Feature Writing JMSC0017

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Feature Writing JMSC0017

• Gene Mustain
• Director, Reporting and Writing Programme
• gene_at_hku.hk

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Feature Writing

• What is feature writing?
• It is writing that tells a story people want to
  read (as opposed to writing people have to read
  to keep up with what is happening in their
  communities).
• What do people want to read? They want to read
  stories about events or issues that have a human
  dimension to them.

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Feature Writing

• So
• Feature writers look for stories that not only
  give us information, but that provoke emotional
  responses joy, anger, sadness, inspiration or
  that just give us a satisfying experience.

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Feature Writing

• In feature writing, the who-what-when-where-why-an
  d-how of news writing is still important, but so
  are these values
• Mood, atmosphere, emotion, irony, humorand
  others.

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Feature Writing

• How does a feature story differ from a news
  story?
• It usually doesnt follow the same story-telling
  structure as typical news writing.
• It usually doesnt give the most important
  information first.

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Feature Writing

• The story-telling structure in feature writing is
  about 50,000 years old!
• The feature story has a beginning, a middle and
  an end.
• The beginning, middle and end are tied to a
  central idea or theme.

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Feature Writing

• How is feature writing similar to news writing?
• A feature writer follows the same process as a
  news writer focus in on your topic, organize
  your material, write and rewrite. And rewrite
  again!

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Feature Writing

• In what particular way is great feature writing
  the same as great news writing?
• It is built on great reporting.

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Feature Writing

• What is great reporting?
• Learning enough about your subject so that you
  can write about it accurately and clearly, using
  only what the reader needs to know to understand
  and appreciate your story.

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Feature Writing

• Feature stories can be about virtually anything
  with that human dimension we spoke of. It is
  also known as human interest.
• Human interest is what interests people.
• Anything that really interests you is likely to
  interest others, if told in an artful way.

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Feature Writing

• Two types of feature stories
• News features. These are stories that are tied to
  some event in the news. They are timely.
• Timeless features. These are stories not tied to
  any specific event in the news.

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Feature Writing

• Within the two types, various texts list many
  categories. Some are about things, but writers
  always try to tell the thing feature through
  the eyes of people, seeking the human dimension.
• Thats because people are more interesting to
  readers than things.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Business Story We dont care so much about
  what is sold or made, but the people involved.
  Look for an angle.
• The Commemorative Story This is a story pegged
  to the anniversary of an event the 1997
  handover ceremony in Hong Kong, for example.
  Again, try to tell it through people involved.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Explanatory Story This story tells how
  something works, such as how planes are guided to
  landings. Take us into the control tower.
• The First-Person Story This is when the writer
  is involved in something dramatic. Voice I and
  me.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Historical Story This is a story, sometimes
  tied to a news event the writer uses the event
  the discovery of old photographs, for instance,
  to visit history and show change.
• On the other hand, a writer may want to simply
  show a remarkable chapter in someones life.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The How-To Story Telling the reader how to do
  something.
• The Invention Story Writers and readers have
  loved these since at least the invention of
  printing press.
• The Medical Story We are always fascinated by
  why people die, get sick and get better as well
  as new things doctors and scientists learn.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Number Story The busiest traffic exchange in
  Hong Kong. The worst day for air pollution.
• The Occupation Story Who washes IFC windows? Who
  pilots the Star Ferry? Were always interested in
  people who have interesting, dangerous or
  exciting jobs.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Overview Story This story, usually tied to a
  breaking news event, gives readers the big
  picture of that particular topic.
• The Participatory Story Readers are fascinated
  by what its like to be in someone elses shoes,
  and so the reporter takes them there.

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Feature Writing Categories

• The Unfamiliar Visitor Story Were always
  interested in how others see us when they visit
  us.
• The Profile Story. You know about this one. It is
  a category so common its become a staple of
  journalism its a portrait, in words, of someone
  worth reading about.

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Feature Writing

• As we know from discussions about some stories
  in the class text, many categories often overlap.
  Thats why it is also good to simply remember
• There are timely feature stories.
• There are timeless feature stories.