{"product_id":"the-art-and-craft-of-feature-writing-isbn-9780452261587","title":"The Art and Craft of Feature Writing","description":"\u003cb\u003eStorytelling—how to catch and hold a reader’s interest through artful narration of factual material\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e William E. Blundell, one of the best writers on one of America's best-written papers—\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e—has put his famous Journal Feature-Writing Seminars into this step-by-step guide for turning out great articles. Filled with expert instruction on a complex art, it provides beginners with a systematic approach to feature writing and deftly teaches old pros some new tricks about:\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ·         How and where to get ideas\u003cbr\u003e ·         What readers like and don’t like\u003cbr\u003e ·         Adding energy and interest to tired topics\u003cbr\u003e ·         Getting from first ideas to finish article\u003cbr\u003e ·         The rules of organization\u003cbr\u003e ·         How—and whom—to quote and paraphrase\u003cbr\u003e ·         Wordcraft, leads, and narrative flow\u003cbr\u003e ·         Self-editing and notes on style\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e … plus many sample feature articles.\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe disorganized, debilitated reporter\u003cbr\u003eLearning to function more efficiently\u003cbr\u003eThe major commandment: Make it interesting\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 1: Raw Materials\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow and where to get ideas\u003cbr\u003ePicking the proper subject matter\u003cbr\u003eThe need for files\u003cbr\u003eFinding and cultivating sources\u003cbr\u003eThinking about story ideas: Extrapolation, synthesis\u003cbr\u003eAdvancing story ideas: Localization, projection, viewpoint switching\u003cbr\u003eWhat readers like and don't like: Dogs, people, facts, observers, numbers\u003cbr\u003eWhy the ideas with action in them are the best ideas\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 2: Shaping Ideas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe importance of forethought\u003cbr\u003eRange of the story: Keeping it narrow\u003cbr\u003eTheme of the story: The importance of the main theme statement\u003cbr\u003eDeveloping the theme of a general profile or a microcosm profile\u003cbr\u003eApproach of the story: The limits of the profile and the roundup\u003cbr\u003eTone of the story: Why it is important\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 3: Story Dimensions\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTime: The importance of the past and the future, as well as the present\u003cbr\u003eScope: The quantity, locale, diversity and intensity of a development\u003cbr\u003eVariety: Using various source levels and internal proofs\u003cbr\u003eMovement: The built-in kind and the alternation of opposite elements\u003cbr\u003eThe reporter's role: Neither lawyer nor scholastic nor objectivist nor formula follower. But what then?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 4: Planning and Execution\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA six-part guide for the reporter:\u003cbr\u003eI. History: Does the main theme development have roots in the past?\u003cbr\u003eII. Scope: How widespread, intense and various is the development?\u003cbr\u003eIII. Reasons: Why is it happening now?\u003cbr\u003eIV. Impacts: Who or what is affected—and how?\u003cbr\u003eV. Countermoves: Who is acting to counter or enhance the development or its impacts—and how?\u003cbr\u003eVI. Futures: What \u003ci\u003ecould\u003c\/i\u003e happen if the development proceeds unchecked?\u003cbr\u003eA slightly altered six-part guide for preparing profiles\u003cbr\u003eAnother story element: Focus points and people. Descending to the lowest level of the action\u003cbr\u003eA reporter's sources: Wise Men, Paper Men and Rabbis\u003cbr\u003eInterviews and techniques in relation to storytelling\u003cbr\u003eHow long should the reporting take? When to begin writing?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 5: Organization\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollow the laws of Progressive Reader Involvement: Tease me, you devil; tell me what you're up to; prove it; help me remember it\u003cbr\u003eA first reading of materials gathered for the story: Refining the main theme statement, looking for conclusions, looking for endings\u003cbr\u003eIndexing materials to help proide order\u003cbr\u003eRules of organization in writing:\u003cbr\u003e—Keep related material together\u003cbr\u003e—Let what you have already written suggest what comes next\u003cbr\u003e—Try to isolate material from one source in one place\u003cbr\u003e—Digress often, but don't digress for long\u003cbr\u003eType of narrative lines: Block progression line; time line; theme line; and hybrids\u003cbr\u003eThe lead paragraphs: Why they are often elusive. What to do when they are\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 6: Handling Key Story Elements\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTypes of leads: Hard news, anecdotal, summary\u003cbr\u003eStandards for anecdotal leads: Simplicity, theme relevance, intrinsic interest, focus\u003cbr\u003eWhy the general, or summary, lead is often better, difficult though it may be\u003cbr\u003eNumbers: How to handle them; when to avoid them\u003cbr\u003ePeople and quotes: Limiting the number of \"talking heads\" to emphasize the important actors in the story\u003cbr\u003eReasons to quote people: To lend credibility, emotional response, trenchancy or variety\u003cbr\u003eUsing anonymous quotes judiciously\u003cbr\u003eWhen paraphrasing is preferable\u003cbr\u003eThree roles for the reporter in the story: Summarizer, referee and observer\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 7: Wordcraft\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeing specific in words and phrases\u003cbr\u003eBeing mean and tough with yourself and your turns of phrase\u003cbr\u003eChoosing what to describe\u003cbr\u003eHow to describe well: Imagic exactness, the people principle, animation, poetic license\u003cbr\u003ePromoting a conversational quality\u003cbr\u003eThe narrative flow and typical troubles with transitions, attributions and explanations\u003cbr\u003eHow \"purposeful structures\" in writing can promote speed, force, and rhythm\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 8: Stretching Out\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome tips on handling lengthy stories:\u003cbr\u003eThe importance of maintaining orderly development\u003cbr\u003eAlternating plot and character\u003cbr\u003eMaintaining suspense and setting up material to come\u003cbr\u003eUsing typographical devices\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChapter 9: Notes on Self-Editing and Style\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEditing yourself for content, for conclusiveness and flow, for pace and precision\u003cbr\u003eThe anguish of young writers, and how some overcome it\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix 1. Reading for Writers\u003cbr\u003eAppendix 2. Full Texts of Sample Stories\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilliam E. Blundell\u003c\/b\u003e was a news editor at the \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal, \u003c\/i\u003ewhere he was a reporter, page-one writer, Los Angeles Bureau chief, and national correspondent. He won the Mike Berger Award, granted by the trustees of Columbia University, for distinguished metropolitan reporting in New York; the Ray Howard Public Service Award of the Scripps-Howard Foundation, and the Distinguished Writing Award for non-deadline feature writing, granted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.","brand":"Plume","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303935332581,"sku":"NP9780452261587","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780452261587.jpg?v=1767738129","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-art-and-craft-of-feature-writing-isbn-9780452261587","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}