Descriptive Writing Techniques

Descriptive writing techniques
About descriptions
A good description creates a vivid picture of a person,
place or thing and, sometimes, how the author feels about
it. Often the author will describe what happens or what
something or someone is like as well as expressing their
emotions. To do this they need to create an image, feeling
or emotion in words.
Descriptions are found in many different types of texts:
narratives, reports, persuasive texts, biographies, etc.
The key to a good description is capturing the mood through describing details not
just what you see but what you can hear, smell, taste and touch.
Techniques to create a picture in words

Below are some of the common techniques writers use to create a picture in words.
Writers of good descriptions wouldnt use all the techniques in the one description.
They would use ones that suited what or who they were describing. However, the more
techniques you are familiar with and know how to use, the more tools you have to
write good descriptions.
Using descriptive words

Writers use descriptive language to express feelings and emotions or to create pictures.
This may mean using adjectives to modify or add detail to a noun. For example,
The man wore a neat, chocolate brown business suit, shiny from wear.
tells you a lot more about the man and the suit than -The man wore an old brown suit.
Adverbs can also be used to add detail to verbs by telling how something happened,
not just what happened.
For example,

The woman carefully considered her options before jumping nervously into the
river.
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Ten radical ideas for reluctant writers
Using your senses

If you want to create a picture of something you have seen or an experience you have
had you need to recreate it as vividly as possible for your reader. A good way of doing
this is to use your senses:
sight
sound
touch
taste
smell.
When you experience something you experience it with your senses. There are very
few things you do that you experience with only one of your senses. When you eat
something you see it, smell it and taste it. When you walk along a beach you see the
waves, the sand, and possibly the seagulls, you hear the waves and the wind and the
cry of the birds and you smell, and sometimes taste, the salt.
For example, when you eat an apple you:
See:
the green skin of the apple, the white flesh
Hear: the crunching sound as the crisp apple is bitten in to, chewing, swallowing
Touch: smooth skin of the apple, the sticky drips of juice
Taste: sweet taste of apple
Smell: the soft and subtle smell of the fruit.
When you walk along a bush track you might:
See:
tall, slender trees reaching high up into the sky, leaf-littered track, dappled
patterns of sunlight on the leafy floor, wildflowers, lizards
Hear: birds chirping, leaves rustling, the incessant scream of cicadas, feet falling

on the rough ground
Touch: the rough/smooth bark of the trees, smooth leaves, prickly grass or bushes
Taste: hints of dust, perhaps salty taste of sweat
Smell: heavy smell of eucalyptus, clean country air, sweat, sweet odour of sun
cream.
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Using figures of speech to create images in words

Using similes
A simile is when you liken or compare something to something different. Usually a simile
uses the words like or as.
For example,

Her mouth snapped shut like an iron trap.
His personality was as scarred and marked as his pock marked face.
Using metaphors
A metaphor is saying something is something else completely different not saying it is
like something completely different.
For example,

Your brother is a pig when he eats.
The test was a breeze.
Using personification
Personification is giving human qualities to things.
For example,

The breeze played with his hair.
The waves caressed her hot body.
Using alliteration
Alliteration is using the same initial sound for a string of words
For example,

She is a bright and bubbly baby.
the whispering of the wind.
Using symbolic objects to suggest ideas or emotions

Some objects are associated with emotions or ideas.
For example,

white doves are associated with peace;
the devil is associated with evil;
prisons and zoos are associated with lack of freedom;
stones and rock are associated with strength or coldness.
Some colours are also associated with ideas and emotions. In western society black
is often associated with evil or death and white with purity and weddings. Different
cultures may associate different things with these colours.
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What are some techniques writers use to create vivid descriptions?

What are some techniques writers use to create vivid descriptions?

How can writers use their senses to create descriptive pictures?

How can writers use their senses to create descriptive pictures?

Descriptive writing techniques

Techniques to create a picture in words

Using descriptive words

Ten radical ideas for reluctant writers

Using your senses

the green skin of the apple, the white flesh

patterns of sunlight on the leafy floor, wildflowers, lizards

on the rough ground

Ten radical ideas for reluctant writers

Using figures of speech to create images in words

Her mouth snapped shut like an iron trap.

Your brother is a pig when he eats.

The test was a breeze.

The breeze played with his hair.

The waves caressed her hot body.

She is a bright and bubbly baby.

the whispering of the wind.

Using symbolic objects to suggest ideas or emotions

white doves are associated with peace;

the devil is associated with evil;

prisons and zoos are associated with lack of freedom;

stones and rock are associated with strength or coldness.

Ten radical ideas for reluctant writers

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