: Re: Which goes first: summary, background or justification? I am trying to write a long expository piece and cannot figure out which information should come first. Here are three candidates: A

@Ogunnowo420

Vote Up Vote Down

Thanks for the important insight, I hadn't thought to explicitly consider the audience. Here is my speculation:

Business readers (my actual audience in this case) care about justification ("why should I care?") first, then summary ("get to the point!"), then background.
Academic readers traditionally put a summary/abstract first, and then background/justification. Usually the justification is that there was a hole or flaw in existing knowledge, so the background is the justification, and vice versa.
I can't think of an example off the top of my head that really wants pure background information first, unless it's a sort of combined entertainment-education where the piece is interesting because it's leading the reader down an intellectual journey without revealing the destination ahead of time. Intellectual mysteries/adventures or whatnot.

That's what I've got so far. Thanks for your help!

(0)

Login to post a comment!