DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

To write a descriptive essay, you’ll need to

describe a person, object, or event so vividly that the reader feels like he/she could reach out and touch it.

What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you see? What do you hear? What might you touch or feel?

How to Write Vivid Descriptions

Concrete Language… Abstract Language…

makes the story or image seem clearer and more real to us.

makes the story or image difficult to visualize.

gives us information that we can easily grasp and perhaps empathize with.

leaves your reader feeling empty, disconnected, and possibly confused.

Using Concrete Details

Abstract:  It was a nice day.  Concrete:  The sun

was shining and a slight breeze blew across my face. 

Abstract:  I liked writing poems, not essays.  Concrete:  I liked writing short, rhythmic poems and hated rambling on about my thoughts in those four-page essays. 

Abstract:  Mr. Smith was a great teacher. Concrete:  Mr. Smith really knew how to help us turn our thoughts into good stories and essays.

EXAMPLES!

As you get started on your descriptive essay, it's important for you to identify exactly what you want to describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following: a person a place a memory an experience an object

What do you want to describe?

The most basic and important rule of

descriptive writing:

SHOW, don’t TELL

I grew tired after dinner. As I leaned back and rested my head against

the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in front of me blurred with the white tablecloth.

As you write your descriptive essay, the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses.

sight sound smell touch taste

VIVID DESCRIPTIONS

The next time you get a chance, pick up an apple. Feel the weight of it in your hand. Examine it for blemishes. What caused that little black spot? Did the apple tenaciously hang onto the wind-whipped tree branch as a storm dashed it into a neighboring twig? Did a peckish bird sample the apple for ripeness? Look at the apple again and feel it as it warms in your hand. Anticipate the burst of flavor as your teeth crunch through the rich redness of its thin skin.

APPLE!

The above is a sample of descriptive writing and a hint of some of the ways you can take an ordinary object and change it into the extraordinary using words. Writing a descriptive essay is a chance to explore your own creativity as you use the senses to draw a picture in words. Could you feel the weight and temperature of the apple? Did you see the blemish and visualize the windstorm or

the bird? Could you hear the crunch as you bit through the skin? Could you taste the explosion of flavor?

When writing a descriptive essay, start building your description by brainstorming the facts:

Red Apple Brown Stem Small black blemish near the top Thin skin Juicy Crunchy Round Heavy and solid

http://www.descriptionari.com/describe/chocol

ate/

Let’s write!