Feature Writingmade easy

Purpose

To entertainTo informNot timely

Style

More informalUses fiction techniques: figures of speech – He was a devil. poetic devices – I had a dream.DialogueTie unfamiliar with familiarAnalogies: comparingAnecdotes: short storyUses descriptionNot inverted pyramid

Types

Human InterestEmotionalSurprise elementsUsually timely

Sight & Sound/ColorUses sensesMakes reader feel as if he/she is there

Types

Personality ProfileUnique personRely on interview

InformativeLots of researchExplain about something

News FeatureMust be timelyNews peg

Types

Personal ExperienceNot used oftenBest if readers identify with experience

Sidebars/AFSSmall story linked to a larger one on pageGives additional info in a graphic form

Leads

Link between story & leadExposition of central ideaAppeal from beginning to end for reader

Direct Connection to reader

Anecdotal

Red car, blue car, big car, green car. Junior Lindy Blackman watches them pass by her red Lincoln Mercury Mountaineer. She sees if anyone will let her escape the junior parking lot. 3 p.m. rolls onto her dashboard clock; there are only 30 minutes until she has to be in a leotard, stretching for gymnastics practice in the Shawnee Mission South small gym. After a late summer rainfall flooded the large gym, the gymnastics team was relocated to SM South until the floors were redone and the new stage door was installed. - Emily Collins

Scene Setter

The car door slams, and hurried footsteps move up the steps to Brick House Design Studio. Senior Tess Duncan’s hands are full: Starbucks in one hand, notebook in the other. She drops off the coffee at the front desk, swings around the corner and falls into her chair, out of breath. Her boss wanted coffee, and she still hadn’t found time to return a potential customer’s call. Interning is never an easy job. - Will Kenney

Blind Lead

As haunting screams fill the auditorium, the audience shifts uncomfortably, looking at each other. Sophomore Duri Long writhes on stage screeching, while the rest of the cast looks on somberly. The final scene is upsetting to say the least. The closing curtain falls, and for the majority of the cast, the most difficult roles of their acting careers are finished; East’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ production has come to a close. - Will Kenney

Round-up

One student slams his head on his desk; another rubs the heel of his hand against his forehead. The girl in the back corner of the room runs her fingers through her strawberry blond hair. In the midst of the head banging, forehead rubbing and finger combing, these students were taking their first written Chinese test. While most of the students had trouble with the test, they also knew that they might be using this material in a real-life situation in the near future. - Mallory Fisher

Surprising/startling/interesting statement

Senior Stewart Jensen jumped into East’s pool on a Saturday morning. 50 boys followed his lead, and within minutes, the pool was filled with varsity football players. - Taylor Runion

An elbow slammed into junior David Hill’s eye. Blood streamed down his face, but strangely, he felt no pain during this wrestling drill at practice. To him, it was no big deal, but the eight stitches above his brow said otherwise. - Mallory Fisher

Compare/Contrast

When senior Virginia Petro gets to heaven, she will be one step ahead of most other people, for she already knows how to play the harp.

Allusion

On the evening of Jan. 1, 1986, the clock struck twelve for Cinderella, as the Oklahoma Sooners ended Penn State’s dream of a national championship be defeating the Nittany Lions, 25-10.

Avoid

Topic leadsQuestion leadsDefinition leadsCliché leadsQuote leads (most of the time)

Conclusions

Feature writers are basically story tellers.

An ending is not only appropriate, but absolutely necessary for many features.

Summary Ending

Ties up loose ends and points back to lead.

Clutching a red and white teddy bear under her arm, Cindy Lewis, 9. gazed longingly back at the bright lights of the midway and asked her mother, “Can we come back next year?”

Stinger

Surprise ending that jolts the reader.

But as the starting gates snapped open and the thundering hooves of seven glistening thoroughbreds churned the moist track, number 4 faltered and fell behind.

And as the jockies urged their steeds across the finish line, might Bright Starlight had finished dead last.

Climax

Popular for chronological order stories.But, as the horses entered the stretch, Bright Starlight slowly closed the gap. With long, stretching strides, she was suddenly beside the leader as the finish line loomed ahead.

At the finish line Bright Starlight and coal Smoke appeared absolutely tied. But Bright Starlight’s nose was just a faction ahead to win.

Un-ending

Ends by emphasizing a key, unanswered questions.

As the starting gates snapped open and seven thundering thoroughbreds churned the track, Bright Starlight glistened with sweat as she strode after the goal she had been trained to win.

Quote

Generally reflects the over-all spirit of the article.

“In celebrity sports,” actor Clint Eastwood said, “it’s really not important whether you win or lose. It’s how much joy you create for others. And frequently those others are not just spectators, but little boys and girls who are dependent on the dollars collected for charity.”