Workflow
Rewrite essay for Substack Notes:
- [ ] Step 1: Load spine + chosen hook + voice-profile + section overlay
- [ ] Step 2: Open with chosen hook (confession preferred)
- [ ] Step 3: Use 2-3 spine claims with highest translatability
- [ ] Step 4: Optional: one one-sentence pivot paragraph
- [ ] Step 5: Close with spine.closing_maxim, **bolded**
- [ ] Step 6: Add link line: `Full essay: [title]({substack-url})`
- [ ] Step 7: Voice-check pass: no don't-list, no emoji, no hashtags, no CTA
- [ ] Step 8: Enforce 60-180 word cap
Output format
ops/distribution/{date}-{slug}/substack-note.md:
---
source_post: {slug}.md
platform: substack-notes
target_length: 60-180 words
actual_length: {N}
hook_pattern: confession | claim | question | reframe
section: {section-slug or null}
---
{hook line}
{body — 2-5 short paragraphs, each 1-3 sentences; may use em-dash reframes and one-sentence pivots}
**{closing_maxim from spine}**
Full essay: [{title}]({substack-url})
Worked example
Input — spine from The Execution Gap.
Output substack-note.md (139 words):
I have been meaning to open a Kalshi account for months.
Not casually meaning to — the way you mean to clean the garage or read the Piketty book on the nightstand. I am one of those people who substitutes learning for doing.
Here's the experiment: $10, one IPL season, every trade logged. Brier score on every call. Real money, real scoreboard.
Say you predict a team at 80%. If they win, your Brier is (0.80 - 1)² = 0.04. If they lose, it's (0.80 - 0)² = 0.64. Overconfidence is asymmetrically punished.
I have not tried this. Not once.
**At the end of the tournament, I'll answer the question. Or I'll admit I can't.**
Full essay: [The Execution Gap](https://thethinkersnotebook.substack.com/p/the-execution-gap)
Guardrails
- Word count strictly 60–180. Under 60 = teasing; over 180 = Notes dwell-time drops.
- No hashtags. No emoji. No exclamation points. No custom CTA.
- Preserve paper attributions in full (Author, Institution, Year) if any appear.
- If essay's closer is hedged ("I do not know"), Note's closer is hedged too.
- Bolded maxim is verbatim from spine.closing_maxim. Do not edit.
- Single link line at the end. Not mid-text.