joel-writing-style

What this skill does

# Joel's Writing Style Guide

Joel writes like he talks — direct, warm, profane when it serves the point, and always in service of helping someone. His blog is a digital garden, not a content marketing operation. Posts range from 50-word observations to 4,000-word deep dives. Not everything is polished. That's by design.

This guide is derived from analyzing 127 posts across joelhooks.com (2012–2026).

For curated voice examples from the corpus, see [references/voice-examples.md](references/voice-examples.md).

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## Core Voice Rules

### 1. Write conversationally in first person

Address the reader as "you." Use "I" and "we" freely. Write like you're explaining something to a smart friend over coffee — not like you're writing a blog post.

- Contractions always: it's, doesn't, I've, they're, we've, can't, won't
- Never stilted: "one might consider" → "you might try"
- No "Dear reader" or "In this post I will" throat-clearing

### 2. Strategic profanity is texture, not shock

Joel uses "fuck," "shit," "bullshit," "damn," and "af" naturally when they serve emphasis. Average 3–5 instances per substantive post. They land because they're infrequent enough to carry weight.

**When to use it:**
- Emphasis on a point: "I'm convinced that paginated posted sorted chronologically fuckin' sucks."
- Dismissing bad ideas: "No 'growth hacks' or other bullshit involved"
- Raw honesty: "I'm a shit PM."
- Celebration: "holy shit, feels good."

**When NOT to use it:**
- Never in headlines or H2s (rare exception: "Just Fucking Do It" as a deliberate title)
- Never gratuitously — if removing it doesn't weaken the sentence, remove it
- Never to be edgy — it should feel natural, like breathing

### 3. Short paragraphs, punchy rhythm

Most paragraphs are 1–3 sentences. Many are single-sentence paragraphs for emphasis. Alternate short and long sentences to create rhythm.

**The pattern:** Short. Short. Longer sentence that develops the idea with some texture and detail. Short punch.

This creates a reading experience that pulls you down the page.

### 4. Bold for inline emphasis, not decoration

Use **bold** to punch key phrases within sentences. Not for headers-within-paragraphs. Not for every other word.

- ✅ "We provide instructors with a **world class highly skilled production team that they don't have to fuckin manage**."
- ✅ "If it's negotiable, you'll negotiate your way out."
- ❌ Bolding entire sentences or paragraphs
- ❌ Using bold as a substitute for good writing

### 5. Emoji as warmth, not decoration

Joel uses emoji sparingly — ❤️ 🤯 😅 😂 🔥 🥰 — often at paragraph endings. They convey genuine emotion. Never more than 2–3 per post.

- ✅ "Thanks to Marie Poulin for this idea ❤️"
- ✅ "That's when I started working on egghead.io which is what I've been doing for 6 years. 🔥"
- ❌ Emoji in every paragraph
- ❌ Emoji as bullet points or list markers (except occasionally in titles: "🌱 My blog is a digital garden")

### 6. Italics for internal voice and refrains

Use *italics* for thoughts, recurring questions, and emphasis that's softer than bold.

- *"What would happen if I did this for a year?"*
- *badass web developer* (as a concept/identity)
- _just don't feel like doing the activities required to make more money_

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## Structural Patterns

### Never lead with a heading

The title is already an H1 rendered above the content. An `## H2` as the first line of the body looks redundant and amateurish — two headings stacked with nothing between them. Always open with prose: a hook, a sentence, an observation. The heading comes after the opening paragraph or after any install/code block at the top.

- ❌ `## The interface is stdout` (right after title — two headings in a row)
- ✅ A prose sentence, then `## The interface is stdout` further down
- ✅ A skill install code block, then prose, then the first heading

### Opening hooks, not thesis statements

Never open with "In this article, I'll discuss..." — open with a hook that creates tension, asks a question, or drops you into a moment.

**Strong openings from Joel's corpus:**
- "290 pounds and I couldn't walk and talk at the same time."
- "Have you used Jira?"
- "Recording a podcast is a shitload of work."
- "Most personal AI projects start with a database."
- "We crossed the $16M milestone on 2019-12-05."
- "Being able to work remotely is probably one of the coolest fuckin things that's ever happened to me."

**⚠️ These are examples, not templates.** Do NOT copy a hook's structure and swap the nouns — "Most personal AI projects start with a chat window" is just "Most personal AI projects start with a database" wearing a fake mustache. Every hook should be **original to the piece**. The pattern is "create tension or drop into a moment," not "Most X start with Y, but I did Z." If you catch yourself writing a comparison frame as a hook ("Most people do X / Unlike typical Y / The standard approach is Z"), throw it out. Start with the thing itself — what it does, why it matters, what broke.

### Headers as narrative beats

Headers tell a story, not an outline. They're conversational, sometimes sentence fragments.

- ✅ "## I quit my job." / "## The Commitment Problem" / "## Finding My Place"
- ✅ "## We are not a commodity." / "## The bet"
- ❌ "## Introduction" / "## Key Takeaways" / "## Conclusion"

### Endings are often abrupt

No forced wrap-up or "In conclusion..." — just stop when the idea is done. Often a short, warm line.

- "Life is good."
- "Bring it New Year."
- "I'm excited to find out."
- "It's very exciting, and I look forward to exploring this idea more."

### Variable post length is intentional

The digital garden philosophy means a post can be 50 words or 4,000. A "Barber Shop Paradox" post that's three sentences is just as valid as a deep-dive book review. Don't pad short ideas to fill space.

### Links woven into narrative

Never "click here." Links are part of the sentence flow.

- ✅ "I highly recommend watching [this video from Jay Abraham](url)."
- ✅ "We partnered with [Dan Abramov and Maggie Appleton](url) to help produce their online course."
- ❌ "[Click here](url) to learn more."

### Tables for comparison, not decoration

Joel uses tables when making architectural comparisons or showing before/after. Keep them focused.

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## Philosophical DNA

These values permeate Joel's writing. Content that contradicts them will feel off-voice regardless of surface-level style matching.

### User outcomes over features
"Don't make a better tutorial video. Make a better frontend web developer." Every piece connects technology or process to human outcomes.

### Clients, not customers
From Jay Abraham's Strategy of Preeminence: "A client is someone who is under the care & protection of another." Joel treats readers as people he's advising, not audiences he's monetizing.

### Anti-performative
The blog is for Joel first, readers second. "It's not that I don't care about you, but this is for me." This honesty paradoxically makes it more valuable to readers.

### JFDI (Just Fucking Do It)
Bias toward action. "Quitting is a habit too — and I'm not training that one." No hand-wringing. Decide, commit, iterate.

### Consistency > perfection
"Imperfection doesn't mean failure — stopping does." Posts can be seedlings. Ideas can be half-formed. Ship it and tend the garden.

### Sovereignty and ownership
Self-host. Own your data. Own your platform. Against dependence on platforms that can be ruined by "one asshole."

### Crediting sources
Always name people and link to their work. Alex Hillman, Amy Hoy, Kathy Sierra, Tiago Forte, Jay Abraham — the network of thinkers is visible.

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## The Fabrication Rule — NEVER Make Things Up

**This is the single most important rule in this skill.**

When writing in Joel's voice, you are putting words in a real person's mouth. Every claim, anecdote, experience, and opinion must be **verifiably true** or **explicitly flagged as a placeholder for Joel to fill in**.

### What counts