Did the title of the post catch your eye?  It’s probably a play on words or a quote from a movie.  If the title didn’t do it, the picture normally linked right under it should.  It’s probably something goofy or illustrative of the title.  After that, the next few sentences launch into an overview of the problem.  My blog posts all start out like my real life stories – lots of context so we’re all on the same page before we start discussing things.  Without a good setting, the rest of the story is pretty pointless.  The last sentence of the first paragraph is usually a question or statement relating the background to the main point.

This is the paragraph where the central point discussion starts.  Now that everyone is on the same page, the real analysis can start.  With the opening setting in mind, it’s time to lead into whatever the main point of this blog post will be.  I usually bring up commonly discussed aspects of the problem, such as urban legend or commonly held beliefs.  That way, people are nodding their heads as they read along.  Everything should be laid out on the table as an overview before diving into the topics in depth.

This is a section header designed to catch your eye or a central point that I want to reinforce.

Here is where I start dissecting the points from above.  Each point gets a paragraph and a discussion about the salient points.  Falsehoods are refuted.  Truths are reinforced.  If this is a review, there is discussion of a major section or general theme of the reviewed item.  Self contained sections are easy to digest. Plus, I’ll just keep repeating them all until I’ve brought up all the points from the introductory paragraph.  It try to keep these depth discussions to around three paragraphs because it’s easier for people to remember things with less than twenty seven parts.

There's probably some code or output in this section.  It's easier
 to type in one of these boxes.  Plus, you can usually just copy 
and paste whatever it is into your device.

Here’s where I start trying to wrap everything up and bring all the points and discussion together.  That way the big picture has now been fully developed and fleshed out.  If there are any other pieces that aren’t germane to the discussion or forward-looking statements about how the situation may change in the future, I’ll put them here as things to ponder as you get up from your desk to walk around and hope they hit you later and make you want to leave a comment.

Tom’s Take

Alliteration is awesome, right?  This is the section where I offer my own opinion about things.  Yes, many of my posts are already overloaded with opinion, but here is where I relate the whole thing to me and my outlook on things.  This is also the section where I use the “I” word, whereas I try to avoid it above.  I literally draw a line on the page so people realize this is something a bit different that what comes above.  In many ways, this can serve as a too long, didn’t read portion if you’re only interested in opinion.  I freely admit that I borrowed this idea from Stephen Foskett and his “Stephen’s Stance” closers.  I’ll probably make a flippant comment here and there, but I try to keep things coherent and on point.  And finally, when I wrap up, I usually call back to the title of the post or central theme in a funny way to reinforce what I’ve just talked about.  Anatomically speaking, of course.

If you’re curious where I got the idea for this 300th blog post, you can watch the video from Da Vinci’s Notebook for “Title Of The Song”: