Writing Effective Feature Articles

A feature article also means narrative journalism. This form of writing is using a style that is more complex than the orthodox press release or news article writing. You should follow the narrative context of the story, but still adhere to the valuable essence of the facts. It does simply mean that you have to still apply the pyramid form in explaining the narrative information.

Source: Google.com

The very unique distinction of writing a feature article is that it can use the first person perspective. Using a third person angle, on the other hand, is necessarily applied in this form of journalistic writing. You can use the third person approach when citing a story of other people’s events and circumstances. But, the subjective nuances are really recommended.

Feature article writing is following the so-called Kabob format. It usually starts with an anecdotal statement about the subject matter (the person or thing involved). It then observes the inverted pyramid approach, when the facts relative to the topic of the story are presented.

Suggested Sequential Format In Writing A Feature Article

• Write A Unique Title

Like any other forms of writing, the title of your feature article should be very catching and captivating. It must catch the attention of the readers in the Internet. It must be written as bait for people to completely read your entire content. In a feature story, your title can be metaphoric.

• Start With Anecdote

This is the difference. In news article writing, the first part after your headline is the lead paragraph. In this content form, however, you should start with an anecdote that can catch the attention of your readers. It must contain a ‘descriptive narrative lead.’

• Create A Lead Paragraph Or A Nut Graph (Nut Graf)

The lead paragraph may contain 2 or 3 sentences right after the anecdote. In this part, you are going to write down the main or general facts of your feature story. This must be very catching, as it has to answer the usual 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) and 1H (how).

The nut graph is also called as the essential statement in a nutshell. This is to be put in lieu of the lead paragraph, when the 5Ws and 1H cannot be answered. Citing a statistical figure can be done in this part. In simple terms, this is written in a paragraph form, where the facts are stated essentially to explain the main context of the whole story.

• Put The Relevant Facts And Quotes Of The Story (Meat)

Here, you are going to place the contextualized facts, paragraph after paragraph. It is usually put right after the lead paragraph of your feature story. The facts are presented here, following again their order based on informational significance or value. The most essential facts are placed first, and the least important should be placed below before the ending. You have to remember that placing subjective quotes can be very useful for your feature article.

• End With Another Anecdote

When ending your feature story, it is important that you finally describe your story with another anecdote. By doing this, you can have a more enticing and catching feature article.

Characteristics of Feature Articles

• About storytelling or narration
• Subjectively personified
• Empirically opinionated based on subjectivism
• With pictorial substantiations (if available)
• Metaphorically written (particularly the title)

A nice feature article must contain 1,000 up to 2,000 words. By observing the guidelines on how to write the feature story, you can easily come up with a content that can attract more readers. The guidelines are set to make you understand that writing this journalistic content is not very hard. It just requires passion, commitment and practice.