If you are looking to get features or interviews on Forbes, Inc, LA Times or other large news outlets then this is the piece for you. A feature article is a fun way of exposing a topic, featuring a particular person you find inspiring or sharing your passion with other people. The possibilities with this content is endless when you know what to do.
Choose Your Topic
A lot of people skip over the step where they need to carefully consider a topic to write about. You should ask the editor about the kind of material they are looking to feature in their publication. There are a lot of people who find it hard to come up with inspiration unless they are very motivated and interested in their topic.
If you are stuck, you should look online for some subjects that you find interesting, exciting or thought provoking. You should keep up to date with the news and check blogs for content that you might want to write about. If you meet someone that you find interesting and would like to interview for a feature article, you should think about giving them your contact details and ask them to keep you in mind for any future writing.
Writing A Good Feature Article
The best way to learn how to write a good feature article is to take the time to read other feature articles. The more good writing you are reading and the more you practice writing, the better you are going to become and the more fluid your writing will be. Your goal is to become a flexible writer that is able to tackle a range of different subjects.
Great Tips For Your Writing
When you quote anyone in your content, you need to do this accurately and fairly. When you take someone’s words out of context, you could create buzz about your article. However, this will be an unfair representation of the person.
Try to get multiple points of view for your article. While it is fun to write an opinion article, you should strive for some balance. This will ensure that your content helps a lot of people and more people will want to read more about the friction between the different opinions.
This does not mean that you should not be sharing your opinion. Feature articles are more interesting when the writer has taken a stance on the topic. Of course, you should use an expository style to back your opinion.
Get a photographer to take some pictures for the article. This will make your article stand out more and be more engaging. Of course, you do not have to hire someone to do this because you can take the pictures yourself.
You need to stick to your word count. There are a lot of editors that have strict rules when it comes to work count as it impacts how the article fits on the page. You need to ensure that you stick to the word count that they provide and adjust your writing to suit this.
If you need any more tips for writing your feature article, you should speak with the editor that you are working with. They will be able to help you organize your thoughts and fit your article to what they want.
Build An Audience
When you are writing, you need to ensure that you do not alienate any of your readers. This is why you need to keep your audience in mind at all times. There are some questions that you can ask yourself to ensure that you do this.
From the start, you need to let your friends, family and colleagues know that you will be writing. You should ask them if they have connections who are interested in your work or if they know anyone who can be interviewed for the article you are writing. If you have writer’s block in the future, you can lean on these contacts to help you make something great.
You also need to share your writing as widely as possible. If you are going to be doing work for print publications, you need to photocopy buts of your work to forward to new leads. You can also send links to your feature article if it is published online.
