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Note: The different ways of structuring a feature article discussed in this blog post can also be used in “Pagsulat ng Lathalain” (feature writing in Filipino).
Index: A. Definitions of “feature article” or “feature story” (aka “feature”); Differences between news and feature; B. Kinds of features according to “The Universal Journalist” by David Randall and other sources; C. General guidelines in writing a feature: Law of Progressive Reader Involvement; three act structure of storytelling with the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution; build a solid narrative, structure for impact; transitions; literary devices; descriptive writing (show versus tell); D. How to format or structure a feature: APPLAUSE Formula, Three Act Structure, Diamond Structure, Hourglass, Roller Coaster, Present, Past, and Future, Chronological order, Back with the story, Bead Necklace, Five Boxes (Stacked Boxes), Spiral, Rewind, Spatial story, Story in scenes, Parallel narratives, Distance as structure, Complication - Resolution; Kabob (aka The Wall Street Journal formula or the circle), and Accordion; E. Kinds of feature leads (ledes): literary allusion, historical allusion, pun, description (site, person, event), capsule or punch lead, one word, miscellaneous freak lead, parody lead, direct address lead, staccato. sequence or narrative, then and now, question, quote, data point (startling statistics); expository contrast; descriptive/ expository, descriptive approach with the human element first, narrative contrast (cliche); exercises in writing feature leads from “Reporting for the Media” (Oxford University Press); F. Sources and examples of excellent features such as Pulitzer Prize award-winning articles from 1979 to 2023 and Online Journalism Awards from 2000 to 2023; G. Immersive and interactive feature stories: the future of features?; H. Some Plain English guidelines for effective writing; I. Miscellaneous resources
A. Definitions of “feature article” or “feature story” (aka “feature”); Differences between news and feature
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A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news covering a single topic in detail. A feature story is a type of soft news, news primarily focused on entertainment rather than a higher level of professionalism. The main subtypes are the news feature and the human-interest story.
A feature story is distinguished from other types of non-news by the quality of the writing. Stories should be memorable for their reporting, crafting, creativity, and economy of expression. Unlike news reports that mainly focus in factual evidence, feature stories tend to be subjective. Features vary in style, focus, and structure but overall, maintain an entertaining tone rather than strictly informative.
From “Feature Writing: An Essential Journalistic Craft“ (Adamas University):
We often use news stories and feature stories interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. The truth couldn’t be any farther. Feature stories or features, as they are more commonly called, are intrinsically different from news stories. While the line at times might become blurred, the differences sustain by and large under the general circumstances. Having said that, it is rather difficult to put the difference in specific terms.
What Is a Feature Story?
To begin with, Oxford Dictionary defines a feature article as “a newspaper or magazine article that deals in depth with a particular topic.” Cambridge Dictionary is a little more encompassing when it calls a feature article as, “a special article in a newspaper or magazine, or a part of a television or radio broadcast that deals with a particular subject.” In very simple parlance, feature stories emphasize on people, places and issues that affect the lives of readers.
From “Writing Features” (University of Missouri):
[A feature] differs from straight news in one respect — its intent. A news story provides information about an event, idea or situation. The feature does a bit more. It also may:
- Interpret or add depth and color to the news
- Instruct
- Entertain.
From “Writing features, reviews and press releases” (BBC Bitesize):
A feature is a longer piece of writing than a news story. Features come in many different types and are widely used in magazines, newspapers and online.
A feature will often cover an issue in greater depth than a news story would do; or it might look at an ongoing story from a different angle.
From “How to Write a Feature Article: Crafting Captivating Stories”:
;">A feature story is not your run-of-the-mill news piece.
It paints pictures with words, captures emotions, and weaves facts into narratives that hit home.
This genre offers readers an escape from the blunt edges of hard news by infusing human experience into storytelling.
The ever-evolving world of journalism reveals just how potent these stories can be when they bridge connections between the subject and the audience.
In stark contrast to straight news, feature stories give you more than who, what, where, and when; they delve into the why and how.
You get richly textured pieces like lifestyle features or travel adventures rather than bullet-pointed briefs on world headlines. They’re akin to a stroll through intriguing alleys rather than a brisk walk down Main Street.
With each paragraph designed to evoke feelings rather than simply relay events, it’s no surprise that people are drawn to such compelling reads.
And remember: at their core, feature stories aim for emotional impact, connecting on levels beyond mere information exchange. To create this effect, writers often employ descriptive language and narrative techniques that have been proven effective over time.
From “5 Tips on Writing a Feature Journalism Article” by Alison Hill:
;">Feature journalism (also referred to as soft news) is essentially reporting with flair where you get to use the storytelling skills and creativity that probably drew you to a career in journalistic writing in the first place.
“The newspaper is, in fact, very bad for one’s prose style,” wrote journalist and author Thomas Wolfe. “That’s why I gravitated towards feature stories where you get a little more leeway in the writing style.”
Weaving in a narrative with the facts, feature journalism focuses on entertaining, educating, informing, and engaging the audience. Features are not time-sensitive, so they can be about any topic, taking an in-depth look at a current event, an ongoing issue or situation, a place, person, or a group of individuals.
Alison Hill also says:
News is immediate and current whereas a feature can be evergreen, although many are also topical. An evergreen story of course has staying power, being just as relevant and interesting a year or even 5 years in the future.
The article “Writing features, reviews and press releases” (BBC Bitesize) provides two tables that compare some of the characteristics of news stories and features, with the caution that “these are not hard and fast rules; there can be overlap between the two genres.”
The article “Get Your Story Straight: News vs Feature Article” (Pavilion) differentiates between news and features through the following: Purpose, Timeliness, Structure, Focus, Emotion, and Word Choice.
B. Kinds of features according to “The Universal Journalist” by David Randall and other sources
From “Feature Writing: An Essential Journalistic Craft” (Adamas University):
In “The Universal Journalist,” an iconic textbook on journalism, the British journalist David Randall argues for the following different types of feature stories:
Colour Piece: essentially tries to enlighten readers on a particular theme or subject.
Fly on the Wall: conceived and narrated unobtrusively and mostly without the explicit permission of the subjects.
Behind the Scenes: shifts its focus from the principal event to the background and narrates an interesting tale.
In Disguise: the storyteller is a part of the event.
Interview: develops itself around questions asked to a respondent, who is usually in a place of prominence.
Profile: based on the exploits of a particular eminent person with or without his / her interview.
How-To: dependent on research and helps readers in solving a problem or deciphering a scenario.
Fact Box / Chronology: provides plain and simple facts mostly in a chronological order.
Backgrounder/ A History of: provides detailed information.
Full Texts: extracts from a book or transcripts of an interview.
Testimony: first-person account of an individual.
Analysis: scholarly analyzes an event.
Vox Pop / Expert Roundup: accumulates opinions from the general citizenry and thought leaders concerning a subject.
Opinion Poll: conducts a research of opinions and presents a generalized summary of the accumulated opinions.
Review: reviews a work of art and presents a generalized opinion.
The article “How To Write a Feature Article: A Step-by-Step Guide” classifies features according to divergent focus and motives:
Human interest stories
Colour stories
News feature
Informative feature
Historical feature
Lifestyle feature
Scientific feature
Interpretative feature
Review
Behind the scenes
The article “How to Write a Feature Article: Crafting Captivating Stories” enumerates ten different types of feature articles:
Human Interest Stories
News Features
Lifestyle Features
Seasonal Features
Interview Pieces
Color Stories
Profile Features
Behind The Scenes
Travel Features
Instructional Features
C. General guidelines in writing a feature
“Law of Progressive Reader Involvement” from “The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide” (1988) by William Blundell: Stage One: Tease me, you devil. [Hook, intriguing lede] Stage Two: Tell me what you’re up to. [Nut graf] Stage Three: Oh, yeah? [Prove it] Stage Four: I’ll buy it. Help me remember it. [Kicker] |
From “Feature Writing: An Essential Journalistic Craft” (Adamas University):
“... news writers follow the inverted pyramid structure while feature writers go by the upright pyramid structure. To be more precise, a feature must essentially conform to the three-act structure of storytelling wherein the narrative is divided into three distinct segments – the setup, the confrontation and the resolution.”
We will discuss the three-act structure in more detail in the next section.
From Wikipedia:
Characteristics that attribute to feature stories include exploring a topic or issue that is of importance to the writer(s). Features follow the outlines of having a plot, a complication, if any, and a conclusion. Paragraph structures may vary. Unlike a newspaper article that is usually separated in a vertical grid pattern, features are separated into concise short paragraphs. The writer has control to convey their perspective, whether to make it angled in a certain direction or to be unbiased.
It is important to continuously acknowledge that the focus should also revolve around engaging the reader’s imagination and portraying an engaging story. Of course, all while allowing the main statement of the feature to be understood.
The article “How to Write a Feature Article: Crafting Captivating Stories” by Julia McCoy discusses four tips on how to write a great feature article: Build a Solid Narrative; Structure for Impact; Edit Like A Pro; Get Feedback.
Build a Solid Narrative
A solid narrative arc is like a map through uncharted territory. It starts by setting up expectations in the beginning, building interest in the middle, and tying everything together at the end — a perfect circle of storytelling mastery.
Structure for Impact
We all know a good story grabs you from the start and sticks with you long after it’s done. The same goes for feature articles. When writing an engaging opening paragraph, think of it as your chance to invite readers into a conversation they’ll want to stick around for.
An outline shouldn’t be rigid but rather serve as guardrails keeping your thoughts aligned so that each section smoothly transitions into another without losing focus.
The structure of a feature article should feel natural — like listening to an old friend recounting an adventure.
From “5 Tips on Writing a Feature Journalism Article” by Alison Hill:
News writing follows the inverted pyramid structure while feature writing is more flexible, adopting various styles. The lede or opening paragraph for instance can be anecdotal and descriptive. This gives the writer creative freedom and an opportunity to practice their narrative writing skills and employ storytelling techniques like the ample use of descriptions, plot, and character development. A feature piece can be entertaining—profiling an artist or singer, it can be informative—shining a light on an obscure problem, or it can raise awareness about a current issue.
A skilled feature writer will connect emotionally with her audience, drawing them into the story, painting a vivid picture of the people’s lives, their work, feelings, struggles, predicament, sorrow, or joy.
From “Writing Features” (University of Missouri):
The feature usually does not follow the inverted pyramid style of the news story.
The hard news story lead based on one of the five “Ws” (who, what, when, where, why) or the H (how) is seldom appropriate for a feature story. The feature lead "sets the stage" for the story and generally cannot stand alone.
A feature lead must interest the reader. It’s the “grabber” that gets readers into the story and keeps them going.
Many rules for news writing also apply to feature writing: short sentences, easy words, personal words, active verbs. But feature stories can be more fun to write, because you can be more creative.
What makes a feature work?
“Easy” writing makes for easy reading. That means short sentences, simple words, active verbs, personal words and transitions to keep the article moving forward, interest-building devices, and a “kicker” that ends the feature with some punch.
The article cites the different ways transitions are used to move the feature article moving forward:
- to add to, illustrate or extend a point
- to summarize
- to link cause and effect
- to refer back
- to restrict and qualify
The article “How To Write a Feature Article: A Step-by-Step Guide” discusses the “linguistic or language usage in feature articles”:
- semi-formal language with a human touch
- sentiments, emotions, and feelings
- second person singular
- adjectives and adverbs; action verbs
- statistics, facts
- quotes
- active voice
- literary techniques
- rhetorical questions
- anecdotes, imagery, and certain jargon
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1. Literary devices such as similes and metaphors, onomatopoeia (use of words that mimic a sound), imagery (figurative language), climax, and more;
2. Descriptive Writing (show versus tell)
The OSU article links to “Literary Devices and Terms” which discusses the A-Z of literary devices, starting from “Accumulation” up to “Zoomorphism.” For example, the article discusses and illustrates what “Accumulation” is:
Accumulation is derived from a Latin word which means “pile up.” It is a stylistic device that is defined as a list of words which embody similar abstract or physical qualities or meanings, with the intention to emphasize the common qualities that words hold. It is also an act of accumulating the scattered points. Accumulation examples are found in literary pieces and in daily conversations.
From “Feature writing”:
Feature writing is story telling. It’s one of the three main kinds of non-fiction writing; the others are news / information and opinion / editorial.
People love stories. And a true story is all the better.
Great story telling (narrative writing) elements include sympathetic characters, interesting complications, revealing dialogue, and strong plots.
From “How to Write a PERFECT Feature Article – Every Time” by Natasha Alvrez:
Under the section “Language and Writing Style,” the author discusses:
- the use of informal, colloquial language or ‘slang’
- contractions
- facts and direct quotes
- rhetorical questions
- hyperbolic and emotive language
- effective literacy devices such as imagery, personification, alliteration, metaphors, etc.
Under the section “Formatting and Writing Structure,” the author discuses the “6 Step Formatting Checklist” (masthead, headline, subheadings, by-line, hook, images).
From “Learn What a Feature Story Is: Find Out How It Differs From Hard News” (Thought.co):
Feature articles also include more of the elements that are used in traditional storytelling—description, scene-setting, quotes, and background information. Both fiction and non-fiction writers often say their aim is to help readers paint a visual portrait in their minds of what’s happening in a story. That’s also the goal of feature writing. Whether it’s by describing a place or a person, setting a scene, or using colorful quotes, a good feature writer does anything he or she can in order to get readers engaged with the story.
The article then cites a Washington Post article “Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let’s find out.” by Gene Weingarten and its use of feature-oriented lede, the leisurely pace and length, and the focus on the human element.
“He emerged from the metro at the L’Enfant Plaza station and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.
“It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L’Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.
“Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he’s really bad? What if he’s really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn’t you? What’s the moral mathematics of the moment?”
Transitions
From “Good Transitions: A Guide to Cementing Stories Together” (The Open Notebook) by Amanda Mascarelli):
Pulling off seamless transitions can elude even the most seasoned writers and editors. Transitions can easily come across as formulaic, forced, obvious, or patronizing. And if they’re not done with finesse, they can give away the punchline and make stories feel repetitive. When transitions are ineffective—or are lacking altogether—readers may lose the thread of the story, or they may feel jarred from one paragraph or section to the next, or they may just get bored and go away.
Transitions—whether between book chapters or between sentences, paragraphs, or sections of a story—can come in many flavors. Some are functional words or phrases—but, next, in fact—that stitch sentences together and provide simple cues to frame what’s coming next. Other transitions are more linguistically or conceptually complex. They might reinforce a train of thought, set up a shift in chronology or setting, present a cliffhanger or some surprise twist, deepen a comparison, or call attention to a contrast. Still others simply create a brief pause, slowing the pacing of a story at a critical moment. Whatever their purpose, when transitions are done well, they create an invisible but essential lure that entices readers to keep going.
The article discusses the following transition devices:
Head-to-tail transitions
Pivot or “shift in direction, perspective, or chronology from one paragraph to the next” through “contrast approach”
“But wait” approach
Section breaks for “creating transitions in longer stories—and especially in stories that rely heavily on narrative storytelling techniques—” through subheadings, “drop cap, asterisks, or some other typographical treatment.”
Ann Wylie differentiates between internal transitions (from paragraph to paragraph, from sentence to sentence, from idea to idea) and external transitions (from section to section).
From “Transitions” (The Writing Textbook):
Strategy 1: Transitional Words and Phrases
Strategy 2: Conclusions as Transitions
Strategy 3: Consistent Terms as Transitions
Strategy 4: Brief Summary Transitions (with Demonstrative Words)
D. How to format or structure a feature
Diamond Structure (0.32 mark) In order to achieve these outcomes [Inform, Persuade, Entertain], feature articles use a “Diamond Structure.” “Diamond Structures” mean at the beginning of the article, very little hard fact is provided. Something very interesting is used instead. This could be a narrative, or a historical comparison of what life used to be like, or a long quote. As we move to the article, we also begin to include more and more factual information until we get to the middle of the article, at which point, most of the fact is being provided. At that point on, you begin to take rough and return to more entertaining forms of writing. A good tip is that by your third paragraph, you should begin to move into more of your informative writing and less of your entertainment. |
1. The “APPLAUSE Formula” doesn’t actually provide a format or structure for a feature article; it enumerates the values that a feature article must have, values which help guide you in formatting or structuring your feature article. After you have done your research or conducted your interviews for your feature article, organize your materials based on the values.
From “Feature Writing: An Essential Journalistic Craft” (Adamas University) and “Feature Writing”:
According to a popular theory, a feature story must subscribe to the APPLAUSE Formula, where each letter of the word APPLAUSE stands for the following values: A - Appeal, P - Plain Facts , P - Personalities, L - Logic, A - Action, U - Universality / Uniqueness, S - Significance, and E - Energy / Enthusiasm
A - Appeal [evoke the reader’s interest]
P - Plain Facts [state facts, not fiction]
P - Personalities [readers will respond to stories of celebrities or important people]
L - Logic
A - Action [a feature fulfills its objective if it incites people into action]
U - Universal / Unique [useful to all readers]
S - Significance [a feature must have impact or relevance to people’s lives]
E - Energy / Enthusiasm [a feature should be emphatic in its approach and convinced about its own subject matter]
2. Three Act Structure (and its variations)
Feature writing is story telling. Thus, the basic structure of a feature article follows the “Three Act Structure” (the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution) that’s used in screenplays novels, and short stories; it was popularized by Syd Field in his 1979 book “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting.”
(a) “The Three-Act Structure: The King of Story Structures” (with audio support):
Contents
Part 1 – Mastering Story Structure
Part 2 – Freytag’s Pyramid
Part 3 – The Hero’s Journey
Part 4 – Three-Act Structure
Part 5 – The Dan Harmon Story Circle
Part 6 – The Fichtean Curve
Part 7 – Save the Cat
Part 8 – The 7-Point Story Structure
From Wikipedia (boldfacing supplied):
The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (acts), often called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution. It was popularized by Syd Field in his 1979 book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting.
The first act, or opening narration, is usually used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in. Later in the first act, a dynamic incident occurs, known as the inciting incident, or catalyst, that confronts the main character (the protagonist). The protagonist’s attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first plot point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist’s call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?).
The second act, also referred to as rising action, typically depicts the protagonist’s attempt to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to find themselves in ever worsening situations. Part of the reason protagonists seem unable to resolve their problems is because they do not yet have the skills to deal with the forces of antagonism that confront them. They must not only learn new skills, but they also must arrive at a higher sense of awareness of who they are and what they are capable of, in order to deal with their predicament, which in turn changes who they are. This is referred to as character development or a character arc. This cannot be achieved alone, and they are usually aided and abetted by mentors and co-protagonists.
The third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots. The climax is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new sense of who they really are.
(b) From “Feature writing”:
Sometimes it helps to think of feature leads being structured through some framework.
Lead – variety of types include contrast, narrative, descriptive
Context – Who, what, where, when
Colorful quote – Sometimes just one sentence
Roadmap through the material
Roadmap 1 –
Roadmap 2
Roadmap 3
Close
More information / pointers
The article also discusses the following useful lead structures:
- Expository Contrast
- Narrative sequence
- Descriptive / expository
- Descriptive approach with the human element first
- Narrative contrast (cliche)
(c) From “How to Write a PERFECT Feature Article – Every Time” by Natasha Alvrez:
Under the section “Formatting and Writing Structure,” the author discuses the “6 Step Formatting Checklist” (masthead, headline, subheadings, by-line, hook, images).
Feature articles tend to vary in length and are generally laid out into columns. Due to this kind of layout style, typically the writing is broken up into multiple mini paragraphs to create a sense of depth. With this in mind, one could write their article in a standard writing format with an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion and then proceed to break it up into columns once completed.
The article then discusses what each part of the feature should focus on:
Introduction / Paragraph 1 (hook; general message and subject; overall tone
Body / Paragraph 2, 3, 4 and onwards (explain your main points one at a time in detail; include quotes, anecdotes, and general information; include images to provide context to an explanation; provide evidence; link each point back to the main message or theme you are enforcing)
Conclusion (leave a lasting impression; call to action)
(d) “A Comprehensive Piece on the Three Act Structure”
The main idea of the Three Act Structure is that a story will always have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The Three Act Structure also focuses on the concept of causality; that all events are caused and will result in another event.
It should be noted that many variations of the Three Act Structure exist, such as the 27 Chapter Method, which further break down each act into blocks/chapters, which you might want to check out if the Three Act Structure might be too general for you.
“27 Chapter Method Made Easy”
The 27 Chapter Method, also known as the 3 Act 9 Block 27 Chapter Method, was made popular by Kat O’Keefe, as a way to help guide writers on their story structure. Despite the technique generally known as the 27 Chapter Method, your novel can actually end up not having 27 chapters at all.
The idea of the 27 Chapter Method is to be able to identify important and specific plot points in your story, often as a broad starting point in the outlining phase.
The concept is to divide your story into 3 main acts: the start, middle, and end. Then, each of those acts are further divided into 9 blocks or chapters, hence the titular 27 chapters. However, we believe that it is more important for you to learn what each block should have and not restrict yourself into the actual 27 chapters.
Chapter Overview
ACT I
Intro
Inciting Incident
Immediate Reaction
Reaction
Action
Consequence
Pressure
Pinch
Push
ACT II
New World
Fun & Games
Old Contrast
Build Up
Midpoint
Reversal
Consequence
Trials
Dedication
ACT III
Calm Before The Storm
Pinch
Darkest Point
Power Within
Action
Converge
Battle
Climax
Resolution
Resources:
“Three Act Structure: Definition, Examples and Template”
“The Ultimate Three-Act Structure Worksheet”
“10 Screenplay Structures That Screenwriters Can Use” by Ken Miyamoto: The article discusees the structures used by screenwriters that feature writers can adapt such as Three-Act, Real-Time, Multiple Timeline, Hyperlink, Fabula/Syuzhet, Reverse Chronology, Circular, Non-Linear, and Oneiric (and the movies that used these structures).
Real-Time Structure: 12 Angry Men, My Dinner with Andre, Nick of Time, United 93, and High Noon
Multiple Timeline Structure: Intolerance, The Fountain, Cloud Atlas, and even The Godfather Part II
Hyperlink Structure: Magnolia, Crash, and Babel
Fabula/Syuzhet Structure: Fight Club, Casino, American Beauty, Goodfellas, Forrest Gump, Interview with the Vampire, and Citizen Kane
Reverse Chronological Structure: Memento
Rashomon Structure: Rashomon
Circular Structure: Back to the Future, Primer, 12 Monkeys, and Looper
Non-Linear Structure: Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Annie Hall, and Dunkirk
Oneiric Structure: Vanilla Sky, The Tree of Life
“How To Write A Great Feature Article”:
Like any form of writing a feature article follows a standard structure. While it may vary depending on your topic, a feature article should always include a headline, introduction, the main body and a concluding paragraph.
“You asked: How do you tell a story in 3 acts?” (NPR):
It’s called structure. Every news story has one. But as any daily news reporter will tell you, the real world doesn’t always fit neatly into an obvious structure. There is rarely a clear protagonist or villain. There isn’t always a beginning, middle and end. And if the story you are covering doesn’t have a natural structure, you will need to create one; as a sort of life preserver to keep you from drowning in information.
What do you want to know about public media storytelling?
This post was inspired by a reader question. We want the NPR Training site to reflect the material you’re curious about. So, what should we explore next?
The three-act structure is the most basic organization a story can have and makes the story feel like it’s going somewhere. The number three has a sort of magic to it. It’s an odd number. Prime. Can’t be easily cut in half. It feels unsettled, so it propels things forward. Beginning, middle, end. This, that and the other thing. Since Medieval times, works of art have been painted in triptych to show motion. Songs often repeat their chorus three times.
A few years ago, I did a study of 4-minute stories on NPR, and I found that the best ones had three distinct sections.
Tom Goldman’s sports stories usually started before the game, then had a section about the game, then talked about what happened afterward. Each section sounded unique and had a purpose.
Here’s an example from when Tom covered the 2016 World Series.
Or, if you have enough time and the right story, you can even use the Hero’s Journey. It’s been the go-to structure for thousands of years.
3. Hourglass (Roy Peter Clark of Poynter)
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| “Mixing Shakespeare with news writing” |
Stories need a support, shape, a structure, in the same way a building needs a frame and our bodies a skeleton. Ernest Hemingway, a one-time reporter who became one of America’s most influential novelists, had this in mind when he said, “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Effective writers understand this and make sure their toolbox contains a variety of story shapes.
The best stories often create their own shape; writers consider their material, determine what they want the story to say, and then decide on the best way to say it.
The hourglass was named by my colleague Roy Peter Clark in 1983 after he had begun to notice something new in his morning paper.
It wasn’t the news; it was the way the news was being told. In their stories, reporters seemed to be combining two forms: the inverted pyramid and the narrative.
The article describes parts of the hourglass structure:
The Top: summary lead, followed by three or four paragraphs that answer the reader’s most pressing questions.
The Turn: Here you signal the reader that a narrative, usually chronological, is beginning. Usually, the turn is a transitional phrase that contains attribution for the narrative that follows ...
The Narrative: The story has three elements: a beginning, middle and end. The bottom allows the writer to tell a chronological narrative complete with detail, dialogue, and background information.
The article illustrates the hourglass structure through the article “Shots Fired While He Stabbed Ex-Wife” (The Miami Herald, Aug. 9, 1998) by Conie Piloto and Molly Hennessy-Fiske.
From “The Complete Book of Feature Writing: From Great American Feature Writers, Editors, and Teachers” (1991) by Leonard Witt:
This term, christened a few years ago to describe certain news stories, can apply to features as well. An hourglass story starts out like an inverted pyramid, arranging information in descending order of importance. Then, at the “waist” of the hourglass, the story shifts gears, relating the remaining information in chronological order. You’ll often find the hourglass structure in crime stories, where a few paragraphs answering the 5 W’s are followed by a sentence such as, “Police gave this account of the robbery.” Feature writers can apply a variation of the hourglass to stories that follow a natural time sequence, such as day-in-the-life stories (a day in the life of a substitute teacher, or a judge, or a radio d.j.), Just be sure that your introduction establishes your focus and tone and promises enough surprises so that readers don’t feel they’re reading a transcript.
Resoources:
“Hybrid organizational structures in writing: Hourglasses, spirals, oranges and more” by Ann Wylie
“The Hourglass: a dynamic organisational model”
4. “Roller Coaster”
From “Get Your Story Straight: News vs Feature Article” (Pavilion):
Feature articles follow a looping pattern that looks like a roller coaster.
Unlike the news article, which has a direct lead, a feature article has a delayed lead that prepares the reader for the focus statement (aka nutgraph). The body of the story moves the reader along a timeline. It has its own characteristics, including conflict and resolution, and generous use of anecdotes (demonstrating growth or progress) and description.
Delayed Lead - The delayed lead is frequently an anecdote pulled from the middle of the timeline. It introduces the reader to the person or people who are the subject of the story. It provides the context that readers need to understand the focus statement and the emotional connection to make them want to continue reading the story, which usually starts at the beginning, on the other side of the focus statement.
Focus Statement aka Nutgraph - The focus statement is a single sentence that encapsulates the values demonstrated by our subject that the commander would endorse. The focus statement is a declaration of the meaning that the writer hopes the reader will extract from the narrative. Don’t skimp on the time you allow yourself to write your focus statement. It’s critical.
Body (the main part of the loop) -
Expectations - What the reader believes will happen based on common experiences.
Complications - Challenges that force the main character or characters to reassess goals and approaches.
Reflection - Looking back on how the past influences the present.
Decision - A pivot point where the main character of the story chooses a new path.
Struggle - The main character faces inevitable struggles on this new path.
Achievements - Resolution of the struggle and an outcome that often but not always involves success.
Conclusion [reflection or resolution]
5. “Present, past and future”; “Chronological order”; “Back with the story”
From “How to write a feature article” by Barrett Comms under the section “Structuring your feature story”:
(a) Present, past and future:
This involves starting the story with what is happening now. This is often done in the form of an observational anecdote or through capturing a moment in time.
Then the writer will take the reader through the background to the events – how the central characters got to that point.
Once the events and their background is established, often features end with the person’s view on what their future holds, or how people believe an issue will be resolved.
(b) Chronological order
This is a simple device that allows them to start at the start of the story and weave it from there. In the introduction to these types of articles, however, its’s important to make sure you allude to the context and current events early in the story.
(c) Back with the story
Another structural device is to start with an anecdote and then loop back to it at the end. These bookends provide a way to tell the story through the journey of the character.
6. The “Bead Necklace” (from The News Manual veveloped by The University of Papua New Guinea with help from the UNESCO; standard text in newsrooms across the Asia-Pacific region)
A feature is rather like a necklace, and each piece of the story is like a cluster of beads. Just as a necklace would not look attractive if the biggest bead was put on first, followed by the next biggest, down to the smallest, so the parts of a feature do not seem right when they are written as mini-inverted pyramids.
Use each paragraph like a bead. Thread on a paragraph or two of descriptive writing, followed by a paragraph of argument. Then thread on a few paragraphs of quotes - some from one side of the debate, some from the other side - with one bead in between them: a paragraph introducing the second speaker. This cluster of beads will have told one part of the story.
You could give exactly the same pile of beads to ten different people, and they would make ten different necklaces. So it is with features. There is no absolute right way or wrong way of writing any feature, just different ways. Nevertheless, just as one person’s necklace will look more attractive than another person’s, and just as people become better at making attractive necklaces as they practise, so some features are better than others, and you will get better with practice.
Develop a sense of balance, between the different kinds of paragraph - description, argument, quote, comment. And try to read your own features as if you were a reader who had never seen them before. Develop an understanding of what makes your features easier to read, and what makes them harder to read.
7. “Five Boxes” (Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize winner); “Stacked boxes” (Ann Wylie, writing coach, Wylie Communications)
From “Helping Writers Take Charge: Five Tools for Editors” (Poynter) by Chip Scanlan (November 29, 2002):
Five Boxes to Build a Story Fast: A Suggestion from Rick Bragg
Pulitzer winner Rick Bragg of The New York Times says he doesn’t outline his stories, but he does preach the value of the “five boxes” method of story organization. In an interview in Best Newspaper Writing 1996, Bragg described how he learned it from an assigning editor, Pat Farnan of the St. Petersburg Times, who advised him to draw five boxes:
1. The first box, the lead, contains the image or detail that draws people in the story.
2. The second box is a “nut graph” that sums up the story.
3. The third box begins with a new image or detail that resembles a lead and precedes the bulk of the narrative.
4. The fourth box contains material that is less compelling but rounds out the story.
5. The fifth, and last, box is the “kicker,” an ending featuring a strong quote or image that leaves the reader with a strong emotion.
Stacked boxes by Ann Wylie (writing coach, Wylie Communications)
Feature story writing is easy once you know how: Regardless of the channel, just stack three boxes, then fill them with data and details.
“How to craft the feature story structure: The ‘stacked boxes’ format outperforms the pyramid”
“Why choose the feature writing structure?”
“How to organize a feature story: Examples!”
“Put your story into a nutshell in the nut graph”
“How to write the background section”
“Feature article structure: How to write the body”
“Build a better body for the feature story structure” (Five ways to avoid flabby middles)
“How to write a conclusion for a feature article”
“How to write good transitions”
8. “Spiral” and “Rewind”
From “Hybrid organizational structures in writing: Hourglasses, spirals, oranges and more” by Ann Wylie, writing coach, Wylie Communications:
The spiral
This structure makes sense when you have a story to tell (or news to report) about two equally important subjects — maybe a doctor who developed a technique and the first patient to undergo it, suggests David Fryxell, former editor of Writer’s Digest.
It doesn’t make sense to tell the doctor’s story first, the follow up with the patient’s. Instead, weave the two stories together into a spiral. You can organize the facts hierarchically like a pyramid or use a beginning-middle-end feature approach.
Maybe you’ll describe:
- Basic details about the technique
- Basic details about the patient
- How the doctor developed the technique
- How the patient decided to try it
- More about the doctor
- More about the patient
Rewind
Using this structure, you tell the story backward, from effect to cause.
Stuart: A Life Backwards, for instance, hits the rewind button to show “what murdered the boy I was.” Using reverse chronology, author Alexander Majors documents how a “happy, lively little lad” ended up living a life of chaotic homelessness.
9. “Spatial story,” “Story in scenes,” “Parallel narratives,” “Distance as structure”
From “The Complete Book of Feature Writing: From Great American Feature Writers, Editors, and Teachers” (1991) by Leonard Witt, Professor Emeritus and former executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University:
1. The hourglass.
2. The spatial story. Most stories are organized logically, but some are organized spatially, using physical space to determine the order. This structure can work especially well when geography defines the focus. For example, in a story chronicling the economy’s effects on one neighborhood, you might want the story to move from house to house, leading the reader on a tour of the street. A spatial structure defines a world, as National Public Radio did when Tip O’Neill retired from Congress. A reporter followed O’Neill from room to room in the Capitol as he said his goodbyes and described the memories that flooded him. Another variation of the spatial story mimics an actual shape, as in a story on bureaucratic waffling that is deliberately written in circles, or an environmental story that doubles back on itself to show how species are interrelated.
3. The story in scenes. Ever since Tom Wolfe’s 1972 essay defining the New Journalism (indispensable reading for any nonfiction storyteller), writers have recognized the importance of scene-by-scene construction. Most stories stitch the scenes together into a seamless narrative. Occasionally, however, a story can best be told in short bursts, through discrete scenes separated by bullets or some other typographical device. You’ll sometimes see this structure in profiles, where the writer shows the subject in different situations to reveal different personality traits. A story on a large event, such as a protest march, can also lend itself to this technique, allowing readers to see the action through many different people’s eyes. I remember especially fondly a story I once read on Valentine’s Day, in which an accumulation of short scenes showed both how ridiculous people thought the holiday was, and how seriously they were taking it.
4. Parallel narratives. Reading is an integral part of writing, and you can’t give yourself a better gift than the chance to reread Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. There you’ll find all the nascent techniques of literary journalism, plus a structure you might be able to borrow — parallel narratives. Throughout the first part of the book, killers and victims follow their separate courses, moving toward the inevitable collision. Parallel narratives can also work with less dramatic subjects: the young man and woman in their frantic separate preparations for the prom, the daily routines at two schools of the same size but different budgets. I once edited a story that interspersed scenes of a potter working at her wheel with scenes from her everyday life as a secretary. It worked; each narrative illuminated the other, and by the end the reader felt the same longing as the secretary who couldn’t afford to devote herself to art.
5. Distance as structure. As a writer, you view your subject through an adjustable lens, choosing for some purposes a distant, wide-angle view, for others an up-close, telephoto study. In some stories you can use these varying distances to establish the structure. To show how old-timers and newcomers are clashing as New Hampshire grows, for example, The Boston Globe reporter Bob Hohler took readers to the town of Bath. His story starts with a description of the town as if seen from a distant hilltop. It moves in closer and closer until, by the end, the reader is inside the apartment of the couple whom many old-timers blame for the town’s changes. Readers might not notice the device, but they do notice their growing understanding of the controversy. This structure can also be used in reverse, starting close to an issue and then backing up to place it in a wider context.
10. Complication - Resolution (Jon Franklin)
From “Writing for Story: A look back at Jon Franklin’s masterpiece”:
He based his prize-winning theories on his study of short fiction, specifically the stories of Ernest Heminway, John Steinbeck and other writers that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers and other popular magazines of the 1930’s and ‘40. These publications, he said, amounted to “the universal school for writers.”
The fiction they published rested on a simple but elegant formula: a complication, plus a body (or) development) and a resolution.” Franklin applies and expands the lessons of that form to the nonfiction story.
Among the highlights:
“A story consists of a sequence of actions that occur when a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation that he confronts and solves.”
“A complication is any problem encountered by any human being; it’s an event that triggers a situation that complicates our lives…” For instance, a surgeon confronts an intractable tumor or ‘Joe loses his job.”
“To be of literary value, a complication must be not only basic but also significant to the human condition.”
“A resolution is simply any change in the character or situation that resolves the complication.”
“Most newspaper stories are endings without beginnings attached.” You can find story ideas by finding a good ending and reversing the order.
From “Don’t lose the plot and serve us spaghetti” (Roving Reporters):
Franklin developed this simple, story outline method.
Complication: ______________________
– Development 1: _____________
– Development 2: _____________
– Development 3: _____________
Resolution: _______________________
This outline works well for dramatic narratives where a character confronts a problem (complication/challenge). We then follow the character though a series of actions (developments) that occur when the character confronts the situation through to a climax (resolution).
If you have en eye for story, you will notice that this structure contains the possibility of developing a classic narrative arc: setup, rising tension, climax, falling tension and resolution.
From “Complications and Resolutions: Why Scientists Should Learn Story Craft” by Erica Goldman:
Franklin offers a clear definition of story in his go-to book Writing For Story. He asserts that to get from beginning to middle to end, all stories need a character that confronts identifiable complication (something the character struggles with), a point of insight (which is where the story turns), and a resolution (that destroys the tension set up by the complication).
11. “Kabob” aka “The Wall Street Journal formula” or “the circle” (Tim Harrower)
From "Journalism Story Structure":
In the Kabob format, the story begins with an anecdote about a specific person. Immediately after this, be sure to include a nut graph — a paragraph that summarizes the story idea and the who, what, when, where, why and how. journalism story organization After this, then story broadens into a general discussion of the topic. It ends by returning to that specific person again and concluding with another anecdote or quote.
"Think of it as arranging meat and veggies on a shish kabob skewer," explains Tim Harrower, a journalist at The (Portland) Oregonian. "Start with a juicy red tomato — an anecdote. Follow with a nut graph. Then add meat — chunk after chunk after chunk — until you reach the end, where you reprise with another tomato — a final quote or anecdote."
From “The Kabob structure: anecdote — nut graph — meat- meat — meat — anecdote” (Medium):
This is a perfect example of how a Kabob structure is used to produce a narrative. The story begins with an anecdote of a specific person (character) in a job world — Lars Backstrom, who is autistic and unable to secure permanent employment although there are many jobs in his skill area. This anecdote calls the attention of the reader as it persuades the to read and understand why and how?
Immediately after the lead paragraph, a brief summary of the whole story idea such as who, what, and when are presented. This part is a good example of the nut graph in Kabob structure. It motivates the reader to need more and more.
The story then moves on to broaden into a general worldwide discussion of the topic- the unemployment of people with autism and issues that they encounter in the job market. This part is much longer and includes a detailed analysis of the issue. This is where ‘the meat’ of the story is served one after the other.
In the conclusion part, it then returns to the story of the person mentioned at the lead to conclude the whole picture of the narrative by another quote- anecdote at the end.
From this story structure, it is clear to understand what Tim Harrower explained about the Kabob - “Start with a juicy red tomato — an anecdote. Follow with a nut graph. Then add meat — chunk after chunk after chunk — until you reach the end, where you reprise with another tomato — a final quote or anecdote.”
12. “Accordion” (variation of Kabob)
From “Story Structures”:
A remix of the kebab is the “accordion” structure. Like the kebab, the structure begins with a strong anecdote or quote that represents the main topic of a story and quickly transitions to a nut graf.
However, unlike the kebab, this structure follows a ’zooming in’ and ’zooming out’ pattern that uses a compelling central figure (or small cast) to illustrate multiple aspects of a story throughout the story. In the ’zooming in’ phases, the journalist uses different anecdotes from the central figure (e.g., aspects of their experience with the issue) to illustrate and personalize an aspect of the story. In the ’zooming out’ phases, the journalist contextualizes the experience by focusing on the ’big picture,’ or how representative the anecdote is, often by incorporating side characters (e.g., subject experts). This structure will typically end in similar fashion to the kebab, with a closing anecdote from the central character.
This structure is especially useful when the journalist has a compelling central character that can effectively encapsulate the issue through their lived experience. It can also work when the journalist has a cadre of characters who collectively encapsulate the issue through their lived experiences, as the journalist can insert a different character during each ’zooming in’ phase.
The accordion structure is also particularly useful for data-driven stories, as it makes it easy for the journalist to oscillate between data analysis and anecdote, thereby keeping the reader well-informed and engaged.
E. Kinds of feature leads (ledes)
Index: literary allusion, historical allusion, pun, description (site, person, event), capsule or punch lead, one word, miscellaneous freak lead, parody lead, direct address lead, staccato. sequence or narrative, then and now, question, quote, data point (startling statistics); expository contrast; descriptive/ expository, descriptive approach with the human element first, narrative contrast (cliche)
From “Feature Leads” by Bobby Hawthorne (Former Director, Interscholastic League Press Conference):
The best rule in feature writing is to observe no rules, aside from those of basic journalistic style and structure. The best lead for the feature story is a natural extension of the story - nothing forced or contrived without consideration to the tone or subject of the story. More bluntly stated, the best lead is the lead that is relevant, grabs the reader’s attention and fits the mood of the story.
The following are novelty leads. They should be used with caution and never forced to fit a story. When a novelty lead serves the purpose of grabbing the reader and holding his attention while establishing the tone of the story, it should be used without reservation.
Literary Allusion: Relates a person or event to some character or event in literature.
Historical Allusion: Relates a person or event to some character or event in history.
Pun: A novelty that uses a pun to quirk the reader’s attention.
Description: (Site)
Description: (Person)
Description: (Event)
Capsule or Punch Lead: Uses a blunt, explosive statement to summarize the most newsworthy feature.
One Word: Uses a blunt, explosive word to summarize the most newsworthy feature.
Miscellaneous Freak Leads: Employ ingenious novelty to attract the reader’s eye. This list can be extended indefinitely, to the extent of the reporter’s writing ability and imagination (tempered only by accuracy and relevance).
Parody Lead: Mimics a well-known proverb, quotation or phrase.
Direct Address Lead: Speaks directly to the reader on a subject of widespread interest or appeal.
Staccato: Consists of a series of jerky, exciting phrases, separated by dashes or dots, used if the facts of the story justify it.
Anecdotal Lead : Uses an event to represent the universal experience.
Sequence or Narrative: Places the reader in the midst of action.
Then and Now: Shows progress over time.
Question: Serves best when a problem with reader appeal is the crux of the story. The question should have direct relevance to the reader - not a cliché like, "Have you ever been poor?"
Quote: As a general rule, avoid quote leads. When used, the quote should be dynamic and capture the theme of the story.
From Ann Wylie, writing coach, Wylie Communications:
“How to write a good feature lead: Show, don’t tell, in the first paragraph”
“Why should you write feature article leads?” (The New York Times runs 33% feature leads) “Anecdotes make good feature leads”
“How to write a good feature lead with statistics”
“Avoid abstraction in feature ledes”
“Quotes on weak leads”
“Quotes on good leads”
From “How to Write Great Ledes for Feature Stories” (Thought.co):
Feature Ledes vs. Hard-News Ledes
Hard-news ledes need to get all the important points of the story — the who, what, where, when, why, and how — into the first sentence or two, so that if the reader only wants the basic facts, he or she gets them quickly. The more of a news story he or she reads, the more detail he gets.
Feature ledes, sometimes called delayed, narrative, or anecdotal ledes, unfold more slowly. They allow the writer to tell a story in a more traditional, sometimes chronological way. The objective is to draw the readers into the story and to make them want to read more.
Setting a Scene, Painting a Picture
Feature ledes often begin by setting a scene or painting a picture of a person or place.
Using an Anecdote
Another way to begin a feature is to tell a story or an anecdote.
From “Feature writing” (Revolutions in Communications): expository contrast; descriptive/ expository, descriptive approach with the human element first, narrative contrast (cliche)
Exercises in writing feature leads from “Reporting for the Media” (Oxford University Press)
Exercise 1: Evaluating Feature Leads
Exercise 2: Evaluating Feature Leads
Exercise 3: Generating Story Ideas and Selecting a Topic
Exercise 4: Ideas for Campus Features
Exercise 5: Writing Feature
Exercise 6: Writing Feature Leads
F. Sources and examples of excellent features such as Pulitzer Prize award-winning articles from 1979 to 2023 and Online Journalism Awards from 2000 to 2023
1. Pulitzer Prize award-winning feature articles from 1979 to 2023
From “Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing” (Wikipedia):
The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1979 for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high literary quality and originality.
Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.
On the Pulitzer Prize website, you can access the winning features from from 1979 to 2023. Here’s how to navigate this section of the website:
(a) Click the “+” symbol opposite, for example, the year 2023.
(b) The drop down list will show the following as the winner and finalists:
Eli Saslow of The Washington Post
For evocative individual narratives about people struggling with the pandemic, homelessness, addiction and inequality that collectively form a sharply-observed portrait of contemporary America.
Elizabeth Bruenig of The Atlantic
Janelle Nanos of The Boston Globe
(c) If you click “Eli Saslow of The Washington Post,” this will lead you to the page where the series of the winning features are listed. If you click the “+” icon opposite each editorial, you will be able to read the editorial in the drop down text. (If you click the “X” icon, the drop down text will disappear.)
If you click the feature’s title instead of the “+” icon, you can read the editorial at its original source.
The first Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing was awarded to Jon Franklin for his science article “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” published by the Baltimore Evening Sun in 1979. (In 1985, Franklin won his 2nd Pultizer Prize award, for Explanatory Journalism.)
“Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” is a story about a failed brain surgery. Forty-five years after it was published, it’s still being studied in journalism schools around the world as “a model of precision reporting and evocative writing.”
Full text of “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster”
Interview with Jon Franklin and his annotations on “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” (Nieman News, Harvard) by Paige Williams
“Using Literary Techniques in Narrative Journalism” (in this article, author Dustin Grinnell examines Jon Franklin’s award-winning article “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” to help writers master the use of literary techniques in narrative journalism).
From “Jon Franklin and the art of nonfiction” (profile by Brett Campbell, Culture, Language Arts, Media, Oregon) (“a former student recalls how the one-time University of Oregon and Oregon State professor taught generations of writers to use the techniques of drama to tell true stories”).
Franklin didn’t just change his own writing through the magic of literature — he changed journalism itself.
Those skills, including absolute devotion to factuality, earned Franklin his editors’ trust. And that credibility in turn opened the door for him to use the tools from his other “mentors”: the classic fiction writers (Hemingway, Garcia Marquez, Fitzgerald, et al.) and the “New Journalists” (so dubbed by one of them, Tom Wolfe, in an anthology) who, starting in the late 1950s, began turning to the techniques of fiction to tell stories that standard journalism couldn’t. Wolfe, Gay Talese, Joan Didion, John McPhee and, especially for Franklin and others, Truman Capote’s pioneering 1966 “nonfiction novel,” In Cold Blood, showed ambitious journalists ways to engage readers on deeper levels than a typical newspaper article could hope to reach.
From Wikipedia:
“In Cold Blood” is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.
Capote learned of the quadruple murder before the killers were captured, and he traveled to Kansas to write about the crime. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author Harper Lee, and they interviewed residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes. Killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested six weeks after the murders and later executed by the state of Kansas. Capote ultimately spent six years working on the book.
“In Cold Blood” was an instant success and is the second-best-selling true-crime book in history, behind Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter (1974) about the Charles Manson murders. Some critics consider Capote’s work the original non-fiction novel, although other writers had already explored the genre, such as Rodolfo Walsh in Operación Masacre (1957). “In Cold Blood” has been lauded for its eloquent prose, extensive detail, and triple narrative which describes the lives of the murderers, the victims, and other members of the rural community in alternating sequences. The psychologies and backgrounds of Hickock and Smith are given special attention, as is the pair’s complex relationship during and after the murders. “In Cold Blood” is regarded by critics as a pioneering work in the true-crime genre, although Capote was disappointed that the book failed to win the Pulitzer Prize. Parts of the book differ from the real events, including important details.
2. Online Journalism Awards (Feature) from 2000 to 2023
This award honors excellence in online journalism presented in a single package or story that shows significant depth, insight and new understanding of a story or topic. Entries may be presented as profiles, feature packages, or watchdog journalism. Judges will consider the use of social tools to coalesce a participatory, online community around the topic being covered; the quality of the journalism; the digital production and design of the coverage; and the ways in which multiple platforms, including social and mobile, were used to reach, inform and engage with the audience.
Some interesting winning features:
“Kate Price Remembers Something Terrible” (The Boston Globe) [surviving child sexual abuse]
“Healing through drums” (The Globe and Mail)
“Death on a Dairy Farm” (ProPublica)
“Police killed his son. Prosecutors charged the teen’s friends with his murder.” (The Appeal)
“Worlds Away: Covid Care in Three Global Outposts” (Scientific American, Undark)
“The Badge and The Cross” (Associated Press)
“Portraits of fear and loss” (The Washington Post)
“Too Precious to Leave Behind” (The Globe and Mail)
“The Jessica Simulation” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“The Cursed Platoon” (The Washington Post)
“Rise of the Dancefluencer” (Los Angeles Times)
“The Fisherman’s Secret” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“You donated to kids with cancer” (The Center for Public Integrity)
“Losing Laura” (The Boston Globe)
“Taken Hostage” (The Wall Street Journal)
“The Downloaders” (Verdens Gang)
“Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt” (NPR)
“The Martian Diaries: What If the Curiosity Rover Kept a Scrapbook?” (Science News)
3. Miscellaneous examples
“Animals: The Horrific True Story of the Zanesville Zoo Massacre” by Chris Jones, Esquire
“Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless lost his way in the wilds” by Jon Krakauer, Outside Magazine
“Derek Boogaard: A Boy Learns to Brawl” by John Branch, New York Times
“Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” by Gene Weingarten, Washington Post
“Friday Night Lights” by Buzz Bissinger, Sports Illustrated
“Frozen Alive: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death” by Peter Stark, Outside Online
“I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave” by Mac McClelland, Mother Jones
“In Deaths at Rail Crossings, Missing Evidence and Silence” by Walt Bogdanich, New York Times
“Like Something the Lord Made” by Katie McCabe, The Washingtonian
“Rapture of the Deep” by Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated
“Shattered Glass” by Buzz Bissinger, Vanity Fair
“Snow fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” by John Branch, New York Times
“The Falling Man” by Tom Junod, Esquire
“The Girl in the Window” by Lane DeGregory, Tampa Bay Times
“The Stalking of Kristin” by George Lardner, Jr., Washington Post
“Where Alabama Inmates Fade Into Old Age” by Rick Bragg, New York Times
G. Immersive and interactive feature stories: the future of features?
From “7 examples of engaging feature stories” by Kimberlee Meier:
How are feature stories changing?
A decade ago, most feature stories on the web were visually uninteresting. Usually, they would be digital versions of print articles, with the same images and copy.
With recent improvements in internet speed and browsers — coupled with the rise of more advanced content creation platforms — we’re seeing a dramatic increase in visually immersive multimedia feature articles.
These stories use a combination of high-resolution, full-bleed images, video, illustrations, and scrollytelling to sustain the attention of digital readers. Often, these stories are created with digital storytelling platforms, which are empowering feature writers to create stunning interactive content without writing a line of code.
After citing “Los fogones de la Kitchen” (El Periodico) as an “interactive and powerful example of modern feature storytelling,” the author lists the following as “informative, entertaining, and visually appealing” feature stories:
1. “Saudi Arabia’s heritage treasures” (Arab News)
When Arab News decided to showcase Saudi Arabia’s UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, a standard longform article wasn’t going to cut it.
So, the news agency decided to tell it as a feature story powered by digital elements like maps, video, historical pictures, and illustrations.
2. “Built to keep Black from white” (NBC News)
In the 1930s, America’s Federal Government enacted redlining policies that segregated Black and white citizens with homeownership.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling in 1948 that racial bias in deed restrictions was illegal, Detroit remains one of the most segregated cities in the country. To tell this important story, NBC News created an immersive and interactive feature story out of images and video to showcase the issue of segregation in modern Detroit.
The mix of data, visuals, video, and interviews with citizens who grew up in segregated neighborhoods make this feature story a compelling read.
3. “The people racing to replant Africa” (Pioneers Post)
4. “The Female Image in Chinese Propaganda: The New Marriage Law and The White-Haired Girl” (Hoover Institute)
5. “The Catch” (BBC)
6. “Climate change, water and me” (WaterAid)
7. ‘We Got Next’ to ‘Next Steps’ (WNBA)
H. Some Plain English guidelines for effective writing
Index: Use short and clear sentences; Avoid nominalizations, dummy subjects or expletive constructions, unnecessary preambles, and interruptive phrases; Use the active voice, minimize the passive; Parallelism; Intra-paragraph organization; principles of readability
1. Use short and clear sentences
Rachel McAlpine in her book “Global English for Global Business” (page 38) says:
“Short sentences are a supreme advantage when communicating with people from a non-English speaking background. If you want your English to be understood worldwide—write short sentences. If you want to avoid embarrassing grammar mistakes and excruciating international misunderstandings—use short sentences. If you want your international clients to read your documents easily, confidently and accurately—use short sentences.”
Ann Wylie in her article “How to Make Your Copy More Readable: Make Sentences Shorter” explains:
The longer your sentences, the less your readers will understand, according to research by the American Press Institute. The study shows that:
- When the average sentence length in a piece was fewer than eight words long, readers understood 100 percent of the story.
- Even at 14 words, they could comprehend more than 90 percent of the information.
- But move up to 43-word sentences, and comprehension dropped below 10 percent.
Bottom line: To improve understanding, break sentences up or condense them.
The modern English sentence is short, averaging below 20 words per sentence.
(a) From “The Principles of readability” by William DuBay:
In 1880, a professor of English Literature at the University of Nebraska, Lucius Adelno Sherman, began to teach literature from a historical and statistical point of view.
He compared the older prose writers with more popular modern writers such as Macaulay (The History of England) and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He noticed a progressive shortening of sentences over time.
He decided to look at this statistically and began by counting average sentence length per 100 periods. In his book (1893), Analytics of Literature, A Manual for the Objective Study of English Prose and Poetry, he showed how sentence length averages shortened over time:
Pre-Elizabethan times: 50 words per sentence
Elizabethan times: 45 words per sentence
Victorian times: 29 words per sentence
Sherman’s time: 23 words per sentence.
In our time, the average is down to 20 words per sentence.
(b) Ellegard Norm: The modern English sentence has an average of 17.6 words per sentence. (From 1978 study by Swedish researcher Alvar Ellegard of 1 million words corpus of 20th century American English writing called the Brown Corpus collected by Brown University in 1964)
(c) “What is Happening to Written English?”
Essentially, the sentence has become shorter – quite dramatically. In a study by Brock Haussamen (1994) using text from a variety of sources, the average sentence length was shown to have reduced from 40-70 in the period 1600-1700 to the low 20s in the 1990s.
Year 1600 - 1700: Sentence length 40 - 70 words
Year 1800 - 1900: Sentence length 30 - 40 words
Year 1990s: Sentence length 20s
(d) Comparison of average sentence length of several writers
Jane Austen: 42
John Steinbeck: 18.4
D. H. Lawrence: 13.5
(e) “Editing Tip: Sentence Length”
" ... the average sentence length for Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who can be considered representative of a modern English writer with a general audience, is 12 words ..."
(f) “The long sentence: A disservice to science in the Internet age”
If we want the fullness of science in necessarily long papers to be appreciated, it must increasingly be written in short sentences.
(g) From “Elements of Style” by Strunk and White: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”(h) “Techniques in creating clear, concise, and direct sentences” (The Writing Center, University Wisconsin – Madison):
- Unless you have a reason not to, use the active voice. Put the action of the sentence in the verb.
- Reduce wordy verbs.
- Use expletive constructions (“It is,” “There is,” “There are”) sparingly.
- Try to avoid using vague, all-purpose nouns, which often lead to wordiness.
- Unless your readers are familiar with your terminology, avoid writing strings of nouns.
- Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases.
- Avoid unnecessarily inflated words
- Put wordy phrases on a diet.
(i) “Writing Concise Sentences” (from The Guide to Grammar and Writing, sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation in Hartford, Connecticut)
- Pruning the Redundant
- Abbreviated Redundancies
- Reducing Clauses to Phrases, Phrases to Single Words
- Intensifiers that Don't Intensify
- Avoiding Expletive Constructions
- Phrases You Can Omit
- Eliminating Clichés and Euphemisms
- Writing Concise Sentences (exercises)
- Eliminating Wordiness (exercises)
- Rewriting Bloated Sentences (exercises)
(j) “Identifying and addressing wordiness in sentences” (from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Eliminate redundant pairs
- Delete unnecessary qualifiers
- Identify and reduce prepositional phrases
- Locate and delete unnecessary modifiers
- Replace a phrase with a word
- Identify negatives and change them to affirmatives
2. Use the active voice, minimize the passive.
(a) Passive voice is one of the biggest problems with government documents. From US National Archives and Records Administration Style Guide:
Active voice is the best way to identify who is responsible for what action.
In an active sentence, the person or organization that’s acting is the subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the person or item that is acted upon is the subject of the sentence. Passive voice obscures who is responsible for what and is one of the biggest problems with government documents.
(b) A sentence is in the active voice if the subject performs the action expressed in the verb. For example:
The dog bit the boy. (Active voice)
The boy was bitten by the dog. (Passive voice)
3. Avoid nominalizations (hidden verbs)
(a) A hidden verb is a verb converted into a noun. It often needs an extra verb to make sense. So we write, “Please make an application for a personal loan” rather than “Please apply for a personal loan.” (US SEC “A Plain English Handbook” 1998)
(b) Two signals of nominalization
| A. Distinct endings | B. Weak helping verbs |
| - ance - ence - ant - ity - ant - ment - ness - sion - tion | be conduct do effect get give have hold make perform provide put |
(c) What Is Nominalization in English Grammar?
In English grammar, nominalization is a type of word formation in which a verb or an adjective (or another part of speech) is used as (or transformed into) a noun. The verb form is nominalize. It is also called nouning.
In transformational grammar, nominalization refers to the derivation of a noun phrase from an underlying clause. In this sense, an “example of nominalization is the destruction of the city, where the noun destruction corresponds to the main verb of a clause and the city to its object.” (Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar, 2006).
(d) The Dark Side of Verbs-as-Nouns (New York Times)
It’s not just that nominalization can sap the vitality of one’s speech or prose; it can also eliminate context and mask any sense of agency. Furthermore, it can make something that is nebulous or fuzzy seem stable, mechanical and precisely defined. . . .
Nominalizations give priority to actions rather than to the people responsible for them. Sometimes this is apt, perhaps because we don’t know who is responsible or because responsibility isn’t relevant. But often they conceal power relationships and reduce our sense of what’s truly involved in a transaction. As such, they are an instrument of manipulation, in politics and in business. They emphasize products and results, rather than the processes by which products and results are achieved.
4. Avoid dummy subjects (expletive constructions) and unnecessary preambles
(a) “It” as a Dummy Subject in Grammar
The word “it” can be a subject (or dummy subject) in sentences about times, dates, and the weather (such as, It's raining) and in certain idioms (It's OK). Also known as ambient “it” or empty “it.”
Unlike the ordinary pronoun it, dummy it refers to nothing at all; it simply serves a grammatical function. In other words, dummy it has a grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning.
Related discussion: “Dummy Words” Have No Meaning
(b) Avoid dummy subjects or expletive constructions such as
- It is ...
- It appears ...
- There is ...
- There are ...
- It will be ...
| Dummy or false subjects | Plain Language revision |
| It is argued in the report that it is essential to simplify the tax code. | The report argues that simplifying the tax code is essential. |
| There was no consideration given to the suggestion by the committee. | The committee failed to consider the suggestion. |
| It is her opinion that there are several issues that need to be resolved. | She believes that several issues need to be resolved. |
(c) Avoid unnecessary preambles or pompous phrases such as
- It is important to add that...
- It may be recalled that...
- In this regard it is of significance that...
- It is interesting to note that...
- I would like to point out ...
- I would argue that ...
- It should be noted that ...
- It has been determined that ...
- It is obvious that ...
From “Parallelism” (University of Lynchburg):
Parallelism refers to using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence. It makes the sentence concise, clear, and easy to read. Parallel structure is important especially in items in a series, paired items, and items in an outline or list.
Parallelism in Sentence Structure
A shorter definition: “Parallelism is a literary device that repeats grammatical elements to emphasize and create memorable phrases.”
From “Parallelism Examples — Writing, Speeches, Shakespeare & More” (Studio Binder):
Parallelism isn’t just a grammar style reserved for literature – it’s a tool we use in everyday conversation as well.
Here are some popular parallel phrases:
- “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
- “What you see is what you get.”
- “If the shoe fits, wear it.”
- “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
- “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Parallel phrases often use “it” or “their” to match the syntax to the secondary noun.
6. Intra-paragraph organization; principles of readability
I. Interactive exercises on using Plain English instead of journalese
In my website “Plain English — Plain Language — Clear Writing for journalism, law, business, science, academic, technical and general writing; with resources and interactive exercises in Plain English, grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc.” you can find numerous interactive exercises on using Plain English instead of journalese (jargon, clichés, wordiness, pompous words and phrases).
Examples:
Plain English Words and Phrases 1 (with time limit)
Plain English Words and Phrases 16 (with time limit)
Plain Language / Plain English exercises on avoiding wordiness, formalism,redundancy, and nominalization (45 seconds time limit) Part 1
Avoid pretentiousness, wordiness, and jargon (1)
Avoid wordiness (basis, manner, fashion, and way)
Use short, simple words or phrases (1)
Wordy words and phrases vs. simpler words and phrases (1) with time limit
I. Miscellaneous resources
1. “The Power of Feature Writing” by Rachel Steil
I also use the Pulitzer Prize winning piece “The Boy Behind the Mask” by Tom Hallman to introduce students to an in-depth feature writing. If you haven’t read this moving piece yet, you must check this out. This story includes all forms of narrative story telling and story modes.
The author is an English teacher and award-winning newspaper advisor who has taught for over 20 years. She sells numerous interesting resources in journalism on her website.
2. “How to structure a feature article” by Lindy Alexander (side by side comparison of the feature article from rough draft to published article)
3. “Clear Writing” (University of Missouri ):
Principle 1: Keep sentences short
Principle 2: Prefer the simple to the complex
Principle 3: Prefer the familiar word
Principle 4: Avoid unnecessary words
Principle 5: Put action in your verbs
Principle 6: Write like you talk
Principle 7: Use terms your reader can picture
Principle 8: Tie in with your reader’s experience
Principle 9: Make full use of variety
Principle 10: Write to express, not impress
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