How To Write a Feature Article Story About Someone

1. Course Overview: Hey, guys, it's a re tear. Okay? So before we dive into the content in the course, I want to give you a brief overview of the topics which will help organize the information in your head. This project of how to write a great feature article or story can be divided into five topics here. So the 1st 1 that we're gonna look at is what is your purpose. So in this video, we're gonna help identify your purpose which will guide your actions along this entire project of creating a feature story. The second thing that we're gonna look at is contacting your interviewee. So what is the best way to reach out to that person that you're going to be contacting for more information in order to write your article? The third thing that we're gonna look at is actually conducting the interview. So what are some great questions to ask? How should the communication or the dynamic happened with in the interview as we're talking to the person, What is the best way to get the most out of the interview in terms of content? The fourth topic that we're gonna look at is actually diving into writing your stories. So I'm gonna give you some great tips about what is the best way to put all that content together that you gathered from the interview into writing a great story and article and finally, number five. We're gonna look at putting all this together and making sure that your article has flow and cohesiveness, and it reads well and it's something that your readers will care about. Also throughout the course. In these videos, I'm going to provide you with direct examples from a company that I work with. Called Keeper Keeper is a fashion tech organization that features the stories of everyday, fashionable people on the streets of New York. What they do is they crowdsourced photographers who go out onto the streets of New York, find people with style and photographed, Um, they tell them about Keeper and collect their email addresses. And Keeper also has a team of writers who go and contact these people by email and interview them and write stories about them to be featured on the Keeper blood and and social media accounts. So you're gonna be getting some great examples, and you can start to see how this process works from inside an organization like Keeper. So without further ado, let's get started. Let's dive into the content and I'll see you in the next video. 2. What is your purpose?: the very first step towards writing a great feature article comes from identifying your purpose. What is your purpose and what is your goal going into this project? Is it to get your article published in a certain publication? Is it to write a great story for your block? Is it perhaps to highlight a certain issue that's really relevant now in the world? Whatever it is, identify what that purpose is, because that is what's going to guide your actions with within each step of the project. To give you an example. Cheaper tells their writers upfront that going into the interview, your goal is to gather enough information so that you can write a great story that our readers will care about. So right up front, they give their writers this goal in mind because without that goal, they can go into the interview and not really understand what types of questions to ask for where the conversation should go. But with that goal in mind, they'll be able to understand that they really need to gather some great stories, some personal anecdotes from this person and really get to the core of who they are after the writers conduct the interview. Their goal now changes because they have more information toe work with. So now they look at all of the information that they've gathered from the interview and start to put together a thesis or what their main point will be for their article. To give you another example, one of the Keeper writers came out of an interview that was really based around this person and how their style changed as they grew up, and they got to know themselves more. So this writer put together the thief office that your style really changes as you learn to represent yourself better. And as you grow older, you start to understand more about who you are, so your your style reflects that. So at that time, her purpose was to write this story that really represents this thesis, using examples from the interview. So always keep your goal in mind the purpose of what you're doing and realize that that might slightly change as you move forward within each action step of writing a great feature article 3. Contacting your interviewee: So once you have your purpose in mind, the next step is to reach out to that person that you're gonna be writing your feature story about and schedule an interview. So what is the best way to get in contact with that person? Is it contacting them through their Facebook or giving them a call or e mailing them? We found that email actually gets the most response because they can look at it at their own time. And you can also represent yourself in a professional manner. Now, this email shouldn't be long at all. It should be short and to the point and includes some key factors which we're gonna go over right now. So the first thing in in your first sentence you should be introducing yourself and your purpose for contacting them. So right off the bat, you've introduced yourself. You're stating your purpose, and now you can go into actually settling on a time for your interviews. So you want to schedule the interview on a separate day in time if you have a few slots available than you want to state those dates and times right in the email so that they can choose from those days and times. If your week is open, then you can just say what time and day works best for you. You also want to let the person know how you'll be contacting them. So is it that you're going to give them a call or are you going to contact and contact them through Skype? If so, you want to make sure that you have that information, their contact information and let them know that you will be calling them first toe end off the email, give them a call to action, which really lets them know that you're expecting a response back. So you could say something like, Please let me know what day and time works best for you from the above slots so I can schedule you in for this interview. Remember that this whole email should come from a place of your providing the opportunity to them. You are inviting them to this interview. You are welcoming them. You have chosen them. It shouldn't come from a place of We want you to do this for us, so just keep that in mind when you're writing the email. So here's an example of an email that one of the writers at Keeper sent over to request for an interview. So you can see that this email is very short and it includes what we've talked about. The first sentence she introduces who she is. My name is, and I'm a fashion blogger for Keeper. She actually adds an extra part here, which you can do as well in your emails to add a bit of credibility. So if you are representing the company, you can perhaps provide a website link or a social media link that they can check out to see that you are riel. Next, she states what her purposes. So she says, one of our photographers recently took some fabulous photos of you. I really dig your style and chose you as someone I'd love to interview and highlight up on our blood, which will go live in the coming weeks so you can see how she presents this as an opportunity. We chose you or I chose you, and I would love to do this with you, as opposed to just asking for an interview and the last sentence before she ends. Her email is, if you're willing What is your availability for a phone interview? So that is the call to action in her email. Short and sweet to the point. And very effective. She is one of the writers right now that gets the most response from her emails to schedule interviews. By the way, guys, if you'd like to get my feet back on an email that you've written up and you're about to send no problem, I'd be happy to do so. Just posted in the question and answer section of this course so that other students can see those as well. And I'd be happy to provide my feet back there. Alright, guys, I will see you in the next video by 4. Getting the most out of the interview: So now that you've scheduled the time to interview this person, how should you go into conducting this interview? Should you go into it with a script? Should you know exactly what you're gonna say when you're gonna say it? Should it be more free flowing now? You should definitely go into an interview armed with a basic list of questions. However, if you find within the interview that your conversation is flowing and, um, the conversation itself is going quite well, you can ditch those list of questions. Ditch the script. You really want to make this interview seem like a conversation between two friends more like a two way street where they're speaking and you're also contributing. You're reacting to their answers rather than a one way street where you're pumping out questions and they're asked answering, pumping your questions and they're answering. So really, keep that in mind. So one of the things you may be wondering about is how do I get someone talking on an interview? How do I get them to really give me those those thoughtful answers and those stories that I'm after? One of the things that you can do is ask open ended questions that are in line with your purpose. With what you want to get out of this interview, start your questions with how and why. And can you tell me a little bit about dot, dot, dot these types of questions Put the ball in their court and allow them to talk more about their experiences and not just give one or two word answers. Once you get that person to start talking, you can go with the flow of the conversation and asked some follow up questions like, Can you tell me a little bit more about that, or what do you mean by that? Or can you give me an example to give you an example? I'm gonna let you guys listen to the beginning part of an interview by one of keepers writers. You can start to see how she introduces herself. She states right off the bat what? She's looking for an interview, and she also thanks the person for their time right in the beginning and goes into one of those questions to get them to start talking. So take a listen to this. Hey. Hello. Hi. Is this Daniel? Hi. This is Lizzie Brady. I'm calling from Keeper. How are you? Are you doing I'm doing Is this a good time for you? Okay, Awesome. So just to let you know to I am recording this. But I'll also be taking some notes to just to make sure that I get it all down after interview. I'll then go and just write a story about you. I don't know how much I mentioned this in the email, but at Keeper, we really do view fashion just as this ever changing journey that's really inspired by you . Ah, and a style. You know, we appreciate styles that go deeper than just a trend. Um, and so as a blogger, what? I'm really looking for our stories that just represent you well, and your style while in that journey for you. So I was sent a few photos of you in New York and was just really struck by how classic, but also unique. Your look is so start. Um, just to start, could you tell me just a bit about yourself? What do you do? And do you live in New York? All right. I do live in New York. I live in Brooklyn, New York transition so you can see right off the bat how she was able to get that person to start talking, which is really tough in the beginning of the conversation. But as that person talks more and you're asking those follow up questions or you're commenting throughout, they're what they're saying. Just like in a conversation with a friend, she was able to get great content for her article and write a great story that really got to the court of who this person waas. So next up will take a look at how to take this content from the interview and put it together to start writing your story. I'll see you in the next video. 5. PART 1: Listen to Full Interview Sample Between Writer and Interviewee: Hello. Hi. Is this Daniel? Hi, this is Lizzie Brady. I'm calling from Keeper. How are you? Are you doing? I'm doing well. Is this a good time for you? Okay, Awesome. So just to let you know to I am recording this. But I also be taking some notes to just to make sure that I get it all down after interview . I'll then go and just write a story about you. I don't know how much I mentioned this in the email, but at Keeper, we really do view fashion just as this ever changing journey that's really inspired by you . Ah, and a style. You know, we appreciate styles that go deeper than just a trend. Um, and so as a blogger, what? I'm really looking for our stories that just represent you well, and your style while in that journey for you. So I was sent a few photos of you in New York and was just really struck by how classic, but also unique. Your look is so start just to start. Could you tell me just a bit about yourself? What do you do? And do you live in New York? All right, I do live in New York. I live in Brooklyn, New York. Um, transition from? Well, I'm from New York. Well, from Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York. Um, I went to undergrad in North Carolina and a small school called Fantasy University where I really hated it. Oh, graduated there with my English. And then I left while I continue work down there Well, down there. And I was like administrative director and then also working housing. I just got tired of private law school with law school. Rutgers University graduates there for about three years ago. Took the bar, didn't pass open minded, start working on my own projects. And I think basically like Daniel, why don't you just start working in fashion? How would I even make money doing that? They would like to be like a personal like, all right, when you think about this and talk to some people that I know that do PR like start of long , I started that and that didn't really work out the way I thought I was going to put a lot of good writer just working in, like the feeling like personal styling, helping advance with people and coordinating outfits with other people that actually like from something I was wearing, which doesnt still surprised about things like that. You gotta love. Yeah. Uh, wow, that is that is, seriously, quite quite the journey to where you are. No. And in looking back, are you Are you glad that you're here or um Oh, yeah. I love it here. Give me, like, the free space work in and do what I want to be do and be like You need to just be so creative where everything and law And like everything that I've been told to do in life and structure Didn't like the idea Worked like 9 to 5 Normal And like, even when I lived in North Carolina school down there some way that dress or like even in things, people question it, But there's a different lifestyle down there, too. And it just wasn't accepted. And then me coming back to New York, it just opened. Mantra touched so many different things, and it's, like, so regular here and everybody just trying to do something different and new. But everybody is like a tradition. Everybody tried to do something different, and I love yeah, how refreshing is that too, Especially if they're coming from a place. Um, where you were questioned. And that wasn't appreciated, man. Well, I'm sorry you had that, but also, it kind of makes you realize, you know, when you find something that you appreciate to really hold on to that too, because you know what it's like to not have that right. Um uh, yeah, yeah. So? Well, I want to touch back on that a bit later about that creativity vs the structure. But could you tell me just a little bit about the outfit you were wearing when we took your photo? Where were you headed? And yep, we'll start there. The house wearing literally had creative head out earlier today that earlier that day that on, like, one aware of this. And I think this is just, well normal, and I feel so block the meat is something a little more out of the box from what I have already had the where and Royal Blue is one of my favorite colors and I have a whole royal blue suit. I'm tired of wearing the whole suit. Me creates these pants, and I wanted to show also show my chest, but nothing left it open and happy like that. Just purchased. Maybe like four days prior. I need to wear these somewhere. What? I was pleased to do it better in Fashion week and my friend and also just giving me Ah, Kadoorie creates with doors. And he's like Then you need where this way we can take this is on it and tag my okay. Cool. And I had that hat and it was, like, the perfect time and everything just went well began. I mean, it was the perfect time. And again, Yeah. No, that's that's awesome. Like I said, when I saw your photos, I was like, Hell, yeah, that's a great It's a good, good style. Oh, you haven't. Oh, that's what you mentioned that. Yeah, there. Um, so I don't work on that end of the posting and everything, so I really don't know much on how that works or what their system is. But what's funny is I'll see. I'll see a lot of photos. Um, just kind of cycle through. So you're I'm sure it'll come up. Do you follow keeper on Instagram? Yeah, I've I've seen some people like photos that went up Probably, you know, earlier on in June that are kind of being posted now, Teoh, or even even July. So, um Okay, Yeah, indefinitely. Now that I'm interviewing you and we'll write a block post, you will be on our block also. So but the block is going live in the coming weeks as well. Okay, so yeah. Anyway, um, So where were we? Just I just lost my train of thought. OK, so you were at you were at freshen week, and I just felt like you should mix mix it up from your normal, you know, im extremely hot goingto when I was just getting them at the becomes going to Paul and Ronan show. And then I just went outside at drinks and then a big ass full of that kind of willing everything. E got caught in the rain. My door pull up Got ran over by a truck. Wait. Oh, your fedora. If I said you got ran over by a truck, I was like, Oh, my God. Well, like the frame when it flew over Troubles past mild mannered, Great day already? Oh, no. Uh, have you been able to wear it again, or is it just totally? Oh, wow. Well, that's you. That's a good thing. You're ableto to get another one from him. Um, so I'm curious to what you mentioned. Like you just felt block, like, kind of dressing yourself is based on feeling. Maybe, but could you talk more about that? What's that process for you even when you wake up in the morning and you're selecting a look when I wake up in the morning And I was like, Look, I'm looking for something that is going to set me aside like a regular person and something that makes me also feel comfortable when I walk out where I don't like to have the question block. So, like, for that will, like today, I'm gonna go through a process of trying to put on clothes, and I'm really not going with store in the good paper horizon. Yeah, and but I want to be seen in a light that is normal. I want everybody like, Oh, that guy's kind of different sports. I mean, I just want to look different and be very unique. And any top away that I can yeah, may just get that down. Yeah, my process is pretty quick. It doesn't take too long, because, I mean, I see something. I might sit right there, and I just piece it all together, forming art, but whatever or putting a puzzle together, Just seeing everything comes in life. It happened. Yeah. You know, I the more I was able to lean into that also for myself, it gave me a lot less anxiety when I was, like shopping or trying to pick out clothes, because I realized if something doesn't catch my eye where I'm like, yes, that's it, then I'm just not going to buy it. It's not worth even even the time or money, or like, energy and thinking about whether or not I should buy it. Um, and so when you have a closet full of items that you've slowly collected that you're like yes, exactly it, that's what I want, Then it makes it a little easier to in the morning to get dressed. Yeah, it does. But it's always this thing that's, you know, changing, too. I'm I've found that I don't even have a whole lot of close, but I'm still finding all these new ways toe put them together that I haven't done before. Yeah, Another good thing. You start like you can have a couple of pieces that you actually have a warning month. Something like I can actually teach together with something out. Yeah, exactly. Um, so I'm curious than to hear, Like, what does fashion mean to you like, Yeah, that's a pretty open ended question. And people take it a lot of different moods. Um, I mean, it's it's so vacant, general, but I'm curious to hear how you'd answer that. For me personally, fashion's all about individuality and being who you are comfortable in your own skin enoughto somewhere you a platform for you to expression in every facet of life. Like you see people of these logos on T shirts made off the back of the filling in for that day. Or just like the outlook on life. Me wearing a door tomorrow. I mean, like a very colorful one. That could be by my personality, just a colorful person. Just like I wear colors all the time. It's just individuality. And you can't. You can't say hello to everybody over 12 Amy and everybody, that is your form of being, like, walking through the streets and let people know this. You are from the day they're born. Just you are throughout your life. I wear a three piece suit, sometimes from people like, What do you do? Like, you know that work, in fact? No. It's like I gotta work every day, So it's just a form of individuality. Yeah, um, and I'm curious. Why? Why is that so important to you? Like, what is it? What's what's that motivation behind the, um, individuality, you know, because there are so many different ways. Reasons why people, um, use fashion. But yeah, if you could just speak more to the individuality and why that's so important personally for me, A lot to deal with. Like I Teoh go back to what we were told earlier. Um, my whole time, like throughout undergrad, even like my freshman was my senior year in high school. When I started to find out myself in fashion, I was like, found a lot of people thought I was part of the homosexual community, which I have no problems with. No quarrels, anything. But I was thinking, you know, this has nothing to do with that at all. It's just like how I like the dress. Just because I like the dress, it certainly doesn't mean you put me in a box. And that's also about individuality and all of that just transformed to be comfortable with who I am, no matter what I do what I say, how act or anything and clothing, like part of the first problem, part of the process and just allowing me to be me and who I am and not letting anybody swayed my decision on what I wanna wear tomorrow. Just because they may be guy that I am part of this or whatever it is. And you should be who you are the other day and not let anybody, it will fade your life. Yeah, I totally agree. Um, do you have? Do you remember any times to before you're able to really grow into that? When you caught yourself wearing something that really didn't like wasn't in line with who you are or if you have a story about that? I give an example. I think you're when I ask people is, I guess the time when you find yourself following a trend and then realize that you don't even actually like what you're wearing. Yeah, I think more like an undergrad. There was a couple of times, like there was a clothing line called Scheme that was based out of like D C. Maryland area. And I went to school with a lot of people like they're trained with. Their style of dress is different, but I was like, I have like this. It was like I think it was more like a painted T shirts with, like, blotches of pain. Everywhere I go, I'm gonna give me one of these. I went out of paid $100 1 you sure awarded. I collected, like, two or three of them. I'm like, Why the hell am I actually wearing these? Don't really, Can't you? These and I was just getting in with the norm of everybody in my school and just trying to be cool and down with everybody else. So I can say that was like, one of the name. Yeah. Yeah, that's I mean, I So I'm just hoping that, um I have too many of those moments to where you look back and you're like, Wait, what's going on here? Yeah, exactly. But you know what? What I've realized to is 6. PART 2: Listen to Full Interview Sample Between Writer and Interviewee: even those times when you look back and you think, Wow, I cannot believe I wore that it's it's all part of it, too. And it's all part of exploring what does make you feel good. And, um, I don't know. Yeah, so it's not wasted. Um, so I another one of my questions, you kind of you kind of already answered and touched on it, but I was curious of fashion has always been something that's been important to you or did you grow into it? But also, I would be curious to hear to Ah, were there any Are there any people in your life that you grew up with where fashion really influenced you and the way you viewed it? Um, the person that influenced fashion or style with my life was my mother like, even growing up as a kid, she would like every Friday, Saturday we would like to go to the mall. She would give me and my brother like, maybe, like, $50 a piece might go find outfit and just or shirt didn't come back with my change. But every Saturday, that was like a ritual. It's not like two Saturdays of the boat, and whenever she went out, she always made sure she was dressed to the minds and just great whenever she went out and all her friends used to come by my cardboard. Your mother's closes, find some items. So she's one of the people that have always still, like look good when you walk out the door. If you look good, you feel that it pushes very true. Well, I guess just, you know, what was that like when you realized a fashion was something that's been important to him? I think it's I felt in tow, maybe seriously, like in an underground, probably. And what's that happened? It just happened. And I have been doing now that I actually finished when I finished law school and really like focus on Buckle Down on it. It just like, now, like boring love with than ever before, because now running into people, doing work with it and actually being paid for and something I never thought about going. So yeah, what's one of the best? Um, I guess jobs that you you've had since you started best projects, honestly, starting my own business, I started my own personal styling business, and I've helped a plethora of people and just saying, like some people who never even thought they could, like, create out like I helped me to go for it back to the future Isn't more ah, women's art for life dinner and she reached out to me like two weeks prior. I really just want you to help me find out that I never even thought about what I'm gonna wear. Hodges went basic stuff that I made. You can help me in my car and, like I took her shopping, show the ways to have better shopping techniques and everything got ousted together, and she just felt so in love. So appreciated. And then what? You wore the outfit, she said. Like 2030 fixes couldn't stop like everybody loves loud that you make me feel like I'm like the best thing in the room. That's the feeling that want to have everybody build. Yeah, that's so good. That is so good. So could you tell me, like, what's some advice that you give to someone that's looking to cultivate their personal style or someone comes to you? And what's one of the first pieces of advice you say two, like a new client of yours can answer either of those personal about me. And I asked them like, uh, I go through like either they're called that are, like the fictional Instagram and try to see whether where they're at and what is their favorite colors. Like what duty, like, essentially loved aware. And if somebody like I loved rare genes, now we can have, like, a discussion of, like, happy thought about wearing your team like this way. Or have you thought about distressing them or anything like that? So I want to get, like, the person, like, find that unique capability in the person and then, like, creating cultivate all around, and then we can start exploring Mawr Avenue on the whole new outfit and everything. So I just want to personally give, you know, the person way confined, coming together with one another. Yeah, that sounds really collaborative. Um, man, what? I also had another thing in mind that I said I was gonna touch back on. Oh, you know, I guess it's cool to hear more about your background in this journey and, you know, going from feeling like, you know, really structured or limited lifestyle to now this, like, burst of creativity and, um, a new possibility In what ways does does that kind of influence your fashion now? I mean, now my fashions everywhere. I think that that whole being structured and like box then like I mean at one point in my life was literally working 16 hours a day in a long term intern. And I wore to but nuts every day. And then I got to the point where I'm like, I can't do this anymore. You know, like to expound on the extent of the idea of creativity. Like I couldn't walk into my office or the job that I was working at a law firm with hair and a flat top with a part in it. E just completely went rogue. One down, like a roller blind brought my hair out. I go to my barbershop, they blinded, and I literally was like, I couldn't do this in my old job like I couldn't do this Nothing. I'm like working in the field where creative minds do whatever they want more accepted. And that's just enough for me to be like I'm where I wanna be like I am who I am. I do. With the hell I want to do is just call it a day. Yeah. Gosh, that sounds so much better than 16 however, is a lot. Oh, yeah, that's even where so many. So what do you say to someone? That's, um, you know, what's one piece of advice you would say to someone that's looking to cultivate their own? Look, um, I know you told me about that process, but I would say, just like you're looking, cultivation looks follow like what you think is right. And don't be afraid to step outside the box and they'll be afraid of what others think about your outfit is, or somebody like you're wearing blue and black. That doesn't go together. Don't be afraid to stay away from the norm. I mean, that's all about because that's what art is, anyway. I mean, everybody world best creators, best scientists, artists all did something so different made them who they are. And people didn't question it. 15 years later, everybody's like, Oh, that actually was an amazing idea outfit, whatever it is, So just try to be away from the norm and do you. Yeah, yeah. No, that's That's really good. Much easier said than done, as I'm sure you know, Teoh. But you know, once once you're able to flex those muscles a little bit more than your it gets easier, I think. But, you know, I'm sure. I know even times the first time that I stepped out wearing something like, I cannot believe I'm doing this. But I really want to wear this on then and there and then being like, Oh, that wasn't so bad. And people actually complimented me on it, and I'm gonna try it again, and it gets a little easier. Exactly. Exactly. So, um, yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying to think what else I mean. That's kind of all All the questions that I had for you. Um, this Is there anything else that you'd like to add that I that I didn't really ask about? Oh, actually, I have something. Normally I asked people if your style were a song. What song would it be? Oh, wow. Ah, a great question. Wow. You got me there, Andre. 3000 outcast booty duty on you. Whatever. That would be a And it's like if you hear for me personally, like best me walking out the door just compete. The risk of the tone is like I should be having that played behind me while I'm walking everywhere I love that you shouldn't, um, me, That's awesome. And and so, yeah, can you just describe a little more why you said the B Do you have the rhythm? The tone is so smooth and so classic and you can hear, like old blue note minute and jazz like performance. And it's just like I feel like I'm that guy. When I walk out the door when I'm wearing, like, blanked out that work for Fashion Week, I felt like that should have been just playing by the old Yeah, being with, like, the pitch tone, but not still kind of classy, so organically. Um, that's perfect. That's a great great anthem. Um, and for sure going to listen to that right after this. So So I guess we'll and done where do you see yourself in your faction in five years from now? Where would you hope that you bombed, like, work with, uh, basketball, please? Entertainers being like a celebrity stylist, and I know it takes, it's going to take a lot to give their and I'm working. I'm working and I just want to be, like, working with some of the best in the world entertainment and sports wives. And then time after that, I don't want to open my good p a consulting firm for emission control with just all these creative burn into one room just pulling, crying and creating any and every outfit possible for each and every client that we come in contact with. Yeah. Wow. Well, it sounds like you're on the right track and have have what it takes to get there. Um, yeah, Well, awesome. I really appreciate the time you took Teoh to talk with me and, um oh, yeah, of course. And I'll try to remember, just to let you know when it's up on the block and when that gets going. But keep an eye out for your photo. I'm sure it'll cycle through Instagram. Oh, of course. And you have my email. So if there's anything else that you're like, oh, yeah, I should have liked mentioned that. Feel free to shoot me an email, and I'll do the same if I need to just follow up and clarify on anything, but, um, other than that, it was an honor to talk with you. And I hope you have a good rest your day and best of luck to you and everything. Thank you. You have a great big thank you. Goodbye. 7. Writing your feature story: welcome back. Okay, So you now have all of your content from your interview. Taken notes. You've recorded the call. Whatever. However, you managed to conduct the interview. Now you have a bunch of content to turn into your feature stories. So how do you go about doing this before you start writing? There are a few key questions that you can ask yourself to really pull out those important pieces that you're going to be, including in your feature story. So asking question like, is there a main seen here in the conversation? Can really start to set the tone of what you're going to be writing about, and you want to go back to that purpose, right? So that purpose of what is ah, great story that I can write that my readers will care about have that in your mind as you look through your notes and identify what is something really interesting that this person said, What is something important? What is useful, what is relevant? What is something that our readers will care about? Put little stars beside those points and those notes that you've taken so you can really start to pull those pieces out and from there, decide what your thesis will be, how the story will support your thesis and what main points you're going to make in your story. I want to show you this example from one of keepers writers, too. Help you see how you can start to organize this information into a great story. So this particular writer decided to start off with a quote from the interview right off the back. And if you read the quote, you can start to understand why it's one of those really interesting points about the conversation that sets the tone for the rest of the article that she writes and it started creates a scene. So the quote is, I get inspiration just from walking around the streets, looking at the architecture of buildings and how they intersect. There's something so powerful about buildings that despite the weathering and thousands of people walking through them every day, they're still standing. It's a powerful testament to the subtle beauty of the city. Now that quote has nothing to do with fashion. But it's something that she pulled out of their conversation that she later realizes is really the theme behind his style after opening. What, that quote she goes on to bring her own voice into the story. And this is something that we encourage our writers to do is to really bring in your own voice and use the person that you're interviewing. Use their story as support for what your own argument is, because if you focus entirely on that person story and the fax and fingers and everything else that you've gathered from your conversation, it will sound more like a report, a dry report and something that you're observing rather than something that you're telling a story about and presenting a powerful argument on. So to give you an example, let's read this next paragraph here. I wasn't surprised when Joshua told me he's inspired by the architecture of the city. I'm not just saying that because 80% of his wardrobe is black or because his pieces tend to be structured with clean lines. So now she's bringing in his inspiration of architecture into fashion and style. And if you look at the end part of this paragraph, you can clearly see what her argument is, she writes. So when I talk about finding inspiration for your personal style. I believe it's less about absorbing a particular trend and more about finding something that moves you to represent yourself well, strengthen your foundation and beam confidence even in the daily grind. So boom, That's her argument right there. And she's built up to that argument to state her argument based on what Joshua has said. So you don't want to over use direct quotes from the interview, and you also don't want to use too much repetitive nous like he said this. And she said that your goal is to tell the person's story. But to use their story as support for your own voice, your own argument that you're gonna be making in this article in this way, your article feel less like a news report and more like a really interesting feature story that people will share and like, and we want to read. Take a look at this one right here. You can see that this person has gotten a lot of great content from the interview. In fact, they've gotten too much right. This article is extremely long, with very few paragraphs, and all of the information is put together. Let's take a closer look. The writer. Actually, it talks a lot about who this person is, and they go on to write sentences like she described her style as this. She grew up with two brothers dead ended up. She puts on this. She loves working as this. Her favorite piece is this, and even further down in the in the paragraph here again, talking about the person she interviewed. She wakes up in the morning and does this. Previously she worked as this, so you can see how the repetition comes out of this article as very, very dry and just very factual, like this person does this and this person is this. But what is lacking is the story and the the author's own voice in article. So going back to this article here, you can really see it's extremely short, and I'm sure that the writer has gotten a lot more from the interview. But she really pulled out that one interesting scene, the one interesting point about the architecture and the inspiration that buildings have upon this person's style. And she uses that using her own voice, and brings that out to deliver her argument off. I believe it's less about absorbing a particular trend and more about strengthening your foundation, finding a style that represents you well so you can start to see the difference here, delivering less about facts, delivering less dry news, report type of style and more story like more bringing your own voice. Your own individuality into this article will really help make your article stand out amongst the rest. So I hope this has been helpful for you. If you have any questions on this at all, or if you'd like me to take a look at what you've written and provide my feedback, I'd be happy to do so. Just posted in the question and answer section of the course so all of the other students can also benefit from this. All right, guys, I will see you in the next video. 8. Putting it all together: So to put everything together after you've written a story, you really need to go through your story and make sure that it flows well. And there's a cohesiveness about it. After you write your story, it's a great idea to pass it along to a friend or colleague or a writer. Perhaps that, you know, to give you that feedback on your article and ask them, Are there any questions that come up when you're reading this? Are there any disconnects that you see? Sometimes it's really easy to present information from an interview. So to state certain facts without letting the reader really get into it more, and that can raise some questions by the readers. Maybe they're reading a certain statement that you've made about how this person grew up and then before they can really start to understand the relevance of that and get more into it. You're presenting a new point about their career right now and how it's going for them. Do you give enough time for the reader to really get into what you're saying, or do you continuously bring up new points? Are there any missing pieces? Missing Links is there Does the article flow well, when I'm reading, it doesn't make sense. Well, my readers care about it. This ties into the theme back that I actually provided toe one of the writers at Keeper. So she submitted this article and she's She introduces the person in the first paragraph when it comes to forging and unique style that breaks the rules. Spencer the Burges one toe watch So she says to tell his story. After graduating Juilliard School, he relocated to Europe, where he worked for several dance companies. And it was in these years, he says, that style became his personal form of expression. Moving halfway across the world triggered a sense of freedom within him that seeped into other parts of this life. So she's just tell the story. She uses quite a few quotes in, I think 43 or four quotes throughout this the end of this paragraph. And then she moves on now, too, on the second page to talk about Spencer's fashion and what it resembles, and she describes its fashion. And then she also touches upon his man braid. And then she talks about in this paragraph one of his major fashion inspirations. and again she ends it off within this photo. This is what he's wearing so you can see here that she presents. She brings up a lot of different points about Spencer without really creating a solid argument. So this is the feedback that I sent to her. After reading the article, I said, It sounds like you were able to get some great content from your interview. It isn't easy to connect with a complete stranger. So great job on this. We encourage you to put more of your own voice into the article. Our audience would be interested in hearing your opinion backed up by the interviewees story instead of just stating facts about the person tell the person's story but used the story to support whatever your own argument. ISS. I also give her this second piece of feedback right here, and I say also, we felt the articles a little bit too long. Um, I said that it wasn't so much about the word count as it was about the impact that the length had on her stories. So I said, I don't feel like you need to include all of the points you collected from the interview. I understand the interview. We had a ton of great content and you want to include it all. But the art of writing a great story comes from pulling out the most interesting things that the reader will care about and putting those ideas together. So I told her to cut out the nest of the unnecessary sentences and take one or two main ideas, using her own voice and her own argument. Make that great, and that is better as a delivery for feature story, rather than trying to touch upon eight different ideas and then having the end result as mediocre. So I hope you guys can see from these examples what the feedback is in order to really improve and create, AH flow, a cohesive feature article or story that will appeal to your readers and that will help you stand out and find your own voice and develop your skills as a writer.