Basics of Feature Writing: The Art of Telling Stories

A feature story aims to educate and entertain the readers. It reflects the best in a writer. It can be personal, colorful, and opinionated, but without deviating from the facts. It may be longer and in-depth compared to a straightforward news story. It carries feelings and impressions. It should be able to grab the reader’s attention instantly and hold that attention.

Writing a feature story is not always easy. It comes with a lot of elements that should come together to make it whole. Also, the style of writing a feature may vary depending on the writer or the subject. However, at the very heart of it, the purpose is the same – it aims to explore a range of issues, opinions, experiences, and ideas while captivating the audience.

On July 1, we attended the Feature Writing 101 workshop hosted by Writer’s Block Philippines. We learned tips and tricks about feature writing to help us improve how we share stories on WhenInManila.com. Here, we’d like to share what we’ve learned with you.

• There are different types of feature stories
  • Feature stories are created to inform, entertain, persuade, or simply satisfy the audience’s curiosity about a certain topic. It may provide additional information that may not be found on the news story, give an opinion about a trending topic, or offer an entertaining personal perspective on a certain topic. Compared with news stories, which can quickly become irrelevant, feature stories stick around longer even if they have been published for a long time. Different types of feature stories are:
    • opinion on trending topics
    • personality profiles
    • humorous pieces
    • anecdotes
    • human interest stories
• Feature stories don’t simply present dry facts, they provide a different take on reality from a different angle.
• Steps in feature writing
  • brainstorming
  • finding the angle
  • creating an outline
  • researching
  • going through the facts to produce an enticing story
  • creating a punch line to leave an impression

Tips on writing the feature story

• Creating the title/headline
  • hook the reader
  • highlight the main idea of the story
  • use important keywords
• Creating the introduction
  • The introduction sets the tone of the whole story
  • It can have an unusual statement to keep the reader’s attention
  • It can invite the reader to take a stand especially if it is a controversial topic
  • It should have the important background information
  • It should intensify the appeal to keep the reader hooked
• Creating the body
  • It should have additional facts and statistics
  • It can have opinions from authorities
  • It can have sound bites from interviews
  • It can have personal opinions
  • It can be visual using photos, diagrams, and graphs
• Putting a conclusion
  • The conclusion leaves the impression to reader
  • It should remind the reader what the story is about
  • It can suggest a course of action and/or change of attitude or views

Remember…

When writing a feature story, it should:

• be well-researched and well-written
• inform
• entertain
• have authority
• present viewpoints

Any other tips you can add? Share with us how you write feature stories.

*** Writer’s Block Philippines spearheads feature writing workshops and more. To know more about their workshops, email writersblock.ph@gmail.com or contact 0917.397.9927. You can also check out their website, www.writersblockphilippines.com for future workshops.