Instructions:
Please interview a person who has an interesting job/hobby. This can be a local business owner, UNT staff member, etc. You can ask them questions about their life, their job, the process of getting the job, what they enjoy/not enjoy about it, among others. Please take thorough notes. Use at least TWO other sources to flesh out your story. This means your story must contain a total of three sources. This can include one research source.
Note: This person cannot be a friend, family member or classmate. Why? You can’t be completely objective. Plus, you need to get used to talking with new people.
Once you have your notes, please write a feature story using an alternative lead of your choice.
Check out some feature story examples. in this week’s module.
Some pointers:
- You may interview your subject via phone or online apps such as Skype, Zoom or FaceTime. Pay attention to their mannerisms and things in their environment. For example: how does the person talk? do they use their hands? What’s the room look like? Does the person use voice inflection or facial expressions?
- Please get their permission before recording them. Take notes, too.
- The story should be focused on the person’s job/hobby. The questions should focus around this particular aspect of the person’s life.
- You are free to interview the person’s friends or family if you feel that doing so will give you additional relevant material. You can quote them in your story.
- You will need to use material from other sources such as newspapers to add to your story. For example, if my subject Tom was a coin collector and he spoke about discovering a rare coin, I might use an online resource to add more information on that particular coin to show readers how rare it is. I might also interview a coin broker to find out what it was worth.
- The story should have at least two good direct quotes.
- Be sure to add a nut graf to the story. Remember, this is the paragraph that comes below the alternate lead and sums up the newsworthiness of the story. Since your subject is unlikely to be a celebrity/newsworthy (prove me wrong!), your nut graf could be something very simple. Using the previous example of the coin collector, my nut graf could simply say something like this—Tom has been collecting coins since the time he was a teenager, and he has a large collection of coins that he displays at local exhibitions.
- Before you start writing, please be sure to look at the examples of feature stories that I posted on Canvas.
Requirements:
- Length: 750-words (roughly 3 pages of double-spaced text)
- Format: Double-spaced, indent paragraphs, 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font.
- Pay careful attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and AP Style.
- Upload as yourlastname_feature.
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