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A feature story differs from a straight news story in one respect – its
intent.
A news story provides information about an event, idea or situation.
The feature does a bit more – it may also interpret news, add depth
and colour to a story, instruct or entertain.
Structure :
1. A catchy – clever – attention grabbing and visually
interesting headline!
2. The introduction is one of the most important part –
grab the attention of your reader, hook them in.
1. Use drama, emotion, quotations, rhetorical questions,
descriptions, allusions, alliteration and metaphors.
3. The body of the article needs to stick to the ideas or
answer any questions raised in the introduction
1. Try to maintain an "atmosphere“ / tone / distinctive voice
throughout the writing
4. The conclusion should be written to help the reader
remember the article.
a strong punch-line
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Visually-interesting image/photograph which matches the
tone and content of the written text
Catchy, visually-interesting
headline
this one uses an allusion to
Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit
Attention-grabbing
“hooks” which set
tone and ideas of
the article
1st paragraph
expands on the main
“hook” which sets
tone and focus of the
article
“time-line” of images
– with captions and
“hook” heading
“text box” quote pasted into article – a “hook” to grab more
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attention and can be foundcopyright:
in the body
of the article
Some points to keep in mind:
0 Focus on human interest - the
tone and emotion you put into
the article make it either
interesting or boring.
0 Be clear about why you are
writing the article. Is it to
inform, persuade, observe,
evaluate, or evoke emotion?
0 Write in the active voice. In
active writing, people do things.
(Passive sentences often have the
person doing the action at the
end of the sentence or things
being done “by” someone).
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For inspiration… check-out
other feature articles!
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0 Don't rely on the computer
spell-checker - especially
those with a U.S. dictionary.
0 Decide on the ‘tense' of your
story at the start and stick to
it. Present tense usually
works best.
0 Avoid lengthy, complex
sentences
0 Avoid lengthy, complex
paragraphs.
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0 Accuracy is important - you can
interpret and “embroider” but not
lie!
0 Keep your audience clearly in mind
- what really matters to them?
0 Avoid to many clichés (“cutting
edge”, “world beating”,
“revolutionary” ) and sentimental
statements - especially at the end of
your article.
0 Use anecdotes and direct quotes to
tell the story - try not to use too
many of your “own” words.
0 Research / consider more than one
point-of-view to provide a more
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complete and balanced report
Some examples of what feature articles look like…
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Layout of a feature article: template
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