Powerful Feature Writing Tips That Will Shock You

In our previous post here, we talked about a popular form of journalistic writing – editorial writing. Now, we want to talk about a more regular form of writing for journalists – the feature writing.

What is a feature? A feature is a form of writing by a journalist on a trending subject, issue or about a personality. When you look inside a magazine, newspaper or an online blog, it is easy to spot features written by several journalists who are trying to communicate about an issue to the reader. Features are so famous in the world of the press that there is a Pulitzer award category for them. Journalists have received these prizes since 1979 with Katie Englehart winning the 2024 one. Who knows, maybe one of our readers is next.

Characteristics of Feature Writing

There are certain qualities that a typical feature write up possess;

• Non-Fiction writing: The subject matter of a feature article has to be non-fictitious. Like all other write ups in newspapers, a feature is meant to be filled with facts, logical arguments and organised thoughts. Past Pulitzer feature writing awardees wrote about the stories of immigrants, terminally sick patients, natural disasters and racism amongst others. These are real stories of real life people in real life situations. If you are planning to write a feature of your own, look around you to find the stories of the people around you.
• Style: Like an editorial, there are no strict style rules or regulations about writing a feature. You can choose to tell your story with poetic language, you can choose to be brash, sarcastic or indirect. You can even choose to go with an elaborate metaphor. As long as your feature is coherent and resonates with the audience, the paper will accept it.
• Research: Since a feature is meant to be written by a journalist for a newspaper, it is important for adequate research to be conducted into the subject you are writing an article on. Verify your sources, check and recheck your facts, and present them logically.
• Form: Again, there is no strict rule on the form of a feature. A feature can be investigative, exploratory, explanatory, philosophical, or a form of news story.

Powerful Feature Writing Tips For You

Although feature writing in journalism is not regulated, unlike academic writing, there are still tips that can give your article an edge over other submissions.

• The Beginning: A good lead is worth the entire article when writing a feature. You have to know the reader of a newspaper probably has other papers they still want to read. There are other news in the paper for them. Therefore, they need a reason to stay with your story once you start. The key to capturing their attention is a good lead that will hold their interest. Your lead may be a quote, a metaphor or a story. People like stories.
• Pictures: A picture is worth a thousand words. That cliché was as true seventy years ago as it is today. One of the best ways to sustain the interest of your reader is through pictures. If you are not allowed pictures in your submission, paint one with your words.
• Length: It is always best to keep the length of your articles short in order not to overburden the reader. How do you know where to stop before the reader loses interest? That is the million dollar question journalists have spent their days wondering. Feature articles are usually longer than editorials. It is always advisable to keep them between 500-1500 words.
• Language: Most of the time, the readers of your feature do not know a lot about the topic you are discussing. Not many people, for instance, understand regional politics or the effects of a particular terminal disease. Another tip is to make sure your language is easy to understand. If you have to use complex vocabulary, do your best to break it down when you can. Readers get easily tired of reading what they do not understand.

As a bonus tip, add some emotion in your feature story.

Feature Writing Versus Editorial Writing

What is the difference between a feature write up and an editorial? They are both forms of journalistic writings and they can both be submitted to newspapers, magazines and online blogs. However, an editorial is considered the mouthpiece of the newspaper itself. It is how the newspaper shares its opinions about the events in the society. A feature write up on the other hand has an objective tone, can be entertaining for the audience, may use storytelling to captivate the audience, and is typically longer than an editorial.

Therefore, feature articles aim to be objective while editorials express a certain opinion. Here is a sample of an editorial for you, written by the Guardian Newspaper.

Finally, here is a sample of a feature write up. Note the sarcasm used by the writer, Bret Stephens, to pull the audience in. Remember to contact us if there is anyway we can further assist you.