Feature Writing STRUCTURE October 31, 2013

Feature Writing STRUCTURE Good features need good structure - particularly because they are long pieces of writing that need to hold the attention of the reader. A feature needs to contain:- beginning middle end But this is far too simple!

Feature Writing STRUCTURE This is the structure that most pieces of writing follow, like essays and business reports, so a feature piece (or indeed any piece of journalism) needs:- an intro a body an ending (an outro!)

Feature Writing STRUCTURE But it gets a little more complicated than that. A feature needs to contain:- Introduction Body - core of points/facts/ arguments/explanations etc Supporting material - quotes/anecdotes Conclusion (and it has to be just a powerful at the end as at the start!)

Feature Writing STRUCTURE A variety of techniques can be used, e.g., a pithy start with some tantalising snippets, then the pace slows down for description/explanation/argument. The language used keeps the piece vivid and the reader interested. Towards the end of the piece the ‘speed’ will increase, the intention being that you leave some sort of impact on the reader. Well written features will have a pace, rhythm and style that ‘seduces a reader into continuing to read whatever their interest in the content’. [Hicks, 1999]

Feature Writing STRUCTURE This demands good use of language - finding the right word and putting it in the right place at the right time so as to convey exactly the right meaning and tone of the piece. So, your writing needs to be tight - you need to avoid wordiness. OVERWRITING - TO BE AVOIDED!!! Do not overwrite! Flabby prose is filled with needless words and phrases that obscure the point of your writing!

Feature Writing OVERWRITING Don’t say ‘It is a fact that shipbuilding on the Clyde is dying.’ Tell the reader the fact! That is, ‘Shipbuilding on the Clyde is dead.’ If a reader has to trudge through words that have been put there to ‘pad’ the story out, to get you to that magical figure that your editor has requested you write, then they will turn over the page. In short, they won’t waste their time on your work - and why should they?

Feature Writing Grammar counts! Remember just one misplaced comma or one wrong spelling can dramatically alter your writing - grammar errors can and should be corrected before they leave your desk! Otherwise you will lose a good reputation or earn a bad one!

Feature Writing Grammar counts! Look at this sentence and punctuate it: ‘Woman without her man is nothing’

Feature Writing Grammar counts! An English professor asked his students to punctuate this sentence and here are his findings: The men wrote: ‘Women, without her man, is nothing.’ The women wrote: ‘Woman: without her, man is nothing.’ Grammar changes the meaning, so think of this!!!

Feature Writing STRUCTURE & WRITING Writing should have Rhythm! Overly long sentences are to be avoided - the reader loses interest or the ‘plot’ of the story. In most cases sentences which are too long are written by journalists who have also lost the ‘plot’ and are trying to string together too many ideas. Conversely, you should avoid a whole series of short, sharp sentences as this can become a bit too ‘choppy’ for the reader.

Feature Writing STRUCTURE Good writing, like good music, should have rhythm. That means a pattern of long and short sentences should be used. This will make it easier for the piece to be read. It is also a good idea to read aloud your work to see how it hears - if it sounds stilted, choppy, or long and boring, then that is how it will read.

Feature Writing LINKING Well written feature pieces will comprise sentences and paragraphs that flow to provide a coherent piece of journalism Features that are poorly written will simply be chunks of information or blocks of text that do not flow well. To avoid this happening journalists need to think of the importance of linking work together - of using words and phrases that allow the readers (and the writer) to move from one part of the story to the next.

Feature Writing LINKING Links should be smooth transition words or phrases providing smooth passage from one point to the next. Pronouns, demonstratives, definite article and comparative words These refer to words or statements further back in the piece. For example: he, she, it, they, this, these, those, the, similar, the former, the latter etc.

Feature Writing LINKING Words lexically related In developing the theme of a piece, key words and their synonyms may need to be repeated several times. Many of the nouns and verbs used here are closely related which makes for a thread that runs through the piece, holding it together.

Feature Writing LINKING Miscellaneous connectives These express relationships with what had gone before, for example, furthermore, moreover, therefore etc. However, if readers have to pause at these sorts of words then the whole piece is likely to be incoherent. If you are using connectives like this ask yourself some questions to check for coherence in your work.

Feature Writing LINKING For example, These problems - what problems? On the other hand - as opposed to what? This leads us to - can you be completely sure your reader knows where you have been? Links can go wrong because the word used is unclear because it is too far away from what it refers to or because it refers to something in the writer’s mind that has inadvertently not been written down.

Feature Writing LINKING Unobtrusive links The aim is to make links as unobtrusive as possible - and the goal is to have them suggest themselves to you in the course of the writing - but this demands that you are clear about what you are writing in the piece. There are links, such as : ‘Having said that…’, ‘Whether or not…’ etc. These can help the rhythm of the piece but should not be overdone.

Feature Writing LINKING Often the linking words will be found at the beginning or end of sentences and paragraphs - but this is not always the case. They can be found in the middle - and these will usually be used in quite a thematic way. Failing to think about linking can results in incoherent pieces, at worst, and at best, leaving the reader with unanswered questions. For example, introducing a theme at the start of the piece and then never referring to it again.

Feature Writing LINKING Sticking to a theme throughout the piece will help to make it easier to read and easier to write. It can be the ‘peg’ upon which you hang the whole story. It is also a crucially important tool in helping to hold together and bring coherence to longer pieces of writing.

Feature Writing LINKING Good journalists will get into the habit of linking pieces together without really thinking of it - but as you begin to write features you are strongly encouraged to think of it as being a good way to structure the piece and to add to how it flows. This will aid both the reading and the writing of the piece.

Feature Writing LINKING Read this interview with Richard Attenborough and work out the links between each paragraph - it may be themes or words, but there are links there.