feature story

For my feature story I want to be able to speak with a person who is unable to cook, and has no previous background in cooking --this provides me with a fresh start and a clean slate!
I also hope that I can talk to a nutritionist which could help provide me with the details of what to include in a meal to ensure students are getting the meals they should when they are cooking for themselves.


I intend to pursue this story from a "how-to" angle because it will be the best way to talk about the steps necessary in making the actual meal as well as how to stay healthy!

Until next time, I'll keep on cooking!

Wall Street Journal Formula

The Wall Street Journal Formula(WSJ) is the most commonly used method of writing feature stories. This method consists of four components:

• The story opens with an anecdotal, descriptive, or narrative lead
• The nut graf follows the lead and explains what the lead is about
• The body of the story is supporting information (quotes and facts)
• The ending includes another anecdotal or description of the person featured in the story
  
  

The story "Driver texting now an issue in backseat" from the New York Times is a good example of the use of the Wall Street Journal Formula of writing a feature story.
The story opens with a strong anecdotal lede about a couple who's marital problems surround the issue of text messaging, "After decades of marriage, Terry and Debbie Buchen learned to work through various marital issues. Then something new came between them — his
cellphone."
The nut graf goes on to explain why his cellphone is causing such an issue, "Mr. Buchen, 62, couldn’t put it down while driving. The first time he sent e-mail messages from behind the wheel, he drove his BMW S.U.V. into a ditch on a deserted stretch of road..."
The body of this story starting with the statement "For all the conversations about distracted driving playing out in statehouses and on talk shows, the most heated discussions, and the ones with the most lasting impact, may be happening between family members and friends," goes on to explain how texting becomes such an impact on others when they aren't necessarily doing the texting.
The ending of the story goes on to conclude with another short anecdote about Grace Andrews, a mother who is causing the issue by texting whilst behind the wheel. Concluding that, "I could never imagine that we would get to this stage — that this is the stuff we would fight about,” she said."

I believe this article does serve as a perfect example of the Wall Street Journal Formula for feature stories.

Summary ledes vs. Feature ledes

In journalism, there are many different ways to start a story depending on what kind of information you want the reader to get out of it and what the story is about.

Summary ledes focus on the who, what, when, where, why and how of a story. Summary ledes are best used in cases of whats called "hard news" --the story is not supposed to "tip toe" around an issue, rather it gets to the point right away.

Feature ledes, however, are different in that they are used in the case of "soft news". This type of lede allows the story to unfold slower and are used to make the reader want to continue reading the story the writer wrote.

Some examples of Feature ledes are:

Story by Baltimore Sun writer Liz F. Kay "Smelly water floods Towson basement"

The problem: Smelly runoff from a nearby gas station floods a Towson home.
The back story: When it rains in Towson, it floods at Jerry Cornett's house.

Another example can be seen in another Baltimore Sun article by Arin Gencer "McDonogh School's garden yields 1st harvest"

With grunts and groans, the four kindergartners hefted the plump pumpkin, at times faltering under its weight.

mcom 258

So after a summer living in the woods; my blog is making its return.

For those who don't know me I am starting my junior year here at Towson and I'm a Long Island native. A bit klutzy and I've have an addiction to iced chai tea from Starbucks. But all around a person who loves to take pictures and write stories and is just looking for a bit of adventure.

I'm looking forward to my junior year and taking more classes for my major. I'm hoping that I'll be able to perfect my grammar skills and take my writing to a more professional level in MCOM 258!


Cross your fingers for me!