Descriptive Writing Exam Tips — With Examples
1. Avoid narrative structure
Don’t write: “I woke up and decided to explore the town…”
Instead: “Mist coiled through the empty streets, clinging to the crumbling walls.”
2. Focus and observation
“The lamppost leaned at an odd angle, its rusted frame humming faintly in the
wind.”
3. Use original imagery
“The sky was as blue as the ocean.” (common)
“The sky stretched like bruised silk, stitched with fading gold.”
4. Choose words carefully
“The silence was thick, as though the air itself was watching.” (every word builds
atmosphere)
5. Maintain consistent tense
“She walks down the alley and turned the corner.” (tense shift)
“She walked down the alley and turned the corner.”
6. No dialogue
“‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.”
Focus on action and setting: “She stepped back, eyes narrowing as the figure
emerged from the fog.”
7. Describe people through movement
“He hunched forward, shoulders tight, fingers twitching with impatience.”
8. Use a ‘camera lens’ approach
Zoom out: “The village sat in a bowl of hills.”
Zoom in: “A spiderweb shimmered between two cracked windowpanes.”
9. Include movement
“Leaves skittered across the pavement, chased by sudden gusts of wind.”
10. Use sensory language
“The sharp scent of pine and the crunch of gravel underfoot echoed through the
stillness.”
11. Adjust focus and perspective
Start broad, then narrow:
“The storm rolled in. Below, a single candle flickered in the cottage window.”
12. Vary sentence and paragraph lengths
“Nothing moved. Then—crack. A branch snapped. The silence shattered.”
13. Repeat key visual ideas (e.g., colour)
“Red—the peeling paint of the shutters, the scattered petals, even the rust on the
gate—all bled into the scene.”
14. Avoid storytelling structure
“And in the end, I found peace.”
“The room remained unchanged—still, shadowed, silent.”
