By Alfred Symon
Have you tried writing a story set in a vast magical world? Or an essay of a very colorful and noisy festival? Or maybe a letter to your mother about how you are living with your Uncle in the farm? Well, whatever you are trying to write, there is always something, someone, some time or some place that needs to be given description. That’s where descriptive writing comes in. Let’s discover the dos and don’ts of this writing technique in this quick course!
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What is descriptive writing?
Descriptive writing is a way of writing in which you express what you saw, heard, tasted, smelled and felt from something, someone, some time or some place with words which tackle or appeal the five senses. Virginia Hamilton of Scholastic described descriptive writing as:
“Capturing an event through descriptive writing involves paying close attention to the details by using all of your five senses.”
True enough, you need to pay close attention to everything you see, hear, taste, smell and feel. The five senses are the fundamentals of descriptive writing, and it is a special talent if you can apply those senses in your imagination. This guide is sure to help you with that!
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Where can I use this technique?
EVERYTHING! Yes, everything from essay to short story. What differs is the degree of usage in each. For example, in a short story, every detail can be given to a place or character, but the descriptions should be imaginative and figurative to induce the effect. In an essay, more detail the better, but it should be more precise and creatively spoken. In poetry, figurative speaking must revolve around the descriptions to add imagery and class. You can even use this in letters and blog entries where you are pulled to tell something about your life, in which you need to describe.
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Why should I use this technique?
Descriptive writing is the best way of writing if you want to fully express your perspective. If you want other people to sense what you’ve sensed, then this writing’s the best!
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How can I write in descriptive form?
For myself, I developed a step-by-step process for descriptive writing which includes the principles of Five-Sense Design. Let me share this with all of you!
1.) Be in that time and place. Pay a visit to your consciousness! When you’re writing from memory, be in that memory! For example, you want to tell something about your first day of school; it might be hard, but go back to that memory, and be the one who’s walking and speaking and doing the action. This also goes the same when you’re writing from your imagination. If you want to write something in which you’re character is in a fantasy world, then imagine that you are in the world. Do this in first and third person views for more feedbacks from the senses.
2.) Apply the Five-Sense Design! What do you see, hear, taste, smell and feel? That is what Five-Sense Design is. As you walk and do several actions in your consciousness, try your best to remember in detail what you see (A tree? A rock?), what you hear (A thunder rumbling?), what you taste (Is it sweet or sour?), what you smell (Fragrant flowers? Smelly trash?) and what you feel (Soft pillows? Hot pot?). The following is the things to consider for the Five-Sense Design:
Sight Color, quality, size, age, number, status etc.
Hear Volume, quality, pleasantness, tempo, feel, emotion etc.
Taste Sweet, bitter, dry, sour, spicy, what it tastes like
Smell Pleasant or unpleasant, what it smells like
Feel Texture, temperature etc.
3.) Choose which words describe best your perception. For example, in your perception, the sand in the beach you went through was very rough. Don’t just say rough, use another word that is closer to the perception you had. Is it grainy? Is it rocky? A thesaurus can be of good use here, but be sure to use words that accords to the degree of your perception.
4.) Write, describe and design! As this step suggests, write all those things you’ve detected, describe them and order them in accordance to the perception you want your readers to know! Now, how to describe effectively. Keep in mind how your readers perceive your views. If you have a fantasy world with two continents, one small and one vast, in mind, don’t only state that it has two continents, describe the continents too! In other words, try to be specific. But don’t be too specific! Describe everything that you think will help the readers understand your statement or story more. Include the things you considered from the Five-Sense Design and then sequence the descriptions base on what you want to be perceived.
5.) Use figurative speech in describing to add interest into your piece and to provoke the imagination of your reader’s mind.
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Let’s review some situation-specific examples
Here’s an example of a paragraph describing a place from a descriptive essay:
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the city park. I can still remember the dusty paths around the park scurried by squirrels and the smell of the profusion of ghost white daisies that line the red brick borders of the park. Warm rays of sunlight, which passed through the gaps made by the branches of the trees, used to comfort me when I sit on the low benches beside the fountain. The flowing water sounded like a symphony of cascading rain. I even remember the time when I snuck up the lone willow tree at the park’s center to steal some sweet-tasting honey from the beehive. But everything’s gone now…”
Let’s review this paragraph. As you can see, all the five senses have been used here. The colors of the flowers provoked the sense of sight. The flowing water tackled hearing. Sweet honey affected the sense of taste while the dusty path alerted the sense of feeling. Not only that, some figures of speech are visible. “sounded like a symphony” is a simile. Five Sense-Design, check!
Here’s an example of a paragraph describing a person from a descriptive story:
“She was an angel. Her eyes were deep blue oceans, sclera as white as snow. Her skin, smooth as glass; her lips, luscious as red cherries. The fragrance of wilt roses dance around her body…I am never to hear her lovely voice again.”
Five-Sense Design, check! Nothing to doubt about the use of figurative speech here, too!
So, these would be great examples of descriptive writing. But remember, I cut a lot out of these paragraphs. Descriptive writing is usually mixed with Narrative writing. A paragraph will seem disturbing if it’s only composed of descriptions!
An old forest, stretching from East to West end, sprawled over the Yellow Brick Road. The verdant trees, which seem to be from ancient times, towered up to the sky, clouds meeting their canopy. Grayish-brown squirrels scurry around the trees' mighty trunks. Rocks piles sat still seemingly watching the lone brook wash away its crystal blue waters.
I took effortless steps across the arid Sahara Desert; I am used to the rough rocks which line the path and the lumpy sand that go through my feet. I grabbed a handful of sand and felt its grainy smudge.
It was Spring that day. I knew it was because of the fragrant twist of floral scent from the blossoms, alluring the deer and the sweet-tasting, gooey honey gathered by the foul-smelling honeybees.
The thunderclouds swarmed overhead the mountaintops. Lightning crackles across the country with a loud BOOM! The townspeople screamed and shrieked in fear as they ran for their lives.
The graceful night sky spread across the earth like a vast blue blanket. Stars twinkled as they were scattered onto the dark sheets of misty light. The soft purity of clouds echoed lightning bolts which smelled of fire.The air tasted funny; something will happen this peaceful night.
The examples above are focused on natural settings. In these kind of paragraphs, weather, time and other natural factors should affect your descriptions. Also, if you noticed, the paragraphs are focused on a specific sense. Have you noticed the sense appealed by each paragraph?
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I need to know more! But where?
There are a lot of writing workshops out there where you can join. There are also modules and lectures about descriptive writing. You can also learn from other co-writers and friends, as they can see and review your work. You are the only person who can develop yourself ‘cause learning depends on how much you want to learn. Be inquisitive! There are a lot of places to get some more help in writing! Good luck!
Now that you know the fundamentals of descriptive writing, go and write your own descriptive piece!
Brought to you by your Quick Critic,
Al
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