Feature Stories

What good are they?

Ask your story what it is.

“Story, where do you want to go?” This is the art of writing – can you

discover the story? Sift and organize your material. The

answer is in there. From William E. Blundell, author of

The Art and Craft of Feature Writing

Organizing the story

The way the story is organized takes shape as you do these:

Have an idea for a storyRefine the story ideaConduct your reportingAnalyze your conclusions

Multimedia reporting

Sound Images Text Your story is all of these – or rather,

your story is inside these things.

Why do people tell stories?

To explain why To explain how To entertain To educate and inform

Howshould someone feel

at the end of the story?

The four stages of a story

Tease me, you devil

Stage 1:

Intrigue me. Make me

want to invest a little time

in your story.

(Be irresistible.)

What are you up to?

Stage 2:

Let me see what

your story is really about.

Oh, yeah? Prove it!

Stage 3:

Show me. Prove to me that this

is true. Give me reasons

to believe it. (This is about

80 percent of most stories.)

Help me remember!

Stage 4:

Nail the ending. Give me

a bang, not a whimper.

You got me. Now

make sure it sticks with me.