NOVELTY.  When a person, object, or circumstance is unique, it arouses an unusual degree of interest.  The first person to accomplish something out of the ordinary, the first event of its kind, the first of anything, arrests attention.

Closely associated with the unique is the extraordinary, the curious.  If not absolutely the only one of its kind, a thing may still be sufficiently unusual to excite an uncommon degree of interest.  Novelty has a perennial charm.  Careful study of a subject is often necessary to reveal the novel and extraordinary phase of it that can best be emphasized.

MYSTERIES.  The fascination for the human mind of whatever baffles it is so well known that it scarcely needs elaboration.  Mysteries, whether real or fictitious, pique curiosity.  Even the scholar and the practical man of affairs find relaxation in the mystery of the detective story.  Real life often furnishes events sufficiently mysterious to make a special feature story that rivals fiction.  Unexplained crimes and accidents; strange psychical phenomena, such as ghosts, presentiments, spiritism, and telepathy; baffling problems of the scientist and the inventor—­all have elements of mystery that fascinate the average reader.

ROMANCE.  The romance of real life is quite as interesting as that of fiction.  As all the world loves a lover, almost all the world loves a love story.  The course of true love may run smooth or it may not; in either case there is the romantic appeal.  To find the romantic element in a topic is to discover a perennial source of attraction for all classes of readers.

ADVENTURE.  Few in number are the persons who will not gladly escape from humdrum routine by losing themselves in an exciting tale of adventure.  The thrilling exploits in real life of the engineer, the explorer, the soldier of fortune, the pioneer in any field, hold us spellbound.  Even more commonplace experiences are not without an element of the adventurous, for life itself is a great adventure.  Many special feature stories in narrative form have much the same interest that is created by the fictitious tale of adventure.

CONTESTS FOR SUPREMACY.  Man has never lost his primitive love of a good fight.  Civilization may change the form of the contest, but fighting to win, whether in love or politics, business or sport, still has a strong hold on all of us.  Strikes, attempted monopolies, political revolutions, elections, championship games, diplomacy, poverty, are but a few of the struggles that give zest to life.  To portray dramatically in a special article the clash and conflict in everyday affairs is to make a well-nigh universal appeal.

CHILDREN.  Because we live in and for our children, everything that concerns them comes close to our hearts.  A child in a photo-drama or in a news story is sure to win sympathy and admiration.  The special feature writer cannot afford to neglect so vital a source of interest.  Practical articles on the care and the education of children also have especial value for women readers.