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Communication 14: Publication and Editing

LESSON 2: MID TERM

Part II. Inside the Publication

Feature Writing

FEATURE WRITING

Refers also to “human interest” or “color” stories.

Place greater emphasis on facts that are interesting – facts likely to amuse and entertain
their readers.

Describe a person, place or idea rather than an event.

Explore their topics in greater depth than news stories and place a greater emphasis on
colorful details: anecdotes, quotations and descriptions

News and features: factual and original

Reporters must personally gather the facts for their stories

They cannot merely rewrite stories that have already been published elsewhere.

Features: quotations and descriptions (informal, subjective, experimental)

Entertains

TYPES OF FEATURE STORIES

I. Profiles or Personality Features

Describe interesting and colorful individuals.

Must do more than list an individual’s accomplishments and important dates in the
person’s life; it must reveal that person’s character

Completed profiles should be so revealing that readers feel as though they actually
know and have talked to the subjects.

II. Historical Features

Commemorate the dates of important events, such as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Historical features on 100th birthdays and on the anniversaries of the births and deaths
of famous people.

Disasters and casualties of war

Famous landmarks, pioneers and philosophies; improvements in educational
entertainment, medical transportation and recreational facilities; and changes in an
area’s racial composition, housing patterns, food consumption, industries, growth,
religious and wealth.

III. Adventure Features

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Describe unusual and exciting experiences – experiences of someone who survived

an airplane crash, climbed a mountain, sailed around the world.

IV. Seasonal Features

“Local situation” or “interpretative features”

Provide detailed description or explanation of topics that have been mentioned in
recent news stories.

Examine specific organization, activity, trend or idea.

Decline of downtown business districts, the effects of inflation, the growing surplus
of college graduates, the problems of the volunteer army and the tendency for young
couples to live together before marriage.

IV. How-to-do-it Features

Tell readers how to perform task: buy a house, find a job, plant a garden, obtain an
abortion, repair a car or strengthen a marriage.

Shorter but difficult to write.

Tend to preach, dictate to readers instead of consulting experts and providing detailed
factual advice.

FEATURE LEADS

a. Summaries e. Action or narratives

b. Quotations f. Shockers
c. Anecdotes g. Description
d. Questions h. Combinations

BODY OF THE FEATURE STORY

Dialogue can be used to reveal such important story elements as time, place,
circumstances and theme

Description – appeal to 5 senses.

Should be spread throughout the story

Must be used judiciously; too much bores readers and delays the presentation of more
important facts.

Must be specific; mentioning names, times and places

Should not attempt to persuade or advocate in feature stories but they occasionally draw
some conclusions about their topics.

Present details first, then draw conclusion from them. Should be accompanied by solid
evidence for credibility.

Features: written in the first person/second person

Avoid ending feature stories with summary endings because they are too flat and boring
and to state the obvious.
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Examples:

A woman meeting President Coolidge for the first time said

to him, “My friends bet that I couldn’t get you to say three words.”

The president replied, “You lose.”

“Hi Charley! How many days you have left?” A woman

asked as she entered the small grocery store at 2636 Brady St.

“Until January 1. We’re selling out, you know,” replied

Charles Scholl, who started selling groceries 56 years ago.

It felt like an endless battle. I paddled as hard as I could but

thought we’d never reach shore. My arms ached and Jip’s legs
were numb. All I wanted was to be warm again. Every time a wave
splashed over us the chill ran through our bodies.
It was horrible, not really knowing if we were going to make
it to shore, or if we should stop trying because we were going to
drown anyway.