Here is the presentation that accompanied Session One of JRN 574: Sports Feature Writing.

1. JRN 574
Sports Feature Writing
Fall 2022 / Rich Hanley

2. Session No. 1 - Introduction
● Feature writing is a term that can be broadly defined as
the composition of long-form-type stories that go beyond
day-to-day sportss reporting to venture to the dark
beyond the stars that only the writer and reader can
perceive as vital.
● In short, these stories matter to the writer - and to the
audience - beyond a simple conveyance of information.

3. Session No. 1
● That means we will pursue what is known as creative non-
fiction.
● It is more literary in presentation - closer to the human
experience of the soul - than the synthetic structure of
the inverted pyramid that is closer to the results of
algorithmic production.

4. Session No. 1
● Generally, we seek to learn, ironically, the mechanics of
finding and writing stories that are not mechanically
reported and written. Go figure.

5. Session No. 1
Necessary Impulse
1. James B.
Stewart: “Good
writing begins
in the mind …
What’s most
interesting is
what’s
unknown.”

6. Session No. 1
Necessary Impulse
2. James B.
Stewart: “Thinking
like a writer
prizes the question
more than the
answer.”

7. Session No. 1
Necessary Impulse
3. That makes
curiosity the key
to sports feature
writing.

8. Session No. 1
Necessary Impulse
4. And curiosity
links the writer
with the reader.

9. Session No. 1
Necessary Impulse
5. Who isn’t
curious about what
made this kid from
1970 tick. Why is
he flipping off a
photographer? What
ever became of him?

10. Session No. 1
● You get the idea. We are drawn to the image and start
thinking story because we are organically curious.

11. Session No. 1
● Take Greg Bishop’s Sports Illustrated story from October
2021.
● “The Discovery, Mystery and Controversy of the Original
Horns” is about the history of the Los Angeles Rams’
football helmet, or at least it seems to be about the
helmet.
● Bishop tweeted:

13. Session No. 1
● Bishop’s reporting reflects his personal journey to find
the origins of the helmet.
● The story is structured along the path of the journey and
the cast of characters and historical information he
unearths.
● It reads like a Homeric epic from ancient Greece.

14. Session No. 1
● And that’s what separates feature stories from the other
genres that populate sports sites.

15. Session No. 1
● “They take the format of a short story, made up of a
character or group with a plot or story. What separates
the feature story from a short story is the fact that it
is completely non-fiction. In a normal game story in
sports, it is more structured and written consistently
the same way. However, the feature story relies heavily
on the writer’s creativity and reporting,” wrote Tim
O’Brien in 2018.
● And curiosity, as Bishop’s story reveals.

16. Session No. 1
● How can we train our minds to be curious about, well,
everything? You can’t.
● Think about what you read and why you read it.
● Then think about stories you didn’t read and why you
didn’t.

17. Session No. 1
● Think again about stories you read.
● You in all likelihood read stories that triggered an
impulse of curiosity and avoided stories that did not.

18. Session No. 1
● So the takeaway is this: curiosity is all for both
writers and readers.
● If writers lack curiosity, they can’t write sports
features or narrative journalism. The reader will sense
that lack of energy that curiosity powers.

19. Session No. 1
● Here is a diagram of how this works.
● It’s a process. Trust it.

20. Session No. 1 - Story Creation Trajectory
Idea Reporting Writing Revising

21. Session No. 1
● “Ideas are vital.” David Halberstam
● “The legwork of reporting is critical and the most fun.”
- David Halberstam
● Then write and revise, write and revise.

22. Session No. 1
● But the process actually begins with reading, well before
the process commences.
● All writers are voracious readers of all kinds of
stories.
● Detective stories are good. Think Chandler and Moseley.

23. Session No. 1
● Read each noir
book on this
list and you’ll
understand how
life and
writing and
structure work.

24. Session No. 1
● Also, read
poetry. It
presents a
sense of
rhythm.
● And listen to
country music
and hip hop.
Stories are in
each tune.

25. Session No. 1
● Think about this opening from a Stephen Crane novella
titled “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets”.
● A very little boy stood upon a heap of gravel for the
honor of Rum Alley. He was throwing stones at howling
urchins from Devil's Row who were circling madly about
the heap and pelting at him.

26. Session No. 1
● That opening is a universe unto itself, an invented one
to be sure but one that emerged from direct, personal
observation in the late 19th century.

27. Session No. 1
● We have assigned several sports journalism features to
read over the first three weeks of the semester.
● The writers of each of these works are deeply literate,
bringing a sense of ideas and language in their work. Get
there.

28. Session No. 1
● Task and Purpose
○ Reveal your sense of curiosity into story ideas.
○ Develop story ideas through reporting.
○ Write stories that say “something about the way we
live.” (Halberstam)

29. Session No. 1
● One Thing To Remember (Buzzkill Edition)
○ Not all stories are interesting.
○ Recognize the difference between what is interesting
and what is not.