Professor Michael Turney, Ph.D., ABC.
Communication Department

Course concept
and content

Feature Writing is an advanced journalism course focused on writing non-fiction, non-opinion articles for informational media such as newspapers, magazines, newsletters, trade journals, and Internet sites.

Although the writing styles and story approaches that will be covered are somewhat more flexible, more creative, more subjective, and even more fun than traditional hard-news writing, the course is essentially an advanced reporting course. It emphasizes writing that is primarily intended, in the words of the text, "to pass along facts and other information to others." Entertainment, literary value, and personal satisfaction may be considerations, but they're much less important than conveying factual information. Research, rather than imagination, and reporting, rather than a personal desire for self-expression, are the underpinnings of feature writing and the mainstays of this course

Procedurally, the course emphasizes writing in and out of class. Students should expect to write—usually for several hours each week and often for part of the class session as well—throughout the semester. They should also expect to read assigned chapters in the text book as well as reading and critiquing the work of other writers whether those writers are professionals whose work is published in current periodicals or classmates submitting assigned manuscripts. They are also expected to conceive and research story ideas and investigate publications which may be suitable markets for those stories.

The instructor will serve as an editor and writing coach, and class sessions will include writing exercises, lecture/discussions focused on styles, trends and opportunities in feature writing, and interactive critiques of student work.

Students entering the course should have a solid foundation in basic writing skills and in news writing gained from previous courses since the prerequisites include ENG 101, JOU 130, and JOU 230 or their equivalents. They should also be thoroughly familiar with using Associated Press style, writing in class under deadline pressure, and using the computers and software available in the NKU journalism lab.

Course objectives

Required texts

Professional Feature Writing (third edition) by Bruce Garrison
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, New Jersey; 1999

Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual
Perseus Books: Reading, Massachusetts.

Major written
assignments

Four major feature stories, —a personality profile, seasonal feature, travel article, and service feature— each account for 12 percent of the final grade. The minimum requirements vary from assignment to assignment and are distributed as each story type is discussed in class.

Each story will require at least five sources in addition to the writer and must be written to meet the needs of a specific publication chosen by the writer. The story's topic, focus, format, and length must meet the guidelines and usual practices of that publication as outlined in a current Writer's Market and/or contributor guidelines provided by the publication itself.

Students have wide latitude in choosing publications for which to write, but at least one must be a newspaper, one must be a magazine, one must be an NKU publication; and three must be non-NKU publications.

Students select two of their first three feature stories to rewrite and submit for a second grade. Each rewrite accounts for 8 percent of the course grade and should reflect judgment and creative effort, not merely the secretarial ability to retype the story with the instructor's corrections.

A story graded C or lower must be rewritten for the same publication specified in its original submission. A story graded A can be rewritten, but it must be rewritten for a substantially different publication. A story graded B can be rewritten for either the original publication or a different one. Any rewrite aimed at a different publication requires a new story submission form attached to the story. The previously graded and marked up original story and grading sheet must be submitted with the rewrite.

Feedback assignments

Feedback assignments encourage textbook reading, class attendance and active participation. They include reactions to assigned readings, in-class writing exercises, and critiques of classmates' stories. There is at least one feedback assignment each week and a total of 15-20 during the semester. Most are spontaneous and require an in-class response. Others may be announced in one class and be due in the next.

Rather than getting individual letter-grades, feedback assignments earn variable points based on their length, difficulty, and how well they're completed. Feedback points accumulate from the first class until mid-term when they're converted to a letter-grade for the first half of the semester. A separate accumulation of points from mid-term to the end of the semester is converted to a letter-grade for the second half of the semester.