1

FEATURE RITING EATURE W W RITING

BW ABB JUDY UDIE OODHOUSE DOLSON ALLAS, T EXAS P H IGH SCHOOL

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

POLSON, MONTANA 59860

The Process

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Collect Bring order to chaos Freewrite Re-write Read aloud with a writing partner Re-write Tell an anecdote Set the scene Give characters a face Make it specific A GOOD quote A startling statement Tell an anecdote Set the scene Make it specific A GOOD quote A startling statement

How to be a good feature writer

What makes a good beginning?

What makes a good ending?

Hint

Bring the story to a close by circling back and closing up your opening. Finish the story started there. It really does a superior job of giving a feeling of ending. [See the Wall Street Journal Feature Formula on Page 7.] The end is the last thing your reader reads and remembers. It should be as strong as the lead. 1. 2. 3. Use at least three good quotes per copy block. Dont be too stodgy or too formal. Use each other as critics and be positive about making any corrections which are suggested. 4. Dont put off. Procrastination hurts research, writing and eventually the content of the article and publication. 5. Keep paragraphs short, usually no more than three sentences. Dont be afraid of the one sentence paragraph. 6. Go for a rhythm in your writing. Read it aloud. Combine longer more complex sentences with short simple sentences. 7. Write to express, not to impress. 8. Dont ever make up quotes or say something that isnt true just to make the story better. 9. Be colorful, specific, vivid, exciting. 10. Have FUN! The Spanish Club sold piatas for Christmas this year to help the needy in the community. They raised $3,000 which bought four poverty-level families food for a month and Christmas presents for the 15 children in the families. Tears ran thin courses down the face of the 30-year-old mother of five. The piles of toys including a basketball, a red wagon and a Cabbage Patch doll lay in a heap in the Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

Key Hints

Weak:

Improving your leads

Much better:

FEATURE EATUREW W RITING RITING

JUDY UDIE BW ABB OODHOUSE D POLSON ALLAS, T H EXAS IGH SCHOOL

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

POLSON, MONTANA 59860

middle of the cluttered little living room. Behind it, on the table, sat boxes of canned goods, spaghetti, dried beans and a frozen turkey. This was, according to Virginia Smith, the first real Christmas her babies had ever had and the first she could remember in more than a decade. The sale of 500 piatas made this scene possible in four homes. I think we could have sold more if club members could all go to see this stuff being delivered, Joanna Rodriguez said. I even cried when I told my mother about it. With $6 profit on each piata, each of the 50 members was responsible for selling 10 piatas. As with any club, not everyone did his fair share and others did far more. The top salesman, Blane Cagney, sold 30. Rodriguez sold 23. I didnt know Id get to go with club sponsors to deliver the food and toys, Cagney said. I never told them I was the top salesman but I felt really warm inside knowing that I was.

Improving your leads

Weak:

The Science Club chose as its yearly project a project that would help the entire school. They set about to make the courtyard fit for humans once again by eradicating the rat population that had moved in there three years ago. The snow traced the path. Cowboy-boot clad feet smashed the tiny imprints that went before. Well get those little critters, grumbled science teacher Paul Hoehn to the 20 eager followers who also plotted the death of the courtyard rats. Armed with metal boxes filled with poison, the students lead the way to the end of the three-year off-limits signs. In about a month, those little buggers will be history, said senior Carter Gentry as he set the traps where the little tracks crossed. Killing rats was but one project the young scientists undertook. Every tree on campus bore a white plaque with black shiny letters telling students both its botanical and common name. When we enroll in botany this spring, well already have a head start, Angela Tarney said. Ive suddenly started paying attention to the trees at my home. Math teacher Stark Mallow was named Texas Math Teacher of the Year in March. Math teacher Stark Mallow is good. In fact, hes so good that fellow teachers from around the state voted him the best. Mallow was named Texas Math Teacher of the Year in March. The sound of chalk chattering across the board punctuated the silence as students frantically scrambled to jot down every word and figure before the eraser swept across an

Much Better:

Weak: Better:

Much better:

FEATURE EATURE W W RITING RITING

JUDY UDIE B W ABB OODHOUSE DALLAS, TEXAS POLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

hours worth of work and obliterated it for all time. Ive never seen anyone work so fast and furious in my whole life, said calculus student Mary Smith of teacher Stark Mallow. But Mallow wasnt just fast, he was good. He made his students understand the confusing world of numbers and theorums. He made them enjoy it, too. I always hated math before I got into Mr. Mallows class, said senior Troy Matsyk. Now I enjoy it and make good grades. I cant believe how much Ive learned. His students werent the only ones who recognized Mallows talent for helping them find the answers. In March, Mallow was selected the Texas Math Teacher of the Year.

Improving your leads

Make your ending as strong as your beginning:

The smell of turkey cooking permeated the air. The clutter of wrapping paper decorated the floor. Three-year-old Sara played with her new Cabbage Patch doll that she had named Mary while her four-year-old brother Nathan pulled his new red wagon around the room, pretending it was the garbage truck taking away all the trash. Eight-year-old Bart hooted with joy as he made imaginary goals with his new basketball in the family driveway. And Virginia Smith just smiled. This would be a Christmas she and her family would long remember.

FEATURE WRITING
JUDIE WOODHOUSE POLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Directions: The school newspaper receives many exchange newspapers from other schools throughout the nation. For these assignments, you will identify,

analyze and discuss the various types of feature stories which appear in the exchange papers.

Assignment 1 Find four different exchange papers with trite features. List the name of each paper, the school, city/state and the headline of the feature. Briefly tell what the feature is about and why you think it is trite. Discuss the overall quality of the newspaper. Attach the stories to this worksheet. Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Headline _______________________________________ This feature is about: Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Headline _______________________________________ This feature is about:

I think it is trite because:

I think it is trite because:

Overall quality of newspaper:

Overall quality of newspaper:

Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Headline _______________________________________ This feature is about:

Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Headline _______________________________________ This feature is about:

I think it is trite because:

I think it is trite because:

Overall quality of newspaper:

Overall quality of newspaper:

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

FEATURE WRITING
JUDIE WOODHOUSE POLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Assignment 2 Find two different exchange papers that do not contain trite features. List the name of each paper, the school, city/ and state.

Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Is the quality of this paper consistent?

Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Is the quality of this paper consistent?

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

FEATURE WRITING
JUDIE WOODHOUSE POLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Assignment 3 Find one excellent feature that attracted your attention. List the name of each paper, the school, city/state and the headline of the feature. Briefly tell what the feature is about and why you think it is excellent. Newspaper Name _______________________________ School _________________________________________ City/State ______________________________________ Headline _______________________________________ Subject: ________________________________________

1. Briefly describe the feature story.

2. What type of feature is this? Defend your answer.

3. What does the lead do to attract your interest?

4.Describe any of the techniques youve studied which the writer used to write this feature.

5. What graphics, art work or pictures were included to enhance the features readability?

6. What could you do to this feature to make it more interesting? Come up with at least two ideas.

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

FEATURE WRITING
R OB M ELTON JUDIE W OODHOUSE PORTLAND , OREGON OLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

The Wall Street Journal. Feature Formula

End the story with another incident or anecdote that ties in with the lead either one that ties back into the opening , or a new one that provides the reader with additional insight.

Start with a specific incident or anecdote.

Provide a transition to the main point of the story. Tie it into the big picture.

Cover the main point of the story.

Kissers get pox alert

Specific incident Transition

{ {
{ { {

Development of the storys main point

End ties back into lead

CORVALLIS (AP) A sweet lesson in the art of kissing turned a bit sour for 26 students at Oregon State University when they learned after class that one of them had come down with chicken pox. Wouldnt you know it, the most contagious time is just before you break out, said a harried Charlotte Headrick, assistant professor of speech communication, as she posted a chicken pox alert on the Mitchell Playhouse bulletin board. At Thursdays class, Headrick delivered her ever-popular lesson on the art of kissing on stage: how not to bump noses, who gets the last line, who ends up downstage. Then she passed out peppermints and assigned the 26 class members to kiss someone else at least five times. It was a real high-energy class, said Headrick. On Friday she got word that a male member of the class had come down with chicken pox and had gone back to his familys home to recover. He couldnt be reached for comment. According to a spokeswoman at the Student Health Center, students who havent had chicken pox face an incubation period of 14 to 21 days. Theres nothing much the luckless classmates can do but wait and watch for any symptoms to appear, Headrick said. And refrain from practicing what they learned in class.
Associated Press/From The Oregonian, Portland, Ore., 1/29/85

FEATURE WRITING
R OB M ELTON JUDIE W OODHOUSE PORTLAND , OREGON OLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Assignment 4 Study the Wall Street Journal feature formula on Page 7. Then read the story Deputy wings it, nabs ostrich on the loose on Page 9. Answer the study/discussion questions here. Study/Discussion Questions 1. Every feature story has a hook something stated or implied that makes the reader want to read the story. What is this storys hook? Explain how the writer has used it to keep the reader involved in the story.

2. Every good feature has a conclusion which, for the reader, is the promised payoff or punchline. What is this storys promise or payoff?

Activities 1. Underline the words which tie together the lead and the conclusion. How are the lead and the conclusion related? 2. Circle the puns and cliches which are used throughout the story. Why do you think the author included these in this story?

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

FEATURE WRITING
R OB M ELTON JUDIE W OODHOUSE PORTLAND , OREGON OLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Assignment 5 1. Read the following story. Then, in the left-hand column, identify and label the four parts of the Wall Street Journal feature formula used in this story. 2. Underline the words which tie together the lead and the conclusion. How are the lead and the conclusion related? 3. Circle the puns and cliches which are used throughout the story. Why do you think the author included these in this story?

Deputy wings it, nabs ostrich on the loose

OAKRIDGE (AP) Lane County sheriffs deputy Mike Seymour could have buried his head in the sand when he got the call about an ostrich on the loose west of the Oakridge city limits. Instead, he stuck his neck out. The ostrich was off to the side of the road, Seymour said. It was standing there doing what ostriches do, I guess. Other people were there, throwing bread at it. I really didnt know what to do. It was my first ostrich in 15 years of law enforcement. So he, uh, winged it. He nabbed the vagrant bird by tying a noose around its legs while two Oakridge police officers threw a blanket over its head. The ostrich actually was a South American rhea, a flightless bird closely related to ostriches. It was one of four rheas owned by Sherry Short, who keeps a variety of animals on her ranch near Oakridge. Short said Wednesday that over the weekend a cougar got inside the wire enclosure that held the four exotic birds and killed one of them while the other three escaped. One was found nearby, but it died Sunday, she said. Short said she has not heard of any sightings of the fourth bird, but she said she believes it is still alive. They eat vegetation, she said. They love dandelions and theyre real good about walking down main streets. You can walk right up to them, Short said, but she warned against trying to catch one. They have powerful legs and their kick can be dangerous, she said. The rheas, which Short said she bought from a friend, are worth more than $100 each. She said she might hire someone to track and kill the cougar to prevent further attacks on her livestock. Seymour, meanwhile, will keep an eye out for further fowl play. Ill be on ostrich patrol until the other ones captured, he said.
Associated Press/From The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D

10 FEATURE WRITING
R OB M ELTON JUDIE W OODHOUSE PORTLAND , OREGON OLSON HIGH SCHOOL POLSON, MONTANA 59860

NAME PERIOD DATE / /

Assignment 6 Find a feature story which uses the Wall Street Journal formula. Identify the four parts of the story which conform to the formula. 1. Copy the paragraph containing the specific incident or anecdote that begins the story.

2. Copy the transition which is used to bridge the specific incident/anecdote to the main point of story.

3. Summarize the main point of the story.

4. Copy the ending paragraph which uses an incident or anecote that ties back in with the lead.

5. Does the conclusion tie back into the original incident or anecdote, or does it use a new one? What effect does this technique have on the reader?

6. What are some advantages of using or adapting the Wall Street Journal formula?

Goal N-F, N-H, Y-D