What's too long for a good feature

[Rhody31]

I just banged out 2,400 words on a feature about a local athlete who has diabetes. It talks about him conquering the disease, how it was diagnosed, what it is, etc, etc.
I broke it down as much as I could but there is so much involved with this disease. I have five breakout boxes filled with basic info, some good art of him testing, playing and a posed family shot that i'm putting on the inside. I also have graphics and diagrams about how certain things work.

Is that too much? I feel like I might be overdoing this, but I wanted to make sure I did it the right way ...

Now the fun begins. Two games today, two more stories to write, then layout. Ugh.

 

[spnited]

70 inches, 5 breakouts plus graphics and diagrams seems bit overdone to me.
Not to downplay how serious diabetes can be, but we have probably 8 to 10 diabetic athletes in our area.
And you don't conquer the disease, you learn how to manage it.

 

[imjustagirl]

Diabetes? 2,400 words? Diabetes is pretty common to be doing 2,400 words on it, IMO.

edit: spnited beat me to it.

 

[jps]

I tend to agree ... certainly can be a good story and a nice reader on a Sunday ... but I could see maybe 40 inches and a breakout?

 

[hankschu]

Your desk just called. Can you turn it into a brief?

 

[spnited]

Just noticed, Rhody signed off immediately after starting this thread. I realize he had games to cover, but why ask a question and then run before you get any responses?

 

[imjustagirl]

Maybe it doesn't run until this weekend, so he has time to work on it?

 

[spnited]

I'll buy that, but it always puzzles me that people have a big question to ask and post it right before they have to leave for something else.

 

[Double Down]

Saying that a story needs to be cut because of some arbitrary word count or inch count is stupid.

The story should be as long as the reporting and writing justify.

In some instances, a story about an athlete with "diabeetus" (the athlete, not the poster) would be 10 inches. In others, it might be a 6000-word New Yorker profile by Malcom Gladwell. John McPhee wrote two gigantic books about rocks. Poe wrote a book about molluks.

2,400 words does seem like a bit much. But maybe not. If I were your editor, I'd want you to make a compelling case for why it needed to be that long.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

What do I call a 3000-word feature?
My lede.

 

[forever_town]

I'd go 35-40 inches with one breakout box and the art.

Two thousand, four hundred words is excessive IMO. Then again, this comes from someone whose longest-ever story clocked in at about 1,250 words.

 

[WaylonJennings]

I know you don't want to hear this, but there's no right answer.

If it's a narrative, it can go on for thousands of words and be fine, because those take a while to move along.

And the subject matter isn't always relevant, either. You can trivialize anything.

"A story about war and peace? Should be able to wrap that up in a couple hundred pages, no?"

 

[Babs]

I don't have an issue with 2400 words if the content is good. Are the breakouts necessary though?

 

[Diabeetus]

Saying that a story needs to be cut because of some arbitrary word count or inch count is stupid.

The story should be as long as the reporting and writing justify.

In some instances, a story about an athlete with "diabeetus" (the athlete, not the poster) would be 10 inches. In others, it might be a 6000-word New Yorker profile by Malcom Gladwell. John McPhee wrote two gigantic books about rocks. Poe wrote a book about molluks.

2,400 words does seem like a bit much. But maybe not. If I were your editor, I'd want you to make a compelling case for why it needed to be that long.

Someone talking bout me?

But yes, heed the wise DD's wisdom.

 

[editorhoo]

With stories that are longer and carry more depth, I like to break them into sections with subheads introducing each.

This could easily be broken into three sections. 1. How it was diagnosed. 2. How it is managed. 3. How does it effect athletes?

 

[fishwrapper]

Just noticed, Rhody signed off immediately after starting this thread. I realize he had games to cover, but why ask a question and then run before you get any responses?

If this journalism **** doesn't work out, how about P.I. work?

 

[Ace]

I don't have a problem with the length necessarily, but stories for newspapers need to be focused.

You can have a super story that's focused or a narrative tale on a diabetic athlete at 70 inches or a rambling, empty-the-notebook mess that's 20 inches long.

In general, if you aren't feeling awful about leaving something good out that just doesn't fit, the story is probably too damn long.

 

[JayFarrar]

I did something on a diabetic athlete, it was about 2,000 words and that includes the breakouts.
It was juvenile diabetes and now he plays college basketball with an insulin pump.
One of the breakouts was how the first time he tried to fly, they weren't going to let him on the plane because they thought he was wired to explode.
It was a story that probably should have been longer.
2,400 for the mainbar plus the five breakouts doesn't seem excessive.
2,400 words for the mainbar and nothing else, is probably too long.

 

[huntsie]

We're legislated to 800 words tops. It's ridiculous, but I got ****, and then I got cut for a story on a former basketball player who is now a medical doctor in the Canadian forces and has come off recent tours of Haiti and Afghanistan. She came back to speak at a breakfast full of young impressionable middle school and high school girls...it was dynamite stuff. And it got slashed and I got a ****ty memo on length of stories. I get pissed off even thinking about it now.

 

[TheMethod]

We're legislated to 800 words tops. It's ridiculous, but I got ****, and then I got cut for a story on a former basketball player who is now a medical doctor in the Canadian forces and has come off recent tours of Haiti and Afghanistan. She came back to speak at a breakfast full of young impressionable middle school and high school girls...it was dynamite stuff. And it got slashed and I got a ****ty memo on length of stories. I get pissed off even thinking about it now.

This is horrendous.