Length

• Editors generally specify the length of feature articles. Features typically run at least 500 words, and though some may be shorter, many are much longer. A recent piece for the "New Yorker" on Lady Gaga and Beyonce by Sasha Frere-Jones's runs 1553 words; Joseph Epstein's essay-review of Stanley Fish's "How to Write a Sentence, and How to Read One" for the "New Criterion" is more than twice as long, however, at 3405 words. Use 2000 words as your rule of thumb.
  
  

Pay

• Pay varies widely for feature articles. Widely circulated publications can pay thousands of dollars for a feature, while local and regional magazines may only offer feature writers contributors' copies as compensation. Publications tend to pay authors by the word. When considering a feature assignment, always keep in mind the amount of work you estimate completing the feature will require and weigh this against the rate of pay. Profiles are a great example of a feature assignment that often require lengthy interviews and extensive fact-checking -- a profile for a small sum may prove more work than it is worth.
  
  

Content

• Content constitutes, along with voice, the major formal characteristic of a feature. Many features do not present entirely original content; instead, the business of writing a feature often consists of trying to present content in an original and engaging fashion. In travel writing, for instance, many writers find struggle to present an original take on a place that many other writers have visited; to resolve this dilemma, writers should look for original angles to consider. For instance, while many travel articles have been written about Lake Geneva, how many writers have framed them in reference to Shelley and Byron, two of the lake's most famous nineteenth century residents?
  
  

Voice

• Voice is the other important formal characteristic of a feature. The voice you adopt in a feature may be determined in part, or even in whole, by the publication for which you are writing. Some publications, such as "The Economist," famously prescribe many aspects of their writers' voices, while others, such as "The Atlantic," maintain less control over individual authors. A relative rather than an absolute continuum is probably the best model to keep in mind when thinking about voice in feature writing: Christopher Hitchens's vehement eloquence works well in both "Slate" and "Vanity Fair" and would probably make the cut in the "Wall Street Journal," but it would probably not work for "Ms. Magazine."