Feature Story Writing

by Jeffrey Romanow

Some of the basic elements of a feature news story:
a. Focus on less timely subject matter
b. Use creative leads rather than straight news leads
c. Use many sources, lively quotes, creative endings, and descriptive writing to tell their story.

1. Creativity
• All good writing springs from creativity, including feature and news reporting even though it is more formal in style than other programs:
Creativity involves:
• Selecting specific details that paint pictures and allow the reader to imagine what is being described.
What to Say: Finding the Angle
• The first step in developing a story is to find the angle, or the main point of the story. One way to find the angle is to clarify the facts and then ask the question, "So what?"
• To answer the "so what?" question, you need to understand who the readers are. What news interests them? What information is relevant to their daily lives? What are they worried about? What do they feel strongly about?
• The answer to "so what?" will lead to the story angle.
The necessity of an angle
• The angle is what makes readers say, "Oh, that's important," or "That's interesting."
• Identifying the angle helps to sharpen focus for the story and leads to clearer writing. A story without an angle that covers every aspect of an issue will be confusing and lose readers

Finding the angle
While reviewing a story idea, ask:
• What is happening or what has been happening?
• Why is the story important?
• Why will readers care about this story?
• What will readers want to know?


Think about:
Readers
a. Who are they?
b. What will make them identify with the story and find it relevant and interesting?
c. What do they already know or think about the issue?
d. What other questions would they like to have answered?
e. Why did the event occur?
f. What do people think about the event that occurred?
g. Who is involved in the event and why?
h. Will something happen in the future as a result of the news event