how to write long-forms your audience can't stop reading

Most of you found my newsletter through my long-form posts.

Why?

Short posts get likes, but long-form content builds trust.

When someone reads your long-form, they spend 2–5 minutes with you, and that’s gold in today's fast-paced, short-form content online world.

If somebody spends these minutes with you, they remember you. And that’s the magic of longform.

And today I’ll tell you exactly how to write a viral one yourself 🙂 .

Buckle up, cause it’s literally my exact process. So feel free to copy & paste it.

1. Show your credibility

Credibility gets people to pay attention.

Starting your hook with: “I studied Psychology, I have a PhD in, I worked X years in corporate” are the starters to look for.

But people think they need a degree, a PhD, or some crazy story to be “credible.” 

But that’s not true.

Everybody has credibility - it comes from what you've built, from the times you’ve failed, your embarrassing moments, and your life-changing moments/achievements.

Then you turn your credibility into content that builds trust, grows your audience, and creates opportunities.

Here are some ways you can start a post with it:

• Age → “I’m 23. Here are 3 things I wish I knew when I was 18.”

• Special travel experiences → “I’ve been to 12 countries in the last 3 years. This is what travel taught me about people.”

• Significant past experiences → “When my startup failed, I thought my life was over. It turned out to be the best thing that happened to me.”

• Difficulties you’ve faced in life → “I battled depression for years. Here are the lessons that stuck with me.”

• Unique life circumstances → “As an immigrant growing up in two cultures, here’s what I learned about belonging.”

• Things you’d normally put on a CV → “After 5 years of studying law, this is what I really learned about justice.”

• Transformations you went through → “At 20, I was lost and anxious. At 27, I feel free. Here’s how I got here.”

See the pattern? You already have what you need: your story.

And this is why journaling matters so much 👇

2. Journaling is the foundation

When you journal, you collect raw material for your posts.

The first page is probably boring, but the 10th page might hold the best line you’ve ever written.

Some of my most viral posts started as a random sentence in my journal. Don’t overcomplicate it. Here’s how to do it:

• Pick a format that works for you.
  Brain-dump into Google Docs, carry notebooks, have a voice recorder and transcribe it- doesn’t matter.

• Do it consistently.
  Late at night. First thing in the morning. Whenever you can, but try to do it daily (I’m not gonna punish you if you miss a day, but you get the point)

• Mine it for content.
  Underline sentences that stand out. Those are your future hooks.

The first page will often be terrible, but the more you writ,e the more you go behind the surface and discover the depth in your being.

As I said, many of my most viral posts started as one messy line in my journal.

3. The Anatomy of a Long-Form Post

This could be a newsletter itself, but let’s break down the anatomy step by step.

.I feel like a doctor now hehe🙂 

Step 1: Hooks that stick

Your hook is the most important part of your post.

It’s the sentence that decides whether your reader stops scrolling or ignores you completely.

So you have to absolutely nail this one.

Good examples are:

• “It took me 10 years to learn this. I’ll tell you in 2 minutes.”

• “I studied psychology for 5 years. Here’s the truth it didn’t teach me.”

• “When I was 20, I felt lost. At 27, I feel free. Here’s how it happened.”

The hook sets the frame. It tells readers: this is worth your time, you’ll learn something useful for your life.

Step 2: Do Research

Don’t rely on your brain. Research what you want to talk about.

Use:

• YouTube talks

• Reddit threads

• Quora answers

• Medium articles

• Research papers

• Blinkist summaries

• Deep Research AI Models

Whatever you prefer, but become an expert in what you want to talk about.

Become a student of your subject, take notes of what you connect with, and leave out what you don’t.

Step 3: Create a Skeleton

Once you have your notes, pull out the key themes and turn them into 5–11 headlines.

Think of your headlines as mini-hooks. Sticky phrases that stand on their own. So make them exciting to read, use headlines that people don’t see somewhere else, and spark curiosity with them.

Step 4: Fill in the Body

Expand each headline into 1–3 sentences (here the research comes in handy). 

Step 5: Refine with AI

AI is great for refining your content. Ask it to edit with you.

• Paste your hook in and ask: “Make this more engaging, but keep my words. How can I add more curiosity?”

• Paste your draft in and ask: “What’s missing? What feels flat?”

The AI won’t replace your writing (yet), but it can sharpen it. 🙂 

4. Save & Steal

I use the “Save” button on Threads constantly.

Any time I see a hook that stops me mid-scroll, I save it. Later, I adapt it for my niche and post it.

You don’t copy the hook, but you copy the structure.

Example:

Same style, but completely different content. Later, it became a newsletter, a thread, and an Instagram post.

Everywhere you look - Google results, YouTube titles, social media posts - there is a hook waiting to be repurposed.

5. Rework what Flops

If a long-form post doesn’t perform, I don’t scrap it - I rework the hook and try again.

Some of my “2nd attempt” posts got 4x the engagement.

Long forms are high risk, high reward. Don’t waste good writing because the hook flopped.

Example:

6. Templates you should try

Here are some templates that went viral for me and maaaany others. And I believe everybody should write them:

Personal Transformation

• “When I was 20, I felt X. At 27, I feel Y. Here’s how it happened.”

• “I wasted my 20s. Here are the 3 lessons I learned.”

Callouts

• “If you’re in your 20s, read this.”

• “I’m a [profession]. Here are 5 lessons I wish I knew earlier.”

Controversial Takes

• “Therapy didn’t heal me. God did.”

• “Depression is overdiagnosed.”

Famous Figures

• “I studied Freud for 40 hours. Here are 7 lessons I learned.”

• “The woman who heals what therapy can’t: ”

That’s it.

Marcus is a member of Full Circle⭕and has been implementing everything we teach. Result: 1400+ followers, 400+ newsletter subscribers and 2 sales - all from 1 single long form post.

So if you want to do the same and grow & monetize your audience on Threads, you know where to find us 🙂 :