Feature & Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes

by Holly G. Miller and David E. Sumner

Book Overview

Updated with fresh facts, examples and illustrations, along with two new chapters on digital media and blogs this third edition continues to be the authoritative and essential guide to writing engaging and marketable feature stories. Covers everything from finding original ideas and angles to locating expert sources Expanded edition with new chapters on storytelling for digital media and building a story blog Captivating style exemplifies the authors'...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1118305132
• ISBN13: 9781118305133
• Release Date: January 2013
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Writing Tool

As an editor for a military base magazine, I find this textbook exactly what a journalist needs to transition into magazine style feature writing. The book adds fresh angles to the art of writing while never straying too far from the basics. I have already written better stories and improved my interviewing techniques since reading through a few chapters. I have assigned my Marines to read a few chapters, and it has helped them as well.

Enjoyable, but you shouldn't use this as your only source

I enjoyed this book, which I used as an (unassigned) textbook for a class. If I didn't know anything about feature writing, I would not just rely on this book to tell me everything I need to know, although the information provided is helpful. Sumner could make more use of examples of good feature writing (he does this to great effect with one particular fantastic article, "Mrs. Kelly's Monster" by Jon Franklin, the first article to win the Pulitzer for Feature Writing). In many cases, Sumner uses information given in other textbooks and authors' published books on writing, which means that his book is less of a primary source and more of a compendium of author comments at times. This is not a bad thing. However, the chapters were so short that by the time you really got into the material, it was over. Some of the class assignments would be really useful if done as homework for class. Overall, this book is helpful, but I do prefer the textbook by Bruce Garrison, which I am currently reading.

Fantastic text

This book gives is well written and informative. It explains feature writing without trying to bury the reader, and it is well organized throughout. It is somehow enjoyable as well.