fun-anglelisted

# Fun angle Source: `points/core-rules.md` rule 9 (warmth and humor), `points/cold-email-rules.md` rule 3 (subject lines), `points/examples-and-critiques.md` (the model letters that worked). ## Why this exists Kramon's class rule: *"Humor is non-negotiable. If you think there's too much humor, drop the course."* The emails that get answered have one moment that makes the recipient smile. Not a joke — a moment. A line, an image, a self-aware aside, a subject line that's slightly weird. This skill exists because most people are scared to be funny in professional writing, so they default to safe. Safe gets deleted. ## What works ### 1. Self-deprecation that doesn't beg for sympathy ✅ *"I spent last weekend reading your Substack instead of my OB pre-reads, and I'm not sure that was the wrong trade."* ✅ *"I open Google Docs and stare at it like it owes me money."* ✅ *"Collecting degrees like infinity stones."* What works: the joke is at the writer's expense, but it's confident — not "poor me," more "yes, I see it too." ❌ *"I know I'm probably wasting your time but..."* ❌ *"Sorry to bother you, I'm just a humble student..."* This is begging. Cut. ### 2. Specific, slightly absurd detail ✅ A specific shared object from your history with the recipient (a gift, a year, a place you both know), referenced concretely enough that the reader has to remember the moment. ✅ A specific sensory detail from your own past — what you wore, what was wrong with what you wore, what you hel