Descriptive Writing Powerful verbs Replacing simple, everyday verbs with more powerful verbs can have an immediate impact on your writing. More powerful verbs convey information as to tone, character feeling, motivation and/or attitude and can provide a better picture of the character and the situation. Exampl “He walked down the street.” ~ This sentence is fairly neutral as we get no information about the character, nor can we determine tone, through the use of the simple verb “walked”. However, when we consider replacing “walked” with a more powerful verb, we can deliver much more information through the connotations inherent in the verbs. + “He swaggered down the street.” + "He strolled down the street.” + "He sauntered down the street.” + “He staggered down the street.” Note how by simply changing the verb we are conveying much more information about the character and their attitude and giving information that helps to set the tone of the piece. Adverbs ‘Adding adverbs to powerful verbs allows us to clarify an action or increase or emphasise the a Example: “He paced the room.” ~ The word “paced” has several connotations. The character could be anxious, angry, nervous or frustrated. Adding an adverb allows the emotion to be clarified. * "He anxiously paced the room.” + “He paced the room angrily.” Adjectives Another simple way of increasing the descriptive language is by adding adjectives and the more powerful the adjectives are the better the Image that is created. Example: “There was a table in the room.” — We know nothing about the table at this point. Adding adjectives will allow the reader to picture the table. What does the table look like? Add words about colour. “There was a green table in the room.”Choosing a more powerful adjective than “green” would be better as “green” is a fairly imprecise word that, while telling the reader the colour of the table, allows a great range of green colours to be imagined. Changing the word “green” to “turquoise”, “emerald” or “khaki” creates a more precise image for the reader. ‘What does the table feel like? What is it made of? Add words about texture and material. + “There was a rough wooden table in the room.” + "There was an old battered table in the room.” + "There was a smooth polished table in the room.” Adjectival phrases allow even more information to be given about a noun. “In the room, there was a smooth polished table with intricately carved legs.’ Conveying the picture in your mind When you are writing a story, you can picture the scene in your mind, but often when translating that scene onto paper, we forget to use words that allow the reader to see the scene as you have pictured it. Using the previous example, we know that there is @ table in the room, but where in the room is the table? Using more words to describe location of abjects or what the weather Is like, or what is surrounding the character will help to create the entire image for the reader. Example: “The sun reflected off the gleaming polished table positioned under the window. Two red velvet-cushioned chairs completed the table set, the intricately carved legs of the table matched by the exquisite carving on ‘the ladder-back chairs. Across the sitting room, the red velvet chaise completed the furniture set, and as he wandered into the room, he was struck immediately by the elegant air of a bygone era that permeated the room.” Syntax The arrangement of words in a sentence is known as “syntax”, and while it is important to ensure that you use correct syntax, itis also something that you can manipulate for effect. Choosing to place an adjectival or adverbial phrase at the beginning of a sentence, rather than after the noun or verb, can direct focus to the description Example: The first sentence has the descriptive phrase placed after the noun it is describing: “The table legs had intricately carved ivy leaves on them that drew the eye and clearly indicated the wealth in the room.” ‘The second sentence places the descriptive phrase before the noun, thus giving emphasis to the description by prioritising it for the reader: “The intricately carved ivy leaves that wound their way up the table’s legs drew the eye, clearly speaking of the wealth and antiquity in the room.”Lexical Chains and Lexical Density To build a strong image, you need to be aware of lexical density. This means to create a density of words that are all building up to create one image. For example, if you wanted to create an image of how hat the desert , you would need to use more than just the word “hot”. If in your descriptions, you added words such as “heat”, “steaming”, “cracked, “blistering”, “boiling”, “panted”, “dried” as well as “hot”, you are then creating lexical density that not only creates a clear picture of the intense heat but can also be used to emphasise or reinforce the image. lexical chain is made up of similar words that are linked to create an image. Lexical density can be created across one or more paragraphs, whereas a lexical chain is usually created more closely together, where each descriptive word links to the next to build the overall image. For example, an image of an old man could be ‘created by linking together words such as “old”, “wrinkled”, “grey”, “shuffled”, “cane” and “bent”. “The old man shuffled towards the bench, his bent back supported by a wrinkled hand on his cane, while a light breeze ruffied his sparse grey hair.’ Figurative Language Similes, metaphors and personification add a level of sophistication to your descriptions, ensuring that you are demonstrating your ability in the craft of writing. Figurative language allows you to create a more powerful image than descriptive words alone. Similes are easy to create, but that can sometimes lead to creating bad similes that are clichéd, or clumsy ‘comparisons that do not support the mood (tone) or image that you are conveying. A cliché such as “it was ‘as hot as hell” has been done many thousands of times before and does not demonstrate originality and creativity. Instead, think about the effect of the heat and try using a simile that describes the effect, rather than just the heat: “sucked dry by the sun, our lips cracked and burst like overripe figs”. Ensure that the comparisons that you use in your similes and metaphors are contributing to the overall image you are trying to create. For example, saying that “he roared like a lion” is fairly clichéd and does not give the reader the entire picture. Is he angry? Then say “he snarled like a lion”. is his anger in response to pain, either ‘emotional or physical? Then say “he roared like a wounded lion”. Adjusting the simile slightly can help to send a clearer picture to the responder about the image, or in this case, the mood of the character. Metaphors can make a more powerful statement than a simile, as you are saying that one thing is something else, rather than just /ike something else. For example, saying that the “night sky is lke a sea of stars” is not as powerful as stating that the “night shy isa sea of stars”, Personification can be extremely effective in descriptions, allowing the composer to create a clearer sense of ‘mood through utilising additional verbs. For example, saying that “the sun set” Is clear and simple but does not convey mood at all, Here are some examples that convey the same information, but use personification and descriptive words that convey tone and are therefore more powerfully descriptive: + "The sun danced over the horizon, flinging bright colours across the sky in a fond farewell message.” + "The sun slipped out of sight, barely noticed amid the grey of the overcast sky.” + "The sun cast a final angry glow, red and orange reflecting the fierceness of the day they had endured, 4s it finally sank out of sight.”Sound devices Remember that although you mostly see these in poetry, there is also a place for alliteration, assonance and ‘onomatopoeia in creative prose writing. For example, saying that the “cicadas could be heard outside the window” is not as effective as saying the “cicadas droned outside the window” or the “soporific song of the cicadas lulled me to e Improved Vocabulary There is no doubt that a more sophisticated vocabulary will garner more marks in both your critical and creative writing. A thesaurus should be an integral part of your writing process. Write your first draft, and then look at your verbs and adjectives and spend some time looking up alternatives in the thesaurus. In this way you can expand your existing vocabulary while working on a particular piece of writing. For example, the phrase “the continuous rain” is descriptive but it is not as good as saying “the unrelenting rain” or “the unremitting rain” or “the incessant rain’. Itis important that you continuously work on improving your vocabulary so that you can use a more precise word, which will allow better description and better creation of an image, tone and/or character. Active Reading Often when we are reading novels, we skim over the words we do not know. It is important that you grab a dictionary and look up what the word means. Keeping a vocabulary log or list where you record new words and their meanings, will help you when you are composing your own writing. Also, take note of powerful descriptive phrases — write them out and keep a log of different phrases to provide inspiration and instruction for your own writing. Example: Here are four examples of sentences in the first chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. + “The sunlight slipped over the polished leaves. In the grass, white daisies were tremulous.” + “The wind shook some blossoms from the trees, and the heavy lilac-blooms, with their clustering stars, ‘moved to and fro in the languid air. A grasshopper began to chirrup by the wall, and like a blue thread a long thin dragon-fly floated past on its brown gauze wings.” + ‘How horribly unjust of youl” cried Lord Henry, tilting his hat back and looking up at the litte clouds that, like raveled skeins of glossy white silk, were drifting across the hollowed turquoise of the summer shy.” + “There was a rustle of chirruping sparrows in the green lacquer leaves of the ivy, and the blue cloud shadows chased themselves across the grass like swallows.” These examples demonstrate the use of most of the descriptive writing devices that we have been explaining n this sheet. Finding examples from novels you are reading will help you to be a better writer, so ensure that you actively record these examples for later reference,