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Writing Feature Stories
Feature stories focus on creating a human connection to a person, place, thing, or event. They go beyond the simple 5 W’s of who, what, where, when, and why to answer what’s so cool about this? A feature story helps readers experience something wonderful themselves.
To write an effective feature story, you also need to experience it. Go to the place, talk to the people involved, fill your mind with sights, sounds, smells, and tactile information. For example, the student writer of the model in this chapter attended the SeaPerch Fun Challenge miniature submarine competition at the Navy research pool on Point Loma. His feature is filled with details that make you feel like you’re in a boat floating on the pool as submersibles race around below you. Immerse readers in your feature!