How To Write Special Feature Articles

ry work. A writer may select an excellent subject, may formulate a definite purpose, and may choose the type of article best suited to his needs, but if he is

ter transfers what is in his own mind to the minds of his readers. It is a vehicle for conveying ideas and emotions. T

a story on the same subject intended for a Sunday newspaper. The style appropriate to an entertaining story on odd superstitions of business men would be unsuitable

ral knowledge of the principles of composition and of the elements and qualities of style, only s

es, and (4) paragraphs. The kinds of words, figures, sentences, and para

ar to the average person, (2) concrete terms make a much more definite impression than general ones, and (3) words that carry

loquial diction; most readers know the meaning of many more words than they themselves use in everyday conversation. In treating technical topics, it is often necessary to employ some unfamiliar terms, but these may readily

hurry, dash, run, race, amble, stroll, stride, shuffle, shamble, limp, strut, stalk. For the word "horse" he may substitute a definite term like sorrel, bay, percheron, nag, charger, steed, broncho, or pony. In narrative and descriptive writing particularly, it is necessary to use words that make pictures a

al connotation because it arouses strong feeling. It also has a rich intellectual connotation since it calls up many associated images. Words and phrases that are peculiar to the Bible or to the church service carry with them mental images and emotions connected with religious worship. In a personality sketch of a spiritual leader, for example, such words and phrases would be particularly effective to create the atmosphere with which such a man mi

the following paragraphs taken from a ne

nd. It strayed out in tattered yellowish streamers toward the English lines, half dissipating itself in twenty yards, until the steady outpour of the green smoke gave it reinforcement and

me dozen men who had carelessly let their protectors drop. The gas was terrible

been raised and placed outside the trenches by the Germans. The translucent flood flowed over the parapet, linking at once on the inner sid

by newspaper workers. Every writer who aims to give to his articles some distinction in style should guard against the danger of writing what has aptly been termed "jargon." "To write jargon," says Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in his book, "On the Art of Writing," "is to be perpetually shuffling around in the fog and cotton-wool of abstract terms. So long as you prefer abstract words, which express other men's summarized concepts of things, to concrete ones which lie as near as can be reached to things themse

o often regarded as ornaments suited only to poetry or poetical prose. With these popular notions in mind, a writer for newspapers and magazines may quite naturally conclude that figurative expressions have little or no practical val

ar to them. An unfamiliar object, for example, is likened to a familiar one, directly, as in the simile, or by implication, as in the metaphor. As the object brought into relat

person looks "like Lincoln" is the simplest, most concise way of creating a mental picture. Or to describe a smoothly running electric motor as "purring," insta

otional appeal. Again, to say that a person looks "like Lincoln" not only creates a mental picture but awakes the feelings generally

hen boilers in order to make watering troughs, a writer in a farm journal happily described a cold chisel as

expressions is well illustrated by the following passage taken

tmosphere and a lack of that humor that softens the contours of controversy. His thought is simple and direct and makes its appeal, not to culture, but to the primitive emotions. * * * * His strenuousness is a battle-cry to the cro

of its parts. Involved sentences that require a second perusal before they yield their meaning, are clearly not adapted to the newspaper or magazine. Short sentences and those of medium length are,

position of greatest emphasis is the beginning. It is there that the most significant idea should be placed. Such an arrangement does not mean that the sentence need trail off loosely in a series of phrases and clauses. Firmness of structure can and should b

ort, containing 15 words or less; (2) medium, from 15 to 30 words; and (3) long,

sentences it gains prominence by contrast. It makes an emphatic beginning and a strong conclusion for a paragraph. As the last se

ssion of the average thought; but when used continuously it giv

n contrast with the rapid, emphatic short sentence, it moves slowly and deliberate

ers who unconsciously tend to use sentences of about the same leng

to produce harmony between the movement of the style and the ideas advanced, is well illustrated in the selection below. It is the beginning of a personality sk

on the great parade ground, their helmets and banners and lances all astir in the jolly sunshine. Officers gallop hither and thither shouting commands. Regiments form and reform. Swords flash out and flas

Kai

t and eagle flashing in the sunshine, sitting his horse as if he

ntervals in the clear morning air. And back from the

parade ground at Potsdam, one wonders whether the day will ever come when he will ride down those ranks on another err

allenging figure on the white char

nning, "There is a sudden stillness," he produces an impression of suspense. To picture the Kaiser coming up "slowly," he uses a long, leisurely sentence. The salutations "ring out" in short, cris

omplished by the last paragraph consisting of three short sentences, in m

or six words to a line. A paragraph of 250 words, which is the average length of the literary paragraph, fills between forty and fifty lines of a newspaper column. Such paragraphs seem heavy and uninviting. Moreover, the casual reader cannot readily comprehend and combine the various thoughts in so large a group of sentences. Although there is no standard column width for magazines, the number of

at the beginning. If his attention is arrested and held by the first group of words, he is likely to read on. If the beginning does not attract him, he skips down the column to the

work, word by word and sentence by sentence, the writer will generally find many opportunities to increase the effecti

eader, unless they are explained, (5) words with a connotation inappropriate to the context, (6) hackneyed and mixed metaphors. The effectiveness of the expression may often be

breaking up long, loose sentences into shorter ones, (3) by using short sentences for emphasis, (4)

a unified, coherent group of thoughts, containing not more than 1

ing, punctuation, and capitalization. Every minute spent in imp