1. Feature Stories What good are they?

2. Ask your story what it is. “Story, where do you want to go?” This is the art of writing – can you discover the story? Sift and organize your material. The answer is in there. From William E. Blundell, author of The Art and Craft of Feature Writing

3. Organizing the story The way the story is organized takes shape as you do these: Have an idea for a story Refine the story idea Conduct your reporting Analyze your conclusions

4. Multimedia reporting Sound Images Text Your story is all of these – or rather, your story is inside these things.

5. Why do people tell stories? To explain why To explain how To entertain To educate and inform

6. How should someone feel at the end of the story?

7. The four stages of a story

8. Tease me, you devil Stage 1: Intrigue me. Make me want to invest a little time in your story. (Be irresistible.)

9. What are you up to? Stage 2: Let me see what your story is really about.

10. Oh, yeah? Prove it! Stage 3: Show me. Prove to me that this is true. Give me reasons to believe it. (This is about 80 percent of most stories. )

11. Help me remember! Stage 4: Nail the ending. Give me a bang, not a whimper. You got me. Now make sure it sticks with me.