How to write the big, honkin’ feature

The long feature story is increasingly rare in corporate publications, probably because it’s so difficult to write. Video

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The long feature story is increasingly rare in corporate publications, probably because it’s so difficult to write. Here are some tips

Judging the highly competitive features category in this year’s Ragan Recognition Awards, Ragan.com editors were relieved to note the feature story is alive and well as a form.

More efficient than a hundred news stories, the well-conceived feature or in-depth profile communicates organizational values and cultural norms through anecdote and example.

(Our favorite from last year was a profile of a Toyota Motor Sales employee who had stumbled into a job at the company three decades ago and, through her optimistic personality and business intelligence, happily grown with the company. Throughout the piece she told funny and candid stories that not only spoke to her own success but showed all employees what it takes to succeed at the organization.)

But features are much harder to write than news stories.

They’re longer than news stories and require more research. They don’t lend themselves to the inverted pyramid structure that most news stories demand.

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