Journ. 132: Prof. Craig: Feature Leads

FEATURE LEADS

Feature leads often take more of a storytelling approach than the standard summary lead.  Features (and other “soft-news” types of stories) will often begin with questions, descriptions or quotes to set the tone for the details to come.  This is not to say that feature stories don’t stress facts – they must, or they won’t be effective news stories.  Features generally work them in later as part of a narrative framework.  As such, many types of feature leads fall under the heading of narrative leads.  This type of lead uses assorted storytelling elements to draw readers into the story, which is then constructed as a narrative rather than a summary.  This means that it tells a story either chronologically or with other elements that draw a reader logically from beginning to end. 

Some types of feature leads:

The scene-setting lead, which introduces readers to the area where the story mainly takes place. Here's an example, using a national park as a backdrop: 

Most mountains don't look like this. A thin wall of slate-gray rock rises hundreds of feet in the air, surrounded by others that look like they've had huge chunks knocked off them by some monumental hammer and chisel. 

Then again, most mountains weren't carved by glaciers. 

Obviously, this is useful when writing a story in which the setting is a vital element - in a place far away or otherwise of special interest. Here the writer paints a picture for the reader, which will be followed by the details of the story. The one-sentence second paragraph packs a little punch - it's an unexpected piece of information that gives readers a peek at what's interesting about the story, and invites them to continue reading. 

You'll notice that there are few if any references to the essential questions you need to answer in a standard news story. In feature leads, you often want to hook the reader first with an evocative passage that will make the reader want to learn more. In this case, the lead will be followed by an explanation: 

These stunning peaks are the trademark of Montana's Glacier National Park, where a new visitors center allows tourists to learn more about the park's natural wonders than ever before. 

Here you learn the "what" and "where" of the story. Because this story isn't about an event or person and isn't particularly timebound, there is less need to identify the "who" and "when" elements as there might be with a standard news story.

The character lead, which introduces the central person in a story. These are most common in personality profiles or stories in which you use an individual to represent a larger topic. Here's an example tied in to the national park setting: 

Marvin Wells always seems to have a smile on his face - even when his truck won't start in the morning.

"It does this all the time," says Wells, 42, as he looks under the hood. "It's the thin air up here, I think."

Wells doesn't smile because he's rich or famous or dating a supermodel. He just loves getting up in the morning and saying hello to Lake McDonald. 

This is also another instance of a narrative lead that is engaging and pleasant to read, but contains few answers to the essential questions. This also must be followed by an explanation: 

Wells is a ranger at the Fish Creek Campground at Glacier National Park, which has just opened for the summer tourist season. 

If your publication requires something shorter, in this case it's easy to remove or relocate the reference to the truck not starting, which is colorful but not absolutely necessary. One way or the other, this story takes a setting (a national park) and personalizes it. This is a common function of a character lead.

A contrast lead introduces some sort of a twist through information that seems to unexpectedly conflict or contrast. Subjects that have changed dramatically lend themselves to this sort of lead, with a "then vs. now" angle. Cases in which something is not as it initially seems also work well with contrast leads. Here's an example: 

It doesn't look like much of a place to live. The walls are painted a dark gray-green, there are few amenities, and the living space makes the average cheap motel room look immense. 

Why would anyone choose to reside here? Well, you should see the mind-blowing mountain view outside the back door. To spend every day at Glacier National Park, rangers are apparently willing to put up with a few inconveniences. 

In this case, a setting that sounded like some squalid flophouse turns out to be our now-familiar national park. These types of leads are very popular in features and even sometimes in hard news stories because the contrast piques the reader's interest and lures him/her into reading further.

Punchy leads usually use an off-the-wall fact, question or approach that is intended to raise a question in readers' minds and make them want to read further. Punchy leads can come in seemingly any shape, size, or subject - as long as a lead takes an unusual approach to immediately get your attention, it can fall under this heading. Here's another example with the national park as a backdrop: 

Would you know a hoary marmot if you saw one? A mountain goat would. The gray and brown furry creatures look a little like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver. And in Glacier National Park, where mountain goats rule the roost, hoary marmots are just another part of the scenery. 

Essentially, a punchy lead is exactly what its name would suggest - a lead in which the writer aims to smack readers between the eyes with a quick phrase that forces them to consider something they didn't know or look at a subject from a new perspective.