Features Masterclass: Write with Flair and Focus

This one-day feature writer training course will help you distil your ideas, plan your research, and write more engaging features that need less editing.

What You’ll Learn: Generating ideas, feature writing and key interview skills

What makes a great feature? How do you come up with ideas and successfully pitch them to editors? We’ll discuss how the best in the business conjure concepts that keep you reading to the end, equip you to think critically while assessing the current features landscape, and help you build a toolkit for developing winning ideas. You’ll take part in brainstorming and pitching sessions that will leave you feeling inspired.

Working as a group, you’ll examine what makes a great feature before we take you through the key principles of feature writing, from how to write engaging introductions to the art of weaving in quotes. You’ll learn how using case studies can bring complex topics to life and how snippets of colour can elevate your work.

We’ll also focus on how to get the most from interviews – whether a 10-minute phone call, or an hour-long sit down. You’ll learn about the fundamental of interview preparation – from finding interviewees and picking locations, to writing open-ended questions and preparing for tricky topics and questions – and we’ll look at how active listening can transform your conversations.

How you’ll learn

This three-module course will be led by an experienced editor and trainer who will share their practical expertise through presentations, discussion and practical exercises – ensuring you have opportunity to reinforce your learning and test your understanding. As working on features can often be a relatively solitary exercise, we lean into the opportunity to bring people together to discuss their experiences.

Who the course is for

This feature writer training course is for you if you want to build a features toolkit of skills and knowledge that will elevate your ideas and your writing. You should have professional writing experience. If you’re a budding news writer, you might like our News Writing Fundamentals: Write Stories with Impact course.

We currently offer this course as bespoke training for teams and can deliver it remotely, or in your offices. Get in touch using the button below to discuss times and dates, as well as how we can tailor it to your needs.