Don't bury the wisdom, weave it in

A common pattern I see in posts trying to inform, teach, and share experiences is this:

1. Intro
2. Background
3. Problems
4. Solutions
5. Learnings

This structure is common because it is basically one we all know from fiction (beginning, middle, end). Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well for informative posts because it buries the learnings (AKA the best bit) at the end.

A better structure is just to combine the intro and background together (shorten) and weave problems, solutions, and learnings together like this:

1. Intro + background
2. First problem → solution → learning
3. Second problem → solution → learning
4. Third problem → solution → learning
5. Bigger picture

You can usually get away with less background and intro than you think, people want what is practical to them. Having so much content before getting to the good parts risks losing readers before the end. By weaving the wisdom, they get what they’re looking for faster and stay more engaged throughout.