Descriptive writing is writing that describes people,
places, animals or objects in such a way that allows the reader to build a strong
image in their mind.
Good descriptive writing 'shows', rather than 'tells'.
Let's take a look at an example of descriptive writing.
'The cool evening wind moaned, toying with the tiring tree branches.
Leaves tumbled off the tiled roof and fell to the ground,
burying the yard under a patchwork quilt of yellow and brown.
A curious squirrel scampered down the trunk and disappeared into a rustle of leaves.'
Notice that this text 'shows' more than it
'tells'. It shows the reader it's windy. It shows
the reader the season.
Let's break down four components that make for effective descriptive writing.
Number one: pay attention to details. Whereas regular writing might see a red
apple, descriptive writing sees the detail of
the stem, the change in colour, the spots on the
skin, and the way it catches the light.
Can you see anywhere in our example text that shows the author paid attention to
detail? Pause here while you look.
Some examples: 'tiled roof', 'patchwork quilt of yellow and brown'.
The second component of strong descriptive writing
is descriptive language. We want to make sure we are using vivid verbs
and precise adjectives.
Vivid verbs are verbs that allow the reader to clearly picture
what action is taking place. They are more interesting for the reader
than the average verb.
Instead of 'break', how about 'shatter' or 'fracture',
or 'smash'. Instead of 'walk', how about 'hike' or 'shuffle'
or 'stroll'?
Precise adjectives are adjectives that are very accurate and specific
in the way they describe. Instead of choosing multiple average
adjectives, choose one precise adjective. Choose quality over quantity.
See if you can find any vivid verbs and precise adjectives that have been
used here. Pause while you look.
'moaned', 'tumbled', 'burying', 'curious', 'tiring'.
What effect did these word choices have on you, the reader?
These words were chosen to help you build a stronger picture of the scene
in your mind.
A third component of descriptive writing is including multiple senses.
It is easy to focus only on the things the reader should be seeing,
forgetting to describe the other senses. Descriptive writing should also help us
imagine what we could feel, the sounds, the tastes, and the smells.
Read over this passage again, this time looking out for which senses have been
described. Pause here while you look.
Here the author has focused on the sense of sight:
'Tree branches', 'tiled roof', 'yellow and brown' leaves.
Here the author has described what the reader should hear:
'The wind moaned', 'rustle of leaves', and here the author has made
descriptions to let the reader feel: 'cool wind', 'tiring tree branches'.
Depending on what we're describing, including all of the senses can be
difficult. At the end of the lesson we'll learn a
little trick to help with this. Number four: organisation. Our
descriptions shouldn't be just randomly thrown together.
We could organise them chronologically,
that is, by time; or we might choose to organise by order
of importance; or the descriptions could be organised
spatially, meaning we might focus on one part of an object
and then move on to another. For example, if we were describing a person, we might
start by describing physical features, and then move on to describing actions.
Or you might start at the top with their hair,
before moving down to their facial features, and then on to their clothing,
for example.
Can you work out how this descriptive paragraph has been organised?
Pause here while you re-read it. The description is organised spatially
It begins at the top of the tree, in the tree branches. The description
then moves down the tree right to the bottom where the squirrel
scampers off. Let's have a go together at doing some
descriptive writing. We'll use this picture to help us. Now we
don't need to stick exactly to what we see here.
Let's just use it to help come up with ideas.
Let's start by brainstorming some verbs and adjectives we might like to use.
I'm going to try to make sure I include some vivid verbs and precise adjectives.
Pause here if you'd like to come up with some on your own.
How did you go? Here are some verbs I came up with.
'stretched', 'reached', 'hung', 'floated', 'drifted', 'meandered',
'perched', 'stood', 'blew'.
and my adjectives: 'long', 'rickety', 'wooden', 'secluded', 'peaceful',
'calm', 'tranquil', 'soft', 'gray' and 'blue'. Now let's make sure we include
multiple senses. Most of these words are going to
describe what it looks like. These words here could be used to
describe the sense of touch. Can you think of anything we could add
for taste, smell, or hear?
Here are some ideas we could play with: the sound of the water lapping against
the pier; a scent carried on the breeze; the taste
of salt in the air.
Now before we put our ideas together and start writing,
let's take a moment to think about how we could organise our writing. Perhaps we
could focus on one sense at a time, or maybe we could focus on one part of
the setting, and then move on to the next.
Before you start, remember the purpose of your writing:
to describe the scene in such a way that allows the reader to build a strong
image in their mind. And we're going to try to do that by
'showing', not 'telling'. Pause here while you write.
How did you go?
Here's a short passage I've written.
If you like, leave your passage in the comments below.
Descriptive writing can be a lot of fun, and practicing your descriptive writing
is easy: just choose an object from around the house: a chair, a pie, a raindrop on a window...
The more ordinary the object, the greater the challenge.
Before we finish, a few tips for your descriptive writing:
Number one: limit your use of the verbs from 'to be':
'is', 'are', 'was', 'were'. Number two: set a word limit. This can
encourage us not to waste words. If a word or sentence is not doing an
important job for you, get rid of it. Number three:
play around with creative ways to include the five senses.
Sometimes it can be tricky to include taste, for example,
but perhaps you could use words which evoke a taste to describe other aspects.
For example, in our descriptive writing about the beach,
we could have likened the colour of the clouds to grapes.
Not only would we have described the colour, we would have cleverly included
the sense of taste at the same time.
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