Create a Top-Notch Descriptive Essay with these helpful tips

Publication Date: 30 May 2018
Author: Kelly Higgins

Tips on Writing a Descriptive Essay

The descriptive essay is the type of paper which requires a writer to create a vivid picture of a place, thing or person. Many writers confuse the descriptive essay with a narrative one. However, the main goal of the descriptive essay is to reveal the meaning of a subject through sensual observation, while the narrative essay shows the story from the personal side.

When the reader feels that he/she actually met the person, felt the taste, went to a certain place, or saw some object and held it, it means that the purpose of your descriptive essay is achieved, and you’ve done a really good job.

Now, let’s learn some useful tips how to write a descriptive essay.

Pull the reader into the essay

Many famous writers such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Stephen King, etc. used the technique of pulling their readers into the story. This approach is important when writing the descriptive essay. Try to create an atmosphere that will take your reader away from the real world. This is the art you have to learn.

When it comes to writing your descriptive essay there are some descriptions of the following things to choose from:

• Experience
• Place
• Memory
• Object
• Person

While picking the subject of description, think of the one that you can describe the best to create the all-inclusive picture for the reader. At this stage, it is important to remember about the purpose you want to achieve with your paper. You write the descriptive essay to deliver some message, to share the experience you’ve been through that taught you something, the thing or person that somehow has influenced your life. Make sure you managed to deliver a particular lesson to the reader.

Show…don’t tell

The descriptive and figurative language is the great tip to use. In order to involve all of the senses use metaphors and similes.

If you enjoy the process of describing the subject, the reader will feel that every detail is included and the well-rounded impression of the subject perfectly tells the story.

Create an outline

The structured paper outline should be created beforehand when dealing with the descriptive essay.  It helps you to keep your thoughts organized and your essay will successfully flow.

The outline for the descriptive essay includes an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

The introductory part

• Use a hook. Of course, the entire paper should be interesting and has a vivid experience, write a hook sentence in the introduction to grab the reader’s attention. A good beginning in the halfway of the success.
• Background information. Give a general idea about the subject, so the reader will understand the further content of your descriptive essay.
• Don’t miss the sensory details. Engage all those five senses we were talking about by using the descriptive language.

Body Paragraphs

This part depends on the length of the information you want to convey about the chosen subject. Some may write only a few sentences, while the others won’t stop after few pages…

Do the following things to make your body paragraphs really juicy:

• Start from an interesting point.
• Write some factual details.
• Keep your reader interested until the very end.

Arriving at the conclusion

This is the last part where you have to explain why your text is significant. The end of your descriptive essay has to leave the reader with something to think about. Show the readers that you achieved the purpose, and give them some intriguing question or quote.

Editing process

Read your essay twice and remove the sentences that seem to be unnecessary. Change the simple adjective to more specific. You can also give your essay to a friend or parent to get the feedback about the weak points that should be replaced.

I hope that with these tips you can create a really amazing descriptive essay. You can also search for some descriptive essay example to understand the topic more fully.