Writing Features
Learning Objectives
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Describe the special characteristics of a
feature story
List ideas that could be developed into
feature stories
Explain the importance of organization in the
writing process
Write a polished feature story for publication
or production
What is Feature Writing?
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Feature—A prominent news story written like
a short piece of fiction. The story is usually
not related to a current event.
What is Feature Writing?
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You should think of a feature as a news story written
like a piece of short fiction. You, as a writer, must
combine the rigors of factual reporting in news
writing with the creative freedom of short-story
writing. Therefore, the feature story’s form must be
more fluid than that of an actual news story; the
inverted pyramid style must be sacrificed so that a
story can have a distinct beginning, middle and end.
The readers won’t be able to scan a few paragraphs;
they will have to read the entire story to understand
it.
What is Feature Writing?
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Feature stories place a greater emphasis on
facts that have human interest. You can write
a feature about anyone if you can find an
unusual angle that captures the interest of
your readers.
What is Feature Writing?
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Generally, feature stories are of two types:
news features and timeless stories.
A news feature is usually written as a followup or a sidebar story that is linked to a
breaking news event. A sidebar is an article
that accompanies and appears beside the
main news story.
What is Feature Writing?
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Additionally, many features are developed
around what is called a news peg. A news
peg merely means the relationship of a
feature to, or how it is pegged on, something
else in the news.
For example, a story on the safety of football
equipment might be pegged on the fact that
your school’s quarterback recently suffered a
head injury in a game. That feature, of
course should run during football season.
What is Feature Writing?
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A timeless story, in contrast, does not have
to be used immediately. The information in
the story will be just as relevant in the next
edition of the paper as it is in this one. A
feature on how to make a good impression or
on the funny things people do in the
bathrooms is not time bound.
What is Feature Writing?
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In either type of feature—news features or
timeless stories—good reporting is at the
center of what you do. You collect details as
many as possible. You describe people,
settings and feelings: the elements of
storytelling. When all details are added
together, the reader is placed in the scene
you are describing.
Finding Feature Ideas
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Author E.B. White’s advice to young writers
who want to get ahead without delay was,
“Don’t write about man, write about a man.”
Perhaps the best way to follow this advice is
to localize and personalize your stories. Tell
your stories through the experiences of
individuals in your school community. The
more your readers are affected, the more
importance they will place on a story.
Furthermore, a story that takes place close to
your readers will have more appeal.
Finding Feature Ideas
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Reading a story about a classmate’s
volunteering time at a local soup kitchen will
engage your audience more than a story
about a new soup kitchen’s opening in a
neighboring community.
Although feature stories can be about things,
the strongest features are almost always
about people.
Finding Subjects That Matter
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In feature writing there are no restrictions on
subject matter. You are only limited by your
imagination. Often, a feature is nothing more
than a simple story about a common person
in an uncommon circumstance. The feature
writer’s job is to find a fresh angle—to find
the story behind the person.
Finding Subjects That Matter cont.
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Consider the following topics that deal with the
ordinary:
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Foreign exchange students
Eating disorders
Part-time jobs
Unusual hobbies
Teacher features
Favorite movies
Favorite celebrities
Fast-food restaurants
Fashion trends
Top ten lists
Finding Subjects That Matter cont.
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In contrast, author Roy Peter Clark suggests that a
writer can cultivate an eye for the unusual, offbeat
topic. The following feature story topics deal with the
offbeat:
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Talk radio
Guerrilla kindness
Weirdest craving
The truth about goat cheese
The best books not to read
Crazy answering machine messages
Beepers
Coincidences
Psychotherapy
The irony of individualism
Profiles
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One of the more popular types of feature
story is the profile. A profile is a short, vivid
character sketch. Unfortunately, too many
profiles turn into a tedious recounting of
biographical facts: “She was born near Red
Cloud and attended high school in
Superior…” Other unsuccessful profiles are
merely a few unrelated anecdotes
sandwiched between quotations.
Profiles cont.
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A good profile includes impressions,
explanations and points of view. A writer
should make sure that the subject of the
profile lives on the page by providing
dramatic tension and telling details.
Begin with an unusual insight or newsworthy
detail. Then emphasize what is unique about
the person. You can organize the material by
“using flashbacks” or “highlighting the
individual’s many roles.”
Getting the Story Down
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You are a reporter, then a writer. This means
that before your fingers ever hit the keys, you
get to experience the thrill of the hunt, the
giddy feeling that comes when the facts all fit
together and you have something important
to say. However, after you have had the fun
of getting the story, you still have the
painstaking work of getting the story right.
Thinking About Beginnings
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The beginning of a story must pull the reader in. The
first sentence must make them want to continue to
the second. That does not mean that the
beginning—the lead—has to be extraordinary.
Instead, it should be honest to the story first and
compelling second.
Being honest or compelling is not always easy. The
lead, however, does not need to be viewed in terms
of a gimmick or a hook. (A hook is something in a
story that captures the reader’s attention enough to
cause him to move on to the next paragraph.) You
must think of making the whole story compelling
rather than merely focusing on a clever beginning.
The Summary
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Using a summary paragraph as a lead is
similar to the use of the lead in the news
story. The introductory paragraphs indicate
the direction the entire article will take. Often,
the summary paragraph answers the
questions of who, what, when, where, why
and how.
The Summary cont.
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The following is a good lead that takes the form of a
summary:
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It is the thing your parents make you do. It is the place
where you first fall in love. It is the way you learn the
disturbing truth that many people’s work is tedious. It is
what you will be nostalgic about—but not for many, many
years. It is the last time you will have to know how to make
a lanyard.
It is the Summer Job, that moderately distorted
Introduction to Adulthood—accurate to the extent that it
introduces kids to paychecks, taxes and getting up early,
false to the extent that come Labor Day it is over. (Elizabeth
Kastor, Washington Post)
The Striking Statement
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A striking statement used as a lead shocks or
surprises the reader. The reader, astounded
by some fact or idea, is promised the details
later in the article:
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I have a confession to make, a revelation that
may tarnish my reputation as a politically correct
woman of the 90’s—I laughed at Lush Limbaugh.
This has been such a traumatic experience for me
that I usually insult every chance I get. (Tiffany
Hartgen, Bruin News, Twin Falls, Idaho)
The Striking Statement cont.
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The 137th Ohio State Fair still had more than two
weeks to run when the fat man dies. The
sideshow workers took down the sign advertising
529-pound Big Billy Pork Chop, and with
considerable effort the mortal remains of Big Billy
were removed too.
But the show—one of America’s largest and
longest-running state fairs—must go on and so, a
good fat man being hard to find, Zoma the
Deranged from South America was brought in to
replace Mr. Pork Chop. (Christopher Corbett,
Washington Post)
The Descriptive Lead
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The descriptive lead is constructed with concrete,
vivid details. The writer paints a clear picture of the
scene, the individuals and their emotional states.
The following is an example:
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You might find them staring at the stars, or you may see
them building telescopes. But wherever you spot them,
planetarium director Gene Zajac and librarian Kelly Jons are
“out-of-this-world.”
Jons and Zajac have a starlit history together in astronomy
they said. They have star-gazed, built telescopes and
constructed a mirror-grinding machine that rubs two glass
surfaces against a course surface to make a concave and
convex lens. (Debbie Libman, Shakerite, Shaker Heights
High School, Shaker Heights, Ohio)
The Narrative
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The narrative lead is probably the most
popular. Narrative leads recount stories in
which things happen. They often incorporate
incidents or anecdotes. Dialogue can be
used to draw the reader into the narrative.
The Narrative cont.
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Action is the key:
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The beat rhythmically transforms the dancers.
Competing rhythms challenge everyone’s ability.
The rain that had been competing for attention
stops and so does the music. The dancers are
told, “Do it again. But with more feeling this time.
Get over being self-conscious. You’ll never grow
as a dancer if you’re so concerned with what
everyone else thinks.” The music starts again and
the dancers attempt perfection one more time.
(Chelsea Bushnell, Axe, South Eugene High
School, Eugene, Ore.)
Quotations and Questions
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Leads that use quotations or questions
generally are ineffective choices for
inexperienced writers. Most quotations need
explanations to be understood. As for
questions, you, the reporter, are supposed to
answer them, not ask them. There are
exceptions, of course, that make for strong
beginnings.
Quotations and Questions cont.
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Here is an example:
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It’s your worst nightmare: you’ve been expelled
from school. What happens now? Can you ever
go back?
Expulsion is mandatory when a student commits
a category III offense such as possession or use
of a weapon, or possession of drugs or alcohol on
school premises. According to Principal Thomas
Hensley, the administration has no control over
such situations; the student is immediately
expelled if found guilty of the charge. (Abby
Flower, Griffin, Dulaney High School, Timonium,
Md.)
Thinking About Endings
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Sometimes writing the beginning of a story is
not as great a challenge as writing an
effective ending. You want those final lines to
leave a lasting impression. Readers, after all,
remember best what they read last.
Thinking About Endings cont.
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The feature writer has many ways to end a
story—many ways to create a vivid
impression. One type of ending is the circle,
in which the ending is related back to the
beginning.
Another popular approach is the summary
ending, in which the story is quickly
summarized at the close.
Thinking About Endings cont.
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The anecdotal ending can be effective,
especially the split-anecdotal technique. In
this approach, the writer begins telling the
anecdote early in the story and concludes it
at the end.
Or you might experiment with the add-on
closing by making a point at the end that was
never made in the story.
Thinking About Endings cont.
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No matter which ending you choose, make
sure that it is a logical extension of what you
have already said in a story. The reader
should feel that the story has run its natural
course and that the subject has been
covered.
Checking Your References
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The importance to the feature writer of careful
research cannot be overemphasized. As a high
school journalist, you are ultimately responsible for
the accuracy of everything you write. You do not
have the luxury of a staff of professional fact
checkers to save you from an embarrassing mistake.
Little can do more damage to your reputation as a
journalist than having someone you interviewed say
he or she was misquoted in your feature. To avoid
this, use a tape recorder and take notes. However,
tape recorders malfunction and memory fades.
Therefore, ask questions twice, using different words
at different points, during the interview.
Organizing Your Material
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You should ask yourself four vital questions
as a way to improve the organization of your
feature stories:
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1. What’s your subject?
2. What are you trying to say?
3. How will you say it?
4. Have you said it well enough?
What’s Your Subject?
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As you gather and organize the details for a story,
you must begin a selection process. To help you with
this, discuss the story idea with a teacher or a friend.
Take note of which details interest them and the
direction the story takes as you retell it. Furthermore,
using another person as a sounding board may force
you to articulate your ideas more clearly. Once you
have a clear focus for the story, you are less likely to
waste time in false starts. An unfocused feature
wastes your time, the editor’s time and the reader’s
time.
What’s Your Subject?
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Focusing means narrowing—reducing a
large quantity of material to a usable amount.
For example, when you write a term paper
for history class, you don’t choose an overly
broad topic such as “the history of the United
States.” Instead, you focus on a topic such
as “The Industrial Revolution.”
Similarly, as a feature writer, you would avoid
choosing an idea such as “school life” in
favor of a narrower topic such as “detention:
the newest vacation spot.”
What Are You Trying to Say?
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You can decide what you are trying to say by
translating the focus of your story into a summary
sentence.
Another useful strategy for some feature writers is to
plan the ending of the story first. To organize their
thoughts effectively, these writers find it helpful to
know where they are going to arrive.
You should experiment with several leads before
deciding on the direction for the rest of your story.
The right lead not only pushes you forward into the
story but also provides a map to keep you going.
How Will You Say It?
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After you have written the lead (and possibly
the ending of the story), you need a structure
in which to place the rest of your information.
A structure is an organizational pattern the
writer uses to synthesize—that is, to
establish relationships between—relevant
pieces of information. Some common
structures are the hourglass, the spatial
story, the story in scenes and parallel
narratives.
How Will You Say It?
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The hourglass structure begins as an
inverted pyramid, arranging information in
descending order of importance. Below the
“waist” of the hourglass, the information is
introduced in chronological order.
This structure works well with day-in-the-life
features.
How Will You Say It?
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The spatial story uses physical space rather
than logical sequence to determine order.
For example, you could describe the new
wing at your school by moving from room to
room. You could follow a maintenance
person from task to task, and geography
would become the focus of your feature.
How Will You Say It?
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Writing the story in scenes can be an
effective approach to a profile. By using
some typographical device (for example,
bullets) to separate scenes, you can show
the subject of your story reacting differently in
different situations.
Another advantage of this structure is that it
allows the reader to view what you are
describing through the eyes of many different
people.
How Will You Say It?
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One of the best examples of the use of parallel
narratives may be in Truman Capote’s chilling novel
In Cold Blood. At the beginning of the story, the
reader follows the separate courses of the killers and
the victims and waits for the inevitable grisly
murders.
You might want to experiment with parallel
narratives. Imagine and describe two debate teams
from different schools as they prepare to meet in the
state finals, or a boy and a girl as they nervously
await a blind date.
How Will You Say It?
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No matter which structure you choose, the
key is to provide the reader with logical
connections. Each paragraph must be
connected to the previous paragraph.
Have You Said It Well Enough?
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Most writing will benefit from being seen with
a fresh eye. Try to walk away from your story
for a while and then come back and refine
the writing. Stories that flop usually suffer
from poor organization. You can literally take
scissors to paper and cut the text into
paragraphs. Then reassemble the pile of
paragraphs until you have an organization
that pleases you.
Have You Said It Well Enough?
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This reassembling process often suggests an
entirely new approach that eliminates the
structural weaknesses of your rough draft. Of
course, you may learn that the problem is not
your method of arranging the materials at all;
sometimes you simply may have a bad idea
for a feature. Bad ideas happen to even the
best of writers.
Refining the Story
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Ernest Hemingway’s advice is still true: If you
want to be a writer, you have to write. And for
the aspiring feature writer, let us add, you
have to rewrite.
The techniques that follow should help you
write your story and put the finishing touches
on your next feature.
Finding the Right Voice
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You have many voices. You speak to your
friends differently than you do to your parents
or your teachers. In every story you write, as
the narrator, take on a persona, or
character. That doesn’t mean that you
always have to write in first person singular,
but it does suggest that you must choose a
voice that best imparts the information in the
story.
Finding the Right Voice cont.
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The choice you make becomes the tone of
the story. The tone may be childlike if you are
describing a mentoring program for
elementary school children through the eyes
of one child. The tone, or mood of the story,
should always match the content. After all,
you wouldn’t describe a tragic car accident in
a light or humorous tone.
Using Description Effectively
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Vivid description in a feature can take the
reader on a journey of the senses. The
details you choose should appeal to taste,
sight, smell, hearing and feeling.
Using Description Effectively cont.
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Consider how the following descriptive
passage from Kim Ode, a feature writer at
the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, takes our
senses to the Badlands in South Dakota:
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The sun drops like a coin into a slot on the
horizon, triggering a jukebox of coyotes. The full
moon rises so huge and fast, you unconsciously
brace yourself against the rotation of the Earth.
Stars burst into view. You wouldn’t be anywhere
else. There is nowhere else.
Using Description Effectively cont.
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How can you create such vivid description? Your
notebook should be filled not only with facts but also
with your observations of anything out of the
ordinary. In a straight news story you may refer to
the basketball coach as the basketball coach. In a
feature story, however, the coach can become a
paunchy, balding, Coke-chugging workaholic.
As you are sorting through the details you have
collected, eliminate those observations that are
unnecessary or that do not contribute to the reader’s
understanding.
Rounding Out a Profile
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A profile must be more than a simple
recounting of biographical facts. A profile is
only as good as the characterization of the
subject. You create memorable characters
by showing, rather than telling details,
concrete bits of information that allow the
reader to “see” the subject.
Rounding Out a Profile cont.
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Furthermore, the subject of the profile needs
to have a story. The anecdotes must
demonstrate specific attributes of the subject.
Avoid anecdotes that don’t directly contribute
to the describing of those attributes you have
selected to highlight.
Humoring the Reader
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Humor, when appropriate, can breathe life
into a story. It can keep the reader who is in
a hurry from putting the story down. Develop
an eye for humorous details.
When you are choosing amusing details for a
story, always exercise good judgment. Your
humor should never be at the expense of
others. Sensitivity to people’s feelings far
outweighs any desire you might have to get a
few laughs.
Source
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Schaffer, James, Randall McCutcheon and
Kathryn T. Stofer. Journalism Matters.
Lincolnwood: Contemporary, 2001.