Have you ever been so enthralled by a book that you could actually visualize the descriptions of the characters and events? If you have, then you have come into contact with an example of great descriptive writing. Descriptive writing is defined as a literary device wherein the writer uses descriptive language to paint a picture of characters and events within the reader’s mind. This article will give you more information on what constitutes descriptive writing and how to implement it into your assignments.
Use the Five Senses
Think of your descriptive writing assignment as a conversation with your reader. You want to provide so much detail that your reader feels like they are actually experiencing each and every detail right along with the characters in your story. Using words relating to each of the five senses will give your reader something to draw connections to. In every paragraph of yourassignment, be sure to include one thing you can see, hear, smell, touch, and when appropriate; taste.
Stay Focused
Have you ever read a book with so many detailed descriptions that it was hard to decipher what the main point of the scene was supposed to be? This is precisely why it is important to have a clear picture of what the focus of your writing will be. Choosing one subject to describe in detail will create a more immersive experience for your reader and make for a less convoluted sounding paper. Too much detail will make things confusing and can come across as simply an attempt to fill pages.
Choose Your Words Wisely
Your assignment’s use of words has a huge impact on the quality of your descriptive writing. For example, the sentence, “The brown dog walks toward the water dish” while descriptive, is not very exciting to read. Using the five senses, we can make the same sentence more exciting and descriptive. The sentence now becomes, “The click clack of nails on the floor could be heard throughout the house as the chocolate brown dog sauntered nonchalantly toward the water dish.” These added details give the reader a clearer idea of what is going on in the scene and an opportunity to visualize the what is being described.
Too Much of a Good Thing
One of the most important things to remember when practicing descriptive writing is to edit your work. Re-reading your writing will give you the opportunity to identity places in your assignment that feature either too much or too little description. You’ll know if a section has too much description if the passage becomes confusing to read or if it features an abundance of run-on sentences. When you find these sections, decide which details you can remove without sacrificing the quality of your work, or restructure your writing so that the description and sentence structure make sense. Sections where it is hard to visualize what is going on may need more detail. Remember to work with the five senses to add more description.