Feature Writing

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Feature Writing
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Hard News vs. Soft News

• Whats the difference?

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Types of Features

• News Features
• story is pegged to a prominent news story
• Personality Profiles and Human Interest
• focuses on someone who has made a notable impact
  on the lives of others, someone from the
  community who has become unusually prominent, or
  simply someone with a unique hobby or talent.
• Informative
• Inform the reader about a product, event, issue,
  history, trend, etc. Research is key
• Personal Experience and Accomplishment
• Reporter writes about his/her personal
  experiences with the purpose of informing and
  inspiring readers

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What is Feature Writing?

• More creative, clever, and original than news
  story
• Informative, entertaining, descriptive
• May or may not be tied to a current event
• Usually not written in the inverted pyramid
  format
• beginning, middle, and end.
• Impact is most important consideration, followed
  by other news judgments, such as proximity,
  timeliness, oddity, prominence, etc.
• Language and style is consistent with news
  writing active verbs, minimal adjectives and
  adverbs, research, accuracy, quotes and
  paraphrases, fair coverage (no bias)
• Will often be longer than a traditional news
  story (about 500-1000 words)

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Observations

• Feature stories allow you to integrate details
  that are observednot just spoken.
• Sprinkle direct quotations, observations and
  additional background throughout the story.

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Choosing the Theme

• Has the story been done before?
• Is the story of interest to the audience?
• Does the story have holding power (emotional
  appeal)?
• What makes the story worthy of being reported?
• The theme answers the question, So what?
  (Impact)

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Writing the Lead

• Grabs the readers attention (hook) and fits the
  mood of the story
• A summary may not be the best lead.
• A lead of one or two paragraphs often begins a
  feature.
• Rather than put the news elements of the story in
  the lead, the feature writer uses the first two
  or three paragraphs to set a mood, to arouse
  readers, to invite them inside.
• See Feature Lead Writing handout (Entry 40).

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Part II Feature structure
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Writing the Lead

• Grabs the readers attention (hook) and fits the
  mood of the story
• A summary may not be the best lead.
• A lead block of one or two paragraphs often
  begins a feature.
• Rather than put the news elements of the story in
  the lead, the feature writer uses the first two
  or three paragraphs to set a mood, to arouse
  readers, to invite them inside.
• See Feature Lead Writing handout (Entry 40).

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Nut Graf

• The So What paragraph
• Usually in the second-fourth paragraph
• Explains the reason the story is being written

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Body of the Feature

• Provides vital information while it educates,
  entertains, and emotionally ties an audience to
  the subject
• Important components include
• Background information
• The thread of the story
• Accurate quotes and paraphrases
• Smooth transitions

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Background Information

• A paragraph or two of background should be placed
  high in the story to bring the audience up to date

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The Thread of the Story

• Connect the beginning, body and conclusion of the
  story
• Because a feature generally runs longer than a
  news story, it is effective to weave a thread
  throughout the story, which connects the lead to
  the body and to the conclusion
• This thread can be a single person, an event or a
  thing, and it usually highlights the theme

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Quotes and Paraphrases

• Used to keep a story moving fluidity and
  interest
• Must be accurate
• Can give readers strong mental images and keep
  them attached to the writing and to the storys
  key players
• Alternate quote paragraphs with fact/paraphrase
  paragraphs

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Wrapping it Up

• The ending will wrap up the story and come back
  to the lead, often with a quotation, a surprising
  climax, or impact statement.
• Often, a feature ends where the lead started,
  with a single person, event, or idea.
• Avoid preaching.