Feature Writing

1. In this day and age, journalists are finding it harder and harder to keep people's attention due to social media and fast news. Sports columnist Jim Albom's speech details how a reporter might change his writing to keep a reader engaged. He says that the most a journalist has to offer is their writing skills. He goes through the segments of a news story, the lead, the middle, and the end, and tells us how to write each one to provide an exciting and interesting news story.

2. Leads: When writing leads, don't just stick to the basic information. A lead like that comes off as boring and dry to a reader. Instead, use "misdirection," make the reader think they are reading something interesting while still providing them with the facts. Write the lead as if it was the beginning of a story while still incorporating the who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Middles: To write a good middle, you must write about something beyond what is obvious in the story. Instead of writing about a basketball player's refusal to accept $10 million dollars, expecting more, write about people working minimum wage jobs and ask them what they think of that basket ball player. People already hear the apparent on the news and on social media, a reporter must take a new perspective in order to keep the story fresh.

Ends: A good ending doesn't necessarily have to be big. An understated ending often works better. It's what's left unsaid that resounds more with readers. Instead of telling the readers what to think about something, describe a picture that makes them feel something.

3. "One bullet. Follow its flight and you witness a devastation that far exceeds its caliber. A swath that cuts a community in two. You see children weeping and parents dumb with grief. You see a soccer team wearing armbands and a makeshift tombstone on a high school lawn. You see accused murderers in chains being cheered outside a courthouse. You see witnesses changing their stories. You see a Christmas tree in a suburban home devoid of presents for the oldest boy. You see a father in a hospital as a yellow body bag is unzipped. He looks at the face that used to be so bright, used to be his son, and is forever shattered by the hole of one bullet." I really like this paragraph of writing, especially the line "follow it's flight and you witness a devastation that far exceeds its caliber." I just think it really cool and original and it would have NEVER expected to read it as part of a news piece.

"He went out to the cemetery and interviewed the guy who was digging the grave for President Kennedy. He was the only guy to think of this. His whole column was just about how this guy was digging this dirt up and how he was trying to make the hole really perfect because this was a really special grave. Through the eyes of this lowly grave digger, whose only connection to Kennedy was the fact that he was digging the hole in the ground in which he was going to be placed, he captured the heartbreak of the country way better — way better — than the hundreds of other columnists who wanted to write that big sweeping broad statement. He went and found a person, and through the eyes of that one particular person, told a story for everyone." Once again, I picked a quote because I am impressed by the actions of Jimmy Breslin. The dude is so original. Just hearing about it made me want to read that Kennedy story.

"There’s very little that anybody can do about it now, about this guy getting off. However, it is chain-snatching season. So I suggest that if anyone should ever get an opportunity to see whatever his name was again in the buff, maybe they want to grab that chain and run with it." I think the contrast between such a tragic and depressing story and a sort of humorous ending is so interesting, especially the way it only made the story sadder.

"The best writing just lets it sit there. Trust your readers, they’re pretty smart. They know how to read, they’re already ahead of most of the rest of the country. And they’ll get it, they’ll get what you’re trying to say. It’ll resonate with them." I think this is good advice for any kind of writer. I've seen a lot of people, including myself, overdo it trying to be meaningful or original or edgy. I guess it's kind of like "kill your darlings." Your writing should be able to stand without flowery gestures or sweeping declarations.

"Instead of you saying, “this is terrible, this is sad, this is awful,” look for a picture that tells it better than you and just describe the picture. That’s what we can do as journalists and writers that nobody else can." Possibly the best way to summarize what he just spent like three pages explaining. Write your leads like the beginning of a story? Focus on something deeper than what's apparent in the news? Maybe just "describe the picture" would've sufficed.