One thing I learned in this class is that everyone has a story to tell. We hear that saying a lot but when you are focused with coming up with feature stories idea you realize that we are really surrounded by so many fascinating stories each and every day.
We started out the semester by researching a feature writer of our choice. I chose Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith. I chose him because I had read multiple articles of his and had always been captivated by the way he was pulled me into the story to the point I couldn't put it down.
While researching his work I found a quote that taught me a very important lesson for class. Smith once stated that his best feature stories come from focusing on the obscure rather than the famous. In other words, there are so many various pieces written about the people we talk about and hear about day in and day out. He realized that those people who were often overlooked also had stories to tell. In fact, most of the time their stories were actually better because they had never been heard before.
This lesson helped me when I looked to come up with feature story ideas. There truly are so many feature story ideas surrounding us in our every day. All we have to do is probe and ask questions and be willing to listen to those with a story to tell. If we listen and give those around us an opportunity to share their story, we as writers will have several incredible stories to recreate and share with our audiences.
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