Little Book Of Tips For Descriptive Writing

Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing, what's it all about? It's all about giving your story added depth. It's all about making your reader feel he is right there alongside your characters.

Of course, you can find all of this information on the internet if you feel like going and looking for it. I did, so to save you time I thought I would put a few tips together here for you, allowing you to get back to your writing sooner rather than later.

Definition: Descriptive. A rhetorical strategy using sensory details to portray a person, place, or thing. Showing and not telling is a good example of descriptive writing.

Descriptive writing, the ability to create a picture in your reader's mind, is one of the most powerful techniques you can master in writing.

Let nouns and verbs do all the heavy lifting for you. With nouns, your readers will see, and with verbs, they will feel.

Noun: a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality e.g.'teacher', 'dog', 'rodeo', 'wine' and 'wealth'.

Verb: a word or phrase that describes an action, condition or experience e.g. 'dance', 'clap' and 'feel'.

Adjective: a word that describes a noun e.g. 'huge', 'sad', 'pink', 'slow' and 'aggressive'.

The chief purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place or thing in a particular way, so that a picture forms in the reader's mind. Portraying an event through descriptive writing involves using details from all of your five senses. Good descriptive writing includes vibrant sensory details that paint a picture, triggering the reader's senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

I often receive comments and reviews from readers that describe my writing as wonderfully descriptive. I feel like I'm right there in the story as I'm reading.

Here are just a few examples of the remarks I have received from readers.

Roberts truly has a gift for writing. I love it when can you read what an author's written and you almost feel like you're being transported to another world just by reading the words on a page. Megan. Book reviewer.

The magnificent descriptions of people and places makes you feel like you are there every step of the way. I couldn't put my kindle down until the last word was read. I am excited and cannot wait to begin the next book. Patti Roberts, you have a wonderful way with words. Shannon Taylor. Book reviewer.

This book has left me breathless, really breathless. I felt like I was right there in the story, few books are able to do that to me, but this one did, I could smell, hear, feel what everyone was doing, the book drew me right into it. Natalie Hillier. Book Reviewer.

The scenes and the characters come alive right before your eyes. Darlene Suber. Book Reviewer.

A beautifully descriptive book, full of evocative mystery and mood setting. I really feel as if I'm one with whatever scene Patti sets. Jeannie Zelos. Book reviewer.

Patti Roberts makes you feel like you are there by drawing a picture in your imagination with her story-telling skills. Her descriptions and back-stories are golden. Leslie Hansford. Book reviewer.

Patti is very generous in her descriptions and she has the gift of being an incredible storyteller. Ella Medler. Author.

Ms Roberts' descriptions of scenes are a particular treat, and in my opinion her ability in this area stands with that of Dickens. Tabitha Ormiston-Smith. Author.

If these statements resemble reviews that you are seeking as a writer, then you must sharpen your descriptive writing skills. Descriptive writing draws your reader in, captivating him, taking him to another place and allowing him to connect with your story and your characters alike. And isn't that what a good book should do?

What do I do? Firstly, I take a moment to put myself in the characters’ environment. Close your eyes if this helps. What do your characters see, feel, think, smell, taste, wear?

Put your reader in the scene by introducing him to smells: Coffee, perfume, beer, cigarettes, garlic.

Word usage is very important in creative writing. They don't have to be elaborate words. You don't want your reader to have to stop reading to go look up a word every five minutes, which will only frustrate your reader and interrupt the flow of the story.

Chapter - Smells & tastes.

Smells: acid, acrid, airy, biting, clean, crisp, dirty, earthy, faint, feminine, fetid, fishy, fresh, floral, flowery, light, loamy, masculine, moist, musty, nauseating, perfumed, pungent, putrid, rancid, redolent, repulsive, rotten, sharp, sour, spicy, spoiled, stale, stinking, sweaty, sweet, tart, and wispy.

Tastes: acidic, biting, bitter, brackish, briny, cold, dry, earthy, flavorful, fruity, full-bodied, gamy, gross, hot, juicy, peppery, rancid, rank, rich, salty, sharp, sour, succulent, sugary, sweet, syrupy, tangy, tart, zesty, zingy.

Chapter – Sounds.

Sounds also play an important role in setting the scene and adding excitement to your writing. Ticking clock, howling wolves, crickets chirping, drumming rain, horns blaring, tyres screeching, whip cracking, tap dripping, floorboards creaking, doors slamming, glass shattering, waves crashing.

Sounds: Bang, bark, beep, bellow, blare, blast, bleat, boom, bray, buzz, cackle, cheep, chime, clack, clank, clap, clatter, clink, cluck, clunk, crack, crackle, crash, creak, dingdong, drop, drumming, fizz, glug, gnashing, gobble, grating, growl, grumble, gurgle, hiss, hoot, howl, hum, jingle, jangle, knock, mew, moan, mod, murmur, neigh, patter, peal, peep, pop, power, pounding, pulsing, purr, put-put, rap, rat-a-tat, rattle, ring, rippling, roar, rumble, rushing, rustle, scream, scrunch, shriek, sizzle, slam, snap, snarl, snort, splash, sputter, squawk, squeal, squish, stamp, swish, swoosh, tap, tattoo, tearing, throb, thud, thump, thunder, tick, tick-tock, tinkle, toot, trill, twang, twitter, wail, wheeze, whine, whir, whisper, yap, yelp, zap.

Chapter – Touch.

Touch: Bristly, burning, cold, cottony, damp, dry, feathery, frosty, furry, fuzzy, gnarled, hairy, hot, knobbed, knotted, leathery, limp, lumpy, oily, puffy, ribbed, rough, rubbery, sandy, sharp, slimy, smooth, sticky, tough, velvety, wet.

Chapter - Feelings.

For example, you could say the character has goose bumps, a pounding heart. Was wide-eyed, openmouthed, speechless, trembling, or feeling faint.

List of adjectives to describe tone:

Alarmed. Angry. Annoyed. Believing. Bitter. Bold. Calculated. Cautious. Clever. Conservative. Devoted. Disbelieving. Disgruntled. Dreary. Dull. Enlightened. Foolish. Fresh. Guilty. Happy. Hating. Heavy. Horrified. Humorous. Hurtful. Intelligent. Intently. Involved. Irritated. Liberal. Light. Loving. Mysterious. Narcissistic. Obnoxious. Outraged. Political. Purposeful. Quizzical. Religious. Remorseful. Republican. Resentful. Sad. Sarcastic. Sardonic. Secretive. Secular. Social. Startled. Supportive. Supportive. Sympathetic.

Adjectives to describe character feelings:

Aback. Agreeable. Amazed. Angry. Animated. Attracted. Attractive. Bashful. Beautiful. Better. Brave. Calm. Cheerful. Chilly. Clean. Cold. Defeated. Delightful. Dirty. Disgruntled. Dreadful. Dumb. Eager. Embarrassed. Empowered. Engrossed. Evil. Excited. Faith. Festive. Foolish. Fortunate. Free. Gentle. Gorgeous. Great. Handsome. Happy. Hating. Hope. Hot. Hungry. Hurt. Intelligent. Involved. Jolly. Joyful. Kind. Loving. Lucky. Moody. Nervous. Nice. Okay. Optimistic. Pessimistic. Playful. Proud. Reliable. Relieved. Sad. Sadistic. Scared. Serene. Sick. Silly. Smart. Strong. Stupid. Supportive. Sweet. Taken terrible. Thirsty. Thrilled. Tired. Ugly. Understanding. Warm. Weak. Well. Wonderful.

Adjectives to describe emotions:

Aggravated. Angry. Annoyed. Anxiety. Appreciative. Depressed. Despise. Devastated. Disgruntled. Envy. Faith. Fear. Frustration. Grumpy. Guilt. Hating. Happy. Hope. Horrified. Hurt. Jealousy. Joyful. Liking. Longing. Loving. Lusting. Mad. Overcome. Overjoyed. Overwhelmed. Pity. Pride. Respectful. Sad. Self. Selfish. Serene. Shame. Sick. Sour. Supportive. Sweet. Tearful. Thrilled.

Chapter – Weather.

The weather is another way to set the scene for your reader. It may even determine how your character might act in the scene. Are there any heavy gray clouds threatening to burst? What about torrential rain, claps of thunder and flashes of lightning illuminating the ink-black sky?

Descriptions of weather: Arid, bad, bitter, blusterous, balmy, calm, cold, cloudy, crummy, clear, close, damp, dead, dark, drizzly, frosty, good, hot, humid, hazy, icy, mild, misty, muggy, rainy, raw, revolting, sunny, stormy, snow, steamy, showery, scorching, sultry, tempestuous, warm, wet, windy.

Describe the sky and clouds. Sunrise and sunset. Lightning and thunder. The wind and the rain. The moon and the stars. Dusk or dawn, and so forth.

A note of warning. Don't be overly descriptive, you don't want to drown your reader with every little detail. The secret is balance - knowing when you have amply described a situation, and moving on with your story.

Lastly, the most effective way to hone your descriptive writing skills is to read, read, and read. You can never read enough if you want to become a successful writer who captivates his readers from the beginning of the book right up to the very last page.

I hope you have enjoyed this little book of descriptive writing and have taken something interesting from it. Continue reading to learn some writing tips from published authors.

Chapter - Quick writing tips

before you continue reading.

Write every day for at least 30 minutes. Ideas will come to you and before you know it, you have another chapter done.

I also like to set and announce a reachable deadline. I also set a daily word count to make sure that I am able to reach my deadline. Usually it is a 1000 words a day word count. This gives me a goal. I have never let my readers down. Rather than taking a year to write a 70k word book, I can do it in five months using this technique.

I like to have pictures of my characters close by when I am writing about them, it makes them more real, especially when writing dialogue.

While spell-checking programs serve as a good tool, they should not replace a good editor.

Learn to accept criticism and seek it out at every opportunity. Don’t take it personally, even if you think the criticism is harsh, and always thank those who take the time to offer it. You can learn so much from constructive criticism. It gives you an opportunity to correct problems with your story and grow as a writer.

Right click on a word to use the synonyms and thesaurus feature to increase word choices.

Read your writing aloud, or have someone else read your writing back to you. Awkward sentences that slipped through earlier edits will show up readily when reading aloud. I like using my kindle text to speech feature for doing this.

I make a list of interesting words that I would like to use in my writing to keep it interesting.

To be a good writer you have to read and write every day. Mark Twain said, The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Find a good editor.

Read great writers for inspiration. You are what you read.

If one word works where three are, replace them.

Don’t be too disappointed if your first efforts aren’t as good as you’d hoped. Soldier on. You will get better.

Carry a notebook everywhere and write down ideas. You never know when inspiration may strike. Many of my ideas come to me in the middle of the night or when I'm taking a shower... Although I did see an interview with Stephen King not that long ago, and he said something along the lines of, If it's a good idea, you won't forget it.

Facebook does not get your book written, although, it is a wonderful promotional tool and a great place for establishing a fan base. Remember though, if you don't finish your book, you won't have anything to promote!

And just in case you missed it... read, read, read, write, write, write, everyday!

Lastly, some of my favorite tips from Stephen King.

If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.

Writing requires commitment, and ... if you don't want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well.

There's no need to wait for a muse when all you need is to keep your eyes and ears open.

One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.

You can’t please all of the readers all of the time; you can’t please even some of the readers all of the time, but you really ought to try to please at least some of the readers some of the time.

Patti Roberts pattiroberts7@gmail.com

Continue reading for further writing tips from some very good friends of mine.

A chat with some delightful Authors.

FACT.

Stephen King has published 49 novels and counting, all of them bestsellers. He has sold more than 350 million copies of his works. According to Forbes, he earns approximately $40 million per year, making him one of the richest writers in the world today. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was