Here are a couple other resources that I like and that people might also find useful on approximately this topic (besides just the “related work” you mention):
“You should usually include an actual tl;dr/summary/key takeaways section right near the start—even in most cases where you feel it’s unimportant or inappropriate.
(At least when writing for e.g. EAs. Sometimes when writing for mass audiences, you’ll better engage people by deliberately not making it clear what you’re writing about or what you’ll ultimately claim.)
Usually don’t just have a section with that sort of name but where you actually just say “This post will cover x, y, and z”
I don’t just want to know you say something about x, y, z; I want to know the core of what you actually say!
There’s a good chance you—whoever you are—think “The key takeaways are too complex to be explained briefly before someone has actually read my introduction, how I explain the terms, etc.” You’re probably wrong.
I kept thinking this for ~8 months, till finally the many many times I was advised to add summaries got to me and I started really trying to do that, at which point I realised it really was typically possible & valuable.
Here are a couple other resources that I like and that people might also find useful on approximately this topic (besides just the “related work” you mention):
Honesty about reading
The value of content density
And here are my own quick tips on summaries, from Tips & readings on good writing/communication, which are less useful than but somewhat complementary to this post:
“You should usually include an actual tl;dr/summary/key takeaways section right near the start—even in most cases where you feel it’s unimportant or inappropriate.
(At least when writing for e.g. EAs. Sometimes when writing for mass audiences, you’ll better engage people by deliberately not making it clear what you’re writing about or what you’ll ultimately claim.)
See Reasoning Transparency and Using the “executive summary” style: writing that respects your reader’s time
Usually don’t skip this section
Usually don’t just have a section with that sort of name but where you actually just say “This post will cover x, y, and z”
I don’t just want to know you say something about x, y, z; I want to know the core of what you actually say!
There’s a good chance you—whoever you are—think “The key takeaways are too complex to be explained briefly before someone has actually read my introduction, how I explain the terms, etc.” You’re probably wrong.
I kept thinking this for ~8 months, till finally the many many times I was advised to add summaries got to me and I started really trying to do that, at which point I realised it really was typically possible & valuable.
Have you actually spent 5 minutes, by the clock, really trying to summarise the key takeaways in a way that will make sense to a reader who hasn’t read the whole thing?
(There are some exceptions, e.g. for extremely short posts)”