A feature article is an in-depth, narrative, first-person article that is developed from a news story.  Where news stories often use the inverted pyramid to tell the story in the least amount of words possible, feature articles are generally lengthy chronological depictions of the human story behind the news headline.   The main purpose is to convey the emotion or power of a particular person, business, town, or organization’s struggles, victories or defeats.

Similar to a news story, feature articles usually include interviews or direct quotes from the subjects, or others who are involved in the story. Be certain when you are writing the article, that you present both sides of the story. Identify the sources and collect all the relevant information.  You can request people to fill in questionnaires, surveys or participate in interviews. It won’t all be useful, but you will have a valuable supply of information that you can return to if you need it.

Although features are more subjective than news stories, they can’t be overly biased, or they lose sympathy and credibility.  Your own opinions should not be included in the article. If you present both sides of the story, as an understanding outsider, the reader will be encouraged to form their own opinions about the events.

The first step is writing a lead for your article.  A lead will not be a summary of the story, it resembles more of a hook, to grab the reader’s interest and compel them to read further into your article.  A lead is generally one paragraph, but you can extend it to two paragraphs if you feel that you have enough information to keep the readers attention.

Your lead will set the mood, arouse reader’s interest, and invite them inside.  The lead is the most important element of the story because its content will help your reader gauge within a few seconds whether they would like to continue to read the full story.   If it is shocking, intriguing, relates to common experiences, and conveys the appropriate mood, your audience will be more likely to read it. If it is vague, preachy, or reads like a traditional news story, readers will quickly move onto the next story.

For help with creating a lead for your story, download my Worksheet on Writing a Lead for a Feature Article .

Your lead should be followed by a couple of paragraphs full of vital background information which will provide insight and bring the audience up to date.  These paragraphs explain why you are writing the story, and why it is important to tell it, it is a vital part of every feature article. Don’t make readers wait until the middle or end of the feature to tell them what the story is about.  The significance of the story should appear very early in the article.

The body of the article educates, entertains, and emotionally ties your audience to the subjects or action.  Important components of the body of a feature story are background information, transition, quotes or dialogue, and voice.  The plot should build up tension and keep the reader interested in the subject.

Connect paragraphs with transitional words, paraphrases, and direct quotations.  Transitions are particularly important in a long feature examining multiple people or events because helps move the reader from one person or topic to the next.  Transition adds to the natural flow of the events, dialogue and subject’s actions.

The last element is a strong conclusion. A carefully constructed conclusion is a crucial to a powerful feature story.  A weak or vague concluding paragraph will fail to make the desired impact.  A feature article can trail off like a news story, come back to the lead, or end with a quotation or a surprising climax.  Often, a feature ends where the lead started, with a single person, observation or event.

Always remember, your goal when writing a feature article is to make your audience care about the main subject or issue that you have chosen. Your purpose is to create a reason for them to feel passionate about the main issues of your article and to change their thinking by unobtrusively educating them with a well-crafted story.

Pamela Weir

Copyright (c) 2008 Market to the Moment (March 2008)