This document provides information on feature writing, including the differences between hard news and soft news. It discusses the structure of feature stories and how they differ from traditional news stories. Feature writing combines factual reporting with creative writing techniques. The document outlines the key elements of feature writing, including developing the lead/introduction, body, and conclusion. It also provides examples of different types of feature topics and leads, and steps for developing a successful feature story from prewriting to proofreading.

1. FEATURE WRITING

2. HARD NEWS VS. SOFT NEWS
 Standard fare of
most newspapers
 Objective
 Direct
 Factual
 Usually associated
with human interest
 Subjective
 Featurized
Hard News Soft News

3. HARD NEWS VS. SOFT NEWS
Hard News
“Hard news is
interesting to
human beings.”
-Frank Luther Mott
“Hard news
concerns important
matters.”
-Gaye Tuchman
Soft News
“Soft news is
interesting because
it deals with the life
of human beings.”
-Frank Luther Mott
“Soft news concerns
interesting matters.”
-Gaye Tuchman

4. STORY STRUCTURE
Hard News
lead
Details are in
Chronological
Order
Soft News
Logical Order
Narrative Order
Most
important
Least
important

5. FEATURE WRITING
 Think of the Feature Story as a news story
written like a piece of short fiction

6. FEATURE WRITING
 You must combine the rigors of factual
reporting with the creative freedom of
short-story writing

7. FEATURE WRITING
 Readers would have to read the whole story
to understand it

8. FEATURE WRITING
 Functions to:
 humanize
 add color
 educate
 entertain
 illuminate

9. FEATURE WRITING
 Written to hook the reader and draw
him/her into the story
 May or may not be tied to a current event
 Often longer than a traditional news story
 May present an opinionated view

10. FEATURE WRITING
 Functions to humanize, to add color,
to educate, to entertain, to illuminate
 Written to hook the reader and draw
him/her into the story
 May or may not be tied to a current event
 Often longer than a traditional news story
 May present an opinionated view

11. FEATURE STORY
 Also called Feature Article, or simply
Feature
 A piece of journalistic writing that covers a
selected in-depth issue
 Emphasizes on facts of human interest
 Its job is to find a fresh angle
 Makes the reader think and care

12. TYPES OF FEATURES
 Personality Profiles
> detailed article on well-known personality
 Human Interest Stories
> appeals to the emotion, arouses
sympathetic interest
 Trend Stories
> e.g. food/restaurants, jobs, music,
fashion, etc.
 Analysis Stories
> digs deep into the facts and details of a
story

13. TYPES OF FEATURES
 Interview article
 Practical guidance (how-to)
 Seasonal or holiday feature
 Entertainment article
 Travelogue
 Personality sketch
 Interpretative feature

14. CHOOSING THE THEME
 Has the story been done before?
 Is the story of interest to the reader?
 Does the story have a holding power?
 What makes the story worthy to be reported?
 The theme answers the question, “so what?”

15. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE FEATURE
 Facts
 Quotes
 Description
 Anecdotes
 Opinions
 Analysis
 Pay off/conclusion

16. SAMPLE FEATURE TOPICS
 Foreign exchange students
 Unusual hobbies
 Dirtiest jobs
 Fashion trends
 Favorite movies
 Favorite celebrities
 Teacher features
 Tattoos
 Bizarre Foods

17. FEATURE STORY STRUCTURE
 Beginning = lead/lede
> start with a premise or a theme
 Middle = body/story development
> present information and opinions that
back your point
 End = conclusion
> bring the reader to a close

18. FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD
 The most important part
 The first paragraph, but may include the
second or even the third paragraph
 Entices your readers, hooks them in
 Uses drama, emotion, quotations, questions,
and/or descriptions
 Sets the tone

19. FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD
 ATTENTION-GETTING DEVICES
 Ask a question or questions
 Make an unusual statement
 Describe a scene
 Present a conversation
 Tell a brief story
 Present surprising or alarming statistic
 Refer to an event , either historical or current

20. FEATURE WRITING : THE LEAD
 ATTENTION-GETTING DEVICES
 Show a controversy or contradiction
 Use a quotation, adage, or proverb
 State an unusual opinion
 Riddle
 Dialogue
 Onomatopeia

21. LEAD SAMPLE (PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING EXAMPLE BY ANDREA
ELLIOTT OF THE NEW YORK TIMES)
The young Egyptian professional could pass for any New York
bachelor.
Dressed in a crisp polo shirt and swathed in cologne, he races his
Nissan Maxima through the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan,
late for a date with a tall brunette. At red lights, he fusses with his
hair.
What sets the bachelor apart from other young men on the make
is the chaperon sitting next to him -- a tall, bearded man in a white
robe and stiff embroidered hat.

22. LEAD SAMPLE (EDWARD WONG OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'
BEIJING BUREAU)
The first sign of trouble was powder in the baby’s urine. Then
there was blood. By the time the parents took their son to the
hospital, he had no urine at all.
Kidney stones were the problem, doctors told the parents. The
baby died on May 1 in the hospital, just two weeks after the first
symptoms appeared. His name was Yi Kaixuan. He was 6 months
old.
The parents filed a lawsuit on Monday in the arid northwest
province of Gansu, where the family lives, asking for
compensation from Sanlu Group, the maker of the powdered
baby formula that Kaixuan had been drinking. It seemed like a
clear-cut liability case; since last month, Sanlu has been at the
center of China’s biggest contaminated food crisis in years. But
as in two other courts dealing with related lawsuits, judges have so
far declined to hear the case.

23. TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID
 Trite dictionary lead
> “According to Webster’s Dictionary …”
 Dumb declarative lead
> “It’s official…”
 Mystery “it” lead
> “It’s round, it’s red, its juicy . . .yes, it’s a
tomato!

24. TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID
 Weird linkage or atypical lead
> "What did Boris Karloff, Jane Fonda
and Richard Nixon have in common?
Ring around the collar." Who cares?
> "Jenny Jones looks like a typical college
student, but she's really...a world-class
wrestler …supermodel…or whatever!”

25. TYPES OF LEADS TO AVOID
 The uninformative question lead
> Avoid asking questions that might
provoke your readers to respond,
“Who cares?”
> Turn questions into short, informative
statements instead

26. COMPARE (THE LEADS)
Twenty-one teachers from across Northern
Luzon gathered at the University of Baguio
February 24-February 28 to learn techniques
used to teach writing.
Teacher John dela Cruz cried as he composed
a poem about his grandmother at the
keyboard of a Macintosh computer in the
basement of the University of Baguio Liberal
Arts building recently.

27. FEATURE WRITING :THE BODY
 The “guts” of the story
 Longest part . . . so you need to vary the
pace and keep it fresh by using:
> quotes and anecdotes
> description and details
> specific examples

28. FEATURE WRITING :THE BODY
 IMPORTANT COMPONENTS INCLUDE
 Background Information
> brings the reader up to date
 The “Thread” of the story
> connects the introduction, body and conclusion
 Dialogue
> gives strong mental images; keeps them attached
 Voice
> the signature or personal style of the writer

29. FEATURE WRITING : CONCLUSION
 While the lead draws the reader in, the
conclusion should be written to help the
reader remember the story
 Will wrap up the story and come back to the
lead, often with a quotation or a surprising
climax
 Unlike hard news stories, features need
endings

30. FEATURE WRITING : CONCLUSION
 THE END CAN BE
 A comment
 A concluding quote
 A question
 A summary of the article

31. STEPS TO DEVELOP A FEATURE STORY
 Prewriting
 Writing
 Revising
 Proofreading

32. STEPS: PREWRITING
 Step 1. FINDING THE STORY
 Step 2. GATHERING THE INFORMATION
 Step 3. DETERMING THE TYPE OF FEATURE
 Step 4. CHOOSING THE SINGLE FOCUS

33. STEPS: WRITING
 Step 5. DETERMINING THE ORGANIZATION
 Step 6. DRAFTING THE LEAD
 Step 7. DRAFTING THE BODY
 Step 8. DRAFTING THE CONCLUSION
 Step 9. PREPARING THE HEADLINE

34. STEPS: REVISING
 Step 10. CHECKING FOR GOOD WRITING TECHNIQUES
 Does the article reflect careful complete research?
 Do I attract my reader’s attention in the opening paragraph?
 Does the article maintain interest throughout?
 Did I follow a logical organization to achieve my purpose?
 Have I maintained unity?
 Have I varied sentence structure in keeping with the tone and
purpose?
 Are transitions sufficient to guarantee smooth reading?
 Does the word choice show freshness and originality?
 Have I eliminated wordiness?
 Do I use good story-writing techniques?

35. STEPS: PROOFREADING
 Step 11. CHECKING THE DETAILS
 Be sure to check your copy carefully for
correctness