Week 3 - Feature Story Style

Style is about the way the story is written: your voice, descriptive language, usage, sentence structure, etc. Feature stories have a lot more flexibility than news stories. Instead of sticking to the just the facts, told in third person, and using past tense, features are more flexible and tend to follow a more literary style.

Feature stories require a livelier, looser, more literary voice. That means you can provide more vivid details, write in second or first person, and use fragments when needed to make a point. Although more literary techniques are used, you must be sure to keep the facts straight and the story true.

One way to find your writing "voice" is to read and note styles you like. Reading, in general, is important for any writer. I cannot overemphasize the importance of being voracious readers because...good writers read!

The lead is the first part of a story – the first one or two sentences. News leads provide a summary of the key facts for a story. Feature leads can be more creative.

Feature story leads may take on many different forms. The most common include:

• Anecdotal (snapshot)/narrative(movie)
• Scene-setter – descriptions transport readers
• Direct address – speak directly to reader
• Blind – tease readers by withholding key info
• Roundup – several people, places, things
• Startling statement (also called “zinger”)
• Wordplay - alliteration (words that start with the same letter), onomatopoeia (words that sound like they are pronounced, like "sizzle" or "boom") or a pun

Make sure to review the list in the text on page 121: Helpful Tips for Successful Feature Writing.

As a reminder, your Blog #1 and Blog #2 entries are due this week.

Book recommendation: On Writing Well by William Zinsser  

Week 2 Recap - Generating Story Ideas

This week, we talked about generating story ideas…which are everywhere just waiting to be discovered!

The tried and true angles to use for story ideas include: how to save time, how to save money, how to be loved and how to make money. However, many story angles exist beyond these popular four.

Some tips on looking for story ideas include:

• Be observant in your everyday life
• Look at things through a reporter’s eyes
• Be curious
• Write down ideas (keep journal)
• Look through a publication’s archives
• Check out competitors
• Watch TV, read magazines and newspapers, check out Web sites

You never know just where you will discover an idea.

Once you have a general story idea, take time to brainstorm (list everything you can think of about a topic). Then try some idea/story mapping. We practiced this briefly in class. Idea mapping is also a great way to tackle school papers, create outlines, find answers to a problem, etc.

One strategy is to be still and use your senses. What are you seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, etc.? Look around. Absorb. Notice. Listen. Be curious!

Another strategy is to build a list of your favorite places. What do you like about them? What’s new about them? Lastly, think about your hobbies. What are you interested in? What are you passionate about? What are you an expert (know a lot about) on? Building lists with answers to these questions can be your “go to” when you have writer’s block or need to come up with something quickly.

Freewriting (as we practiced in class) is a way to overcome writer’s block, as well as come up with story ideas.

Lastly, “story mapping” is a great way to creatively brainstorm ideas. We will talk about this more next week, along with feature style. Be sure to read pages 120-121 on Feature Style in preparation. Also feel free to work ahead on Assignment #2 due in two weeks.

Setting up your blogs

As a reminder, please be sure to set up your blogs before Tuesday’s class and complete your first entry before next Thursday’s class.

I recommend http://blogger.com if this is your first foray into the blogosphere. If you need help setting up your blog, Google has a lot of helpful articles and videos. You can always seek my assistance via email or before/after class.

Here are links to previous student blogs to give you some ideas:

https://theriskywhiskey.wordpress.com

http://thriftycollegemom.blogspot.com

https://getfitwithkj.wordpress.com

http://lucialovesnature.blogspot.com

http://asfguidetotraveling.blogspot.com

http://marionswritingjourney.blogspot.com

https://adriandiscipulo.wordpress.com

As a reminder, if you want to make additional posts as a way to practice writing, that’s fine. It will earn you extra credit! I will comment on entries, but will not “grade” it with my comments (i.e. “super job,” “needs improvement,” etc.) Instead, I will provide general feedback, encouragement and ask questions. Assume you earned 10 points for your blog entry unless you hear from me otherwise.

As soon as your blog is set up, email me a copy of your url.  

Blog #1 Topic (due by Thursday, Jan. 25)

• Choose a main theme/topic from one of the six common feature categories (p.116) that interests you the most.
• Start your blog by introducing yourself and telling what your blog will be about (category you selected). You may include what interests you about the category, why you chose it, what experience you have with it, etc.
• Research some of the trends/stories in that category and share them (include links)

Week 1 – Getting to know each other

I enjoyed meeting everyone this week and learning about your educational and professional goals, writing experience and strengths/weaknesses. I loved the student introductions through headlines and leads about each other. (We have a few more to complete on Tuesday.)

We have a wide range of interests in this class, but the one thing you all have in common is a desire to improve your writing skills and learn about feature writing. As with most skills, improvement will come with practice…and we will do a lot of practicing in this class!

Next week, we will dive right into the world of features: how they differ from news stories, what the main categories of features include and how to generate story ideas.

Be sure to get your textbook and begin reading the assigned pages. Also, review the assignment workbook to get an overview of future assignments.  

If you have not taken Jour 21a (or need a refresher), please read Chapter 3 on newswriting basics.

Welcome!

Welcome to our course blog for Feature Writing (Jour 21b). 

I will post class recaps and key information on this blog after each class meeting. Be sure to add this to your favorites and/or follow this blog.