Transcript Descriptive Writing - Brian Yablon's Weblog

Descriptive Writing
Some Notes
By Brian Yablon
Overall Purpose
• You want to create an
image or series of
images in the reader’s
mind.
• If done well, your
reader should feel as
though he/she is
experiencing the world
through your senses -as though he/she were
transposed onto you.
A Basic Skill
• Descriptive writing is
a “threshold skill.”
It is the basic
building block of all
other forms of
writing.
• In order to write all
types of essays well,
you must write well
descriptively.
Some Specific Uses
• To entertain
• Such as an amusing
description of a
teenager’s room.
• To relate an
experience.
• Such as a description
of your childhood
home to convey a
sense of wealth or
poverty you grew up
in.
More Specific Uses
• To express feelings
• Such as a description
of your favorite
outdoor spot so that
your reader clearly
understands why you
enjoy that place so
very much.
• To inform (for a
reader unfamiliar
with a subject).
• Such as a description
of a newborn calf for
a reader who has
never seen one.
Still More Specific Uses
• To persuade, to
convince readers
that some music
videos degrade
women.
• Such as a description
of a degrading music
video.
• To clarify, to clear up
a misconception.
• Such as the
descriptions of two
people, objects,
places, or ideas.
Where Can Descriptive Writing Be Found?
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By itself
Narratives
Exemplifications
Comparison-contrasts
Arguments
Definitions
Division-classifications
Cause-effect
How Do You Begin?
• First, figure out two things:
• Your purpose -- what are you trying to
achieve with this description?
• Your audience -- who are you directing
your description toward.
• Your purpose and audience determine
WHAT you say and HOW you say it.
Then What?
• Generate as many
• Select which of
ideas, details,
those you want to
examples, and
use.
images as you can -- • You cannot use
more than you think
everything; it’s too
you’ll need.
much -- and you
want to avoid
sounding like a
laundry list.
Focus on a Dominant Impression
• Support the
dominant impression
with specific, vivid,
precise details that
all lead toward that
overall image.
Getting Organized
• There are three
ways to organize a
descriptive essay.
• Keep in mind that
organization
patterns tend to
overlap.
Spatial Organization
• This is organizing
your images in
physical space:
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Top to bottom
Front to back
Left to right
Near to far
Head to toe
Bumper to bumper
Chronological Organization
• Sequential order
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First to last
Morning-noon-night
First, second, third
Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday
• September, October,
November
• 1999, 2000, 2001
Emphatic Organization
• Order of importance
• Least to most
• Most to least
Then What?
• Express and explain
your details in
length and in depth.
• Avoid creating a
laundry list of
characteristics.
• Use sensory language.
We are sensory
creatures and
experience our world
with our senses.
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Hearing
Taste
Touch
Sight
Smell
Be Aware of:
• The power of words.
• Denotation (literal,
dictionary
definitions)
• Connotation
(associations we
make with words)
• They are often not
the same -- and
sometimes opposite!
You Gotta Be Smooth, Baby!
• Be aware of
transitions; they
help your reader
move between
ideas.
• They’re connectors
between sentences
and between
paragraphs.
Do You Feel Like I Do?
• Use sensory language:
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Hearing
Tasting
Touching
Smelling
Seeing
• Be aware that sensory
language enlivens your
writing but also slows it
down.
• Use it well but
sparingly.
Precision, Precision…
• Always be vivid,
specific, and precise
with details.
• Use concrete details
instead of
amorphous, vague
ideas.
Figurative Language
• Try to use:
• Metaphors
• Similes
• Personification
Sentences
• Vary sentence
• Length
• Short
• Medium
• long
• Structure
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Simple
Complex
Compound
Compound-Complex
Focus
• Remember that
descriptive writing is
focused on images
NOT EVENTS.
• Think of it as
flipping through a
photo album. Each
image is static yet
tells a story.