Twitter/X's composer to confirm they fit within the character limit before posting.
- Thread performance depends heavily on the account's existing audience and the timing of the post. A well-written thread on a small account may outperform a poorly-written thread on a large one — but not always.