Feature and Summary Leads:Whats the Difference!?

Feature Leads doesn't cram all of the 5W's and 1H into one sentence, not even into one paragraph. Feature Leads try to paint a descriptive scene for the reader. These leads try to "tempt" you to read more and they also leave to you wondering. Tell describe whats is to come further along in the story. Anecdotal leads, narrative leads, descriptive leads, question leads and many other types of feature leads that are used in feature stories. Summary Leads are very specific, concise, use active voice and tells you the most important information first. If your summary lead is good, then your reader will want to read the rest of the story. Summary Leads are ususally found in chronological stories, but you can also use them in feature stories.

I found an example of a feature lead on the New York Time's website. The article's, For Dinner (and Fast), the Taste of Home, lead paragraph says, "ALTHOUGH Gladys Puglla-Jimenez came to this country from Ecuador 30 years ago, her kitchen on Putnam Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn is still intimately connected to her homeland, from her stocks of spices like achiote pepper powder to the tropical green of the walls." Another example of a feature lead can be found on the Baltimore Sun's website. The article is called Harford County farmer sings the praises of the green roof movement. The lead says, "Five generations of the Snodgrass family have prospered at Emory Knoll Farms in northern Harford County. Its 365 acres have evolved from a 19th-century dairy operation to a crop farm for most of the 20th. Now Ed Snodgrass runs a 21st-century roofing business - one that is environmentally friendly and has nothing to do with slate, tin or asphalt."