Feature Writing

 

Lisa Byerley Gary

The idea of being able to tell a story — especially someone else’s story — captures the imagination of many students and would-be journalists.

And that’s what feature writing is — telling someone else’s story.

But feature writing also means reporting and writing like a journalist. Feature writers must gather information and sift through that information, finding just the right set of facts and words to convey their stories accurately and clearly.

Feature Writing presents the basic concepts and techniques of feature writing for students who want to explore this vital part of journalism. It is brief and designed to be highly accessible to the beginning student.

The book also contains a bonus chapter on the First Amendment.

The author is Lisa Byerley Gary, a professional writer, former newspaper editor, and lecturer in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Feature-Writing-Lisa-Byerley-Gary/dp/1481198815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355059824&sr=8-1&keywords=Lisa+Byerley+Gary

CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/4088353

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKE5308

iPad: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/feature-writing/id579937067?ls=1

 

Table of Contents

Preface 5

Tennessee Journalism Series      5

 

Introduction to Feature Writing 7

Feature Writing            9

Read with a purpose     9

The Lead          11

Sources 12

Quotes vs. Paraphrase   13

Detail   14

Literary devices            15

Non-traditional Paragraph Structure      16

The End           17

Leads   18

Alternative leads          18

Holding interest            20

Exercise            22

Story types       26

Place/Travel features    26

Trend, Science and Medical features      27

News features   29

Sports features  30

Profiles, Personality features      31

In-depth Analysis         32

Sources 34

Structure           35

Sensitivity        36

Answers           37

 

BONUS CHAPTER: The First Amendment        38

Religion           38

Speech  40

Press    42

Assembly         47

Petition 49

History 51

The politics of the First Amendment      53

The First Amendment in the 19th and early 20th centuries         55

Timeline of First Amendment events of the 19th century            61

 

The author        63

 

Tennessee Journalism Series      64

The First Amendment   65

Introduction to Journalism         66

Reporting: An Introduction       67

Photojournalism: Telling Stories with Pictures and Words           68