Evaluation: How I approached writing a feature article…
Before I began writing this week, I already had my mind set on a particular story that had interested me and which would form the basis for which genre I would choose to create a piece of media based on.
I chose to write a feature article based on Paul Chuckle’s (one half of the comedy duo the Chuckle Brothers) recent interview for a podcast entitled The Panto Podcast because he talks very candidly about his life and career, but most interestingly the process of making TV series ChuckleVision and the reasons behind its eventual cancellation.
This is something that, before now, had not been disclosed explicitly in interviews, and the way in which he explains how the BBC betrayed them and refused to make another series without consulting them, obviously affected he and his brother emotionally and their relationship with the broadcaster thereafter. Hence, it felt like an exclusive story that would unlikely to have been reported elsewhere and would form a good basis on which to write a feature article.
When I began crafting the article, I tried to incorporate several of the techniques commonly used in this genre of writing, but also others used in different genres also.
For instance, I used a standfirst at the very beginning of the article to give readers an idea of what will be explored throughout the article, mentioning also who the interviewee was speaking to and for which podcast, to establish adequate context, something which was also commonly used in some of the feature article examples I looked at for inspiration, just perhaps less explicitly.
I also tried to mix up the structure of the article by mentioning events in a different order to the actual interview, hence non-chronologically. For example, Paul Chuckle talks in chronological order about how he and his brother Barry met with the Head of CBBC to discuss ChuckleVision’s future, in which they were reassured of the BBC’s commitment to the show until they wanted to retire.
However, I mentioned the more pressing and relevant issue of the BBC’s apathy towards producing more episodes years later first, then introduced the other anecdote later to juxtapose between the two and thus exemplify the BBC’s changing attitude towards the Chuckle Brothers and ChuckleVision.
I also tried to adhere to the ‘Kabob’ structure common in longform narratives, something which I struggled with at first, in an attempt not to conform too closely with the ‘inverted pyramid’ structure of generic news articles.
However, I took inspiration from several Guardian feature articles which incorporated the use of a direct quote, namely an anecdote, at the beginning and end of the article, the former most frequently in the headline, which I also emulated in my own piece.
Thus, enabling it to end on a more personal and direct note. I also emulated the articles’ use of mimetic storytelling in my own work, whereby instead of relying on direct quotes for everything Paul Chuckle discussed in the interview, I paraphrased them in the style of an effaced narrator, which enabled for a more coherent explanation of the events than articulated in the original interview.
On the whole, while I have endeavoured to conform to the narrative structure of a typical feature article, there are techniques which I did struggle to incorporate into my work. For instance, I found it difficult to “show, not tell”, particularly as this interview, originating from a podcast, was audio only and hence I could only rely on analysing the interviewee’s voice and intonation, something which I tried, in part, to incorporate into the article as best I could.
As a consequence, I believe my article hybridises many of the techniques used in both news articles and feature articles, particularly as I dedicate several paragraphs to contextual information, both about ChuckleVision’s history in general and the Chuckle Brothers’ subsequent legacy.
This is information which, in bulk, might not be particularly appropriate for feature articles, but is information which I believe is justified for adding additional, and arguably vital, context for an audience unfamiliar with the interviewee, their work and the overarching subject of the interview.
But this, overall, enables me to experiment with the traditional structures of different written genres and create something which is unique and experimental in nature.
