A feature story differs from a straight news
- Slides: 13
• • • A feature story differs from a straight news story in one respect – its intent. A news story provides information about an event, idea or situation. The feature does a bit more – it may also interpret news, add depth and colour to a story, instruct or entertain. ight: ool. com r y p co ffsch u t s l coo Top tips fo r writing fea ture articles
Structure : 1. A catchy – clever – attention grabbing and visually interesting headline! 2. The introduction is one of the most important part – grab the attention of your reader, hook them in. 1. Use drama, emotion, quotations, rhetorical questions, descriptions, allusions, alliteration and metaphors. 3. The body of the article needs to stick to the ideas or answer any questions raised in the introduction 1. Try to maintain an "atmosphere“ / tone / distinctive voice throughout the writing 4. The conclusion should be written to help the reader remember the article. a strong punch-line copyright: Use coolstuffschool. com
Visually-interesting image/photograph which matches the tone and content of the written text Catchy, visuallyinteresting headline this one uses an allusion to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Attentiongrabbing “hooks” which set tone and ideas of the article 1 st paragraph expands on the main “hook” which sets tone and focus of the article “text box” quote pasted into article – a “hook” to grab more attention andcopyright: can be found in the body of the coolstuffschool. com article “time-line” of images – with captions and “hook” heading
Some points to keep in mind: 0 Focus on human interest - the tone and emotion you put into the article make it either interesting or boring. 0 Be clear about why you are writing the article. Is it to inform, persuade, observe, evaluate, or evoke emotion? 0 Write in the active voice. In active writing, people do things. (Passive sentences often have the person doing the action at the end of the sentence or things being done “by” someone). copyright: coolstuffschool. com
For inspiration… check-out other feature articles! copyright: coolstuffschool. com
0 Don't rely on the computer spell-checker - especially those with a U. S. dictionary. 0 Decide on the ‘tense' of your story at the start and stick to it. Present tense usually works best. 0 Avoid lengthy, complex sentences 0 Avoid lengthy, complex paragraphs. copyright: coolstuffschool. com
0 Accuracy is important - you can interpret and “embroider” but not lie! 0 Keep your audience clearly in mind - what really matters to them? 0 Avoid too many clichés (“cutting edge”, “world beating”, “revolutionary” ) and sentimental statements - especially at the end of your article. 0 Use anecdotes and direct quotes to tell the story - try not to use too many of your “own” words. 0 Research / consider more than one point-of-view to provide a more coolstuffschool. complete and balancedcopyright: report
Some examples of what feature articles look like… copyright: coolstuffschool. com
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Layout of a feature article: template copyright: coolstuffschool. com
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