Descriptive writing

English Language · Writing: composition. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

A description makes the reader see, hear and feel a place, a person or a moment. Very little needs to happen. It works through exact details that appeal to the five senses.

Precise words beat general ones. ‘Trudged’ tells us how someone walked; ‘went’ tells us nothing. The best writers show and do not tell: they do not say a place was frightening, they give a detail that makes the reader feel uneasy.

Atmosphere is the mood of the piece. Choose one mood and make every detail fit it. Keep a clear focus too: stay with the subject in the title and do not drift into a story or another place.

Rules to remember

The five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.
Use precise verbs and nouns: ‘limped’ and ‘rickshaw’, not ‘walked’ and ‘vehicle’.
Show, do not tell: ‘her hands shook as she opened the letter’, not ‘she was nervous’.
Simile: a comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’. Metaphor: says one thing is another. Personification: gives a thing human actions.
A comparison must match the quality you are describing, such as size, noise or crowding.
Atmosphere and focus: every detail fits one mood and one subject.
Weak description: vague words (nice, good, interesting), repeated words, ‘very’ again and again, lists of dates and numbers.

Common mistake

Students choose the option with the strongest adjective, such as ‘extremely scary’. That only tells the reader; the best answer gives a concrete detail the reader can picture.

Worked example

Which sentence appeals most to the sense of touch? A ‘The lamps glowed orange along the lane.’ B ‘Rough bark scraped my palms as I climbed.’ C ‘A koel called from the mango tree.’ D ‘The air smelt of wet earth.’

A describes light and colour, so it is sight.
C describes a bird call, so it is sound; D describes a smell.
B describes what the skin feels: ‘rough’ and ‘scraped my palms’.

Answer: B

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