Feature and Magazine Writing

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Feature and Magazine Writing

• Chapter 6

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Long outline

• Let a week pass if you have the time
• When youre embroiled in the reporting,
  everything seems important. Some facts you have
  worked so hard to get, you just cant bear to
  give them up. When you research intensely, every
  little detail seems important. But if you give
  yourself distance, the truly important ones stand
  out.

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Story structure

• Chronological tells a story from beginning to
  end
• Flashback and flash-forward is acceptable
• Least-to-most important opposite of the news
  storys inverted pyramid, which -- after a lead
  -- presents the most important information first
• Moves the subject from the simple to the complex
• May or may not present the information
  chronologically

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Story structure

• Problem and solution subdivides the issues,
  provides answers, moves on to the big answer
• Often begins with one or more anecdotes or
  examples of problems, then moves to solutions to
  those problems
• Catalog Essentially a list, classified and
  explained
• Repetitive structure Introduces a concept and
  hammers away at it until the point is made
• Reinforces concept with anecdotes and quotations
• Combination of the above

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Writing the lead

• Delayed lead Withholds (for a few paragraphs)
  identification of the person, group, place, or
  event that is central to the story
• Descriptive lead Paints a word portrait of a
  person, group, place, or event (page 189)
• Called situation lead if a scene is set or an
  atmosphere is created
• Each segment begins with a different persons
  point of view, then is developed chronologically
  from material

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Leads

• Direct address lead Usually uses or implies the
  second person, you, is designed to involved the
  reader in the story without introducing the
  writer
• Expression lead Has many variations. May mimic
  words from several fields (movies etc)
• First-person lead Something personal and
  extraordinary
• Diary lead uses first person in a telegraphic
  style

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Leads

• Freak lead Rare. Definition, fragment,
  onomatopoeia, poetry, pun, script leads
• Prediction lead This lead ties a startling
  forecast to a reputable source
• Question lead Last resort. Lacks intrigue.
• Quotation lead Indirect or direct quote, tied to
  some sort of description of the person speaking
  or the setting

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Leads

• Relationship lead Describes cause and effect,
  which explains how one event triggers another
• Surprise lead Shocks the reader. Only when the
  reader reaches the transition to the body of the
  story, does the meaning of the lead become clear
• Summary lead Sums up in a few sentences, or a
  few paragraphs, the essence of the story

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Writing the body of the story

• Long paragraphs
• Weak verbs
• Telling rather than showing
• Wordiness
• Lack of anecdotes
• Jargon
• Cliches

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Writing the end of the story

• First paragraph
• Last two paragraphs

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Student critique

• Story structure
• Lead
• Use of quotations
• Anecdotes, if necessary
• Humor, if necessary
• Use of verbs
• Telling rather than showing
• Cliches, rather than originality