Gearing up for crafting exceptional health feature articles that capture readers’ attention?

As you embark on your initial draft, setting the foundation for success in health feature writing is essential.

Creating compelling health feature articles isn’t just about putting words on paper – it’s about understanding the nuances that can make your content truly stand out. To help you ace this, here’s a rundown of common pitfalls you’ll want to dodge and essential elements to incorporate.

Avoid these mistakes in your health feature articles

No or minimal evidence

As an evidence-based health writer, you should always aim to include evidence to back up your claims and arguments. An easy way to do this is to include a hyperlink to the research if your content will be posted online.

If your content is print only, check with your client or editor about how they want their referencing. Feel free to suggest options if they aren’t sure.

What if there’s no evidence? You may need to re-check your claims.

If there is no evidence, don’t make the health claims.

Also, always look to the original sources of any health claim.

Don’t simply read someone else’s article and take your health claims from that article.

You need to go to the original source of the claim and find the research paper or article from which the claim has come. That’s how you verify that what you are writing is truthful.

And check out my blog, 16 ways to add more detail to your evidence-based writing, if you want to read more about this.

Poor-quality research

Another common mistake in health feature writing is including poor-quality research.

Not all research is good quality, and not all new research is good quality.

Citing research doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be writing a credible, high-quality article.

If your study has a small sample size, is an animal study or perhaps hasn’t been peer reviewed or published at all, it may not be convincing.

Make sure you’re including quality evidence to back up your claims.

And, if you can’t find any, perhaps you need to rethink what you’re trying to argue.

Poor-quality structure

If you’ve ever taken one of my health writing courses, you’ll know how much I like to talk about structure! Structure is absolutely essential in health feature writing. You could be an excellent writer, but without a proper structure, your readers won’t be able to follow your writing.

A feature that’s just a bunch of facts thrown together with no clear beginning, middle or end is difficult to read and isn’t engaging.

Features should have a title, lede, introductory paragraph and several paragraphs with clear subheadings. The arguments should flow in a logical way, and the main point should be at the beginning of the article.

Missing lede

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, your health feature articles need a lede. This is the one or two-sentence spiel that appears just after the headline and encourages readers to click. It’s like an extension of the headline.

Every feature needs a lede. The lede is important as it’s like the article’s key selling point – it builds on the momentum of the headline to keep the reader reading.

A dull headline

We all know the difference between a headline that is so powerful it grabs your attention enough so that you want to drop everything and click versus a snooze-worthy headline that you just scroll on past.

Here are a couple of examples.

Think about how you can make your headline engaging and fun.

Questions make great headlines as they encourage readers to reflect. Numbered lists also make for engaging headlines, as your readers know what they’re about to get when they click.

Importantly, don’t state the obvious. Your headline should include an element of mystery – just enough to entice your reader to click to read more.

A weak conclusion

Your conclusion should wrap up your health feature article nicely and answer the question, where to from here?

Your conclusion should leave your reader with something to ponder.

Your reader needs to feel satisfied after finishing your article.

Now, there are few things worse than an abrupt ending to an article you enjoyed or an article that didn’t answer the question posed in the headline.

Don’t spend all your effort hooking in your reader with an amazing headline only to underpromise in the body and conclusion of the article.

Unnecessary repetition

Be aware of repeating not just the same words but also the same ideas throughout your article.

Ensure that every paragraph explores a new idea, not just rehashing the previous one.

Take care with the words you use, and check that you’re not accidentally repeating words often.

AI writing tools can help you check which words feature prominently in your writing.

Want to learn more about health writing?

Introduction to Health Writing Course

Enhance your health writing skills.

Learn how to write health news, feature articles, web content and blogs.

Enter your email for a free course outline!

Email *

You'll also join 20,000+ others who receive our regular emails. Opt out at any time. View our Terms and Privacy Policy.

GET THE COURSE OUTLINE

Lack of originality

Even if your article headline has a new spin, ensure the body copy is original and doesn’t just repeat what others have said. Your idea should be a unique spin.

Be aware that reading too much of other people’s work can inadvertently influence you, too!

Even though I recommend conducting thorough background research and reading as much as you can on your topic, you need to know when to step back so you’re not accidentally getting influenced too much by other people’s work.

Excessive scientific jargon

Some health writers struggle to simplify their content. While learning the essential best practices of plain English medical writing can help, sometimes it’s the topic that’s the issue.

To avoid writing content that is too scientific for the general public, choose your subject wisely.

If you choose a complex medical topic with many medical terms that can’t be explained simply, perhaps your subject is unsuitable for your ideal reader.

Choose a different topic if you can’t write a health feature that ticks all the boxes and engages.

Opinion-laden content

As tempting as it is to include your opinion in your writing, be careful: Health features, like health news articles, shouldn’t contain your opinion. You’re not writing an opinion piece, so you must remain objective. Always check your writing for opinion statements.

And remember that any argument you make that doesn’t have evidence comes across like your opinion!

Embrace these must-haves for your health feature articles

Now that you know the common mistakes of health feature articles, let’s look at the must-haves.

A compelling headline

I mentioned earlier that boring headlines are a common health feature article mistake – and that’s why a strong feature needs a strong headline that makes you want to click.

Fresh angle on familiar health feature article topics

Health feature articles that explore new ideas and teach readers new facts are engaging and memorable. If I think I’ve read your article before or know what it’s about, I won’t click or want to read it.

Always ask yourself: How can I make My idea different to what’s already out there?

Incorporate interviews and/or quotes

Including expert interviews and quotes in your health feature is a great way to create engagement and unique content. A health feature without any interviews or quotes isn’t as engaging or comprehensive. Expert interviews and quotes add depth and new perspectives to your writing.

So, add some variety to your feature by interviewing people. You can also bring in quotes from research, other relevant bodies or key organisations.

Prioritise readability 

Readability is the ease at which your reader reads and interprets your content. If you’re writing for a consumer audience, your health feature content needs to include the best practices of readability and plain English.

Online tools like Grammarly or Hemingway and AI writing tools can measure the reading level of your work.

If the tools show that your writing is too difficult to read, simplify it (use the tips in this article).

Two useful ways to simplify your writing are to write short sentences and eliminate words with more than four syllables.

Explain jargon or medical terms, or use simpler alternatives. Of course, you’ll need to make sure that the simpler version is still medically accurate.

If you’re writing health feature articles for a health professional audience, your content still needs to be readable, but you may not need to simplify complex medical terms or explain terms. But don’t assume that health professionals want to read content that looks like an academic journal. Even medical experts want to read content that is easy to read!

Your readers shouldn’t have to work hard at reading the content or at understanding it. Reading should be effortless.

Confident writing

A confident writer is a compelling writer!

Your reader can feel it through your writing when you’re not confident about your topic.

And I often think when we’re not confident about our topic, it means that we don’t understand it well enough because we’re not explaining it clearly or simply enough.

Think back to that Einstein quote: If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.

So, in order to increase your confidence, perhaps you need to learn more about your topic.

Remember: Confidence is key when it comes to health writing.

Grounded in research and evidence

If you’re writing about health topics, it’s rare that you won’t be citing any research or stats or data.

The best feature articles are those that are well researched.

Without research, your article is more like an opinion piece or a collection of assumptions of things that you think you know! And that’s where mistakes can be made.

Infuse your personality

Harness your natural writing style and your personality in your health feature.

In our new age of medical writing and AI, incorporating your unique voice into your writing has never been more important.

Here are some tips to help you.

Thorough understanding of the health feature topic

Remember, you must conduct thorough background research effectively to ensure you understand everything you’re writing about.

If you don’t understand your topic, you’ll risk writing inaccurate health content that could harm your readers.

Evoke enthusiasm

Your care factor is important! Just as your readers sense when you aren’t confident in your writing, they also feel it if you don’t care about what you’re writing about in your health feature articles.

So, try and choose topics to write about that you’re interested in, that get you excited, that you’re curious about.

Your readers will feel that, and they’ll be more engaged with your work – and your work will be better quality because you actually care about it.

Meticulous editing and proofreading

Finally, your health feature articles must-have 10 is a thorough medical edit and proofread. After you write your first draft, take a break for a few hours (or days if you have the time to do so), then come back to your work with fresh eyes. Don’t just look for spelling and grammar errors. Consider your structure, flow, readability, the strength of your arguments and conclusion.

The final word on health feature article mistakes and must-haves

While this post covers some critical health feature writing tips, remember that health communication involves a multitude of nuances. As you embark on your writing journey, use this list as a guide to steer clear of common pitfalls and embrace the vital elements that make your health feature articles shine. The health feature mistakes and must-haves I’ve included in this post are some of the essential ones to know, and they’re the ones I see often when students submit assignments in my Introduction to Health Writing course.