All good non-fiction pieces are centered around a shiny dime, i.e., the core thesis, idea, or takeaway you want to explore. It’s the kernel that you cannot take away from the piece without killing it.
This shiny dime can often be summarized in one or two sentences, even when the original piece is much longer than that (e.g., books). This is generally true both for branch works and tree works.
Without a shiny dime, writing feels dull, encyclopedic, and soulless. That’s why, when writing a new piece, you should first ask yourself: What’s the shiny dime?