←back to thread

595 points rbanffy | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
marginalia_nu ◴[] No.43505551[source]
My general takes (as someone who also has a somewhat popular blog) is that

The inverted pyramid is almost always the correct format for your text. I often put the tweet-length version of the post in the title or first paragraph. Get to the point quickly, then elaborate. Means you can bail out at any point of the text and still take home most of what mattered, while the meticulous crowd can have their nitpicks addressed toward the end.

The problem of finding an audience is best solved by being really transparent about what you're about. Inverted pyramid solves that. There's no point to drawing in people who aren't going to be interested. Retaining existing readers beats capturing new readers.

I'm less bullish on images, unless they are profoundly relevant to the text. Illustrations for the sake of having illustrations are no bueno in my opinion. You want to reduce distractions and visual noise. Images should above all never be funny.

replies(15): >>43505573 #>>43505719 #>>43506046 #>>43506189 #>>43506400 #>>43506970 #>>43507372 #>>43507727 #>>43508468 #>>43508865 #>>43508960 #>>43513506 #>>43514694 #>>43515583 #>>43516620 #
pansa2 ◴[] No.43507372[source]
> The inverted pyramid is almost always the correct format for your text.

Do you find this conflicts with "offering an interesting story that resonates with the reader"?

For example: Using inverted pyramid to describe a problem and my solution, I'd structure my writing as "here's a problem, I found this solution, using this method". Whereas a story would usually be told in chronological order: "here's a problem, I tried these methods, and came to this solution".

Or is it possible to both have your cake and eat it? Tell a good story after giving away the ending?

replies(5): >>43508165 #>>43508344 #>>43508777 #>>43509449 #>>43512939 #
1. sunshowers ◴[] No.43508165[source]
There's a tension here but I don't think it's a fundamental conflict.