Day-long workshop for people who want to write for Rethink (https://rethink.earth).

1. THE SECRET ART OF
FEATURE WRITING
31 May 2017
Owen Gaffney, Marika Haeggman, Naomi Lubick

2. Marika Haeggman Naomi Lubick Owen Gaffney
Rethink is an online magazine from Stockholm Resilience Centre that connects resilience thinking to global development
Rethink Editorial Team:

3. RETHINK Feature writing
What you will learn today
How to pitch a feature
How to structure a feature
A few tricks about how to write in a way
people like to read

5. Non-linearities
Earth system
Regime shift
Resilience
Social-ecological system
ANTHROPOCENE BUBBLE

6. What is a feature?
• Feature, feature article, feature story
• Everything that is not hard news or
editorial
• It can be an opinion
• Human interest
• Does not have to be related to current
news

7. Genre
• It is a specific type of
journalism with its own style,
form and rules
• Lines have become blurred as
journalism evolves with the
internet

8. Characteristics of a feature
• Longer than news (1000-2000 words)
• Not necessarily on current matters
• Creative use of language
• More detailed
• May provide solutions
• Educational or entertaining (compare
with news)
• Often summarizes a whole area of
science…to put new findings in context

9. Characteristics of a feature
• Arouses emotion
• Allows personal comment
• Needs photos and images
• Side bars and other devices eg infographics

10. News versus features
• Current/timely
• Facts and figures
• Inverted pyramid
• Timeless
• Introduces new/original
perspective or angle on an issue
• Personal observation and
experience
• Anecdotes

11. Writing news (or press releases)
University of Leicester press office

12. News versus features
• Order of importance (inverted
pyramid)
• Short, concise
• Journalist invisible
• Objective style of reporting
• Narrative/story
• Journalist – visible
• Style: personal, colourful, literary,
emotional, humorous

13. News versus features
• Can be done from a newsroom • Requires fieldwork – often first
hand, it is about experience
• The writer usually takes the
reader on a journey
• The writer finds a way to tell a
compelling narrative

14. Types of feature
• Scientific feature
• Interview/personality profile
• Human interest
• Reportage
• Travel writing
• “How to” articles

15. How to write a science feature
• Choose topic carefully – does it
have enough dimensions to carry
a feature or can it be summarized
in 180 words, eg the difference
between the Anthropocene and a
single research paper
• It is more than one paper
• It still has to have human interest
• …and people/characters/heroes
(often a central person to carry
the story eg a scientist, the
author)
• Structure:
• Continuous narrative
• Q and A
• Series of sections
• Listicle

16. Read great feature writers like
• Elizabeth Kolbert
• Paul Salopek

17. Writing for RETHINK
• Resilience angle
• Development angle
• Big picture
• Solutions focus
• Complex narratives drawing in research from many disciplines
• Human interest
Promoting social-ecological resilience

18. Pitching a feature
• Get your head in the head of an editor
• Ask, has this been covered before? Are you sure?
• If it is about the Arctic – what is the new angle?
• If it is about something abstract – like resilience – how do you pitch it to
make it concrete?
• Read the magazine/media you are pitching to, eg Re.think or Scientific
American.
• Analyze the articles they publish. See the type of material they commission
and how the articles are structured.
• Don’t pitch stuff the media has recently covered.
• Think about audience – a lot. Understand the audience of the magazine.

19. PITCH YOUR FEATURE!

20. FEATURE STRUCTURE

21. Feature structure (this is not so helpful!)
•Beginning
•Middle – body
•End – conclusion

22. 38 | NewScientist | 16 August 2014
140816_F_SmartWater.indd 38 11/08/2014 14:59

23. 1800-2000 words
3 paras
Big picture – here’s the water issue
Conclusion
Here’s how it has been solved in the past –
massive infrastructure, but this doesn’t work now
Our hero has a better idea
In a nutshell (nutgraph) – say the feature’s big idea
New idea, fresh perspective on an issue
Personal journey – meet the hero
BOX: Sludge case study
Our hero is not alone – several other examples

24. Generic:
1800-2000 words
3 paras
Big Picture Background
Conclusion showing way forward
Here’s how things in this field have been solved in
the past
Our hero has a better idea
In a nutshell (nutgraph) – say the feature’s big idea
Introduce a new idea, fresh perspective on an
issue
Take reader to a location and introduce a person
BOX: Data rich related idea or case study
Our hero is not alone – several other examples
Acknowledge criticism of idea

25. Writing commentaries for Science or Nature

26. Writing for Nature (1500-2500 words)
Personal, agenda-setting and provocative article calling for action on
topical issues pertaining to research and its political, ethical and social
ramifications.
Must be written with a colourful, authoritative voice, at a level
accessible to all of Nature's global, interdisciplinary readers,
researchers and policy-makers, protein chemists and astrophysicists
alike.

27. Writing for Nature (1500-2500 words)
Must include specifics: e.g. who must (or will) do what exactly to
whom, when, how, over what time period;
and, importantly, what will be the impact of heeding your call to action,
and of not doing so?
The aim is to engage and persuade the reader, as well as to inform
them.

28. 1800 word article
200 word introduction
400 words – the problem in detail*
200 word conclusion
400 words – the fix
400 words – the roadmap
Nutgraph – one para to explain the news value
The lead/lede
The opening sentence
100 words – roadblocks
100 words – respond to criticism
*Or the three main sections could be:
Past, present, future. The key is to think of the
article in terms of three sections

29. 5 ways list articles can work
150 word introduction
150 words
150 word conclusion
List intro – lay out the ground rules, criteria
The lead/lede
The opening sentence
150 words
150 words
150 words
150 words

30. 5 reasons list articles work
150 word introduction
200 words – the problem
150 word conclusion
Nutgraf
The lead/lede
The opening sentence
150 words
150 words
150 words
150 words
150 words
SOLUTIONS FOCUS

31. Beginning
•Headline
•Standfirst
•Lede/Introduction – with a strong
hook
•Nutgraph

32. The opening paragraph
“In the barren reaches of Arctic Siberia, Sergey and Nikita Zimov,
a Russian father-and-son team of scientists, are working on
geoengineering measures that sound as if they’re ripped from
the pages of a Michael Crichton novel.”
Bring back the mammoth to fight global warming, Aeon
Magazine 2017
• Grab attention
• Not abstract – anecdotal, story, intrigue, descriptive, specific,
personal.

33. Don’t be boring
•Short, simple sentences – 25 words, NO MORE, this
is not negotiable
•Find an angle
•What interests your audience
•Make an impact
•Do not start with acronyms or “At a meeting of the
committee…”
•Do not bore your audience.

34. Opening
Says something tantalising about
how a new piece of research is
about to change how we think about
X…

35. Middle
• Summarise the body of knowledge on the issue
• State some of the key people and dates
• Provide a ton of facts mixed with interesting anecdotes
• Bring in research beyond your primary area
• Keep an eye on the audience – what matters to them (time! Don’t
bore them)
• Use variety and pace.
• Break into sections with sub headings
• Includes visual aids

36. Middle - paragraphs
• Short
• One idea per paragraph. State the idea at the start of the paragraph.
Develop that idea. And wrap up in a neat conclusion. Create a smooth
transition to the next paragraph.
• Only make a statement once. Don’t try to say the same thing several
different ways.
• Use quotes – first person is attractive to read and adds colour and
variety.

37. End
• 3 or 4 paragraphs
• Tie up loose ends and repeat main conclusions
• Link back to the start – this leaves the reader satisfied.
• Call to action –
• For Rethink – we want people to be able to act on the information

38. Stick to the point.

39. WRITING STUFF PEOPLE READ

40. Every sentence should make the reader
read the next sentence.
Each word should make the reader read
the next word.

41. Clarity of writing follows clarity of thought
The Economist Style Guide

42. Earth system
Natural capital
Ecosystem services
UNFCCC, IPBES, IPCC, CBD, UNEP, SRC, IGBP, WMO, FAO,
CGIAR
Land-use change
Governance
Multiple evidence base
We live in an ANTHROPOCENE BUBBLE

43. George Orwell’s guide to writing
(the opposite to academic writing)
1. No over-used metaphors,
similes or figure of speech
2. Short words rather than long
3. Always cut words
4. Never use passive where you
can use the active
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a
scientific word or jargon
6. Break these rules rather than
say anything outright
barbarous
See also, Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style”

44. As efforts ramp up to design metrics and indicators for
water-related SDGs, it is prudent to be aware of and
consider the invisible processes of water flows globally.
It is important to distinguish between blue and green
water flows.

45. California is no stranger to droughts; but the Sierra
Nevada snow that provides essential water to the state is
at a 500-year low, according to research out this week.
The population of almost 39 million people is beginning to
feel the pinch.

46. Iron Curtain
Cold War
Metaphors matter
Virtually all of our abstract conceptualization and reasoning is
structured by metaphor. Cognitive Science

47. Our metaphors
•A safe operating space
•Planetary boundaries
•Nature is sending invoices back
•Planetary machinery
•Tipping points
•Ecological footprint

48. No over-used metaphors, similes or figure of speech
• Canary in a coalmine
• Missing a piece of the
puzzle
• Draw a line in the sand
• ‘Level playing field’
See also, Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style”
Definition: A word or phrase applied to an object or action to
which it is not literally applicable.

49. People remember metaphors
Two groups were given text relating to Hitler’s rise to power. The
texts had different endings.
• “The German people blindly accepted Hitler’s dangerous ideas.”
• “The sheep followed the leader over the cliff.”
Readers recalled the metaphor more than the first ending, and
also recalled the earlier text if a metaphor is present.
Reynolds and Schwartz 1983

50. A forest of metaphors
• This oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
(Barack Obama)
• We have our foot on the accelerator and we are heading for
an abyss. (Ban Ki Moon)
• The earth is being scorched by the flames of himsa.
(Mahatma Ghandi)
• Waiting in the wings.
• At a crossroads.

55. Who are you writing for?

56. The rule of 3s
• Friends, Romans, countrymen
• We came, we saw, we conquered
• Blood, sweat and tears
• Faith, hope and charity
• Stop, look and listen
• Sex, lies and videotape

57. Long words, redundant phrases
• Demonstrate
• Encounter
• Frequently
• Fundamental
• In an effort to
• In addition to
• In attendance
• In conjunction with
• In order to
• Parenthesis (brackets)
• It is thought that

58. Long words, redundant phrases
• A large number of
• Adjacent to
• Accommodation
• Accounted for by the fact that
• Arising from the fact that
• Based on the fact that
• Additionally
• Along with
• Advance planning
• At this moment in time

59. Active not passive
• My first visit to Kathmandu will always be remembered by me
• I will always remember my first visit to Kathmandu
• There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground
• Dead leaves covered the ground

60. The page turner

61. The page turner
•“He slid the key into the lock. He grabbed the
handle, yanked down, then pushed. The door flew
open.”
•Every sentence you write should make the reader
read the next sentence
•One idea per sentence
•Short (opening sentence – NO MORE THAN 25
WORDS – this is non-negotiable)

62. Go large
Mark Twain described how a good writer treats
sentences: “At times he may indulge himself with a
long one, but he will make sure there are no folds in
it, no vaguenesses, no parenthetical interruptions of
its view as a whole; when he has done with it, it won't
be a sea-serpent with half of its arches under the
water; it will be a torch-light procession.

63. Verbs are better than nouns
• The development of our magazine depends on the improvement of
facilities within the office.
• Developing our magazine depends on improving of office facilities.

64. Verbs are better than nouns
• IBM is aiming for the establishment of a research and development
facility close to Delhi.
• IBM plans to develop a research and development facility close to
Delhi.

65. Verbs are better than nouns
• We are aiming at the creation of a new media centre but it will be
reliant on an increase in profits.
• We aim to create a new media centre but it will rely on increasing
profits.

66. Verbs are better than nouns
• There is a rise in the number of successful prosecutions over the past
year.
• Successful prosecutions have risen in the past year.

67. To be or not to be
• It was ebay that first launched the concept of personal shopping.
• It is Naomi you need to speak to about the admin system.
• It is the Environment Agency’s aim to reintroduce some of the lost
natural features of the river.
• Iran is the world’s second largest gas reserve holder, second only to
Russia.
• There have been no subsequent incidents.

68. To be or not to be
•Ebay first launched the concept of personal
shopping.
•Speak to Naomi about the admin system.
•The Environment Agency aims to reintroduce some
of the lost natural features of the river.
•Iran holds the world’s second largest gas reserve
after Russia.
•No subsequent incidents occurred.

69. Tautology
• Your past history shows your future prospects are not good.
• Your past shows your prospects are not good.
• We send our grateful thanks for successfully developing the
product.
• Thank you for successfully developing the product.
• Our new innovation creates structured training.
• Our innovation creates structured training.
• Tragic death.
• Bitter criticism.

70. Positive not negative – Trump failed
• Trump did not succeed – Trump failed
• He was not very often on time
• He usually came late
• She did not think that studying Latin was a sensible use of her time
• She thought studying Latin a waste of time
• Not strong – weak
• Not important – insignificant

71. The double negative
• It cannot be said that I am an unhappy reader
• I have not neglected your timely reminder

72. 6 astonishing facts about headlines
•Clear and concise
•Grab attention
•Avoid questions
•Active
•No jargon
•Accurate
•Bonus fact – people really like lists

73. FEATURE WRITING
29 March 2017

74. Rethink is looking for stories: deep dives into issues that touch
on development and resilience thinking, profiles of resilience
thinkers and practitioners, and more.
Please send your pitches to editor@rethink.earth
PITCH US!