You are here Home » Featured » How to Write a Descriptive Essay

How to Write a Descriptive Essay

by Innov8tiv.com
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Writing a Descriptive Essay: A Guide

It is always fascinating to see how one can bring emotions to life or create vivid images in a reader’s mind through writing. Descriptive essays do this through different techniques. The main aim of this kind of essay is to describe a person, place, object, subject, or event using the five senses. Figurative language and sensory details are some of the tools that many writers employ in achieving this. To come up with a good and appealing descriptive essay, the following tips will be of great help.

1. Pick a Precise Topic

Your selected topic is an essential aspect of your writing because it determines what the center of your essay will be. An excellent descriptive essay will remain focused on what it is intended to portray throughout. This is why you should ensure that you have enough details on the topic you pick before delving into it.

An idea for choosing a topic is describing a person you know. For example, it could be your best friend, family member, or colleague. You can also choose to describe an object, a location you are familiar with, or an emotion you have previously felt. The goal is to pick a specific topic that you can adequately describe to your readers with ample details.

2. Do your Research

You have to gather enough information on your chosen topic to make your essay more realistic. You should look for details, including dates, names, background information, and physical characteristics. You should also gather the sensory details that appeal to your reader’s senses of touch, sight, smell, sound, and taste.

Extensive research is beneficial because it makes you more knowledgeable about your chosen subject of discourse. This will boost your confidence and help you better convey your ideas to your readers. You should also note the important details you have gathered in different categories for ease of reference.

3. Draw an Outline

An outline is a visual structure of the ideas you plan to include in your write-up. It entails highlighting the number of paragraphs you will use and what each paragraph will contain. When you have a rough sketch, you can easily focus on the descriptive aspect of your essay without losing focus.

An outline is like a compass that guides you through your essay. It is a blueprint that helps you to organize your points in a clear and concise manner. It is also useful in ensuring that you do not leave out any vital detail in the course of your writing. Your outline can include the topic, introduction, first, second, third, fourth paragraph, and conclusion.

4. Write an Introduction

The introductory paragraph of your writing is as important as the essay itself. This is because, in many instances, it determines whether or not a person reads your essay to the end. Your introduction should be strong enough to grab your readers’ attention and hook them to the end of your writing. It should present the central idea that will be discussed in your essay in an appealing manner. For example, you can start with a rhetorical question, an interesting fact, or a humorous story.

Your introduction should also contain a thesis statement. This is a sentence that describes what the entire write-up is about. A good thesis statement will give a solid direction to the focus of your essay. Readers already have an idea of what to expect in successive paragraphs, and this helps them to understand your writing better.

5. Write the Main Paragraphs

This is where the main task of a descriptive essay lies because you unleash the full details at this stage. You should commence each paragraph with a topic sentence that fixes the reader’s attention on what each paragraph should portray. While doing this, use adjectives that depict emotions and be very specific. Include relevant details where necessary. For example, instead of saying, “it was fall season,” you can say, “the dry green leaves crunched under my feet as I walked.”

Figurative writing is helpful in portraying emotions. This involves the use of metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, and onomatopoeia. Metaphors and similes are similar, as they are techniques used to describe something by comparing it with another thing.

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration to make a point, while personification is the act of attributing human characteristics to non-human things. Onomatopoeia is the use of words for some particular sounds. Sensory writing can also help with the description of specific activities and emotions.

You might find this literary aspect of writing a little tasking if you do not write regularly. It is not unusual to be in such a situation. This is why essay writers are available to take this burden off you, whether for academic or other purposes. This can save you a lot of time.

6. Conclude with a Summary

Your concluding paragraph is an avenue to reiterate the points you have established in your preceding paragraphs. You should also emphasize your thesis statement. You should not introduce new ideas at this point, as it might distort your reader’s flow of thought. Your conclusion should be strong enough to drive home your points.

Final Thoughts

A descriptive essay explores your ability to describe things and make them feel realistic. This should be your aim when writing this kind of essay. You should pick a topic you can adequately describe and carry out sufficient research on it. Write an outline and ensure you make use of symbolic and sensory writing to establish your ideas.

You should also review your essay for clarity, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Look for ways to enhance your description of certain events or emotions. With these, you can be sure that your essay will stay in your reader’s mind for a long time.

You may also like