Researching Your Feature Article: Diligent Investigation and Inquiry

All I`m armed with is research. (Mike Wallace, former 60 Minutes correspondent)

As a columnist with the Toronto Star, Pierre Berton pounded out 1500 words a day, 5 days a week on his Smith Corona typewriter.  It would have been easy for one article to roll into the next, for his writing to become tedious.  But that didn`t happen.  In his lifetime, Mr. Berton received over 30 literary awards, a dozen honourary degrees and a companion of the Order of Canada.  Key to his success was his attention to detail, his commitment to the facts.  For more about Pierre Berton, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/11/tapping-keys-on-smith-corona.html.

As a feature article writer, research is tantamount.  It involves "diligent investigation and inquiry into a subject", according to writer Bruce Garrison in Professional Feature Writing

(http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Feature-Writing-Routledge-Communication/dp/0805847650). Research doesn`t mean making one visit to the library and then calling it a day.  Or reading one article about a subject.  Garrison suggests that for every ten hours of research, put in one hour of writing.  Therefore, the bulk of your time should be spent gathering information. 

How do you know how much research is enough?  "When you feel that one more fact will be a fact too many, you`ll know it`s time to stop," according to Bobbi Linkemer (http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/writing-feature-articles-that-sell.php).  

When you are writing your feature article, remember that readers need repetition.  Layer your writing with your reporting.  Fiona Veitch Smith recommends using a cue sheet on which you record relevant page numbers, paragraphs from books, highlighted sections of Internet articles and clippings from the newspaper (http://non-fiction-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/how-to-write-a-feature-article/).

William Blundell, in The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, talks about the Rule of Threes (http://journalistsresource.org/syllabi/syllabus-feature-writing).  First of all, when checking facts, make sure you corroborate at least three different sources.  When stating a thesis, back it up with three different examples.  And when presenting your case, offer each point in three different ways;  a fact, an example and a quote.

Remember to give credit where credit`s due.  Cite your sources.  For information on how to cite print or online sources, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Newspaper_articles.

Keep these points in mind before you write your next article.  While you may not be Canada`s next Pierre Berton, at least you will be well informed.

Today, there are a plethora of resources right at your fingertips, including:

1.  Media libraries ex. large newspapers & magazines (http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/databases/)

2.  Public Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-212-e.html)

3.  University Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-210-e.html)

4.  Museum Libraries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Ontario)

5.  Historical Society Libraries

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_societies#Canada_societies)

6.  Government Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-211-e.html)

7.  Specialty Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-213-e.html)

8.  Reference Books ex. World Almanac and Book of Facts

9.  City Directories ex. names, addresses (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/directories-collection/Pages/directories-collection.aspx)

10.  Atlases or Gazetteers ex. National Geographic Atlas of the World

11.  Encyclopedias or Yearbooks ex. specialized encyclopedia with experts sources like the Encyclopedia of Associations

12.  Abstracts ex. summaries of books, articles, theses (http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_abstracts_examples.html)

13.  Chronologies ex. a list of events in chronological order

14.  Dictionaries ex. Black`s Law Dictionary

15.  Books of Quotations ex. Bartlett`s Familiar Quotes

16.  Handbooks ex. Guinness Book of World Records

http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/uphp/mclaren/mclaren_web/science_files/research.jpg

Writing Feature Articles: Laying the Groundwork

"Too many students mistake reporting for a journalistic version of a police dragnet.  They pull in everything they can find and then try to figure out what the story is.  Such an approach results in stories riddled with holes and lacking any dominant focus." 

(http://journalistsresource.org/syllabi/syllabus-feature-writing#)

Before you set out to write an article, you have to lay the groundwork.  First, make sure you have the right angle.  Zero in on the story.  Bring the lens in tight.  Don't write about the playground.  Write about the two boys who are jockeying for a spot on the jungle gym.  Don't write about the battle. Write about the soldier who has returned from Afghanistan with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Don't write about the tornado.  Write about the pastor whose church building is as flat as a pancake.  

Second, do your homework.  Read up on what has already been written about the subject.  Find out what areas have not yet been touched upon.  Identify sources for the story.  Who are the authorities who can give you their expert opinion?  Who are the "street level" people who have lived the experience?

Third, establish a strong theme.  According to Larry Brooks in Story Engineering a powerful theme can get your story published (see (http://www.amazon.ca/Story-Engineering-Larry-Brooks/dp/1582979987).  The same is true in the newspaper and magazine world.  Make sure your article's theme is clear and concise.  "Writers who fill stories with exhaustive documentation but fail to establish a clear story line file copy that reads like a government report."  Your aim as a writer is to both inform and entertain your readers. 

William Blundell, in The Art and Craft of Feature Writing (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Art-Craft-Feature-Writing/dp/0452261589), recommends that you write a theme statement before you conduct your research and reporting.  "Entering the reporting process without one is like running through brambles instead of along a clearly marked path."  A theme statement allows you to write with purpose.

Here are some useful questions recommended at journalistsresource.org to help you lay the groundwork for your article:

1.  Is the story's scope too broad?

2.  Do I have time to report and write a story of the scale I'm proposing?

3.  Am I getting down to street level in my reporting?

4.  Can I establish an element of surprise or anticipation at the outset of the story that isn't answered until the end?

5.  Does something happen in the story?  Does something change?  According to Jon Franklin in Writing For Story:  Craft Secrets of Dramatic Non Fiction (http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Story-Dramatic-Nonfiction-Reference/dp/0452272955):  "A story consists of a sequence of actions that occur when a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation that he confronts and solves."

6.  Does the story's contemporary context or past make it more interesting to tell?

http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Theme-when-Writing