Day: September 7, 2013

A feature story is very different from any regular article that is replete with information pertaining to news in that it uses a novel concoction of style, delivery, wordplay and interaction with the user. The author uses all these to create a light, interesting and informative read. These articles give the writer more creative freedom in expressing one’s writing style through tackling the topic in quite a bit of an informal manner. A good feature article is the one which scores more on originality that the writer builds from his vast experience. For aspiring or less experienced writers here are a few basic steps that need to be incorporated to make it a best feature article and help the author gain recognition for his work: • Brainstorming Keep a brainstorming notebook handy with a pen so that you can carry it anywhere and pen down your thoughts. Inspiration can hit us anywhere and you should not be ill equipped to record what comes to your mind. If you are stuck in some areas that make you reaching a pen and paper impossible such as on a long journey, stuck in a traffic jam, a long stroll in the park, running errands for your family, you may be at a loss for recording your thoughts. So, better be equipped to handle such emergencies. This tip is vital as you may fail to recollect the ideas and thoughts you came up with during your above mentioned busy session and relate them to the ideas that you remember after returning back from these activities and connect them to form a story. As writing is a creative field, it demands a lot of exertions from you in ideating and coming up with interesting thoughts and words that make the story in your article interesting to read. • Choose topics wisely Is there a topic that you have wanted to write for a long time – a topic that you have thought of and prepared an outline or have come up with some fancy or hard hitting words? Is there a particular publication that you want to write for? Plan a working theme for your article. It should be concise, preferably put in a sentence or two. Let the title be catchy enough to engage the readers in it. It should give an overview of the article as to what the readers can expect from you. It should reflect your views on the topic and be something that the readers can relate to. For example, ‘What are the entrepreneurial skills that are necessary to make it big as a business tycoon?’ • Research Research for enough information that can help you to block out the article into definitive paragraphs to accommodate specific content for your article. Research is a key step that demarcates necessary stages in writing an article. This early stage of research demands that you huddle up to outline your content. This also helps you in writing a coherent and convincing query letter. • Write a good query letter  Write a good query letter to an editor of a magazine who you think is sportive enough to respond to your proposition. Though it is rare that an editor calls you, the query letter should be convincing enough to him to include your article in his magazine. As editors are inundated with calls and emails, any query letter should have five parts and each part of the content succinctly put in preferably, a paragraph. Here are the five parts of the query letter: a. The first paragraph is your introduction. It lets an editor know who you are, why you want his attention and the subject of your proposed article. Use all the ingenuity that you gather in highlighting your cause. As an editor sifts through the mails in his inbox by having a look at this subject, be convincing enough. Don’t exaggerate in this profile of you, be formal. b. The second paragraph focuses on the editor’s needs and you should get acquainted with the general editorial policy of the publication and specifically the target audience you are aiming to reach for. This tip is better addressed if you have researched well to probe the magazine’s needs from every angle. You can use well directed flattery in this paragraph that results the editor in favoring you over a number of other contenders queuing for the feature post. c. The third paragraph concentrates on briefly describing the content and the appropriateness of the article and why readers would want this information. Use your impeccable writing skills in describing the content. Use your sublime sense of vocabulary to come with an interesting choice of words that hit hard on the editor’s conscience so much so that he should have a go at having the article written for him without hesitation. Through the research you have done on the readers’ habits and their needs, enchant the editor with the notion of satisfactorily attending the readers’ needs in the article. Use all the creativity at your disposal and come up with a pair of sentences that convince the editor that your article is good and utilizable from the reader’s perspective. d. The fourth paragraph addresses the editor’s concern regarding your credentials and how you are uniquely qualified much better than your peers. It also shows the editor your understanding regarding the aims of the publication. Make the editor familiar with your writing style and the articles that you have worked on. It is good if you let him know your deep understanding of the subject in question. Let him get an insight of the seriousness of your talent and if other articles you have written on the subject. e. The final paragraph should be very short. It lets the editor of the publication know what mode of communication you will use to follow up regarding the status of your query letter – was it duly accepted or not. Keep it to the point as to what time your will