Feature Writing: Introduction



This course covers the news writing and news gathering skills which every writer needs to master before they can become a competent feature writer.

The course covers features ideas, how to ensure you follow an editor’s brief, how to research your subject thoroughly, how to identify the best interviewees and get the best quotes and how to decide which style of feature it should be.

This course is for anyone who needs to write features in the course of their work - including press officers, publicity officers, contributors to in-house journals and magazine and newspaper journalists.

Pre-Course Requirements

You need no previous experience to attend this course.

  • Introduction
    • The difference between a news story and a feature
    • How to construct a feature
    • Different feature formats: the Inverted Triangle vs the Diamond and other formats

    Finding and researching good feature subjects
    • How to turn good ideas into good features
    • How to decide what features will work best
    • How to research a feature
    • Using the web and other published material and archives for new ideas
    • Spotting ideas in other sources that were not intended to offer feature options

    The essentials of good English
    • Grammar and spelling
    • Sentence and paragraph construction
    • Feature writing styles
  • Secrets of structuring a feature
    • How to your feature off to the right start
    • Organising elements in the most logical and interesting way
    • Different structures and formats
    • Finding a good ending for your feature

    How to interview
    • Preparing for an interview
    • Deciding who to interview
    • Ensuring you are well-briefed

    Getting the right quotes
    • Gaining your subject’s confidence
    • Deciding when to use direct quotes
    • When to convert information into reported speech

    Writing for digital readers
    • The differences between print and online reading habits

    How to meet deadlines
    • Setting realistic deadlines
    • Tips and tricks on how to make feature editors happy

    Questions and answers