I love it when my clients send me their rewrites after I present a writing workshop.

For one thing, it’s gratifying to see that people’s writing actually improves after I visit! For another, these pieces make great case studies in good writing.

Workers Compensation Board-Alberta writer Caren did a wonderful job rewriting an article during my Catch Your Readers workshop. Notice how her rewrite:

• Focuses the angle on reader benefits. Caren moves from event to impact. Her original story angle was WCB’s new opioid claim rollout. The rewrite focused on how employers can help save employees from addiction and overdose by using the board’s new resources.
• Uses the feature structure. This approach has been proven in the lab to be more effective at reaching readers. It also allows writers to plug and play their information into an existing format, saving time and effort.
• Keeps the piece short. The revised piece weighs in at fewer than 200 words — a one-minute read. So you can use the feature structure even when you don’t have a lot of space.

Here’s how she did it, with a great blog-post structure that works every time:

1. Lead

The original lead focused on background — in this case, a history lesson:

There’s a reason the feature structure places the background in the third paragraph, not the first. Background — otherwise known as the blah-blah — doesn’t grab readers’ attention.

Instead, write a lead that hooks the reader with a startling statistic or another concrete, creative, provocative lead. That’s what Caren did in her rewrite:

2. Nut graph

Caren didn’t include a nut graph in her original news story, because inverted pyramids don’t have nut graphs.

But in her rewrite, she puts the story “into a nutshell” — and shows readers how they’ll benefit from the piece:

3. Body

The original angle of the body is how the sausage was made. It’s not very interesting to clients whose employees are abusing opioids.

Readers want to know, “What’s in it for me?”

The revised body focuses on the readers’ needs with a list of tips for dealing with the crisis:

4. Wrapup

There’s nothing wrong with this call to action, but it isn’t very rousing:

In Caren’s rewrite, on the other hand, the wrapup is nice, neat and sweet:

5. Kicker

Here Caren ends with a bang and comes full circle by referring back to statistics in the lead:

How to structure a blog post

Next time you start writing your blog post or social media post, try the feature structure. It’s been proven in the lab to get a lot of people to read your post and share your post. It’s the best writing skill you can use to write successful blog content.

Learn how to write feature stories, do keyword research for search engine optimization and more in our online courses.

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“Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph,” said Time magazine reporter Paul O’Neil. “Sink your thumbs into his windpipe in the second and hold him against the wall until the tag line.”

How do you keep attention from the first paragraph through the tagline? Writing structure makes all the difference in how riveting your story can be.

Just ask Kathleen Sullivan, communication manager at Local Government Federal Credit Union. During my Get Clicked, Liked & Shared workshop, Kathleen reorganized a blog post from the inverted pyramid into the feature structure.

The feature approach convinces lots of people to read your post — and share your post. Plus, it’s a step-by-step structure that shows writers clearly what goes where.

Want to write successful blog content? What can you learn from Kathleen’s original and rewrite?

1. Lead

The job of the lead is to grab readers’ attention and draw them in.

In the original, Kathleen focuses on how the sausage was made … the abstract process behind the findings. Yaaaawn! Who cares about these interviews? Not me!

But Kathleen’s revision gets me, the reader, into the story. Moreover, she sets up a surprising scenario that grabs attention and pulls readers into the piece.

2. Nut graph

The job of the nut graph is to tell readers where you’re taking them.

Inverted pyramids don’t include nut graphs, so Kathleen’s original story skipped this element too.

But in her revised blog post, Kathleen encapsulates the main point in one quick, informal sentence:

3. Background section

In the background section, give readers information they need to know before they dive into the body of the story. That might be a definition, bit of context or history lesson.

But background is also known as blah-blah. Don’t let blah-blah get between your readers and your story: Keep this to one short paragraph.

In her original version, Kathleen delivers too much background, at 270 words.

And it’s too technical: Adaptive regulation? A combined perceptive and cognitive integration of emotions? Correlated to a positive orientation? Negative early engagements? No, thank you!

Kathleen’s revised background section is still a little long for my taste. But at 109 words, it’s 60% shorter than the original.

Her words are also shorter — about 10% shorter — and easy to read and understand. Now it sounds as if she’s telling me about this story on the elevator on our way to lunch.

Even better: It’s about me!

4. Body

The body is where you develop your story.

In Kathleen’s original, the meat of the story — the tips — are buried under 296 words of abstraction.

Plus, do’s and don’ts usually have a format: DO do this. DON’T do that. But instead, Kathleen used nouns. Those aren’t tips.

In her revision, Kathleen gets to the meat of the story faster and adds more detail. She also formats the tips as tips, not as things:

5. Wrapup

The job of the wrapup is to draw to a conclusion. Do you have a call to action? It goes here.

Here’s Kathleen’s original, packed with technical language:

Her revised piece is shorter and easier to read:

6. Kicker

The job of the kicker is to end with a bang, to leave a lasting impression.

Inverted pyramids don’t include kickers, so Kathleen’s original doesn’t, either.

But in the revision, she ends with a bang in a concrete, creative provocative final paragraph. Notice how she comes full circle back to the top.

So what’s the best blog post structure?

Writing structure is such one of the most important writing skills. Before you start writing a blog post or other social media piece, spend a few minutes organizing it into this structure.

Whether you’ve just started blogging or are already a pro:

• Start your content marketing piece with keyword research.
• Use the feature structure.
• Optimize your copy so search engines can find you.

Whatever your topic, create a blog post that keeps readers riveted from the first paragraph to the last line.

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If I came to your house and told you to grab your things and follow me, how far would you go? To the front door? The driveway? Would you hop in my car without further explanation?

No matter how dazzling your scene-setting feature lead, at some point, readers want to know where we’re going with this story. And that’s the job of the nut paragraph, aka the nut graf. (This, by the way, is the nut graph for this story.)

The nut graph is the transition from the lead. In the nut graph, writers and editors:

• Explain the lead and its connection to the rest of the story
• Reveal your destination, or the essential theme of the story
• Set up the supporting material to explain the rest of the story
• Explain why the story is important to convince your readers to come along for the ride

You don’t need a nut graph in news stories, but they’re essential in feature-style stories.

Let’s pause and ponder that for a minute too.

Here are four ways to crack the nut graph:

1. Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em.

Remember the old writing guideline, “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em; tell ’em; then tell ’em what you told ’em?”

The nut graph is where you tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em.

The nut graph — aka the “billboard” or the “so-what graph” — is where you put the story into a nutshell. It explains why the story is timely and provides the kernel, or central theme, of your piece.

“Once you find that idea or thread, all the other anecdotes, illustrations, and quotes are pearls that hang on this thread,” says Thomas Boswell, a Washington Post sports columnist. “The thread may seem very humble, the pearls may seem very flashy, but it’s still the thread that makes the necklace.”

So the first step to writing a nut graph is to find that thread. In other words, you need to figure out your point, or story angle.

2. Summarize your story angle in one sentence.

One of my J-school professors used to say, “If you can’t write your story angle on the back of my business card, you don’t know what your story’s about yet.”

To figure out what your story is about, write a one-sentence walkaway. That’s the one sentence you want your reader to — you got it! — walk away with after reading your piece. Then craft that so tightly that it will fit on the back of a business card:

Your walkaway sentence should answer the readers’ two most burning questions:

1. What’s your point?
2. Why should I care?

Stuck? Try telling a friend who knows nothing about the story what it’s about. Then capture that summary for your nut graph.

Start every writing project with a one-sentence walkaway. It will help you figure what goes in, what stays out and how to frame your story. You might even tape it to your computer screen to keep it top of mind while you write.

3. Make a promise to your readers.

At The Philadelphia Inquirer, the nut graph is known as the “You may be wondering why we invited you to this party” section, writes Chip Scanlan, affiliate faculty member at The Poynter Institute.

It’s also known as the R.A. paragraph, says Don Ranly, Ph.D., professor of journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. That’s as in “rat’s ass,” as in “Who gives a rat’s ass about this story?”

The nut graph — aka the “so-what graph” — shows readers where the story is heading so they can decide whether they want to follow along. The nut graph is where you make a promise to your readers: If you read this, you will learn …

So tell readers why it’s important for them to read this story now. Don’t drop the “Why should I care?” angle of the story. The nut graph is a great place for a WIIFM or a reader benefit. Stuck? Try starting your walkaway sentence with You.

Make sure someone gives a rat’s ass. Want to grab readers’ attention? Start with a dazzling feature lead. But if you want them to follow you throughout the story, follow up with a solid nut graph.

4. Keep it short.

Don’t let your nut graph become the pig in the snake, counsels Jacqui Banaszynski.

“I like the nut graph,” says the Knight Chair in Editing at the Missouri School of Journalism and visiting faculty member of The Poynter Institute.

“Readers need a frame around the picture. But sometimes the nut graph sticks out like a pig going through a snake. The nut graph doesn’t have to be a paragraph. Instead, it can be one elegant line that foreshadows the rest of the story.”

Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar of The Poynter Institute, agrees: “The ‘nut’ is supposed to signify the hard kernel of the story, what is at the center. But it’s a clumsy metaphor, because it suggests there is a shell that has to be cracked to get to it.”

That’s no fun for the reader, writes Kate Long, a writing coach for The Charleston Gazette: “You’re eating this nice brownie, and suddenly you hit a chunk of dry flour.”

To keep your reader from choking on your nut graph, write a short, graceful summary that’s in keeping with the tone and style of the rest of your piece.

Summarize your point in a sentence or two. That’s all you need for a nut graph.

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New York’s Grey Lady isn’t so gray any more. Topping one-third of its stories with feature leads, The New York Times covers the world in living color.

Feature leads grab attention with concrete, creative, provocative details. In a recent edition, the Times brought 33% stories to life with feature lead approaches including:

1. Description

Description lights up readers’ brains — literally.

Let’s pause and ponder that for a minute too.

For description, go to the scene and observe, using all five of your senses. Then recreate what you’ve experienced on the page, showing readers what they don’t ordinarily see, making them feel what they don’t normally feel.

Description topped the list of The New York Times feature lead approaches, with seven descriptive leads making up 8% of all leads in a recent edition.

Matt A.V. Chaban uses description to start a story about how real estate development has stalled out in North Brooklyn, despite the boom elsewhere in the city.

Notice that feature leads aren’t just for feature stories. This lead, for instance, tops a business analysis.

2. Examples, for instances

Lead by example: A pint of “for instances” is worth a gallon of abstraction.

Darth Vader toothbrushes and Pepto-Bismol-slathered schnauzers change the pictures in people’s heads and move readers to act.

Examples came in No. 2 of The New York Times feature lead approaches in a recent edition. Six “for instance” leads made up 7% of all the leads we reviewed.

Ben Sisario uses examples to launch a story about radio’s hottest new format:

3. Juicy details

Fun facts and juicy details make your copy more vivid. The New York Times ran five juicy details leads — 5% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Michael Paulson uses juicy details to introduce a story about how local governments are taking an increasingly hard line on religious shop owners who refuse to serve gay customers:

4. Anecdote

When you need to win the hearts and minds of your readers, tell them a story. Anecdote, narrative and other storytelling techniques are the most powerful forms of human communication.

The Times ran four anecdotal leads — 5% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Tatiana Schlossberg and Nina Bernstein use anecdote to start a story about the vulnerability of frail nursing home residents in New York state. There, rates of substandard care, neglect and abuse are high, according to national studies:

5. Compression of details

For compression of details, you list your most powerful details, squeeze them together in a paragraph, then polish them. Like squeezing together a lump of coal to make a diamond, compression of details condenses fascinating facts into a passage that’s more than the sum of its parts.

The Times ran two compression-of-details leads — 2% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Claire Cain Miller compressed three details to introduce a story about new machines that can handle knowledge and service jobs, as well as factory and clerical work:

6. Wordplay

Want to captivate your readers? Get the media to steal your sound bites? Make your message more eloquent and memorable? Wordplay can help.

The Times ran two wordplay leads — that’s 2% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Wordplay includes techniques like alliteration, balance and rhyme. Matthew Goldstein used twist of phrase in this lead for a story about a billionaire investor who managed to fend off a criminal insider trading investigation of himself. Now he’s looking for a former prosecutor and several agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join his new $10 billion investment firm:

7. Metaphor

Human beings have always learned metaphorically: We add to our knowledge by comparing new concepts to those we already understand. Take computers: They have desktops, files, folders, documents and notepads — all analogies for things in offices.

These analogies serve as shortcuts to understanding. So when you want to help your readers understand new, technical or complicated information, metaphor is the answer.

The Times ran two metaphor leads — that’s 2% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Matthew L. Wald used metaphor to launch this story about how hundreds of scientists and engineers are looking at new kinds of nuclear reactors, intended to be safer, cheaper sources of energy worldwide:

8. Human interest

It’s the “Peer Principle of Persuasion”: People connect with people.

Readers find messages more readable, understandable and persuasive when your let a person stand for your point. So find a poster person and use human interest for your leads.

The Times ran one human-interest lead — that’s 1% of all leads — in a recent edition.

Elisabeth Rosenthal used human interest to start this story about how “testing has become to the United States’ medical system what liquor is to the hospitality industry: a profit center with large and often arbitrary markups”:

Feature features.

Want to grab people’s attention and keep it for the long haul? Take a tip from The New York Times and run more feature stories and feature leads.

What can you steal from the newspaper of record’s approach to starting stories?

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It’s easy to end an inverted-pyramid story: Stop typing.

Sadly, coming to an abrupt halt doesn’t work for feature-style stories.

But what does?

To write a satisfying conclusion, include two elements:

• A wrapup: Tell ’em what you told ’em.
• A kicker: End with a bang.

The wrapup is designed to make your point; the kicker, to make your point memorable. The best conclusions, in conclusion, summarize then illustrate your key point.

1. Draw to a close in the wrapup.

You’ve heard the phrase: Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, tell ’em, then tell ’em what you’ve told ’em.

Let’s pause and ponder that for a minute too.

• The nut graph is where you tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em.
• The body paragraphs are where you tell ’em.
• And the wrapup is where you tell ’em what you’ve told ’em.

Start your conclusion with a wrapup. This is where you make your final point about the subject.

You remember learning to do this for high school research papers: To write an essay conclusion, restate your thesis statement. Then the teacher reading your paper knew what your point was.

To write a wrapup, simply copy and paste the nut graph, then massage. The tone of the wrapup is, “Now that I’ve given you all this information, you can only agree with me that [key point].”

If you have a call to action, that goes into the nut graph, too.

Here’s how it works, in a story by Caren at the Workers Compensation Board-Alberta.

2. End with a bang in the kicker.

The job of the kicker is to leave a lasting impression. Where the lead — aka introductory paragraph or essay hook — draws readers in with concrete, creative, provocative details, the kicker uses the same approaches to let readers go.

So make your kicker, or conclusion paragraph:

• Concrete. Choose a telling detail for the end of the piece. It should reveal new meaning about the topic, even as you close.
• Creative. Steal techniques from fiction writers including anecdotes, metaphors, wordplay, human interest and juicy details.
• Provocative. Provoke a question in the reader’s mind so she keeps thinking about your story long after she’s finished the last paragraph.

You might even consider coming full circle back to the beginning.

Here’s how it works, in Caren’s story:

Leave a lasting impression.

First impressions are important. But last impressions matter, too.

End with a bang, instead of a whimper, with this two-part approach.

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If I came to your house and told you to grab your things and follow me, how far would you go? To the front door? The driveway? Would you hop in my car without further explanation?

No matter how dazzling your feature lead, at some point, readers want to know where we’re going with this story.

And that’s the job of the nut graph. The nut graph is where you reveal your destination and convince your readers to come along for the ride. (This, by the way, is the nut graph for this story.)

Here are four tips for cracking the nut graph:

1. Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em.

Remember the old writing guideline, “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em; tell ’em; then tell ’em what you told ’em?” The nut graph is where you tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em.

The nut graph — aka the “billboard” or the “so-what graph” — puts the story into a nutshell. It provides the kernel, or central theme, of your story.

“The most important thing in the story is finding the central idea,” says Thomas Boswell, a Washington Post sports columnist.

“Once you find that idea or thread, all the other anecdotes, illustrations, and quotes are pearls that hang on this thread. The thread may seem very humble, the pearls may seem very flashy, but it’s still the thread that makes the necklace.”

2. Summarize your idea in a sentence or two.

A thread may be humble, but it’s also slender and inconspicuous. We’re not talking about stuffing all the W’s and the H into a thick paragraph. Rather, the best nut graphs synthesize the story and answer the readers’ two most burning questions:

1. What’s the point of this story?
2. Why should I care?

If you can’t summarize your story angle in a couple of sentences, you probably don’t haven’t figured out what it is yet.

3. Show in the lead, tell in the nut graph.

It’s the best one-two punch for starting a story: Grab readers’ attention in the lead, then deliver your point in the nut paragraph.

“Think of the lead as a close-up,” counsels Chip Scanlan, affiliate faculty member at The Poynter Institute. “The nut graph is a wide-angle shot.”

It’s counterintuitive, but it works: Show in a concrete lead; tell in an abstract nut graph. Here’s how it works …

4. Tell readers why it’s important to read this story now.

The nut graph is where you make a promise to your readers: “If you read this, you will learn …” That makes this a great place for a WIIFM.

Don’t drop the nut graph.

Writing a nut can be a pain in the b*tt. But don’t let that stop you.

Every feature-style story needs a nut graph. (And, as regular readers of this column know, the feature-style story structure has been proven in the lab, again and again, to outperform the inverted pyramid on virtually every metric.)

“Sometimes, lack of a nut graph signifies a bigger problem,” writes business journalist Michelle V. Rafter. “If a writer has trouble figuring out what to say in a nut graph it could be because they haven’t figured out what the story they’re writing is about.”

Stuck? Try telling a friend who knows nothing about the story what it’s about. Then capture that summary in your story.

That strong nut graph is essential. Because you can’t expect readers to follow your story without one.

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