Articles that linchpin on the area of events, people, places, and subject matters such as lifestyle, career, and health, are stories that belong to the feature writing category. Feature stories are lengthy compared to news stories as they cover issues intricately with more depth and more narrative and they belong to the category of soft news.

The writer holds power in liberty as the presentation of ideas, and the entirety of the article relies on his/her writing style. Whether the style is formal or informal, the fundamental function of this type of article is to humanize (expose human emotions), provide detailed pieces of information, facts, and to entertain.

Colloquialism is observed and jargons are avoided and unlike straight news which heeds the inverted pyramid style, feature stories are structured in a normal pyramid, thus, information is not divided into a hierarchical manner according to the most important to the least.

These stories are present within every section of the paper and located on the back pages. The main focus is to feed the interests of the readers, thus, the most important parts are not as necessary compared to news stories, which aims to feed information.

A feature writer must establish a personal tone in order to share opinions, show personalities (such as humor or seriousness), and use emotive language in order to compel and impact the reader’s emotions. The audience may be referred to using the second personal language (such as “you”) as it is more personal and colloquial.

Anecdotes and rhetorical questions are examples of literary techniques that are applicable and mostly used by feature writers as these devices are what helps with the readers’ engagement with the article.

Similar to any other article, feature writers must construct strong leads in their articles in order to captivate the interest of readers. The qualities that make feature stories distinct are their descriptive and elaborate nature, and combination of facts and opinions as the objective not only serves to educate but also to entertain.

It contains an introduction, body, and conclusion, and solutions are also provided in the articles since facts are combined with opinions and the stories are not necessarily current matters or up-to-date issues. Images, charts, and drawings can also be included in order to reinforce the message, bring color, and add more meaning to the subject being presented.

A perspective is also provided so as to guide the angle and main idea of the article, and interviewees are not necessary except for the insights of important characters as personal observations and experiences are what the article consists of. 

The aforementioned qualities are what writers must bear in mind, but a well-written feature story contains the following qualities:

·       A Great Lead – A feature lead may be introduced in the form of a scene, description of a place, or narration of a story. The lead must always be captivating and interesting in order to encourage the readers in engulfing the entirety of the story.

·       Follows Narratorial Conventions – The feature story must contain necessary elements such as an interesting plot and controversial conclusion. This helps with the anticipation or the “rise and fall effect” that the readers experience whilst reading the article.

·       Provide a Perspective ­– Since facts are combined with opinions, the writer’s perspective must be provided and the information must be balanced. 

·       Descriptive – The description sets the scene and imagery in the article for the readers. A good description compels the readers to create mental images of the texts being read, thus, engaging them more into the story. The details serve as the key in how the setting may be envisioned and with identifying characteristics (physical-wise or personality-wise).

·        Include Quotes/Catchy Features – The title must be interesting, pictures must be included, and quotes must be given proper credit. All of these are sources that add more credibility to the article.

·       Contain Background Information – This is what creates a solid foundation as quotes and images cannot suffice the point of the article alone if there is no supporting information.