Feature Perfect!

How to write a compelling feature story

John Javir A. Laserna

Tanza National Comprehensive High School
Objectives
At the end of the lecture, the attendees
are expected to:

01 Define feature stories.

02 Distinguish feature writing from other

forms of writing.

03 Write a compelling feature story.

 1.
Feature writing—like news writing—is reporting.
News writing
Hard news relates the circumstances of a recent event or
incident considered to be of general local, regional, national, or
international significance.

Feature writing
Soft news (feature stories) usually centers on the lives of
individuals and has little, if any, perceived urgency.

Mills-Brown & Kuiper, 2014

News writing
Hard news generally concerns issues, politics, economics,
international relations, welfare, and scientific developments.

Feature writing
Soft news focuses on human-interest stories.

Mills-Brown & Kuiper, 2014

 2.
Feature writing is storytelling.
News writing
Facts in a news are arranged in decreasing order of importance
(c.f. inverted pyramid style).

Feature writing
A feature story not only presents a series of facts but tells a story
with a basic structure.
 3.
A compelling feature story observes the 5 Cs of writing.
Clarity
- command of the language
- plain language vs. highfalutin language

Conciseness
- keep it short and simple
Coherence
- arrangement of ideas
- relationship between and among the sentences/paragraphs
- use of transitions

Correctness
- accuracy of facts
Creativity
- catchy
- witty
- emotionally appealing/dramatic
 4.
Feature writing is not essay writing.
Essay writing
- general topics
- abstract

Feature writing
- specific subjects
- concrete
 5.
Feature writing is not creative/literary writing.
Creative writing Feature writing
- poems - personality sketch
- short stories/novels - travelogue
- essays - backgrounder
- plays - historical feature
- developmental feature
- trend story
- how-to
- listicle (list + article)
 6.
Feature writing is not editorial writing.
Editorial writing
The writer interprets and reacts to the news.

Feature writing
The subject reacts to the news, the writer merely describes it.
 7.
The title of a feature story must be catchy, witty,
and/or emotionally appealing.
Too Young to Diet
How a 15-year-old girl survived an eating disorder
Living Off the Dead
The thriving community in the Manila North Cemetery
Grit Not Wit
The power of passion and perseverance
Prawns and Pawns
The story of Thailand’s seafood slaves
Playing Koi
The Filipino floating restaurant that lets you walk with fish
Robolution
The robots that changed India’s healthcare
Wala na, Finnish na!
Ang sikreto sa tagumpay ng edukasyon ng Finland
Japa(li)nese
Ang kuwento ng unang zero-waste town ng Japan
MaVeles ang Pera
Ang multi-billion fake news industry ng Veles, Macedonia
 8.
A feature story must come full circle.
Introduction
- sets the stage for the story and generally cannot stand alone
- introduces the subject and the situation
- requires a “narrative hook”

Body
- short sentences/paragraphs for easy reading
- short, simple words in place of longer, multi-syllable words
with the same meaning
- action verbs keep a story moving and grab the reader more
than “to be" verbs that show little action
- personalize the people you are writing about and what they
are doing; provide quotes
Conclusion
- echoing the introduction can be a good strategy if it is meant
to bring the reader full-circle
- providing a “kicker” or punch line helps the reader remember
the story
 8.
A sample feature story
 witty!

A Ferry-Tale Ending
How the Yellow Boats of Hope give education to indigent Sorsogon kids
 descriptive
Looking at the other side of the river, Michaela, Jerjohn, and their schoolmates put and dramatic

observes their things on the top of their heads. They steadied themselves, determined to
coherence brave through the strong currents and reach the other side where their only hope
for a better life patiently awaits—their education.

A group of kids living in a remote fishing village in Sorsogon, Philippines, used to answers the
do a rather extraordinary school run. These kids crossed rivers and climbed 5Ws and 1H
through the jungle for three hours to get to and from school every day. Michaela
related Garil, 14, and Jerjohn Agustin, 13, shared their story and thoughts with AJ+ in a
quote
video.
seamless
“It’s dangerous because we step on sharp rocks that can wound us, and there are transition
broken bottles thrown in the river,” Michaela narrated, recalling what she used to
encounter in her everyday school run.

Michaela came from one of the many families in fishing villages in Sorsogon who
couldn’t afford the $0.50 boat ride, forcing their kids to take the long and
dangerous path to school. Because of this, teachers said many of these students
were sleeping through their first class, and some even had to drop out and quit
their education.
 Learning of this situation in the province, the non-government organization Yellow
Boat of Hope Foundation decided to help by donating about 1,200 yellow boats to
related the village and across the Philippines.
quote
“Our boats are colored yellow because it’s supposed to be yellow school buses,”
Anton Lim, co-founder of the organization, explained, adding that “yellow is the
color of hope.” further
context

Since then, three boats have started fetching students from their village and taking
them home at the end of the day. The kids and their families no longer worry about
the fare because the ride is free. Now it takes the students only 15 minutes to go
related to school, making a big difference among the students and their attitudes towards
quote their education.

“I’m happy because we don’t have to cross rivers and we don’t have to walk far
anymore. We will no longer feel tired,” Jerjohn said with a warm smile.
 echoes the
introduction;
Looking at the other side of the river, Michaela, Jerjohn, and their schoolmates story comes
didn’t have to put their things on top of their heads anymore. Standing on one side, full circle
they patiently wait for the ferries that have given them the education they deserve,
the ferries that will take them to the other side where an ending similar to a
fairytale awaits—a happy ending.
❝To write a strong feature
it’s not enough to just
give the facts. Your piece
must have the most
essential element in any
story: It must be a story.
❞
Scott Atkinson
The Secret to Writing Stronger Feature Articles
July 2, 2014
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-nonfiction/the-secret-to-writing-stronger-feature-articles
Thank you!
Happy writing!