A descriptive essay may sound a little intimidating, but in reality, it’s one of the easiest you could ever be told to write. It revolves around impressions, psychological associations, and imaginable situations and offers a lot you a lot of freedom. As a student, you’ll encounter it so many times; it will become the norm. Therefore, ensure you learn how to write a descriptive essay so you can brace yourself for what’s ahead.
Unlike most essays that involve collecting a response or convincing the reader to pick your side, a descriptive essay uses literary elements that charm all five senses of the reader. In other words, a descriptive essay focuses on describing the subject in a way that drives the reader to paint a picture in their mind. For instance, if you’re assigned a descriptive essay on an apple, you’re supposed to talk about how it looks and how it tastes. On top of that, add details of how it smells, and how it feels when someone holds it as well as its texture when you chew it.
How to Write a Good Descriptive Essay
As noted, a descriptive essay is one of the easiest essays you’ll ever handle. Not only because it involves describing, but also because it doesn’t require research, statistics, or special effort. With great imagination and the tips, we are about to outline, you’ll have what it takes to write a five start descriptive essay. But before we get to the tips, check out the structure of this essay first
Structure of a Descriptive essay
Just like other essays, a descriptive essay is also made up of three main parts. Namely
The introduction
Where the topic sentence and thesis statement are written. While it may sound easy, it’s often quite tricky to get it right because it’s not like other essays. Here are helpful steps on how to write a descriptive essay introduction like a pro
- Identify the target audience. This will help you determine the most suitable language. For instance, if you’re writing for youths, consider starting with a sense of humor
- Evaluate the essay’s subject. This will help you determine the right vocabulary to use while describing it.
- Based on your evaluation craft a list of sensory details about the subject. For instance, if the subject is a person, write how they talk, how their walk, their physique, the smile, skin color and texture, hair color and texture or dressing style. In other words, the secret is in using words to paint a picture on the reader’s mind.
- Create a draft and once you’re done proof read and edit and then write down your introduction.
The body
Again, similar to other essays, the body of a descriptive essay is often made up of three to five paragraphs. The difference, however, is that in this essay, the first paragraph mostly focuses on giving in-depth details on the topic itself. The second one usually covers the environment while the last one gives a sensual and emotive description of how the subject affects anything that interacts with it.
Conclusion
The conclusion of a descriptive essay also plays an ordinary role in that it ties in all the ideas.
How Do You Write A Descriptive Essay?
Now that you know what its structure is like, how do you write a good one? By keeping the tips below in mind
- Start by Choosing and Analyzing a Topic
This kind of essay is often aimed at engaging with the readers on a personal level and making them feel how you feel towards a particular subject. Therefore, the key to writing an intriguing one is choosing a topic that’s close to your heart. It could be a person, an event, or a particular period in your life.
Once you make up your mind on the topic, the next step should be thoroughly analyzing it. This enables you to describe it in a way that allows a reader not only to feel like they’ve been in that situation or met the person before. Therefore, analyze to identify what exactly you’d like to describe. If it’s a person, what exactly do you want the readers to love or hate about them? If it’s an event, what about it did you like the most and why do you want the readers to feel that way as well. Proper analysis helps get your creative juices going, enabling you to broaden and give life to an idea that someone else would find shallow and challenging to write about.
Note Down Any Ideas You Plan on Using
Once you’ve analyzed your topic, write down any points that you’d like to include in your essay. The riveting bit about descriptive essays is that they don’t call for as much research as other essays. Therefore, this bit is easy.
Don’t Shy Away from Giving Details
With your list of ideas ready, it’s time to give them life. Take a piece of paper and create five columns, each column having one of the five senses. With that, give some life to your ideas. For instance, if your topic is about your trip to Paris, and you decide to talk about the delicious French stew you took, don’t just write, “the stew was delicious.” Go into details to help the reader create a picture. For instance, you could write something like, “The soup stew was nothing like I ever tasted. It was a combination of diced onions, garlic, and celery and had been cooked with wine, so it had a delicious smoky wine flavor.”
Going into details like that is what makes your essay exciting and also what stimulates the mind of the reader to view the subject from your perspective. In the example above, for instance, merely writing the stew was delicious won’t achieve the effect you want. The reader could think about the stew they ate during lunch and won’t find anything intriguing about your essay.
By going deeper into details and telling them what it was cooked with, you get them hooked and make them want to read more. Therefore don’t shy away from giving details. They create drama, transforming boring elements into fascinating details.
Maximize on Your Senses
As noted, descriptive essay writing is all about engaging the reader using sensory elements. Therefore you should engage them using all your five senses. For instance, if you’re describing the looks of your subject, make sure you describe their skin color and smoothness, the texture of their hair, height, and build.
Choose the Write Words
Wondering how to write a great descriptive essay? The secret is the vocabulary. To maximize your senses and go into details properly, you ought to have an excellent grammar. That said, work on improving your grammatical command. Review essays written on the same topic as yours by renowned writers to get a grasp of the kind of language you should use while crafting yours.
What to Write a Descriptive Essay On
There are just so many topics to write a descriptive essay on. From those that describe a particular important person in your life, to events and ceremonies. Here are a few to get you started
- Your dream home
- A life-changing event
- Your most recent vacation
- Your favorite dish
- Moving to a new country
- Your first love
- The most significant achievement in your life
- Your pet
- A funny memory
- Wonders of the ancient world
- Your Favorite childhood memory
- Your thoughts on the cryptocurrency
- The most cherished moment in your life
- The best restaurant in your town
- What nightlife in your city is like
- Your dream vacation destination
Finally
As you can see, learning how to write a descriptive essay is an easy affair. You only need to use your words creatively. It gives you the freedom to express your thoughts and ideas in a way that no other essay allows. The best bit about it is that you don’t have to spend an endless amount of time researching the subject. For more tips and help on how to write descriptive essay, get in touch with one of our experts today!