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Friedlander, Edward Jay and John Lee. Feature Writing for
Newspapers and Magazines. Addison-Wesley, 2000.
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Write while the heat is in you.
The writer who postpones the recording
of his thoughts uses an iron which has
cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot
inflame the minds of his audience.
Henry David Thoreau
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• Write fast but do not expect to write perfectly.
• Allot time for making revisions to improve:
- Accuracy (Double-check your facts.)
- Sentence clarity (Be wary of vague
antecedents.)
- Flow (Use transitions.)
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Transitions:
• Words that connect: and, also, another, but,
consequently, finally, first, for example, for instance,
however, in addition, in fact, in other words, later,
meanwhile, nevertheless, now, of course, on the
other hand, still, then, therefore
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Transitions:
• Words that bridge – synonymous words
used in proximity to link sentences or
paragraphs
Mrs. Kelly was born with a tangled knot of
abnormal blood vessels in the back of her brain.
The malformation began small, but in time the
vessels ballooned inside the confines of her skull,
crowding the healthy brain tissue.
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Transitions:
• Sentences that connect
The two fragile aneurisms that swell above the
major arteries are the focus of Dr. Ducker’s eyes.
Either may burst on contact.
 Still, he studies them again, eyes focused on the
two fragile aneurisms that well above the major
arteries. Either may burst on contact.
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Gremlins:
• Long paragraphs
• Weak verbs
• Wordiness
• Lack of anecdotes
• Jargon
• Cliches
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Three Ways to Write the Conclusion:
1. Circle Technique
2. Surprise
3. Summary
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Circle Technique
- purpose: unity
- main principle: Begin and end your story
with approximately the same idea, phrase,
question, statement or description
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Circle Technique
first paragraph:
In the cold hours of a winter morning, Dr. Thomas
Ducker, University Hospital’s senior brain surgeon,
rises… His wife serves him waffles but no coffee…
last paragraph:
Dr. Ducker bites into the sandwich.
The monster won.
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Surprise Ending
- purpose: unpredictability
- main principle: Surprise the reader.
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Summary Ending
- purpose: emphasis
- main principle: Sum up the essence of the
story
“Copy” Time
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