FEATURE WRITING (Caven Masuku, Gweru, Zimbabwe)

Introduction

A good feature writer is neither wordy nor flowery. He is precise and straight to the point and
is guided by the ABC of Journalism that is Accuracy, Balance and Clarity. Before one starts
crafting a feature article, he must master the nutty gritty of writing so that even the ordinary
man in the street and intellectuals can easily understand. Remember that writing is an art that
need to be blended with knowledge and wisdom.

What is a Feature?

Ask a journalist what a feature is and he or she is likely to respond: Anything isn’t news.
True, very few newspapers would put a feature on the front page where a lead story ought to
be (although it has been known), but many writers would say that a lot of their features are
news-based in that they are linked to something topical, interesting and news (Pape and
Featherstone 2006).Nick Morrison cited in Pape and Featherstone 2006:2, says that “features
are often used to provide background to an existing news story and to go into more depth”.. It
can be argued that as news story tells you the ‘what” about an incident, a feature article
explains the ‘why”. A feature article can be recognized by its length which can range from
600 to 2000 words- and its use of facts, pictures, graphics and illustrations. One entry reads;
“an item or article appearing regularly in a newspaper. A second definition says that: A
feature article is a distinctive part or aspect of a landscape, building or book.

A feature article is different from hard news in many ways. First and foremost, a feature
article is timeless and has a human interest written with a deep insight of the writer. It is
designed to entice the reader eyes and minds forcing them that the story is worth reading.
Feature articles are mainly found in magazines and stand the test of time. The new genre of
feature articles I have seen so far uses some of the Ws, but a good one would use all the Ws
and the following leads;

Question Lead: This lead starts by interrogating and do not require the answer instantly. It
borrows heavily from rhetoric and prepares the reader for an answer as (s)he peruses further.
For example “Is there life after death”. The reader will either get the answer in the middle or
towards the end of the story. Question leads enable the reader to be involved and at times
correspond well with the term inclusive.
Quote Lead: Writing as an art, the writer can start by a quotation. For instance: “We are not
of yesterday, but we are of today”. Such quotation operates as “Emphatic Communion”. In
other words, it is there to open up the conversation with the reader and to a certain extent
guide the reader as they read through.

Narrative Lead: This is part of Literary Allusion were the writer can start in suspense to relax
the reader. Narrative is like storytelling and as a genre it is more literary and entertains the
reader throughout, while telling the whole story in stages. For example’ “There was sunshine
as students at Midlands State University were preparing for the rehearsals for the Gweru
agricultural Show to be convened next week”.

Descriptive Lead: Descriptive lead gives the detailed information about the whole scenario. It
can provide detailed information about the scene or a place in a pellucid as a manner as it
demands. For example;

“The sky was blue the birds air’s wings seemed to be the relievers of tense heat from the sky.

This was mid of September when Caven Masuku was graduating after completing his first
degree with Zimbabwe Open University in 2005

The role of the Feature

It can be argued that the role of a feature article is simply to fill the page of a newspaper. This
claim can be digested differently since feature articles in newspapers and magazines plays a
salient role to entertain, educate, inform, amuse, explain and to give the readers something
interesting, new and perhaps enjoyable to read. Pape and Featherstone (2006) say that “all
writing serves one or more functions: information, entertainment, education or persuasion
and these can be broadly explained as follows:

Information:Telling you something you did not know before such as in a

News story-breaking news

Match report-and the final score

Review- is it worth it?

Personal column- I really think you should know this

Profile- did (s)he really say that

Entertainment: A good read such as in a:

News story-oh my goodness!

Match report-Sounds like it was a great game…..

Review-Wish I did been there…

Personal Column- You do not say…

Profile- I do not believe it!

Education: this will improve your quality of life as in a:

News story New evidence that smoking is really bad for you

Match report-So that is how they won 16-0

Review-Well, I never knew that was the meaning of Lucky in the sky with Diamonds…

Personal Column-Perhaps, if I do that I can…

Profile-Oh, now I understand where (s)he is coming from

Persuasion: This is how you should think, feel and so on, such as in a:

News story-that is terrible, it should not happen again…

Match report-(s/he is so inspiring…

Review-Ok, I will give it a try….

Personal Column-Yes, I get your point…

Profile-Perhaps, he is got a point about….

(Pape and Featherstone 2006:5)

FEATURE ENDING
There are six basic feature endings namely;

Lead Replay: This goes back to the beginning of the feature article. The Lead of a feature
story can be used to sum up the article .Writing as an art at times need a creative writer who
can be manipulative, cunning and at the same time embellish his or her words using rhetoric,
connotative and emphatic words which can cause the reader to smile, wryly, shade tears,
click the tongue and perhaps drove into a felicity mood.

Proximity Ending: Proximity simple means nearer or adjacent and here the writer uses
information from the paragraph right before the concluding paragraph of the feature article.

Restatement: This is another interesting feature article ending that reminds the reader of the
story’s purpose by restating it.

Word Play: This end in feature writing is well plated with words that play game to entertain
the reader. The writer uses a play words or catchy phrase that leaves the impression in the
readers mind.

Quote: Quote ending can sometimes be called borrowing direct from elsewhere and uses a
striking everlasting quote that can be remembered for a long period of time in life. For
instance, the write can end a feature article by saying; “Crime does not pay”.

Surprise Ending: This is an ending that can sometimes shock or startle the reader. This ending
is mainly associated with literature and can make the reader to enjoy the article even at the
end more than the beginning or the middle of it

Feature Writing do’s and don’ts

The expert of feature article uses the juristic persona what sometimes is called the thirds
person. Here the writer can use the past participle tenses, present participle tenses so that an
article can prolong and stand the test of time. This could be the reasons why articles from
magazines can sound new and relevant to our day to day lives despite the year’s lapse.
A feature article just like a novel should follow the three tiers that is the introduction, body
and conclusion. The article can start using any of the leads discussed above and be concluded
using any of the endings mentioned in this book.

As part of journalism and effective writing, feature article should name all the people
involved fully begging with their first name, middle and last names if possible. Places and
events relevant to the article as propare nouns need to be mentioned.

Again a feature article must flow in a logical transition just like water along the river. Facts
should be placed one after the other in sequence to better the gist of the article.

It is important always for the writer to use simple and clear language when writing. The
writer needs to use strong action verbs that will give a vivid picture in the minds of the
readers. Tactile, aural, visionary and so forth must be felt in the article without missing a
point.

The writer also needs to vary the sentence structure. Simple, compounding and sometime
complex sentences have to be inter-twine in a feature article. Just as a human being will dress
to suit the occasion and impress the on-lookers the feature article writer has to do the same
with the article. The fact that most of the world’s misunderstanding is because of the lack of
grammar can be better understood through sentence structures in a feature article.

A feature article at time need to be written in a natural form and should capture the feeling
and personal reaction of the characters talked about in an article. If the journalist conducted
an interview before writing a feature story people’s comments direct words can be quoted in
an article and at times be used to conclude the article.

Don’ts

When writing a feature article there is need to follow the following format; introduction,
body and conclusion
Avoid using words or phrases with dual meaning. Diction is important and the journalist must
be simple in their writing and straight forward to avoid confusion to the reader.

Journalist as professional writers must not use fake names or unfamiliar acronyms that are
beyond reach to the readers. There is need to clarify issues especially if dealing with
unfamiliar abbreviations and terms. Take your time to simplify the matter.

Journalists must not use certain terms that can kill the gist of an article like “therefore, so,
thus, hence, as a result and so forth excessively as this can become and sound more academic
that journalistic.

Avoid stating or repeating the headline in the first sentence of your feature article. You
cannot become a good journalist with poor English language skills.

Apart from handling well the language the journalist must master the journalism writing
skills and select the words appropriately for effective communication. A feature article is
there to communicate with the reader indirectly.