Something you did
A real place, a real time. It gives somebody something to ask.
Guide
What to write about yourself, without writing a CV
Most profile descriptions describe a generic person: loves to travel, loves to laugh, looking for someone real. Nobody falls for a generic person, and that is the whole of it.
Why generic fails
"Loves to travel" is true of ninety per cent of people, so it says nothing about you. Worse, it also gives nobody anything to write to you about. There is no question to ask about "loves to travel".
Whereas "got back last week from a week in the north and did not want to come back" says the same thing and opens a conversation. Somebody can ask where exactly, or say they were there too.
That is the whole difference, and it is not good writing, it is specificity. You do not need to be witty, you need to be precise.
The recipe: three facts
First fact: something you did recently. Where you were at the weekend, where you drove, what you cooked. A real date, a real place.
Second fact: something you do regularly. A morning run, a book group, guitar lessons that are not progressing. A real habit, even an unimpressive one.
Third fact: an opinion. Something you think that not everybody agrees with. Not politics, something small and specific. An opinion is the fastest way to make somebody feel they met a person rather than a profile.
And what to delete
Every sentence that starts with "not looking for". Not looking for games, not looking for anything casual. They look like healthy boundaries and read like a list of wounds.
Everything that describes who you are looking for instead of who you are. The profile is yours.
And jokes that need context, sarcasm that can read as hostile, and lists of traits you are not. Short and direct works. Five to eight sentences is about right.
The recipe in three lines
Something regular
A habit, even an unimpressive one. Especially then.
A small opinion
The fastest way to make somebody feel they met a person.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the description be?
Five to eight sentences. Too short looks like no effort, too long and nobody reads it.
Do I need to be funny?
No. You need to be specific. A joke that misses does more damage than a plain sentence that opens a conversation.
Should I write what I am looking for?
One sentence at most, stated positively rather than negatively. Dating intentions and relationship status are separate profile fields anyway.
What is most worth deleting?
Any sentence starting with "not looking for". It looks like a boundary and reads like a list of wounds.
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