WRITING A MAGAZINE FEATURE ARTICLE

Your headline and kicker can wait until you have written the feature article – don’t forget to include a headline that gains the reader’s attention and a kicker to kick-start the story by posing a question or summarising the feature article. You will also need to add the by-line (the writer’s name) at the beginning.

The intro:

The purpose of the intro or lead is to capture the attention of the readers and entice them to read further into the story. The following are several well-known ways to do this:

• The question intro poses a question of the readers. If they want to find out the answer, then they must read on. • The anecdote intro uses a short account of some interesting or humorous experience to get the readers interested. • The quote intro lets the subject of the article do the talking right from the beginning. It is often used in personality profiles. • The action/adventure intro begins with a high point of excitement. • The description intro can describe either places or people. • The summary intro gives details about the subject in a brief lead. These details have to be interesting enough to made the readers want to continue. • The shock/horror intro uses sensational information to get the readers to read on.

The body:

• Am I allowed in? A magazine writer can use ‘I’ in certain circumstances. However, writers must remember the readers are not interested in them, but instead in the subject of the article. • Quotations can be used to add life and personality to an article. However, a quote should appear only when necessary. Long, drawn out and ordinary quotes should be avoided. Quotes normally give a sense of getting to know a person and readers expect a quote to reveal something important. • Pace. A magazine feature article should develop to give the reader only as much information in each