How should we define theme in the context of a feature article? It is not simply enough to call it a topic or issue that you will write about, although this is one role your theme will play.

Your theme is the clothesline to which you will peg your facts, anecdotes and quotes. Your statement of theme will invariably come after your lead as a means of declaring what your article is about.

You should also ensure that every quote, fact and anecdote should relate to your theme in some way.

However, you cannot just hang your facts, anecdotes and quotes there any old way. You will also need marshal your thoughts, mentally classify and catalogue the snippets and nuggets of information you have gathered. Only then can you get some semblance of perspective, or the angle you will use.

Sometimes the angle will reveal itself through the gathering and reviewing of information, but sometimes, you will need to write to a particular brief, for example if you are commissioned to write a piece, then this will dictate the angle you adopt - or whether you get paid.

You are going to need facts for your feature that invariably means doing some research. Facts support and enhance your writing as well as contextualising your topic.

Consider the following example:

Let’s say you are asked to write a profile on a well-known religious and civic leader. Your background research will turn up information like the names of the school, university or seminary he attended, the names of his wife and children; the sort of duties he performs in his job and his career achievements; that he is a keen gardener, is fond of Mahler and watches the ABC. You’d think given these sorts of facts that you’d have a fairly comprehensive profile of this person. Now add to this mix an accusation of a rape forty years ago and the suggestion that this person turned a blind eye to the presence of practising paedophiles priests within his parish. These last two pieces of information change a fairly pedestrian and fluffy profile piece into a hard news feature.

The angles you might take for a story like this can show this person as an embattled man of the people, a victim of the adage that if you throw enough mud - some of it will stick.

You might show him as a caring family man, with quotes and anecdotes from his wife illustrating and defending his good name.

You might also write a feature that emphasises the need for high profile figures in public office to be beyond reproach in terms of their conduct.

This example emphasises my earlier point about how reviewing your collection of facts, quotes and anecdotes will reveal your angle. However, your facts must be impeccable and this means that you must often dig deeper in order to make your article compelling and more substantial than the 30 word brief from Reuters or a quick Internet search.

This training takes place on Sundays at the Sakura Ryu Ju Jitsu Honbu Dojo, which is a purpose built training complex in Gumdale. The Dojo section of the complex was completed in January 2003, and now houses Sakura Ryu Ju Jitsu memorabilia as well as the School’s shields and trophies. Ultimate training sessions held at the Honbu Dojo allows Shihan to coach his students to higher levels of strength and fitness, using traditional weights and gym equipment, and the slightly unorthodox, but very effective ‘chain’.

Given that there is a firmly established theme for the Ju JItsu article makes moving around the text fairly simple.

For example, between the blocks of quotes we have these transitory paragraphs.

So, we move from three disjointed facts and quotes about Shihan not talking in Japanese to spending years as a Shodan, to Ultimate Sunday Training to:

Shihan not talking in Japanese because of the way he was taught at a particular school where he spent years as a Shodan. This means that he insists that students understand that they are expected to put a certain amount of time to attain a level of fitness and skill, part of which includes Ultimate Sunday Training. What I have just written gets the same point across as the feature article, but in a far less dynamic way that with the use of quotes, facts and anecdotes

The Lead and The Kicker of the Ju Jitsu article function as a mini narrative when put together.

"It’s a Friday night and Shihan Reg Ellis is about to put the adult class of Sakura Ryu Ju Jitsu through its paces. Having already ‘bowed in’, rows of Ju Jitsuans of various belt levels lay on their backs, waiting for Shihan Reg Ellis’ first instruction.

‘Heads up, knees up - Hit that mat!’ roars Shihan as the class beats the mat with their arms in rhythmic unison. This is the start of breakfall practice where students warm up, preparing themselves for the striking, throwing, joint locking and grappling techniques they will practice later in the session.

‘Harder! Faster!’ Shihan barks, and the class responds enthusiastically.

With an attitude like this, it’s little wonder that by the end of the Friday night training session, the enthusiasm for Ju Jitsu and the respect shown by students towards Shihan at the beginning of the class has not diminished under their sweat-soaked gis. As the students bow out and go off the mat, each stops before leaving for home, thanking Shihan for their training and shaking his hand as they file out. In turn, Shihan has an encouraging word for each of them.

‘Go harder, go faster’ he says.

Under this premise you should be able to cut and paste your lead and kicker together to make a coherent narrative and I would recommend you try this to test how well the lead and kicker go together. You will note with the Ju Jitsu kicker that the theme is put to bed, the opening anecdote is given an ending and that the words ‘harder and faster' are echoed, acting as a word bridge between the two sections.

However, you must avoid ‘Fulweek disease’. This is a term coined by The Advertiser’s staffers to describe weak and patronising kickers like ‘…and they all lived happily ever after’.