Writing to Describe

Thinking about your structure One of the things an examiner is looking for in your writing is a variety of sentences, especially to help create effect. What is the effect of a series of short sentences: He stopped. Looked around. Silence! This is wrong. What is the effect of a long sentence: They walked through the wood, all around were flowers of every colour; it was like being surrounded by a giant rainbow, everything shone in the crisp, golden sunlight.

Thinking about structure You must use your sentences to create effect just as you use your vocabulary. You must think carefully about when and why you use a particular sentence. Now think about your descriptive writing. What kind of atmosphere do you want to create? Spooky, tense, exciting, humorous? What kinds of sentences will help you create this?

Thinking about structure Read through the example answer to this writing task. Highlight where they have used sentence structure to create a particular effect. Make a note of what you think the effect is.

Alone in the corner of classroom the teacher slumps down into his chair, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. He sits staring around at the mess and chaos left by thirty boys and girls who have just run noisily and happily out of the school building at the end of the day. Who would have thought that eight-years-old could be so untidy? The weary teacher loosens his tie and begins the job of gathering his papers together from his desk.

Thinking about structure One of the best and easiest ways to improve your writing is to think about the way you start you sentences. Re-read the third paragraph and highlight the start of each sentence. What do you notice about the words used to start each sentence?

Looking down, he sees bits of broken biros lying on the floor of the classroom, carelessly stamped on by tiny feet. Crumpled balls of paper like snowballs; the product of a paper fight by the looks of it. “How difficult is it to put the rubbish in the bin?” he thinks to himself; but looking around he sees that the bin is already overflowing with litter. Under one desk there is a tiny pile of sweet wrappers, where two of the pupils had obviously been munching on Starbursts during the lessons. The floor is covered in tiny round pieces of confetti; where some child was careless with the hole punch and all the circles of paper had fallen out.

Finally don’t forget to include your figurative language. On the simplest level you could use a simile. For example the sentence- There are rows of untidy books standing on the shelves becomes much more interesting with the addition of a simile: The rows of untidy books on the shelves stand like warm and weary soldiers after a long march

A metaphor is a more complex form of comparison and creates a stronger image in the mind of the reader. For example: The old black till has levers that creak when they are pressed. Could be turned into: At the press of a lever the till, a black malevolent wizard, whirls into creaking action

Personification is another way to bring descriptive writing imaginatively into life, by giving inanimate objects human feelings and movements. For example: In a dusty corner of the room there are heaps of ancient magazines Could become: Ashamed, heaps of ancient magazines hide themselves, creeping forlornly into a dusty, forgotten corner of the room

Plan your writing Use of the senses Powerful verbs Different sentence types Adverbs and adjectives Figurative language