the feature. The
instructor may even impersonate different persons connected with
the story and have the class interview him for the facts. This
method is to be followed throughout the whole study of news
story writing. (In individual study, practice may be secured
from writing up imaginary or real facts.)

3. In these first fire stories, use fires that have no interest
beyond the interest in the fire itself--that is, no feature.
Begin the story with "Fire" and devote the lead to answering the
reader's customary questions.

4. Look for newspaper fire stories that are not correctly written
and reconstruct the lead according to the logic of the fire
lead. That is, strive for conciseness and cut out details that
do not properly belong in the lead.

5. Make a list of the reader's customary questions concerning any
fire and write out the briefest possible answers. Then construct
a lead to embody these answers. Determine which answer should
come first and which last, according to importance.

6. Write the bodies of some of these stories. First list the facts
that are to be presented and determine the order of their
importance.

7. Emphasize the separateness and completeness of the two parts of
the story--the lead and the body of the story. Test the leads to
see if they would be clear in themselves without further
explanation.

8. Strive for brevity, conciseness and clearness; wage war on all
attempts at fine writing.

EXERCISES FOR THE SIXTH CHAPTER

1. Study fire stories which have features--an interest beyond the
mere fire itself--and see how the newspapers write them.

2. In a feature fire story of Class I., make a list of the reader's
customary questions concerning the fire, as if it were a simple
fire story, and a list of the answers. See if any answer is more
interesting than the fire itself, or if its presence makes the
story more interesting. Show that such an answer is the feature.

3. Write fire stories with features in some one of the reader's
customary answers. (Class I.)

4. Study a simple fire story and try to imagine what
things--properly answers to the reader's customary
questions--might happen to give the fire greater news va