An Ultimate Guide to Writing a Descriptive Essay!

A genre of essay where the person immaculately and beautifully describes an object, a place, a person, or an incident is a Descriptive Essay and when it comes to driving in the peruser’s attention by forming a vivid image of your content, these essays fit in perfectly. Also, they are a powerful tool when you want to describe a happening or an event in detail or illustrate a subject in which you hold aces. You might get an assignment of writing a Descriptive Essay or it could be just a fun activity for you, but in either case, it is always advised to look for some Descriptive Essay Example to support your writing.

Though this might seem an easy description of a subject, it has an intricacy attached to it which needs to be kept intact to form a bridge between your content and the reader’s attention. Only when you have clarity of ideas about your essays along with a structured outline of your Descriptive Essay, is when you will successfully present this one of a kind writing piece. And, like every other writing piece, a final polish, proofreading, and finishing touch should be done for these essays. To assist you with the measures that can be followed in formulating a top-notch essay, here is a guide that when followed ensures that you will deliver a close to perfect Descriptive Essay.

Select an object for your description

A way to commence your writing is to pick an object that you feel strongly about and have a distinctive picture of it. It could be anything from your childhood home, your school, or any other object that is somehow related to you and you can also include a treasured gift or maybe an heirloom. Try to use sensory imagery and language which makes the understanding of your content facile for readers. A good option to write an essay would also be the choice of subject which can be a place or a situation that you fancy.

Yours is the emotion, you need to decide!

More often than not, descriptive essays are a piece of writing that is associated with a relatable emotion and you are free to pick any of the emotions be it anger, rage, love, or loss. You can proceed by presenting a cumulative work of your experience and that specific emotion and choosing a very specific emotion like that of self-hatred or self-love results in amazing formulation of essays. Try to avoid the usage of jargon and do not delve deep into the technicalities while writing a Descriptive Essay.

The key to outlining your essay

Put together the essay by making a short blueprint. Do this in areas: presentation, body, and end. The standard is to have a five-section essay, one passage for introduction, three passages for body, and one for the end. You can likewise have a go at having segments instead, permitting you to have the same number of passages as you need for the body segment of the essay. On the off chance that you are composing the essay for a class, your educator ought to indicate if they need a five passage essay or if you have the opportunity to utilize segments according to you.

Thesis Statement is of utmost importance

To define a thesis statement, it is the theme or idea on which the essay is centered which is often used to illustrate the purpose of the essay and be present as a guide for the essay, in the entirety.

Emphasis on writing a strong opening

For a reader, the introduction should be the setting of the theme and a tool to present the subject to the reader along with the usage of some sensory details about the subject. It is suggested to have a catchy one-liner at the start of your introduction and conclude it with the thesis statement which you can find relevant in the Descriptive Essay Example.

Illustrate your subject with explanatory adjectives

Use the adjectives that somehow depict an emotion or present the readers with a specification about the subject. For instance, if you want to use “tired”, go by using the adjective “exhausted” or if you want to use the adjective “ angry”, replace it with “rageful.” Doing this will paint a vivid picture of the subject on the reader’s blank canvas.

Use your thoughts and emotions about the topic

Do not hesitate to form presenting your thoughts about the topic in your Descriptive essay and do this by using the first person to showcase your emotions about it. Do you feel emotional, sad, joyful, or angry about the topic? Feel free to mention it in the content about how emotionally will you respond to the topic and the subject.

Conclude the essay with an impactful ending

The conclusion of your essay should be a bridge to bring together all your ideas and thoughts expressed in the essay. Try to incorporate the thesis statement again in your conclusion and finish it up with a catchy sentence and stay away from adding any new substance in your conclusion. Just bring in all your thought and ideas together in the end and wrap it up effectively.

Polishing of your essay

Now this is a step that will decide the outcome of your essay and thus it completes by following three simple measures of proofreading which are:

• Recite the essay so anyone who is willing to hear. Whenever you have finished a draft of the essay, perused it out loud to yourself. Tune in for any muddled sentences. Circle these sentences so you can modify them later. You can likewise peruse the essay to others to get their input. Request that they let you know whether there are any indistinct or unclear sentences in the essay. 
• Show the essay to other people. Show the draft to peers, educators, relatives, and tutors. Inquire as to whether they think the essay is expressive and loaded with tangible detail. Have them let you know whether they got away from the subject before the finish of the essay. Be open to useful analysis and input from others. This will just make your essay more grounded. 
• Update the essay for clearness and length. Experience the essay and eliminate any sentences that don't feel important to the paper. Supplant any frail modifiers with solid descriptors. Ensure your portrayals of the subject are clear and simple to follow. If you have a word tally necessity for the essay, ensure you meet it. Add more detail to the paper or take superfluous substance out to arrive at the word check.

Now that we know the idea of writing Descriptive Essay, let’s get to know about making the sentences descriptive!

Reduce the usage of ‘ly’ adverbs to minimum

One of the important advises given by Stephen King is to avoid the usage of ‘ly’ adverbs because they at times, unnecessarily heavy lift the words. To cut is short, use the required language and gestures only when they are needed as this is what will make your sentences descriptive. And, this is how you can showcase the sheepish behaviour of your characters.

Realize the importance of POV

Context is the key to writing descriptive sentences. For instance, if your character is a child, the POV (point-of-view) should be illustrated in the similar manner. You should focus on how the character will view things as a child in comparison to adults. Have a look at the Descriptive Essay Examples that are attached in the content further to get more clarity on the kind of sentences that need to be presented.

Get the knack of comparison

Adding comparative devices like simile or metaphors will only enhance the richness of your sentences and so forth the presentation of your Descriptive Essay. Metaphor being a comparison between two things and stating them to be similar can grab the attention of the reader to have two unlike things being compared. You can also include elements from your fiction and use them as sensible imagery to be vividly descriptive about the characters.

Let’s have a look at a few Descriptive Essay Example for better clarity!

(The following examples are referenced from literarydevices.net)

The Taj Mahal by Salman Rushdie

Yarn by Kokoyo Mori

The Corner Stone by Eudora Welty