This book is the result of twelve years39; experience in teaching
university students to write special feature articles for newspapers and
popular magazines. By applying the methods outlined in the following
pages, young men and women have been able to prepare articles that have
been accepted by many newspaper and magazine editors. The success that
these students have achieved leads the author to believe that others who
desire to write special articles may be aided by the suggestions given
in this book.
Although innumerable books on shortstory writing have been published,
no attempt has hitherto been made to discuss in detail the writing of
special feature articles. In the absence of any generally accepted
method of approach to the subject, it has been necessary to work out a
systematic classification of the various types of articles and of the
different kinds of titles, beginnings, and similar details, as well as
to supply names by which to identify them.
A careful analysis of current practice in the writing of special feature
stories and popular magazine articles is the basis of the methods
presented. In this analysis an effort has been made to show the
application of the principles of composition to the writing of articles.
Examples taken from representative newspapers and magazines are freely
used to illustrate the methods discussed. To encourage students to
analyze typical articles, the second part of the book is devoted to a
collection of newspaper and magazine articles of various types, with an
outline for the analysis of them.
Particular emphasis is placed on methods of popularizing such knowledge
as is not available to the general reader This has been done in the
belief that it is important for the average person to know of the
progress that is being made in every field of human endeavor, in order
that he may, if possible, apply the results to his own affairs. The
problem, therefore, is to show aspiring writers how to present
discoveries, inventions, new methods, and every significant advance in
knowledge, in an accurate and attractive form.