Writing Feature Articles.ppt

7/25/2019 Writing Feature Articles.ppt

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Writing Feature ArticlesWriting Feature Articles

By- Dr. Anthony Curtis

http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/WritingFeatureStories.html


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What Are FeatureWhat Are Feature

Stories?Stories?

Feature stories are human-interest articles thatocus on particular people! places and e"ents.

Feature stories are #ournalistic! researched!

descripti"e! colorul! thoughtul! re$ecti"e!thorough writing a%out original ideas.

Feature stories co"er topics in depth! goingurther than mere hard news co"erage.

Feature stories are popular content elements onewspapers! maga&ines! %logs! we%sites!newsletters! tele"ision %roadcasts and other

mass media.


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Stories?Stories?While #ournalists reporting late-%rea'ing hard news don(t ha"eenough preparation time and copy

length to include much %ac'groundand description.

Writers o eatures ha"e the spaceand time to e"o'e imagery in theirstories and )ll in details o thecircumstances and atmosphere.


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Stories?Stories?A eature story is not meant toreport the latest %rea'ing news! %utrather an in-depth look at a

subject.

Features generally are longer thanhard-news articles %ecause theeature e*pands on the detailsrather than concentrate on a ewimportant 'ey points.


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Stories?Stories?+n hard news stories! oten reerred to asinverted pyramidstyle! the reporterma'es the point! sets the tone! andrames the issue in the )rst paragraph or

two.

+n a eature story! on the other hand! thewriter has the time and space to de"elopthe theme! %ut sometimes postpones themain point until the end. ,he whole storydoes not ha"e to %e encapsulated in thelead.


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Typical typesTypical types

,here are many 'inds o eature stories. ereare some popular types:

Human Interest:,he %est-'nown 'ind oeature story is the human-interest story that

discusses issues through the e*periences oanother.

Profles:A "ery common type o eature is the

pro)le that re"eals an indi"idual(s characterand liestyle. ,he pro)le e*poses dierentacets o the su%#ect so readers will eel they'now the person.


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Typical typesTypical typesHow-To:,hese articles help people learn %y

telling them how to do something. ,he writerlearns a%out the topic through education!e*perience! research or inter"iews with e*perts.

Historical Features:,hese eaturescommemorate important dates in history orturning points in our social! political and culturalde"elopment. ,hey oer a useul #u*taposition othen and now. istorical eatures ta'e the reader

%ac' to re"isit an e"ent and issues surroundingit. A "ariation is the this date in historyshorteature! which reminds people o signi)cante"ents on a particular date.


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Typical typesTypical types

Seasonal Themes:Stories a%out holidays andthe change o seasons address matters atspeci)c times o a year. For instance! theyco"er lie milestones! social! political andcultural cycles! and %usiness cycles.

Behind the Scenes:+nside "iews o unusualoccupations! issues! and e"ents gi"e readersa eeling o penetrating the inner circle or

%eing a mouse in a corner. Readers li'eeeling pri"y to unusual details and well 'eptsecrets a%out procedures or acti"ities theymight not ordinarily %e e*posed to orallowed to participate in.


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Non-fction storiesNon-fction stories

Feature stories are #ournalistic reports.,hey are not opinion essays oreditorials. ,hey should not %e conusedwith creati"e writing or wor's o )ction.

,he writer(s opinions and attitudes arenot important to the story.

,he writer 'eeps hersel or himsel out

o the story.

Writing in the third person helpsmaintain the necessary distance.


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Telling storiesTelling stories

Hard newsstories report "erytimely e"ents that ha"e #ustoccurred. Feature stories! on the

other hand! are sot news%ecausethey are not as timely! not asswitly reported. Feature writersha"e the e*tra time to complete%ac'ground research! inter"iewsand o%ser"ation or their stories.


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ere are some suggestions or polishingeature writing s'ills and de"eloping an eyeor eature story ideas.

Feature stories gi"e readers inormation in apleasing! entertaining ormat that highlightsan issue %y descri%ing the people! places!e"ents and ideas that shape it.

Feature stories are really more li'enon)ction short stories than hard newsstories.


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While there should a news pegor thee*istence o a story at a particular time! theimmediacy o the e"ent is secondary in aeature story. +n act! sometimes there is noimmediate e"ent.

,he power o a eature story lies in its a%ilityto ampliy the ocus on an issue through )rst-rate story telling! irony! humor! human

appeal! atmosphere and colorul details.

Features ha"e a clear %eginning! middle andend and are longer than hard-news stories.


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Gathering dataGathering data

ournalists use three tools togather inormation or stories:

0.1%ser"ation!

2.+nter"iew!

3.Bac'ground research.


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Gathering dataGathering data

Ater completing these! the writer %rings the story tolie through colorul description! meaningul anecdotesand signi)cant 4uotes. ,hese elements are o%tainedwhen inter"iewing and o%ser"ing %y #otting downe"erything encountered 5 smells! noises! colors!

te*tures! emotions! details seen and heard in thesurroundings.

,he #ournalist 'eeps an open mind while inter"iewingsu%#ects and researching sources.

,he writer a"oids steering the story or imposingpersonal ideas on the sources.

,he writer a"oids deciding on the theme o the storyuntil su6cient inormation has %een gathered to show

a direction or point o "iew.


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Story oratStory orat

,he inormation in a eature isorgani&ed dierently rom hardnews stories.

Sometimes a writer uses se"eralparagraphs o copy at the outset toengage the reader %eore getting onwith the main elements o the story.


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Ater the title and opening paragraphgra% a reader! narrati"e hoo's are usedto persuade the reader to continuereading.

,hese hoo's are attracti"e storyelements such as action! mystery!drama or appealing charactersintended to pull the reader orward

through the story.,hey are comple* narrati"es that come

to lie through colorul description!meaningul anecdotes and signi)cant

4uotes.


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+n hard news stories! the reporter ma'esthe point! sets the tone! and rames theissue in the )rst paragraph or two.

+n eature stories! the whole story doesnot ha"e to %e encapsulated in anin"erted pyramid lead. ,he writer can

de"elop the storyline in a "ariety o waysand choose to postpone the main pointuntil later in the copy or e"en the end.


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A writer can choose to tell the story out o orderto engage the reader(s interest.

A story could %egin with a dramatic momentand! once the reader is curious! the story could

$ash %ac' to the history needed to understandit.

A story-within-a-story could %e used with anarrator in the outer story telling the inner story

to satisy the curiosity o readers.A storyline could alert readers that the story

%egan in a way that seemed ordinary! %ut theymust ollow it to understand what happened

e"entually.


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As with any news reporting!eature stories are su%#ect to the#ournalistic standards o accuracy!

airness and precision. ,he 4ualityo a story is #udged on its content!organi&ation and mechanics.

Features writers use Thessociated Press Style!oo"orcorrect #ournalistic style.


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!o" long are these!o" long are these

articles?articles?7ewspaper eatures oten are 899 to 2899 words in

length.

aga&ine eatures usually are 899 to 8!999 words.

Features on we%sites and %logs generally rangerom 28952899 words! %ut hard dri"e space isrelati"ely ine*pensi"e so the length could "arydramatically through the use o non-linearhyperlin'ing o content.

Any medium might use a shorter or longer storythan usual! depending on its percei"ed "alue.

Attention spans seem to grow e"er shorter so%re"ity is "alued. ore than e"er! all writing todayneeds to %e clear and concise.


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#llustrations#llustrations

;"ery story is illustrated! usuallywith one or more photographs!%ut the art can %e drawings!

paintings! s'etches! "ideo!colorul graphs and charts! orother creati"e e*pressions

depending on the medium orwhich the eature is pac'aged ordissemination.


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#s this just or print#s this just or print

journalists?journalists?As newspapers and other print media

ace stier competition today rom+nternet news media! more eature

stories are pu%lished %ecause theycan %e more engaging to read. Wireser"ices! such as the Associated


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journalists?journalists?


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journalists?journalists?Broadcast #ournalists use human

interest stories! pro)les! historicalpieces! seasonal pac'ages!

%ehind the scenes re"elationsand e"en how-to descriptions.,hese can %e seen and heard

e"erywhere in tele"ision andradio news.


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journalists?journalists?A typical tele"ision news pac'age

includes an edited set o "ideo clips ora story narrated %y a reporter ollowinga written script.

=nli'e a maga&ine article! or e*ample!the ,> eature story also will ha"eaudio! "ideo! graphics and "ideoeects.

A news anchor with an o"er-the-shoulder graphic will %e seen reading alead-in introduction %eore the pac'ageis aired and concluding the story with

additional inormation called a tag.


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;*amples;*amples

http://www.youtu%e.com/watch?"@d=D

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Writing Feature Articles.ppt