Table of Contents
1. Be a Reporter:
A feature writer is generally a journalist at a magazine or in a newspaper.
Any feature writer before starting with your work you should think like an editor because thinking like an editor makes your work more perfect.
Being a feature article writer you should have good command on the language and vocabulary to take an interview and pen down your observations. Be quick in your work, so that you can observe many things around you.
None can become a writer overnight, at the same time it’s not fun too. It needs lots of effort and everyday practice. So to produce any featured article you should have keen eyes.
You’ll surely discover the true strength of the stories in every sentence of your work. That might be the quote that establishes a tone or a description that defines the background.
On the other hand a writer should think in the reader’s perspective as well. Your writing should be a soft and comfortable undertaking. There is no formula behind every story, but it requires three best things to remember i.e. research, interviewing and observation.
2. Become a Good Researcher:
Research is an essential source that will provide you with detailed information. The wonderful part of good research is that it takes you to in-depth of the factual details.
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No matter which article you are digging for your facts, that might be a newspaper, magazine, probate files, old high school register, divorce file, but finally you should be able to produce a good piece of work.
Purpose of the research:
– Research expands your hypothesis and makes you understand whether you are on the right/wrong path.
– Research provides adequate evidence to produce an article with a coherent and convincing manner.
– Finally, good research adds flush to your article. No matter from which source the information is gathered but the thing is how you are placing it in an orderly manner.
– Being a researcher you should have sound knowledge in search engine optimization (SEO). Without understanding SEO a writer can’t survive.
Certainly, research needs at least a few hours of investigation to give your story a solid beginning. Your research will give a strong background for your work. It will also help you to focus on ideas.
If you have a strong idea and background information, it will be easier for you to build a strong foundation for your article. So that you will be able to gather the required information to meet your story head-on.
3. Develop an Interviewing Ability:
An interview is something that required more attention. The interviewer should possibly gather all kinds of questions until the interview turns into a conversation.
Taking an interview is not tough, still, many writers worry about what to wear and whether to use a tape recorder or jot down. It looks very funny but it’s a fact.
It’s not a hard task to interview a person. You just think of some questions and start with the easy once first just to make the subject more comfortable and the talk should lead in an ease flow.
Many a time it will end-up in one short but sometimes that will lead to taking two-three attempts until you feel you have gotten a true sense of who they are.
Always remember you are not interviewing to impress the person on whom you are going to write, you should give an interesting story to your readers.
No matter your question might look so silly, but still that may lead to a great conversation and gives you the right answer.
4. A Keen ObsIrver:
Observation is an obvious tool for a feature article writer. Good observational writing consumes all the senses in recounting the event, character, or item.
The observational writing transports your reader into the sphere into which you are creating.
In some instances, the subject may be a small household thing, but with a detailed description, the reader may then start looking at it with new eyes, noticing new aspects and angles.
The same way the most exciting stories are often a succession of crucial moments, and seeing those moments unfold, rather than trying to re-create them, which leads to a stronger and richer narration.
Observational writing mainly depends on writers’ and readers’ perceptions or interpretations to any sensational writing.
For a feature writer it allows more time to produce any work that is because he has to observe, analyses and then he should give a proper shape to the writing with factual details.
5. A sense of Control:
A good story isn’t just a bunch of pretty words, it’s a stream of detailed information in which each sentence has something to express. And it’s more of an observation and getting to know your subject.
Interviewing is not tough but an unnatural act. You must be more patient, you should sit with a notebook and pen to jot down whatever the subject explains and perhaps a tape recorder runs nearby.
Accuracy is the primary thing in any interview, so you should frame your questions several times back and forth until you understand what is being said.
Sometimes you feel the questing is dumb but still you should proceed because that might give an embarrassing touch to write a story.
Most of the time people talk themselves during the interview and say many things that are unrelated be patient to them.
Often there will be pressure from the editors to make the interview simple so, here you should only focus on the main theme rather than focusing on unrelated information.
Sometimes the subject will probably be less than ideal. Here you want to dig beneath the veneer to find out the reality and life’s hidden stories.
So being a feature writer you should be very much patience and hold your breath while pulling out the information which is necessary for your writing.
6. Learn to Listen:
A feature article provides evidence about human interest. It is the main news-related article that involves stories.
These feature articles generally you can be seen in newspapers and magazine that spotlights a particular person, place, or event in great detail.
Usually, these nonfiction articles mainly focus on story than regular articles. These feature articles drag the attention of the readers emotionally through its story hence we call it feature stories.
The first 2-3 sentences of a feature writing draw your reader into the story. The second part explains the importance that why the reader keeps reading, and the rest of the article needs to follow your outline so that everything flows together how you projected.
Since a feature article highlights a person, place, or event there are few topics for feature writing, such as:
♦ News features
♦ Profiles
♦ Spot features
♦ Trend stories
♦ Live-ins
♦ News features
As the name implies, these news articles focus on a topic in the news, which is published in the newspaper. These feature stories bring soft writing style to hard news.
♦ Profiles
A profile is an article that spotlights on an individual, such as a celebrity, athlete, CEO, or politician. These stories are factual details of a person’s behind-the-scenes looks, explaining it to the readers.
Profile articles are written based on an interview or research with the subject and their friends, family, or professional associates.
♦ Spot features
Spot features are the articles that are written on a deadline. Since these articles focus on breaking news events, they often appear on the sidebars or main bars of the page.
♦ Trend stories
A trend story appears in the lifestyle, fashion, cooking, high-tech, or entertainment section. These stories also take the pulse of the culture, looking at what is new, fresh and exciting in art, fashion, film, music, high technology, cooking, and other areas.
♦ Live-ins
Live-ins are the articles that give in-depth details of a particular place and the people who work or live there. These articles are magazine-length article.
These articles focus on battlefield encampments, emergency rooms, cancer hospices, homeless shelters, public schools and police precincts.
Well, as every writer has different steps to produce content, for these feature stories too have some feature article format to follow. They are as follows:
♦ The headline
♦ The deck
♦ The introduction
♦ The body
♦ The conclusion
♦ The Headline
The headline is the most impacting thing to a reader, for any article headline is most important, it should be catchy and grab the attention of the reader. The headline needs to highlight the general topic of your article.
Suppose an article is featuring a person just doesn’t place their name in the article as a headline, instead include a unique detail that will be discovered as they go through the article.
♦ The Deck
The deck is known as subhead or stand first, which is your second chance to attract readers. While the headline of a feature writing pops with a unique angle, the deck consists of one or two short sentences. These decks give a clear picture to the readers regarding the article without leaving any question in their mind.
♦ The Introduction
An introduction is the first paragraph, through which you can “hook” your readers in the story. It explains to your reader why this article is important or worth reading.
The introduction shows your ability of explaining the things in a better way. Usually this should be precise and should spark the reader’s attention.
♦ The Body
The body of the feature article should be separated into sections. It should be properly organized with different headings, so that the readers will not ending up in confusion or question in mind.
The body of any feature writing explains the reader’s complete story in various segments. In the body, you have the option to insert pictures, charts, or diagrams related to the article which makes ease to understand the story.
♦ The Conclusion
The introduction and conclusion act as a starter and dessert of your food. The introduction explains the importance of the article, whereas the conclusion round off the topic and leave a strong imprint in the readers’ minds.
It’s common to block the writer’s when it’s time to engrave a winning conclusion. That might be because you are eager to take-up other work or tried of writing. Whatever it may be but your conclusion must give a conclusion to your article.
Qualities of a Feature Story
◊ Feature stories must be fully descriptive and filled with complete details.
◊ Generally feature stories consist of a strong narrative line.
◊ Feature stories focus on a strong central theme that usually attracts the readers’ attention.
◊ Mostly feature stories depend on interviews.
◊ To give a strong background for feature stories writers will add quotations, which is also a technique to involve your readers’ in the story.
◊ As we known feature stories are human interesting pieces, it combines facts and opinion.
◊ Feature stories are the combination of factual details and humor, hence they educate and entertain your readers.
◊ Features stories act as “meat” which covers the “skeletal bones” of a news story.
◊ Feature stories can be structured in several ways such as chronologically, narrative fashion many more.
Apart from the types and steps to write a better article, you should follow the below tips to enhance the feature article.
Since you are developing a human interesting story that will appeal to plenty of readers with different mindsets, so your writing should attract your audience.
Stories are everywhere if you learn to look, it also depends on how you look at the context. Sometimes it needs more attention and sometimes needs to search for a story
However be ready to enhance your feature writing that sells well. So, here are a few tips!
1. Be a reporter
2. Become a good researcher
3. Develop an interviewing ability
4. A keen observer
5. A Sense of Control
6. Learn to listen
7. Ability to explain with an ideal example
8. Organizing Your Material
9. Use description
10. Quotes and Questions
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