Write Leads

---
name: write-leads
description: Write the lead — the opening passage (first 10-20% of a piece) that earns the rest of the read, in the lead type the reader's awareness stage calls for. TRIGGER when a page, email, or long-form piece needs its opening passage written, or when a gate found a lead failure. DO NOT TRIGGER for the single headline line (write-headlines), the one line right after it (write-hooks), finding the idea the lead carries (big-idea), or a section-title chain (the page skills own their titles).
---

# Write Leads

One Process: the lead is the opening passage that decides whether the rest gets read — pick the lead type from the reader's awareness stage and open on what they are ready to hear.

Write under the deliverable's Reader.md and the parent piece, and the product's Voice.md, which names the WHO speaking; the lead speaks in that voice to Reader.md's Audience — the named buyer, never a generic reader. The idea the lead carries is found first (big-idea); this skill opens on it, it does not invent it. Never state an offer mechanism the owner has not approved.

## 1. Pick the lead type from the awareness stage

Reader.md names the stage; the stage names the lead:
- **Offer-led** — opens on the deal and terms. For the **most-aware** reader who already wants it.
- **Promise-led** — opens on the bold result. For **solution-aware** readers weighing options.
- **Problem-led** — opens on the pain, then agitates. For **problem-aware** readers who feel it but have not solved it. The SaaS workhorse.
- **Story-led** — opens on a character and a narrative, slipping past the guard. For **unaware** or skeptical readers who would reject a direct pitch. (A full narrative component is write-story; this is the lead's opening beat.)
- **Secret-led (mechanism)** — opens on a surprising how. For **solution-aware** readers in a tired market; the secret is the named mechanism (mechanism names it).
- **Proclamation-led** — opens on a sweeping, provable claim, backed by proof immediately so it does not read as hype.

## 2. Open on what they already believe, then take one step

Name the most advanced thing the reader already believes, then move them exactly one step further. A lead that skips the stage talks past them. Match the prior message too: whatever sent the reader here (ad, subject line, search result) set an expectation, and the lead continues that exact promise in the same words.

## 3. Earn the next line, not the whole sale

The lead's only job is to buy the read. It does not close, does not list features, does not teach. It builds enough tension or desire that stopping feels like leaving something unfinished, then hands to the body.

### Never narrate the reader
No "you"-assertion of what they do, have, feel, or pay. Reference the reader only through a first-person carried question, a subordinate time clause of visit-proven behavior, a generic subject, or the approved possessives.

### Hold the line bar
Fifth-grade words, one read. No metaphors, no metaphorical verbs. Be specific — every figure is the specific one, and it traces to a fact or graded source. Punctuate for consumption.

## 4. Deliver options on the lead

Give 2-3 distinct leads, each labeled with its lead type and the awareness stage it serves, when the lead is the highest-leverage decision on the piece. Options diverge on approach, not wording.

Verification: the lead type matches the named stage, the open continues the prior message, and the passage earns the next line without closing.