Story structure

Leave a lasting impression in the kicker

Think of the kicker as the fireworks display at the end of the Fourth of July picnic. It’s the reader’s reward for making it to the end of the piece.… Read the full article

Leave a lasting impression with these 2 key elements

It’s easy to end an inverted-pyramid story: Stop typing.

Sadly, coming to an abrupt halt doesn’t work for feature-style stories.… Read the full article

Romance meets finance in this feature

Northern Trust goes beyond the pyramid

How do you organize a compelling feature?

Model this piece, which Loring Leifer wrote for Northern Funds’ marketing magazine, Northern Update.… Read the full article

Sensus goes to the science museum

Use the feature structure for emailed invitations

When I teach the feature-style story structure, communicators nod. It seems reasonable that readers would prefer concrete, creative stories to a hierarchical blurtation of facts.… Read the full article

‘From Tina Turner to Taylor Swift’

Feature structure brings tedious topics to life

When Ian Jones needed to craft a — yawn! — diversity story for employees at Columbia Gas of Virginia, his first instinct was to go with a fact pack.… Read the full article

Opioid crisis goes beyond the inverted pyramid

WCB-Alberta uses feature structure to discuss addiction

I love it when my clients send me before-and-after pieces after I present a writing workshop.

For one thing, it’s gratifying to see that people’s writing actually improves after I visit!… Read the full article

Doctor’s orders: Make it a feature release

Physician association finds a cure for the pyramid

Too many communicators married the inverted pyramid when they were 19, have made a lot of triangular babies and have remained monogamous for all these years.… Read the full article

This release hits home

Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston nails PR features

It was a good story: More than 1,000 New Englanders would soon have safe, decent, affordable places to live, thanks to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program.… Read the full article

Feature-style story form easy as 1-2-3

Strathcona County masters ‘stack of boxes’ structure

Here’s the good news: You already know how to organize your copy.

Just think back to what your third-grade English teacher taught you.… Read the full article

Stroke of editing: feature structure

Ann audaciously takes on Jill Bolte Taylor’s bestseller

Jodie Foster is not planning to play me in the Sony Pictures movie of my life. Ron Howard will not direct the major motion picture version of my New York Times bestselling book.… Read the full article