When it comes to patient education, there’s often no substitute for a good feature story to engross your audience. With all the platforms available today, your story can be told in several ways across multiple media - via traditional print (newsletter, newspaper, self-published magazine), or on the health organization’s website, blog, or social media channels.
But reading a good feature article can be a little like eating a good Italian meal. You may not be able to identify all the ingredients, but you know when you’ve experienced it. And when something is missing, well….the whole thing is just “off.”
For those who’d like the recipe, we thought we’d share our key ingredients to a quality feature story.
Key ingredients for a quality feature
1. Know your purpose up front. Every great feature is making a point – maybe a cautionary tale, a shining example of good health, a turnaround story. When you know what the reader is supposed to take away, you’ve laid both the groundwork for your description but also have a story arc to build toward.
2. Bring a human example to life. We all relate to data and advice better when told in a story, and nothing makes it more relatable than when we see the journey another is taking….
3. A powerful lead. The lead is the first sentence of the story, and it’s arguably the most important part. A good lead pulls the reader in, and makes him/her want to read more. A good lead often includes a fresh angle: a way to focus your feature. Even in the case of a weather story, there’s always an original way to cover it, or a personal story to highlight that hasn’t been told. When having trouble identifying a good lead, ask yourself, based on the research and interviews, what’s surprising about this story? What’s compelling? What’s the most important or useful take-away?
4. Interesting description. While a strictly hard news story centers solely on the facts, a feature article centers on human interest. So it blends a healthy dose of description with these facts. Instead of merely mentioning six feet of snow, a feature might describe one family’s attempt to dig out their car so they could get to the store. Show, don’t tell, is the rule of feature-writing.
5. Background. A feature article covers most of the essentials of good journalism – the who, what, when, where, and why or the story – but it also provides context. When was the last time this town experienced such a huge storm? How many inches of precipitation are normal for the time of year?
Quotes. Most features include interviews with those who have personal or professional experience with the subject matter. Liberal use of quoting the those with first-hand experience on the topic, or those who are the subject matter experts, provides a narrative for the story, or added credibility to the topic and angle of the story, and sometimes, both. “Quotes help us understand, inspire, motivate, clarify and show our approach to things around, this is why people and I love quotes.” — Takyou Allah Cheikh Malaynine
Types of feature stories
o The profile. This is an in-depth overview of the story’s subject, often a person or place.
o The trend. A look at a current cultural issue or phenomenon.
o The spot feature. A short story that provides additional perspective to the hard news story. Often a sidebar.
In every feature, most of the basics (who, what, when, where, why) are identified. The most important elements are mentioned at the beginning, preferably in the first paragraph or two.
Tips for getting good quotes
1. Be prepared. Having a list of pre-prepared questions with room to deviate from the list is a good start. When an interview is going well, though, you’ll likely be able to forget about the list and just allow the conversation to flow naturally. Always research your subject, have a basic understanding of the work they do, what makes their situation unique, or the reason they’re being interviewed for this story.
2. Ask open-ended questions. Include plenty of questions that begin with “how” or “why.” Ask follow-up questions to the answers. Try to keep the conversation going by asking the subject to elaborate: “What were you thinking when that happened?” or “Can you give me an example?” A good interview should increase your understanding of the topic, and good, open-ended questions will elicit more compelling responses.
3. Be a good listener. Probe for anecdotes. Being a good listener means keeping an open mind. Don’t assume that you thoroughly understand the topic, even if you’ve spent hours researching it. Expect your understanding to evolve as you interview more subjects and do more research.
4. Whenever possible, seek a variety of perspectives with a variety of expert opinions. Be sure to attribute any and all quotes. A reader should not have to guess who’s speaking.
5. Don’t overuse direct quotes. Quotes should enhance a story, not take the place of the nuts and bolts. A feature about an event doesn’t need a quote to share the time and day of the event. Save the quote for the compelling statement about why the event was so memorable or powerful.
Wrapping up
1. Borrow a second set of eyes. When you have a good draft completed, ask a colleague or editor to read through the draft and tell you what might be missing. Did the content leave her wanting to know more about any part? Raise any questions you could have answered? If so, try to fill these holes in the next draft.
2. Proofread. Ensure that all names are spelled correctly, with titles and organizations correctly identified.
o Fact-check. If something can’t be verified, leave it out. Ensure that all facts are attributed and that you can defend any fact or statement that may be questioned.
o Grammar check. Use Grammarly, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, or your resident Grammar Guru to help you out if punctuation and grammar are not your strong suit.
3. Submit for publication. If the topic is especially relevant and top-of-mind to many in your industry, consider submitting the feature to an industry journal or online publication. If the subject is one of local interest, your local newspaper might wish to publish it. And once it’s live on your organization’s website, you can cross-publish the article to social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, to drive traffic back to your site.
Writing a compelling, readable (and shareable) feature article can feel like a big lift in the beginning, but once you get started with research, interviews, identifying the angle, and developing a good lead, the rest will often just fall into place.