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Professional Feature Writing provides an essential introduction to the basics of news media feature writing and establishes a solid foundation for students and writers making feature writing their careers.
This sixth edition offers a thorough and up-to-date look at newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and online publications, with emphasis on daily newspapers, consumer magazines, and online news. Special attention is paid to writing skills, feature story types, and the collegiate and professional writing life, and the text is filled with practical guidance for writing a wide variety of features, drawing on insights from both junior and experienced writers, editors, and publishers. Alongside a solid tour of forms and approaches to feature writing, the author includes lists of tips, observations, guidelines, sources, and story ideas.
New to this edition are:
- Three chapters covering interviewing and observation in features, social media in feature writing, and writing social trends features;
- Updated international examples of feature writing, integrated throughout the text;
- Additional and expanded discussion about writing features for online publications and the uses of social media in gathering information and reporting;
- Increased attention to multimedia and the impact of new technologies on the industry.
Building on introductory writing and reporting skills, this text is appropriate for upper-division journalism students learning feature writing and advanced writing topics. It will also serve as a valuable resource for freelance writers.
List of contents
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Preface
I The Basics
1 Feature Writing Today
2 Careers as Feature Writers and Editors
3 Finding Good Feature Ideas
4 Research for Your Feature Story
5 Using Social Media in Features
6 Interviewing and Observation in Features
7 Description and Color Writing
8 Storytelling, Writing, and Editing
II Common Types of Feature Stories
9 Human-Interest Features
10 Writing Profiles
11 Writing Social Trends Features
12 Seasonal Features
13 Entertainment Features and Reviews
14 Aftermath, Follow-Up, and Depth Series Features
15 Travel Features
16 Service Features
17 Personal Experience Features
18 Humor in Feature Writing
19 Science and Technology Features
III Becoming a Professional Writer
20 Writing Features on Campus
21 Freelance Feature Writing
References
Index
About the author
Bruce Garrison is a professor in the Journalism and Media Management Department, School of Communication, University of Miami. He was awarded a Fulbright grant for China and lectured at Shanghai International Studies University and several other Chinese universities. Garrison is the author of books and journal articles about the uses of new technologies in newsrooms and by the public, reporting, writing, sports journalism, and journalism in Latin America.
Summary
Professional Feature Writing provides an essential introduction to the basics of news media feature writing and establishes a solid foundation for students and writers making feature writing their career.
