Key takeaways
- Rewriting a viral post takes three steps: break it down with a structure card, put your own topic into a proven structure and have AI write two or three drafts, then remove the AI tone yourself.
- A structure card records four things: how the title hooks, how the first three paragraphs keep readers, the body's rhythm, and what the ending asks readers to do. Questions in the comments can become your next topic.
- Structure can be borrowed; facts, experiences and opinions must be your own. That is the line between rewriting and copying.
Many people save hundreds of viral posts and still do not know how to start writing their own. The reason is simple: saving is not the same as breaking down. A bookmark stores a post; without analysis you do not learn from it.
This post covers the three steps we use: break down, fill in the structure, edit. For the bigger picture of the workflow, start with the 2026 Xiaohongshu AI marketing guide.
Step 1: break down the viral post
When a post takes off, usually only one or two things were done right and the rest is ordinary. Breaking it down means finding those one or two things.
For each post, fill in a structure card:
- Title: a numbered list, an identity hook, or a surprising conclusion?
- First three paragraphs: do they hold readers with a shared pain point, a promised benefit, or an unexpected opinion?
- Body rhythm: how long is each paragraph, where are the line breaks and images, how does the emotion build?
- Ending: does it ask readers to save, to ask a question in the comments, or to watch for the next post?
Also look at the comments. Whatever the top comments keep asking can be your next post.
Breaking down needs a complete sample. A cover screenshot alone throws away the most valuable part. The Beav browser extension saves the caption, images, comments and source link to your knowledge base together; see building a benchmark post pool with a browser extension.
The first few are slow; you might spend half an hour on one post and still not fill the card. By around ten posts you will notice that the titles that keep working in your niche come in only two or three forms. At that point you have a "proven structure".
Step 2: put your topic into the structure
With a structure card, step two is simple. Pick a structure proven in your niche, give AI the benchmark post and your topic, and ask for a draft in that structure: title options, an opening, a body in sections, emoji formatting and hashtags.
In Beav, every post in the knowledge base has an "AI rewrite" button that drafts directly from that post's structure. The Xiaohongshu caption generator page on this site also walks through the flow.
Why give a structure? If you only say "write me a post", AI gives you the average of what it has seen: smooth, complete and forgettable. The more precise the benchmark post, the more of the draft you can keep. And if you cannot find a single benchmark post for a topic in your library, AI cannot help much; go back to step one and find material.
Ask for two or three versions at once. Do not use any single version as is, however good; combining the opening of one with the ending of another usually beats any one of them.
Step 3: remove the AI tone yourself
No tool does this step for you. The biggest problem with an AI draft is that it does not sound like you.
Edit in three ways:
- Add details only you can write. The problem you ran into at a store last week, a sentence a customer actually said to you. AI cannot invent these, and they make the post feel real.
- Switch to how you normally talk. Replace polished phrases with what you would really say, and break up sentences that are too neatly parallel. Write the way you would recommend something to a friend.
- Cut. Half the adjectives in a first draft can go.
To get drafts closer to your style, let Beav learn your account. When you create a workspace from your profile link, Beav reads your profile and your most-liked posts and builds a writing style and account memory that later drafts use. You can also write down your positioning, audience and content direction in the "Account plan" tool on the home page. It may not show much at first, but drafts get closer to your voice over time.
Rewriting versus copying
This needs to be clear: structure can be borrowed; facts, experiences and opinions must be yours.
How to write a title or pace a post is public craft, like a recipe anyone can learn. Personal stories, test data and original conclusions in a benchmark post belong to its author, and rewording them is still taking them. Having AI turn someone else's experience into a first-person story about you is copying.
Learn the structure first, then write your own content, in that order. In niches where readers make careful decisions, such as education, healthcare or home improvement, this matters even more, because trust is built from real details.
Summary
After breaking down enough posts you will see that what you learn is the method behind viral posts, not any single post. Your structure cards pile up, your edits get faster, and the three steps become habit.
In this workflow Beav handles capture, organizing and first drafts, and your material and drafts stay on your own computer. To try it, download the Beav desktop app and break down the ten most recent viral posts in your bookmarks tonight.
