Give readers (and editors) what they want

August 6th, 2008 at 05:04pm Kylie Crull

According to a recent study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the traditional inverted pyramid-style stories “do not work well with readers” and “do not justify their predominance in today’s newspapers”. Another study by The Readership Institute found that the feature-style story structure works well with readers and improves the chance of the story being read thoroughly. Here are some tips on feature writing:

When considering topics for the feature, keep in mind what impact it will have on reader interest (what are the audience’s interests, predispositions, likes and dislikes) and reader consequence (article must be important as well as interesting). The angle of the feature must hook the readers, get them interested and lead them naturally into the main topic or point of the article. The idea in the lead should be interesting, specific and further developed and supported by the rest of the article. Anecdotes can be used throughout the article, both as illustrations and as devices to increase reader interest. Tell the story in “human terms” by providing dynamic writing and adequate descriptions to give the reader an accurate picture of the subject.

And of course, the last steps are obvious; find a market for the feature, pitch to the appropriate media person and follow up.

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