JournalismFree
Draft a reported feature from your notes
Paste your interviews, notes and documents for an issue or trend story and get a feature draft built only from your reporting, with gaps marked.
River drafts a reported feature about an issue or trend from your interviews, notes and documents. It finds an opening in your reporting, writes a nut graf that says why the story matters now, and organizes your sources into sections, with every quote copied exactly and every figure tied to where it came from.
Features are built from several voices and some data. River draws only on what you reported and marks the holes: a claim with only one source, a person criticized without a response, a number with no source. Those notes tell you what to report next.
It is for freelancers, student journalists, and reporters at small outlets who have done the reporting and need a first draft to edit. For a story centered on one person, River's profile writer is a better fit.
The shape of a reported feature
A reported feature usually opens with a person or scene that shows the issue, then reaches the nut graf within a few paragraphs: the larger story, and why now. The body moves between voices and evidence, from people affected, to experts and officials, to data, and ends with a kicker drawn from the reporting.
Its strength is sourcing. A trend story needs more than anecdotes; it needs numbers or documents that show the trend is real, and voices that complicate it. Readers trust a feature that admits what is uncertain more than one that sounds too neat.
Every detail must come from the reporting. Scenes are described only as the reporter observed them, quotes are verbatim, and composite characters or invented details are fabrication. Where reporting is thin, the honest draft says less rather than filling the gap.
How it works
Paste your reporting
Interviews, notes and documents, pasted or attached.
Name the story
Optionally, the angle and the length you need.
Get the draft
A full feature draft plus a list of gaps to report.
Revise in chat
Ask for a different opening, a tighter version, or a new section.
What you get
- A feature draft with an opening, nut graf, body sections and kicker from your reporting
- Every quote copied exactly and attributed with said
- Figures tied to their sources, with anything unsourced marked
- Gaps flagged: single-source claims and people criticized without a response
- A list of follow-up reporting to make the story publishable
Common questions
Will River make up quotes or scenes?
No. Every quote comes exactly from your notes or transcripts, and scenes appear only as you described them. Where the draft needs something you do not have, it marks the gap so you can report it.
How is this different from the profile writer?
A feature is about an issue or trend and weaves several sources together. A profile centers on one person. If your reporting is mostly about one individual, use the profile writer instead.
What if my reporting is thin?
River writes what the reporting supports and lists what is missing, such as a second source for a key claim, data showing the trend, or a response from someone criticized. A shorter honest draft is better than a padded one.
Can I use this draft as is?
Treat it as a first draft. Check every quote against your recordings, confirm the flagged items, and have an editor read it. The voice and judgement in the final version should be yours.
Draft a reported feature from your notes
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.