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Feature Writing Edited Jed

This document provides guidance on writing feature articles. It defines features as articles meant to both inform and entertain readers with a human interest aspect. It discusses characteristics of effective features, types of leads, endings, anecdotes, and other writing devices. It also covers focusing a feature through an angle or slant. The document aims to help writers organize materials and avoid writer's block when crafting feature articles.

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Stephanie
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287 views28 pages

Feature Writing Edited Jed

This document provides guidance on writing feature articles. It defines features as articles meant to both inform and entertain readers with a human interest aspect. It discusses characteristics of effective features, types of leads, endings, anecdotes, and other writing devices. It also covers focusing a feature through an angle or slant. The document aims to help writers organize materials and avoid writer's block when crafting feature articles.

Uploaded by

Stephanie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Feature

Writing

by
Dr. Maria Cecilia M. Genove
College of Mass Communication
Silliman University
Feature Writing
A feature is anything
that is not a news article,
meant not only to inform,
but to entertain the readers
with the human interest
aspect of a person, place,
event, situation, or way of
life.
Characteristics of a Feature Article

1. It is CREATIVE.
2. It is INFORMATIVE.
3. It is ENTERTAINING.
4. It is SUBJECTIVE.
5. It is UNPERISHABLE.
L
EADS
Summary Lead
Since its discovery in 1979, AIDS
(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
has become one of the fastest killers of
the 20th century. Like ancient leprosy,
AIDS appears to be the most dreaded
ailment of our time.

“AIDS: The New Leprosy of our Times?” (The


Manila Commentator, May 14, 1984)
Narrative Lead
More than 15 years ago, a young
couple, both of Spanish descent,
embarked on their honeymoon trip in
the verdant hills of Mindoro, little
knowing that the journey would
practically change the course of their
lives.

“What is Manda Elizalde like?” (The Manila


Commentator, April 23, 1984)
Descriptive Lead
Kuh Ledesma is wearing no make-up,
and her hair is severely pulled back into a
bun, showing a widow’s peak on top of
an oval face. She flashes a welcoming
smile hoping to make a newcomer feel at
ease, and also, perhaps to belie rumors
about her haughtiness and aloofness to
the press.
“The Snow Queen Breaks the Ice” (Timesweek,
Dec. 15, 1985)
Quotation Lead
“Hindi sa nagmamayabang ako,”
Eva Estrada Kalaw begins, “but
personally, if you take up point by
point how we match Marcos’
group, I am the most qualified
among the three presidential
candidates.”
‘I am the most qualified’ ---Eva Estrada Kalaw
(National Midweek, Nov. 27, 1985)
Question Lead
Who says the Japanese aren’t
doing enough to promote imports?
“Doorstep Imports” (Asiaweek, Jan. 18, 1987)

What does a woman do when


the most important person in her
life leaves her?
“The maid has gone… but life goes on”
(Timesweek, Dec. 15, 1985)
Direct Address Lead
So you think you know the
law. Maybe. But, chances
are, you have broken the
law several times today.

-Anonymous-
Combination Leads
“God is not nice,” a wise Jewish
rabbi once said. “He is not an uncle.
God is an earthquake.”
It may not have seemed so at first
to Sonia Roco, when the first strong
tremors brought the roof of the Hotel
Nevada crashing down on her and 27
others. Trapped in the rubble,
surrounded by darkness, the cries of
the injured and the eerie silence of the
dead, she had begun to pray.
Quotation and Narrative Leads

“Sonia Roco: Life is a Gift”

(Sunday Inquirer Magazine,


Nov. 16, 1997)
E
NDINGS
Summary Ending
All in all, everything is a happy
combination for Joe Clemente. And,
this includes staying around for a long
time to come and doing what he loves
doing, at the risk of even going at it
alone.

Joe Clemente --- ‘In uniforms there is


challenge and strength’ (Asia W, Vol. I, No.3)
Climax Ending
The dusk deepens across
the lawn. The party is over. It
has been a long day…

“The Twilight of the General”


(National Midweek, Jan. 1, 1986)
Un-ending
Observers are waiting to see
if Peking and Hanoi will keep up
the level of conflict, or whether
last week’s clashes will become
just another incident in this
secretive war on a troubled
border.
“A secret war” (Asiaweek, Jan. 18, 1987)
Writing Devices (to be included
in the body)

• Direct Quotes
• Anecdotes
• Descriptions
• Evidence
• Other related material
Writing Devices (to be included
in the body)

Choosing effective words:


• Direct
• Figurative
• Fresh
• Concrete
• Colorful
Importance of Having a
Focus/Angle/Slant
for Your Feature Article
• To help you organize your
materials

• To avoid the so-called


writer’s block
Types of Features
• Descriptive
• Personality Profile
• Personal Experience
• Narrative
• Informative
• How-To/Utility
• Analysis
• Essay-Review
A
NECDOTES
Functions
• They illustrate

• They support
generalizations

• They show/reveal
An anecdote must be
memorable as well as
readable because it
confronts the reader
with the subject.
Anecdotal Leads
First Lead:
There are some correspondents who
write letters so they can say they know a
senator on a first-name basis.

Improved Lead:
The first letter is formal: Dear Senator.
The second runs: Dear Senator Estrada . The
third is Dear Joseph. A fourth received in
Senator Estrada’s office started this way:
Dear Erap.
Feature Section Point of Presumable Interest

Pyramid 1

2 Lead

3 Body

Line
Interest
Holding

4 CONCLUSION
Thank
Background Template
The background slides in
this presentation are fixed (i.e.,
a JPG file of the same design is
used as a background). But in
the cover slide and in this slide,
all objects can be manipulated
for further editing purposes or
whatsoever.

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