FEATURE WRITING

FREDO T. NOVIO, T-III

Language Department Head
School Paper Adviser
Batag National High School
 What is a Feature Story?

• The best way to describe a feature story

is to say that it is a news story written
like a piece of fiction.

- Gene Gilmore
Inside High School Journalism
• Like a short story writer, a feature writer
often use literary devices like color, wit,
humor, dialogue, anecdote and emotive
words to capture human interest.

• It may also instruct, inform and advise, but

its main objective is to entertain.
FEATURE WRITING…

• It tells the reader a story.

• It has a beginning (lead), middle and end.

• It uses quotes liberally and allows the reader to

see the story through detailed description and
vivid writing.
 Qualities of a Feature Story
1. It deals with any topic.

2. It usually entertains more often than it informs, instructs or

advise.

3. It may be long or short as long as it covers the subject

adequately and keep it interesting to the readers.

4. It may be light or serious, depending on its purpose.

5. It may or may not be timely.

6. It begins with a novelty lead.

 Qualities of a Feature Story
7. It is written in any form or style, but well-organized.

8. It is written in ascending interest.

9. It is based on facts. Though sometimes, the writer uses his

imagination to play up the details, it is still anchored on facts.

10. It can be garnished with adjective, figures of speech, dialogue,

local color and idiomatic expressions.

11. It can be written in the first, second, or third person.

 Kinds of Feature Story
• Human Interest Feature • Informative Feature
• Personality Feature • Interpretative Feature
• Historical Feature • “How-to” Feature
• Analytical Feature • Personal Experience Feature
• Seasonal Feature • Unusual Feature
• Travelogue • Interview Feature
• Entertainment Feature • Science Feature
• News Feature • Sports Feature
 Kinds of Feature Story
• News Feature
This type of feature has its basis upon timely news
happening with a human interest angle.

• Informative Feature
This type does not use many of the fiction writer’s
devices, since its purpose is to inform more than to
entertain.
 Kinds of Feature Story
• Personality Sketch/Feature
This feature is written about those men and women whose
stories are worth telling because they are historical characters
in whom interest survives long after they are dead.

• Personal Experience Feature

This type is in the form of interview. It deals with unusual
experience or a wonderful accomplishment.
 Kinds of Feature Story
• Human Interest Feature
This is written under the influence of humorous and
pathetic incidents. It usually develops from an ordinary
incident or situation but the style of composition appeals
to the emotions. It entertains more than it informs.
 Kinds of Feature Story

• Historical Feature
Though it deals with events or personalities of the
past, it has interest for present day readers because the
facts this feature gives is timely, unique, throw new light
on an old story, debunk wrong popular beliefs, and
promotes speculation and imagery among the readers.
 Kinds of Feature Story

• Interpretative Feature
It informs, instruct and throw light on the background
of certain problems. The following topics are usually
discussed are social problems, economic problems,
political problems, and problems of everyday life.
 Structure of Feature Article
• Follows the pyramid structure.

• The details of the story are arranged

according to the ascending order of
importance, from the least important to the
most important ones.

• It begins with a novelty lead.

 Let’s start at the beginning with LEADS…

Leads
• The opening sentence must grab and hold
the reader’s attention by using specific,
interest-arousing words.
• It must catch the spirit of the story and
create the proper tone: serious, sarcastic,
ironic, flippant, melancholy.
 Let’s start at the beginning with LEADS…

Leads
• Can be and often longer than one sentence
• Your chance to grab the reader’s attention
• Should be specific to your story
• Should not be filled with clichés
• Should be in third person
• Must fit the mood or tone of the story
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Narrative Lead – It draws the reader into the story by allowing
him to relate himself with the character of the story.
In the old days, before the coming of the earth satellite, my
college professor told me, weather forecasting was done by
intrepid pilots, who flew their one-engine small planes into the
eye 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 wind swirled outside.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Descriptive Lead – It illustrates a mental picture of the
subject to the reader. This is effective in writing a personality
sketch.

The night fell as we descended from the summit of Mount Makiling.

Darkness covered the mountain. The cicadas were sending us off with
their choir. While walking, we couldn’t stop imagining the possible
appearance of Maria Makiling who, according to legend, is the
goddess of this mountain. We were expecting her along the trail or
under the trees in her white dress, as we remembered Rizal
describing her fabled beauty in one of his books. The goddess
“disappointed” us, however.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Quotation Lead – statement uttered by well known
speaker or celebrity in the community.

“You stole the presidency, not only once but twice.”

Shouted Susan Roces, widow of Fernando Poe Jr.,

during a gathering of the opposition, denouncing
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s alleged vote-
rigging during the 2004 election.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Question Lead – a thought-provoking question to
capture the interest of the readers and lead them to
find the answer provided by the succeeding details
of the article

When was the last time I told my father I loved him?

How I wish I could tell him a thousand times how much
I love him now, but he is already heedless inside his
coffin.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Teaser – A device to deceive the reader in a jesting
manner to arouse his curiosity and gently lead him into
the story. It is generally short, crisp and witty. They are
mostly suggestive and humorous.

What comes first, the hen or the egg? Well, egg could
not be made possible without the hen. But where does the
hen come from?
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD

Punch Lead – short, striking one-sentence

lead
A man, who attempted thrice to die by
hanging, finally died of cardiac arrest.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Astonisher – uses an exclamatory sentence,
which intends to drumbeat the event and draws
the readers into the story.

Olympic performance!
Twelve SPED pupils were among the 500
yellow, blue, red, brown and black belters who
competed in the National Poomse Competition at
the Ninoy Aquino stadium, July 23, 2007.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
One word lead – uses a very significant word to
capture the interest of the reader

Bang!
Sprinters from the different divisions of Region VIII
zoomed like bullets to the finishing line during the
100-meter dash of the Eastern Visayas Regional
Athletic Association (EVRAA) Meet, held at Leyte
Sports Center, Tacloban City, April 1-5, 2013.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Proverb lead – it consists of a parody of a well-known
quotation, song, poem, book or movie film title.

“Youonly live once, but if you live it right once is

enough.”

This familiar adage proved true to Charlito Colendrez,

a priest who died while rescuing his parishioners at the
height of flooding in Infanta town in Quezon last year
for he was posthumously awarded for his godly bravery.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Background lead – describes an event in which the
background overshadows the individuals who
participate in it; often use for stories about
carnivals, festivals, dances and others.

It was like the school was put in a time machine

and was led back to the past, when teachers and
students who participated in the culmination program
of the Buwan ng Wika, gathered in front of the four-
storey building garbed in old Filipiniana costumes.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Freak lead – kind of unique lead that uses
typographical effects to enhance appeal.

For sale: a kidney

Ruben Tocal, 28, resident of Taguig and a
father of seven children said yesterday that he
was forced to sell his kidney to provide his
family a bright future.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD

Contrast lead – used to point out opposites

and extremes

In the 1960’s, a 10-centavo coin was already

a treasure. Today, nobody wants to give it a
second glance on the ground.
 KINDS OF NOVELTY LEAD
Staccato lead – usually consists of a series of
words or phrases, punctuated by periods,
commas or dashes

Terrorism. Insurgency. Corruption. Too much

political bickering. And uncontrolled oil price
hike. These are but few of the maladies that
crippled our economy.
The LEAD should open
with the specific, then go
to the general.
Rather than….

With America engaged in a war in Iraq, many

students know U.S military men who have lost
their lives.
Leaguetown lost one of its own last month
when Nicolas Barrera was killed in Iraq.
Try this…

When Briana Barrera didn’t hear from her son, Nicolas, for
a week, she knew something was wrong. Maybe it was
mother’s intuition, but she knew.
And when she saw two officers walking toward her door,
her worst fear was confirmed.
“The officers said they were sorry to deliver the news, but
Nicolas died with honor,” she said.
“Dying with honor? How does that help? My heart is
breaking. My boy was gone.”
 LEAD writing pitfalls:
• News or editorial leads. Avoid first and
second person.

• Stating the obvious.

• Using clichés.

• “Imagine this…” leads.

 No news or editorial leads. Avoid first and
second person

Freshman Sarah Clark made the cheerleader squad for

the 2007-08 school year.
______________________________________________

Congratulations to Sarah Clark for making the

cheerleading squad. We are proud of her.
 Don’t state the obvious

Everyday, millions of people wake up, go to work or

go to school. But some days, they don’t.
______________________________________________

Millions of teenagers have jobs. They work for many

reasons: college, cars, just to have some spending money
in their pockets.
 No Cliches

Take one for the team.

Life is short.

And the winner is…

 Do not “Imagine this…”
Imagine what would it be like to be shot in head with a 57
magnum.
Dallas resident Carly Patty doesn’t have to. Her little
brother shot her in the face accidentally last summer.
____________________________________________________

Imagine what would it be like to be a female head football

coach in Texas.
Nina Colt doesn’t have to. She was just named head
football coach.
 Try this instead….
Varsity football coach Seamus Shift loves to joke
with his players, so earlier this month when he told the
varsity football team a woman would be replacing him as
head coach, the players laughed.
“But when he didn’t laugh, we knew it was true,”
varsity quarterback junior Erick Dylan said.
And it is true.
What’s next?
After a strong lead…

You need a strong nut graph.

What is a nut graph?
Basically, it is the summary of what the story is
going to be about. It’s the 5 W’s and H that you didn’t
answer in the lead.

It is also the thesis sentence of your story.

What’s next?
After a strong lead and an
informative nut graph…

Use transition/quote formula

So, how do you end a
feature story?
End your story with…
• A powerful quote
OR
• Tie the ending back to the lead
 SUMMARY ENDING
It simply ties up the loose end of the story
with that of the lead.

With a contented sigh, the great man closed

his eyes in death fully aware that he did what
he had to do.
 THE STINGER
A startling, surprising ending that jolts the reader.
The writer uses the body of the story to set up the
readers for the unexpected conclusion.

Norman, the shy lovable Norman, who

couldn’t hurt a fly turned out to be the
ruthless, vicious rapist and wanted by law
in five provinces.
 CLIMAX
It stops at the point where the outcome of the
story is clear.

When the song ended, Rosanna Roces

stood petrified in the midst of a
thunderous ovation. In her heart, she knew
she had finally arrived.
 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
1. A thought-provoking question
If we are not going to save our seas for our
children’s future, who would? And if we are not
going to start it now, when is the right time?
Title: Our Seas, Our Life
 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
2. A Proverb
Indeed, I have proven to myself what I believe is
true from the very start of my nerve-breaking climb
to where I am now that, “Behind the dark clouds,
the sun is still shining.”
Title: Survivor
 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
3. Suggested results or significance
So, take a hearty bite for a healthier you.

Title: Banana Manila

 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
4. A forecast
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.
Title: Reforesting the Future
 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
5. A quotation
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.”
Title: Building a Culture of Excellence with
Integrity
 OTHER TYPES OF FEATURE
ENDINGS
6. A repetition of a sentence or reference to the
title
Mama, see, I was alive but not anymore. So, please let
my baby brother lives. He could also be as wonderful as
me. His life wouldn’t be like mine – a life that never was.
Title: Life that Never Was
How to Write a Feature Story
• Start with an interesting fact, a quote,
or an anecdote for a good hook.

• Your opening paragraph should only

be about 2-3 sentences.
• Start by describing a dramatic moment and then
uncover the history that lead up to that moment.

• Use a story-within-a-story format, which relies

on a narrator to tell the story of someone else.

• Start the story with an ordinary moment and trace

how the story became unusual.
For a strong feature story,
remember this…

GQ STUDD
G – GREAT
Q - QOUTES

S – STRONG LEAD
T – TRANSITION/UNIQUE FORMULA
U – UNIQUE ANGLE
D – DESCRIPTION – SHOW, DON’T
TELL
Yes, you can…
• Use the first name on the second reference if the
story is about a student.

• Add plausible description to flesh out your lead.

• Have a lead longer than one paragraph.

ON THE CONTEST DAY…
• Read the entire prompt.
• Take a moment. Remember what stands out to
you. Try to use that for your lead.
• Reread the prompt and highlight or underline
powerful quotes.
• Also, mark your nut graph (usually the news peg)
in the prompt.
• Cross out any unnecessary quote or people.
• Write.
 WORKSHOP
 Write a feature article comparing yourself to a thing
you adore most.

 From the lines or whole stanza of your favorite song,

write a feature article that relates to yourself.

 From where you are now, write a feature article about

the thing that captures your attention and brings back
memories of your past.