Welcome to Steemit! I used to be a hooke-...a crocheter as well. But that was a long time ago, and I've forgotten how to do the deed. Out of curiosity, since you said you were basically a clickbait writer (and got me to click your post so it obviously worked on me) what are the biggest keywords/phrases in that writing style? I'm assuming "you won't believe..." is one of them?
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I actually don't write any of the titles on the pieces I do for Looper. We have a list of topics we can pick from or pitch on, but the titles are all decided ahead of time by their metrics team or some such. I try to avoid a lot of sensationalism in the actual body of my posts since the headlines often are over-the-top to generate traffic.
That being said, I think most "clickbait" titles have to have some sort of emotional connection to the reader as part of the formula. For example, I did a fairly straightforward article on rare/expensive Pokemon cards not that long ago for Looper. If I had tried to write the title, I might have come up with something like "Rare Pokemon cards that could make you a bundle," which fits that formula...the "you" as a part of the headline invites the reader to make a personal connection/reaction to the piece.
You should try to pick up a hook again and see what happens! I stopped crocheting when I was around 12, and picked it up again out of instinct when I tried a few years ago. It was like getting on a bike, the muscle memory was still there for me.
Interesting, I wouldn't have known that all the titles aren't written by the writer, and that you'd have to basically write off of a title.
My mom taught me when I was around the same age, and I think I made a hat. Seems like a good thing to do in the winter, when you can't really go outside at night. Maybe I'll see if my mom still has some stuff I could borrow :)