Summary

Good description does not just tell the reader that something is pretty, unusual, or unique; it shows the reader by using sensory language (that is, employing the senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell) to make the person, place, or object described come to life. Your writing should create a mental picture, or better yet, a mental movie of the subject of your description.

Good description is also clear and well organized. By concentrating on these skills you, as a writer, will make clear to the reader WHO or WHAT is being described, as well as focusing on a specific order that will portray the clearest picture. Writers most often use spatial order in arranging a description. This means that you must organize your description based upon where the parts of the person or thing you are describing exist in space. Typically, descriptive details are arranged from top to bottom, right to left, or nearest to farthest.

Remember that in a description, you are NOT to focus on what happens as much as you are to create a mental image that evokes your readers’ five senses. Do not forget about internal feelings like love, sadness and fear.