FEATURE WRITING
“Feature articles are not just dry facts, it
provides story and information from a
unique angle.”
A feature story differs from a straight
news story in one respect – its intent. A news
story provides information about an event,
idea or situation. The feature does a bit more
– it may also interpret news, add depth and
colour to a story, instruct or entertain.
DEFINITION
FEATURE spells:
F – factual not fictitious
E – Entertaining
A – appealing to the emotions
T – timely or not timely
U – unusual
R – reader-oriented
E – explanation, extrapolation – extending or
projecting known info
Inverted Pyramid (or News style) &
Feature-style
Inverted pyramid stories are the
traditional news stories. They begin with the
most important element of the story, then
present related facts in order of decreasing
importance. Stylistically, inverted pyramid
stories follow a fact 1, fact 2, fact 3 format
from start to finish.
In feature stories, the whole story does
not have to be encapsulated in an inverted
pyramid lead. The writer can develop the
storyline in a variety of ways and choose to
postpone the main point until later in the
copy or even the end.
Features are not meant to deliver the
news firsthand. They do contain elements of
news, but their main function is to humanize,
to add colour, to educate, to entertain, to
illuminate. They often recap major news that
was reported in a previous news cycle.
Features often:
* Profile people who make the news
* Explain events that move or shape the news
* Analyze what is happening in the world,
nation or community
* Teach an audience how to do something
* Suggest better ways to live
* Examine trends
* Entertain.
PARTS OF FEATURE
Lead – grab attention
Body – keep that attention
Conclusion – leave an impression
Proofread your completed article for spelling
and grammatical errors.
Article writers go beyond just the facts on the
surface and add colour, detail, background
and personal comment. The appeal of feature
articles is usually the personal perspective on
offer.
Five elements of writing with style and personality
Economy of language.
Treat every word as precious. When readers
encounter writing in which every word counts,
they are more alert to its meaning and more
attentive to its sound.
You can achieve economy of language by using
three techniques: Avoid wordy phrases (change
“until such time as” to “until”), omit
meaningless modifiers (change “general
consensus” to “consensus”), and prefer action
verbs to nouns (change “take under
consideration” to “consider”). Each technique
enables you to say the same thing in fewer
words, and – as a general rule – more concise
writing is more emphatic writing.
Concise writing doesn’t require that you make
every sentence short, but that you make every
word count.
Precise word choice and colorful vocabulary.
Use the best, most exact word to capture your
meaning. Readers judge your style by your adeptness
and agility in matching language to thought.
Change “His performance will affect our image” to
“His carelessness will undermine our credibility.”
Convey your disapproval of meaningless modifiers by
describing them not as “qualifiers that weaken our
language” but – as E. B. White does in “The Elements
of Style” – as “the leeches that infest the pond of
prose, sucking the blood of words.”
Specific, concrete, vivid detail.
As Joseph Conrad advises, don’t tell your reader;
show your reader. Don’t just tell your reader,
“Susan works hard”; show your reader: “Last
month Susan came in at 6:00 a.m. every day to
help complete the internal audit on time.” Don’t
just tell your reader, “Morale is declining”; show
your reader: “This year grievances increased by
14%, and employee turnover by 8%.”
Precise language and vivid detail go handinhand.
Pleasing sound, rhythm, and variety.
Attend to sound as well as substance. Create
rhythm and emphasis by balancing the
components of your sentence, as Samuel Johnson
did when he wrote, “What is written without
effort is in general read without pleasure.”
Enliven your style by varying the length and
structure of your sentences: “For particular
emphasis, follow a long sentence with a short
sentence, or even a fragment. Like this.”
It’s not just what you say, it’s how emphatically,
beautifully, and memorably you say it.
Discernable voice, tone, or point of view.
Write with personality. As Patricia Westheimer
advises in The Executive Style Book, in all but
the most formal writing, “Write the way you
speak – conversationally and naturally.”
Change “It is imperative that we commence
now” to “Let’s get started.” Change “Attached
please find your budget worksheets” to “Well,
it’s your favorite time of year again.”
