NOTES - DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

• Do not use the colours traditionally, use for example pitch black
• Include the five senses. Include sensory images of all types: olfactory,
tactile, visual, auditory, taste, colour, movement. booklet page 133 and page
140 task 4

Some useful expressions

Olfactory images:
The scent of earth and wet earth filled the air
The perfumed scent of flowers lingered in the air
The pungent smell of trash intoxicated/invaded my lungs
The acrid smell of the smoke/fumes from the exhaust pipes of the cars
intoxicated me/ poisoned my nostrils.
The noxious smell of chemicals made me feel dizzy.
As you go in, you may be tempted by the sweet smell of…
The delicious smell of fine cooking reached us from the kitchen
Touch:
As you stand on the balcony, the cold air makes your skin tingle.
Visual:
Lights flash on and off
Bright lights dazzle you
Auditory:
Cars/ trucks rumble past or the cars snail past (as there is a lot of traffic they go
slowly)
The screeching sound of tyres is unbearable when vehicles brake abruptly.
Perched on trees, birds tweet a perfect melody.
The rock music pounded through the loudspeakers like a heart racing.

• Watch organization: Start from the time of the day (lighting), then the
weather conditions and the season
• Do not tell/do not enumerate things. Wrong example: There is a chair,
there are birds.
• Show details of what things are like or what people look like. Quality over
quantity. The scene should look alive. Focus on creating a mental picture for the
reader
• Use vivid verbs and adjectives. Phrases of location, position, movement.
E.g., the curvy road stretched out ahead of me. Booklet page 130

• USE “ways of” instead the plain/basic verb. Booklet page 131

Ways of walking: wander, stroll, shuffle, stagger, stumble, swagger.

Ways of running: pace, jog
Ways of looking: gaze, glare, stare at, glance at, scan, peep, peer through,
frown at, etc
Ways of laughing: cackle, chuckle, grin, giggle.
Ways of talking: murmur, mumble, mutter, whisper, yell, bark, cheer, etc

• Similes-metaphors and personifications. (Elements of nature such as the

sun/ moon/stars/trees/clouds) booklet pages 131-132
Below some examples you can use:
1. The glowing sun shyly peeps out over the line of the horizon at dawn,
gradually painting the sky in shades of orange and red.
2. At noon, the radiant sphere is high up in the blue cloudless sky like a
king in his throne wearing his glowing crown and warming the park with
its radiant shimmering rays.
3. When it gets dark, the silver queen of the night conquers the sky
escorted by its millions twinkling stars which guard her like soldiers.
4. The golden sphere plays hide and seek behind the clouds which looked
like white cotton balls.
5. The scrawny leafless trees danced to the rhythm of the autumn cold
breeze.
6. The perfectly trimmed grass looks like a green carpet full of perfumed
flower beds.

• USE different lengths/structures of sentences.