feature writing2.ppt2

8/2/2019 Feature Writing2.Ppt2

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Feature Writing

The Art of Telling Stories


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Whats a feature?

Features are told in a less hurried andgenerally more creative way.

Features almost never begin with themost important information like invertedpyramid stories.

More stories are written in a featurestyle today.


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Kinds of features

Trend storiesreport on changes thathappen gradually over time.

Its often a good idea to personalize theleads of these stories.


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Kinds of features cont.

Profilestell the story of a person orpersons.

Human intereststories in some waytell us more about what it means to behuman. They have little impact;

sometimes profiles can be humaninterest stories.


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Related terms

A sidebaraccompanies a hard newsstory and is written in a feature style.

A followupruns a day or more after themain news story and reports on resultsof earlier developments.


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Do readers like inverted pyramidstories?

Surveys say they dont, often

commenting reading them feels like

work. They tolerate the invertedpyramid because it delivers the newsquickly.


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What do high school readers want?

They want interesting, real stories aboutpeople they know. They also like

controversy and interesting issues.


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Do high school students get this kind ofwriting very often?

Not very often. Most papers andyearbooks ignore thousands of story-

telling chances every year.


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Typical high school writing

Exhibit A: Laura Orr has been namedStudent of the Month. Laura is a senior

and last week was named the mostvaluable player on the state championshipvolleyball team.

Her favorite activities include water skiing,tennis, reading and watching movies.


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Exhibit B: In a teenagers life, one thingis always true: The need for money is

the same. Some teens can get moneyby working in stores or by doing oddjobs, but perhaps the most popular wayto earn fast money is through baby

sitting . . .


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Exhibit C: February is Black HistoryMonth, and the school will again

participate in a wide variety of activitiescommemorating the many contributionsblacks have made to the United Statesand the world.


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How do you write compelling features?

Abandon the inverted pyramid and usefeatures leads and style.


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Feature writing hint #1

Focus on a single person for your lead.

Tell the story through one persons eyes;

this requires good reporting.


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Focus on an incident or anecdote.

Retell a specific moment or scene for your

lead. Show, dont tell.


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Try a startling statement or dialogue orother devices.


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Describe a setting as a way ofestablishing the theme of a piece


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Improved feature leads

Exhibit A: Laura Orr never set out to be the All-American girl. It just turned out that way.

She plays volleyball because it clears her mind, she said.

Shes not sure why shes so good at it.

I enjoy it so I work at it a little hard, I guess, she said.

Her parents have always stressed academics, so its no

surprise shes an honor roll student. Theyve never

really pushed me, but I understand their expectations,she said. (focus on an individual, somewhat of astartling statement)


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Exhibit B: It took only a second.

Sophomore Clyde Zeigler turned his back on Josh longenough for the mischievous 8-year-old to open the

backyard gates, allowing the three black Labradors toescape into the neighborhood.

I really panicked, Clyde said. The last thing Mr.Nelson, Joshs father, told me was to make certain thedogs didnt get out of the yard, and just like that they

were gone. I chased them down for an hour. Welcome to the wonderful world of baby-sitting.

(startling statement combined with an anecdote)


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Exhibit C: History teacher and coach Dennis Simsremembers his high school days all too well, and thememories arent good ones.

Although I lived only a mile from school, I was forced toattend an all-black school, he said. We werent allowed to

mingle with the white kids even though Id played with manyof them all my life.

He said remembers how members of his family were deniedbasic rights suchasvoting and recalls the night a band ofthugs lynched a young black man for talking to a white girl.

I grew up in a segregated community that treated usharshly, he said. Thank God thats all changed.

As evidence, the school will again participate inFebruarys Black History Month, and Sims will be incharge of the annual event. (focus on an individual

combined with an anecdote)


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Body of the story

The billboard or so-what graph

This comes after the feature lead. (Feature

leads can be several paragraphs.) It tells what the story is about.


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Billboard example

In the black sand in front of his bare feet a shirtless man named Jaidevis tidying up a capital P, as in Phoenix. Squatting on his heels, hecarefully removes what looks like a giant aluminum cookie cutter, thenflicks away stray bits of sand with a stick.

Next he dusts the sand with graphite powder and covers it with a boxmade of molded clay and sand. Molten pig iron is poured in through ahole. When the iron cools, the box comes off, revealing a 200-poundmasterpiece entitled Phoenix Sanitary Sewer.

To his government, Jaidev is a small but vital part of Indias drive to

increase exports and earn foreign exchange. To some of hiscompetitors in the U.S., however, he is part of a network engaged inunfair competition. U.S. foundries claim India is dumping manholecovers.


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Feature body

Keep related material together

Divide piece into sections. Each section

tells a different part of the story.

End stories in memorable ways. Oftenits a good to use a quote. This is called

a clincher.

feature writing2.ppt2

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