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A central component for any copywriter is the ability to create feature stories. This is a skill I would like you to have, as it is useful for engaging your audience for a website, for a newspaper, for a blog, for a newscast, for a magazine, etc. What is a feature story?
A feature story:
- is the news behind the news.
- is longer than most news stories.
- is well researched and complex.
- is connected to current events (Why this? Why now?)
- covers the subject in depth, includes background, and brings readers up to date.
- includes quotations from principle characters, experts—a variety of sources.
- may use photographs, charts, graphs, sidebars or boxes, drawings, diagrams, etc.
- takes time to interest readers and helps them see the complexity of the story.
- brings life and color to the subject.
Varieties of the feature story and examples.
- News behind the news (Who are the Taliban? How did they attain power?)
- Travel article (hiking the Appalachian trail)
- Profile (extended interview: What makes Queen Latifah tick?)
- Soft news background story (how school vouchers are working in New York)
- Entertainment feature (the making of the film Power Rangers)
- Science story (Where is stem-cell research leading us?)
- Business feature (Microsoft is changing its corporate structure)
Requirements of a feature story:
- Research, background, depth, information from different kinds of sources
- Quotations, a variety of perspectives, views of participants and experts
- Connection to current events or some other compelling answer to Why This? Why Now?
Here are Poynter’s top 23 feature stories of 2014. I encourage you to take a look at them to gain a stronger familiarity of feature stories. If you want to really see creative idea development when thinking of a feature story topic, take a look at this feature story: The Rock Music Guide to NBA Teams.
Assignment Week Six:
This week I would like you to write a 750 word feature story. The requirements are listed below.
- Add a new web page to your site create title for your Feature Story. Make the title catchy, as we studied earlier in this course. Place this new page under your Main Menu.
- Interview 1 or 2 people that can speak about your topic in some fashion.
- Include the 5w’s and the h in the feature story.
- Include at least 5 photographs that you could use in your feature story. One of these photos should be the hero photo — the photo that will reside at the top of the page near the headline, which will help engage readers. Add a caption to each photo.
- Finally, please do not forget to screenshot your work (Take a screenshot of your Feature Story Background page) and submit it on Blackboard by Sunday at 11:59 PM.