Features Writing

• Features writing - Longer than news. More complex. Explores deeper.
• APPLAUSe Formula - Appeal, Plain facts, Personalities, Logic, Action, Universal/Uniqueness, Significance.
• David Randall - British journalist who argues for the the following different types of features.
• Energy/Enthusiasm - A feature should be emphatic in its approach, feature story needs to be energetic and enthusiastic in nature.
• Color Piece - A feature story that essentially tries to enlighten readers on a particular theme or subject.
• Fly on the Wall - A feature story that is conceived and narrated unobtrusively and mostly without the explicit permission of the subjects.
• Behind the Scenes - A feature story that shifts its focus from the principal event to the background and narrates an interesting tale.
• In Disguise - A feature story that is told while the storyteller is a part of the event.
• Profile - A feature story that is based on the exploits of a particular eminent person with or without his/ her interview
• Interview - A feature story that develops itself around questions asked to a respondent, who is usually in a place of prominence.
• Profile - A feature story that is based on the exploits of a particular eminent person with or without his/ her interview
• How-To - A feature story that is dependent on research and helps readers in solving a problem or deciphering a scenario.
• Fact Box/Chronology: A feature story that provides plain and simple facts mostly in a chronological order.
• Backgrounder/A History of - A feature story that provides detailed information.
• Full Texts - A feature story that is nothing but extracts from a book or transcripts of an interview.
• Testimony - A feature story that is the first-person account of an individual.
• Analysis - A feature story that scholarly analyzes an event.
• Vox Pop/Expert Roundup - A feature story that accumulates opinions from the general citizenry and thought leaders concerning a subject.
• Opinion Poll - A feature story that conducts a research of opinions and presents a generalized summary of the accumulated opinions.
• Review - A feature story that reviews a work of art and presents a generalized opinion.
• News Feature - This type of story has its basis upon timely news happening with a human-interest angle is called a news feature. A news feature is generally timelier than a straight human interest or a long feature story.
• Informative Feature - This type does not use many of the fiction writer’s devices, since its purpose is to inform more than to entertain. It may be very closely related to the so called “New Journalism”. To create interest feature writer, includes human-interest elements in his feature.
• Personality Sketches - These features are written about those men and women whose stories are worth telling because they are historical characters in whom interest survives long after they are dead. This type is not easy to write as it is an uphill task to portray a personality with artistic preciseness.
• Personal Experience Story - This Feature Story is in the form of an interview. It must deal with an unusual experience or a wonderful accomplishment.
• Human Interest Feature Story - Written under the influence of humorous and pathetic incidents that are reported in the daily routine. It entertains more than it informs. 
• Historical Feature - Deal with events or personalities of the past, have interest for present day readers because it is timely, unique, throws new light on an old story, debunks wrong popular beliefs, promote speculation and imagery among the readers.
• Interpretative Feature - Aims to inform, instruct and throw light on the background of certain problems. The following topics are usually discussed under the heading or interpretative feature.

  • Social problems

  • Economic problems

  • Political problems

  • Problems of everyday life
• Popularized Scientific Feature - bridging the gap, which separated the scientist and journalist for a long-time present scientifically accurate facts in a non-technical easily understood language.