The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide [Paperback]

William E. Blundell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0452261589 | ISBN-13: 978-0452261587 | Edition: 1st Plume Printing, Nov. 1988

Paperback

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 1st Plume Printing, Nov. 1988 edition (November 29, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452261589
• ISBN-13: 978-0452261587
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Education & Reference > Publishing & Books > Authorship

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I've ever read on the writing process, June 7, 2001

By 

Dane S. Claussen "Dane S. Claussen, PhD, MBA" (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide (Paperback)

The reviewer from Laguna Niguel who says this book is boring apparently has been reading too many textbooks and therefore is only used to reading textbooks. Yes, the examples in this book are out of date, but so what? The full-text examples are still excellent articles after 15 years or so; great writing is always great writing even after it goes from being current events to being history. In 1984, I saw the transcript of Blundell's lectures on feature writing that became the basis for this book, and I still use this book in teaching my feature writing course and my magazine writing course, because nothing else comes close. Among many other accomplishments, this book gives students a SYSTEM for coming up with original story ideas and original story angles that most of them couldn't come up with on their own--in direct contrast to other books that use poetry or other gimmicks to try to make students "feel creative" and then be creative. Rather than being read once or not at all and/or being used only for reference, this is a book that should be read over and over again.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Writing as critical thinking, February 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide (Paperback)

One of the biggest mistakes young reporters make is viewing reporting and writing as separate exercises, one following the other. Bill Blundell rightly sees them as one process. Good reporting begets good writing. It begins with critical thinking about your subject, which if done properly brings strong focus and organization to your story. In 20 years as a newspaper reporter and editor I've not run across a more practical, common sense approach to writing than that offered by the Art & Craft of Feature Writing.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, Refreshing approach!, June 26, 2004

By 

(Rizzo) Rizzuto (Denver) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide (Paperback)

There is a voice in this book, and you can just HEAR this guy as he admonishes writers and drills into their heads the step-by step guide to reporting and writing. The tone is firm with a direct approach to feature writing as the author is adamant that, "reporting and writing can NOT be divorced."

I like the sharp conversational tone; it's like sitting in the classroom. He is very clever with the similes and metaphors to clearly drive his point.

Although this book has made the rounds for years, Blundell offers refreshing ideas and unique insight to writing. He speaks of experience as a Wall Street Journal writer. This is HIS voice, and not a slew of other professional writers churning out a how to book.

I like a quote of his when he tells us that the READER requires specific information and our first priority is to meet that requirement and also that the reader has a deeper and more universal need that has to be met or, he flees. The author said, "nothing is easier than to stop reading."

You won't find the usual writing book addressing topics like these. A sample chapter is Raw Materials - generating ideas; Extrapolation (beyond the event lies a broader, more significant story); Synthesis (assembling promising story ideas from what looks like a junkpile of spare parts); Localization (thinking big); Projection (declining to follow the media sheep to a pasture already overgrazed) and Viewpoint Switching (thinking of a story as a piece of terrain with varying topography).

Also topics titled Shaping Ideas; Story Dimensions, Planning and Execution, Organization, and you get great insight into Handling Key Story Elements that delves into the dreaded leads and endings.

What is interesting in a unique approach to his section titled Wordcraft. He assumes that you the reader already know grammar, syntax and usage. So his goal is to show us how to achieve certain effects at certain places in the story.

You will read some full texts on sample stories that are sprinkled throughout the chapters. Blundell also provides reading material for the writer. He says, "whole forests have died to fill the marketplace with other writing books." One suggestion is Zissner's "On Writing Well."

This is a unique writing book and is meant to read completely. ....Rizzo