Unveiling the Secrets of Feature Writing

An essay based on
Feature Defined facts
Editorial
It is hung on artificial
or real newspeg

Feature It cuts across the news

story and the editorial

News It is never fiction.

Elements of Feature An extended
news story

A short story

The essay
Characteristics of Feature Article
 Feature Articles
Types of
 Parts of a Feature
Story
Body
• It contains the
• It catches the • It illustrates point of the
reader’s events in a whole article
attention suspended
interest style
Introduction Ending
How to Introduce a Rhetorical Question
Feature Article?
Startling Statement

Narrative Opening

Quoted Remarks
An old maxim, an
aphorism, or an adage

History or Background
How to write the body of Apply the rhetorical principles
of writing
a feature article? Have a central theme or main idea
carried throughout the article

Eliminate extraneous material.

Closely relate all the material in

the article to the central theme.

Bridge the transition

paragraph to the next one.

Avoid abrupt changes of

thought
How to end a feature Summary of the whole article

article? An announcement of the main

point for the first time.

A question left on the reader’s

mind

Suggested results or significance

A forecast or prophecy

Repetition of the introduction

Revelation
(A lady’s confession)
A mother passing by her daughter's bedroom
was astonished to see the bed was nicely made
and everything was picked up. Then she saw an
envelope propped up prominently on the center
of the bed. It was addressed, "Mom." With the
worst premonition, she opened the envelope
and read the letter with trembling hands:
Dear Mom,
It is with great regret and sorrow
that I'm writing you. I had to elope with
my new boyfriend because I wanted to
avoid a scene with Dad and you. I've been
finding real passion with Ahmed and he is
so nice-even with all his piercings, tattoos,
beard, and his motorcycle clothes. But it's
not only the passion Mom, I'm pregnant
and Ahmed said that we will be very
happy.
He already owns a trailer in the
woods and has a stack of firewood
for the whole winter. He wants to
have many more children with me
and that's now one of my dreams
too. Ahmed taught me that
marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone
and we'll be growing it for us
and trading it with his friends
for all the cocaine and
ecstasy we want.
In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS
so Ahmed can get better; he sure deserves it! Don't worry Mom,
I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself.
Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know
your grand children.
Your daughter,
Judith
PS:
Mom, none of the above is true.
I'm over at the neighbor's house.
I just wanted to remind you that
there are worse things in life
than my report card that's in my
desk center drawer. I love you!
Call when it is safe for me to
come home.
Ordeal
 I love Mia.
It is so ironic, so irritating, and ultimately so
depressing when the butterfly you chased all day and caught
by twilight loses all the beauty and life it had while it was free.
Between my palms, the tired creature wilted. I had pursued
butterflies for years and this one fit my palm just right, and yet
I had to let it go. It was not mine.
Mia loved life. She claimed to be the embodiment of
all things bright and beautiful. I believed her. Being young,
people would say, she had her whole life ahead of her.
Sometimes I wondered if there would really be anything more
life for Mia . When I met her she had already gone through
almost everything. Then I feared that if she kept up her pace,
the rest of her life would bore her since it would simply be a
repetition of her past experiences.
 By being with Mia, I discovered myself. She laid no
boundaries on a good time and the useless ethics of a
hypocritical society she discarded. With her, I saw no line
between the city lights and the stars and I thought this could
go on forever.
She never told me she loved me, although I told her
over and over again. Notwithstanding her inability to
reciprocate, she was the only one I cooked for, the only one I
danced with, the only one I believed in, the only one I loved.
But like any songs that soothe tiredness after a busy
day’s work, it ends…
…like the sun that illumines the dark corners of the
world, it sets.
 I was a ball of mixed emotion when the doctor told
me that she was inflicted by an incurable disease. I bounced
from fear to pain, to sorrow, to guilt, to denial, and then to
fear again. Imagining Mia going under the knife is
unthinkable. I couldn’t withstand her agony when the blade of
the knife slashed her flesh. I couldn’t imagine how her fragile
body would be in complete chaos with the needles. The
picture of blood oozing from her veins lost my sanity. If only I
could bear her sufferings, then I wouldn’t let Mia passed
through this ordeal. Every night, I spent countless minutes
chasing down the last mosquito in the room just to make it
sure it doesn’t bite her. In spite of this, I was sustained by
hope. Somehow, I know that the Lord will lead us gently
through it all.
 After the initial “Why her? I began to persuade myself
that there must be a reason why the Lord allowed this to
happen. Beneath the fear and anxiety, I feel humbled,
knowing that she has been singled out by God to serve a
greater cause.
At her very young age, she has already touched
hundreds of lives, and she continues to do so by the minute.
Even the doctor treating her, who I assumed is trained not to
show emotion, never fails to be touched by her smile and by
her innocent stare.
And the reality bites. She left and died on my cradle.
I couldn’t help myself but cry to the lost of my best pal. And
even though she left me so early, I still find solace by the
thought that she’s gone with a purpose.
 Surely, I’ll be missing her cuddles and raspy breath
while watching Dalmatians 100.
Surely, I’ll be missing the moment that after a busy
work in school, she meets me with a wiggling tail.
Surely, things will never be the same again. But
despite the ordeal I’m going through, I will always treasure
our moments together. And I will never lose the memorabilia
she gave me – the dog tag with her name in it - Mia: My Dog.
For now, I need to accept reality that Mia’s flesh
becomes my dad’s best delicacy.
Draw inspiration from the picture below and write a feature
article applying the rules of journalistic writing. You may
choose any form and any type of feature articles.
QUIZ ON FEATURE WRITING

Identify the types of feature based on the title of

the feature article.
1. BETH of the people
2. Eight easy ways to smash fatigue
3. A life that never was
4. Kalibo NSPC: An NSPC like no other
5. Survivor
Identify the feature beginning
6. In the old days, before the coming of the earth
satellite, weather forecasting was done by
intrepid pilots, who flew their one engine small
planes into the eyes of the approaching storm to
measure wind direction and velocity. Once inside
the eye of the typhoon, however, the pilot
experienced an eerie calm while the winds
swirled outside,
Identify the feature beginning
7. “Pacquiao’s victory is well-deserved.”
8. In the 1960’s. a 10-centavo coin was already a
treasure. Today, nobody wants to give it a
second glance on the ground.
9. When was the last time I told my father I loved
him? How I wish I could tell him a thousand
times I love him, but he is already heedless inside
his coffin.
 Identify the feature beginning
10.A man who attempted thrice to die by
hanging, finally died of cardiac arrest.
Identify the feature ending
11. So, take a hearty bite for a healthier you.
12. Someday, if we will keep on selfishly
denuding the dwindling forest of our Mother
Earth, we will be wallowing in the midst of
water, for all the continents will be devoured by
ocean brought about by global warming.
 Identify the feature ending
13. As one unknown philosopher puts it, “We can never
be great unless we are good and we can never be good
until we are godly.”
14. If we are not going to save our sear for our future,
who would? And if we are not going to start it now,
when is the right time?
15. Mama, see, I was alive but not anymore. So, please
let my baby brother live. He could also be as wonderful
as me. His life wouldn’t be like mine – a life that never
was.
 True or False (Right Minus Wrong)

16. Like fiction, feature stories are based on the

writer’s imaginative mind.
17. Feature evokes emotion; it stirs one’s ideals.
18. Feature is always timely.
19. A feature composed of only two paragraphs is
classified as feature.
20. One sentence, one paragraph, one idea principle
is not accepted in feature writing.
 True or False (Right Minus Wrong)

21. Feature writing restricts the use of adjectives and

figurative languages.
22. What makes feature writing and creative writing
different is the use of imagined facts.
23. Unity is achieved when ideas are clear.
24. A title of a feature may be a complete sentence.
25. Metaphorical statements weaken ideas.