At API a couple of
years ago, an editor talked about sending a reporter out to cover a community
celebration. Rumor had it that Rosa Parks was going to be there, and the
reporter spent all his time trying to find her. He walked past all kinds
of colorful people and dramas - here I'm picturing fire-eaters, quarreling
spouses, juggling clowns, stray dogs swiping shish kebabs from food kiosks
- doggedly keeping his head down, trudging to and fro, searching for Rosa
Parks. I can't remember now
whether he found her and came back with the same story that everybody
else had, or whether he couldn't find her and came back with no story
at all. But either way, he missed a huge opportunity. ``There were all kinds
of interesting things going on,'' the editor complained. ``And this guy
was so focused on finding Rosa Parks that he missed everything else.'' We decided that this
was a pretty good metaphor for spot features. Too often, reporters trudge
out to events and come back with predictable, standard roundups. You know
- an overview of the parade, or a general description of the whole event. But who wants to read
that? And who wants to write
it? No wonder we try to push these assignments onto interns. But spot features
and color stories are a rare opportunity to do something different, unusual,
surprising and fun. There's seldom any news here, so you might as well
put on your tap shoes and entertain. This kind of feature
is all about story. It's all about a good read. Readers already know what
a parade looks like, so don't describe it for them. Tell a story. The secret is in the
focus. Find the staggering person who can't see out of her parade costume,
or the curly-fries vendor who has burn marks up and down his arm but can't
take a break for another three hours, or the bottled-water salesman who
can't sell a bottle because it's raining, or the awestruck kid who gets
so carried away with the parade that she runs right out into the middle
of it. A Detroit Free Press
writer once covered an appearance by George Bush at a state fair by focusing
entirely on one spectator who was sitting on an overturned plastic bucket.
Turns out, this guy brings that bucket with him wherever he goes in case
he needs an emergency front-row seat. You, too, can find
your bucket guy. Remember, if something catches your eye or your sense
of the absurd, it likely will catch the readers', too. We've had a couple
of nice examples this summer: Kavita
Kumar's story about the ongoing snafu with hot dogs at Aquatennial,
and Allie Shah's piece about one
artist at the Uptown Art Fair - and how, if you inch even one toe over
his threshold, he starts his spiel. Rosalind
Bentley's Juneteenth feature from a few years back is legendary in
its use of tone and voice. She didn't describe Juneteenth; she jumped
right into it with both feet and took us with her. And the next time you get a spot feature assignment, don't look for Rosa Parks. Go out, look around, listen, smell, talk to people and have some fun. Some other spot features:
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