Feature writing is a form of writing in journalism that involves writing featured articles on trending topics, great personalities, and relevant issues. It is a literary and critically recognized form of writing that is generally longer than a specific news story and more informative in nature. Feature writing is used extensively in magazines, newspapers, and online media. Features are not time-sensitive, so they can be about any topic, taking an in-depth look at a current event, an ongoing issue or situation, a place, person, or a group of individuals. Feature stories are stories with only one feature, but are creative and true. The purpose of feature writing is to make an attempt to connect with the audience’s attention to a specific cause by looking at the story from a different angle.
Feature writing differs from news writing in that it is more flexible, adopting various styles. News writing follows the inverted pyramid structure while feature writing is more narrative and descriptive. Features tend to take a more narrative approach, perhaps using opening paragraphs as scene-setting narrative hooks instead of the delivery of the most important facts. Feature articles can often be found in the Sunday papers.
Good feature writers are imaginative, curious, nosey, attentive, unconventional, witty, and usually are not above "borrowing" a good writing idea from someone else. They do a good job of digging out information and are clever enough to twist even dull data into interesting and sometimes amusing prose. Feature writing is a blend of hard facts with rigorously sourced details to paint a thorough picture and give a complete story.
