This is part 2 of a series of blogs on feature story ideas.

Freelance writers and reporters often face the same question at some point in their careers: Where do good story ideas come from? Whether you are pitching to an editor for the first time or interviewing for a staff position, your ability to generate strong, relevant ideas can open doors—or quietly close them.

Editors are not only looking for clean writing. They are looking for thinkers. They want to see how you observe the world, how you recognize patterns, and how you translate everyday situations into compelling stories readers will care about.

That’s where preparation matters.

The following are sure-fire ideas for snagging an assignment for general-interest and specialty publications. The ideas are meant to be timeless and suitable for a wide variety of geographical locations. When interviewing for a full-time writing or reporting assignment, review this list.

Many editors will test your understanding of audiences and the culture of writing and reporting by asking for a list of story ideas. The editor may prod a potential writer about his or her ideas on stories to determine if you have that elusive spark of curiosity and creativity that makes writers so quirky and fun. This list of timeless feature article ideas may help you get the job or a fistful of assignments or both.

In time, you will develop your own nose-for-assignments, and you will lean less and less on the cooked-up variety, but you’ll have a few squirreled away when you are asked to contribute an idea. Ideas tend to stimulate other ideas, so this list’s greatest use may be to jumpstart fresh ideas and approaches for you and your writing colleagues.

What follows is not meant to replace your creativity—but to strengthen it, stretch it, and give you a reliable starting point whenever opportunity comes knocking.

Remember SHOP stands for Selection, History, Observation and Perspective.

D

December graduates

What are the advantages of mid-year graduation?

S-Interview students from a variety of area colleges on their strategy for graduating in December. Talk to career counselors and headhunters. What are the trade-offs?

H-Academic advisers and school counselors can explain the popularity of the trend, which includes strategies to enter the job market before the May competition, an opportunity to travel before the academic year begins anew, and the avoidance of a sense of waste known as“senioritis.” Examine the juxtaposition of music, from holiday favorites to traditional graduation music.

O-Meet with a family or a peer group who is graduating early. How are they preparing? Are graduation parties rolled into Christmas parties? Are spirits effervescent?

P-For a different perspective on graduation, contact the following group: Graduation Pledge Alliance. Founded: 1987. Description: Participants include students, faculty members, school administrators, and other interested individuals. Promotes social and environmental responsibility by encouraging students to pledge upon graduation that they will investigate and consider the social and environmental consequences of any job opportunity they consider or work at. Seeks to: develop a network of people interested in instituting a graduation pledge program at their respective schools; encourage employers to alter their policies and practices to reflect the social and environmental concerns of their employees; increase the role of school activities in developing an informed, democratic citizenry. Holds forums and workshops; sponsors essay contests; maintains speakers’ bureau; offers consulting services.

Dirty work

We need custodians, nurses for the terminally ill and others to do the work of the unsung heroes. Who are they?

S-Develop a list of people who are essential to the society, but who are often faces in the crowd. Interview them on their philosophies and the reaction they receive from co-workers and the public.

H-Environmental Management Association (EMA). Founded: 1957. Description: Individuals administering environmental sanitation maintenance programs in industrial plants, commercial and public buildings, institutions, and governmental agencies. Conducts educational programs; operates placement service; compiles statistics

O-Spend a day with the people in the trenches and observe the rhythms of their job. One of the most rewarding feature articles I found was spending a day with a crew whom collected garbage. I found out their nicknames come from Star Wars movies and heard more anecdotes than I could use. The sanitation workers developed their own classification system for matching trash to household, and offered commentary on the state of the union.

P-A slightly different angle is to compare the work of the private sector to that of the military, many of whom are required to do grunt work. Ask a military public affairs officer to arrange for you to interview and observe soldiers doing their duty with little fanfare or glamour.

Driving Test

What state has the most difficult driving test? How hard is it to transfer a license from state-to-state post the 9-11 tragedy? How tough is Minnesota’s driver’s test?

S-Check out the driver’s tests in your area. Interview people who are new drivers and those who are coming from other areas.

H-Check AAA at www.aaa.com and call your local or regional office.

O-If possible, monitor a real driving test. You can read a typical examination in most states using an online version, but the real observation will come when you watch a new driver get behind the wheel.

P-For fun, see the driver’s examination online for various states including the Commonwealth of Virginia. Contact the state department of motor vehicles at three states and ask the source what he or she considers the most difficult part of the examination. Ask for suggestions on succeeding for safe driving. One instructor told me that he always drives with his headlights on to help other drivers see him.

Dumpster divers

Author Philip Gulley says his boyhood home was on the road to a landfill. Pick-up trucks would carry a load into the landfill, but they usually returned with a new load. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure. Not all trash is without value–just ask the people who rummage through those dumpsters behind retail stores. Some just want aluminum cans, but some bold collectors find usable building materials, products, even food.

S-Interview a team of these collectors to discover the benefits and disadvantages of the chase. Is it worth it? Do the police or store managers object?

H-Contact an organization such as Pack Your Trash to learn about the benefits of recycling. According to Pack Your Trash, their mission is to educate, encourage and impact our youth to take responsibility and promote a strong sense of pride in their community. Their ultimate vision is to establish PYT as ‘the’ national anti-litter campaign and have an annual Pack Your Trash™ Day across the country.

Pack Your Trash. Founded: 1964. Members: 2,000.

O-Contact your municipal authority to find out the best place for dumpster diving. Check with law enforcement to see if they can connect you with a group that monitors trash. Many of these groups have earned good reputations because they leave the site better than when they found it. For instance, they sweep the area clean.

P-Some people restore discarded furniture. That’s the story of Patch Canada, 31, who decorated her Arlington townhouse with items that she collected from a number of places. Canada found that better furniture makers often identify their furniture with their logo and use tight tongue and groove couplings, rather than being glued or bolted together. Interview owners of thrift stores and second-hand furniture stores and write a sidebar on suggestions for shopping for the inexpensive but valuable piece of discarded furniture. Consider writing a first-person account on your personal adventure shopping for a treasure.

E

Engagements and wedding

The wedding industry is more competitive than NASCAR. What are some of the more unusual features?

S-Identify three businesses that print announcements and determine some of the more novel ones.

H-Get some sense of the background on all things pertaining to weddings by contacting American Society of Wedding Professionals. Description: Professionals in the wedding industry. Promotes the wedding professional and educates brides on the experience of working with a consultant. Provides trends, etiquette, marketing, consulting information, directory listing, referrals, networking, and co-op advertising. Offers local forums for information exchange among members. Compiles statistics and conducts educational programs and seminars.

O-Visit stores that cater to the wedding industry. Interview owners, managers and clerks along with the customers and members of the wedding party. Watch them interact. Does it remind you of a military exercise or the work of duty-bound, cost-conscious consumers? What makes everyone laugh? Cry? Angry? Put the audience there and help them live the moment.

P-Talk to couples about trends in weddings. Recently destination weddings attracted couples. They’re private but can include a church service. The difference is that the location is somewhat exotic. Remember when Madonna married Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in Scotland and Sarah Michelle Geller and Freddie Prinze Jr., both from Los Angeles, went to Mexico to wed. Check with couples in your area and see what is planned. Consider a sidebar on the etiquette for paying for travel and other expenses.

Entertainment on the cheap

What you can do in your area for $10 or less?

S- A coffee date is possible. The bean scene may be the most inexpensive venue for a date. According to a survey sponsored by Starbucks, coffeehouses are attracting daters with seven in 10 respondents (72 percent) saying coffeehouses provide “a quiet and convenient place to talk” and that “the atmosphere is open and friendly.”5 Monitor the coffee shops, not the taprooms, for an inexpensive date.

H-Interviews with Chamber of Commerce types may help you identify places that are inexpensive but enjoyable. Parks offer free recreation and a good value. Zoos and other tax-subsidized diversions can be enjoyable and inexpensive with a season pass.

Or try

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. Founded: 1918. Description: Operators of amusement parks, tourist attractions, water parks, miniature golf courses, and family entertainment centers; manufacturers and suppliers of amusement equipment and services. Conducts research programs and compiles statistics. Contemporary couples kindle courtship over coffee. Canadian Newswire.

O-Visit the coffee shop, zoo or walking path and study the troops. Be sure to interview a sample and get their suggestions on the best of the most inexpensive places to go in town. Make the article possess a regional flavor by calling other areas and getting their best picks. You may find that a family of four will get more enjoyment from sitting through a car wash than a night at a concert.

P-Homemade gifts can be had for $10 or less and can be quite memorable assuming the occasion is right. A sidebar on inexpensive gifts could include a list of suggestions such as including the date and occasion written somewhere discreetly on the prize.

Now that you have the SHOP idea, see if you can develop the suggestions below using the formula.

Exercise suburban style

Mall walkers. Who walks and why?

F

Facials

Go to a beauty salons that specialize in facials, massages, pedicures and total beauty makeovers. Get the works, and write about the experience.

Family woes

What happens after the divorce? Talk to counselors and professors, find out what kinds of troubles this can lead to and what can be done to alleviate the tension.

Father’s Day

For Father’s Day, ask children to tell what makes their dad so super, asking for drawings done with black pen on white paper, as well as the written word.

Favorite restaurant, coffee shop, waffle house

As a take-off on the TV sitcom, “Cheers,” ask the names of favorite places around the nation. Ask why.

Favorite holiday

What are your favorite Christmas memories, favorite Hanukkah memories, and favorite Thanksgiving memories?

Follow-Up Features

Readers enjoy what-ever-happened-to-so-and-so stories. They are called follow-up news stories, or folios, so why not attempt a follow-up feature? Remember C. Everett Koop, the surgeon general? Whatever happened to him? Do a follow-up article on what is happening with him, his anti-smoking campaign, and his advocacy of condoms. For instance, after writing about one of the groups mentioned above, take a second look somewhere down the road. Does it still exist? Has it grown? Are the members getting something out of it?

Food

Where are the best hamburger and the best breakfast? (Yes, this assignment is just a variation of the “Best” category, but this entry may give you some ideas that vary slightly.) Sample the fare of fast-food chains and write a review. Provide a chart outlining the calories and fat, protein, sodium and carbohydrate content of two selections apiece from each restaurant. Round out the package with a sidebar that examines what nutritionists have to say about fast-food breakfasts.

Funeral Directors

Examine the funeral industry. Examine the funeral director’s role in the grieving process, and how that is changing, the origins of the businesses in this area, the training required and why it often becomes a family business.

This is an excerpt from Dr. Michael Ray Smith‘s book FeatureWriting.net. Used with permission.

Download the entire book for free from our MTI Online resource center.