The term “describe” itself implies demonstrating something with words. One can illustrate anything like a feeling, a sound or even it can be an emotion. The writer can illustrate something in a way that the reader can see or feel or hear whatever it is the writer is talking about. It is an imaginative effort to simply describe what you absorb. Descriptive writing needs both creative and critical thinking . However, while writing a descriptive essay, the writer must have a particular reason for writing the description. Getting the reason assists in focussing the description and inculcates the writer’s language with a distinct context.

Descriptive essays usually incorporate our five senses like to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. These types of essays help readers to see places which he might not be able to go personally, hear new things, taste various food, smell alien smells, or touch diverse textures.

The writer should remember one thing while writing a descriptive essay, i.e. the popular saying: show don’t tell. But there is a difference between showing and telling. Showing means describing and telling means narrating .

For example:

• I grew exhausted right after dinner.
• As I drifted back and relaxed my head against the top of the chair, my eyelids started to feel heavy, and everything in front of me is getting blurred.

The first sentence says readers that you grew tired after dinner while the second sentence literally shows that you grew tired. The most impressive descriptive essays are by such showing because they insist readers to actually visualize something for themselves.

Let us take an example of a descriptive essay, if the topic of the essay is ‘the village where you visited your grandparents when you were a child’. First of all, list all the things that you have seen in that place. The list should comprise of both general features related to a village and personal and specific things which make it special to you and also to your reader.

Start with general features:

• Cornfields
• Ducks
• Cows
• Garden
• Pond
• Well

Then add the unique details:

• Playing hide and seek with your siblings and friends in the cornfields
• The ducks swimming and taking bath in the pond
• Picking wild greens for the cows to eat
• The stray dogs that always roamed onto the garden
• Taking bath with cold water of the well

By binding these details together in the essay, it makes the essay more engaging to the reader. So making these lists helps you to see how you can bind things from each list together. This is the stage where the writer should decide a proper order for the objects needed to be described. For example, if you are describing an object, then you should decide whether to describe its look from top to bottom, or sideways.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the essay should be started on a generic level and then gradually move towards specifics.

Quick Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay

Writing a descriptive essay is comparatively easy and pleasing experience, but it can be a bit complex also. Thus, it’s always helpful to keep the checklist of the essential points when you are planning, drafting, and revising your essay.

Planning your descriptive essay:

• What or whom do you want to describe?
• What is the reason of writing your description?
• What are the specific attributes that you want to focus on?

Outlining your descriptive essay:

• The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures necessary for creating your description?
• Which details you can incorporate to provide so that your readers can have a clear impression when he is reading your essay?

Revising your descriptive essay:

• Have you given enough details and descriptions so that your readers have a clear impression?
• Have you missed out any silly, but necessary point?
• Have you used words that describe your feelings?
• Have you used any irrelevant points in your description?
• Does each and every paragraph of your essay targets on one aspect of your description?
• Are your paragraphs organized in the most impressive way?

Editing your descriptive essay:

• At this point, you have to look for any grammatical errors. It is also the time to improve your vocabulary.

Publishing your descriptive essay:

• This is the time where you actually write a final copy of the essay.

There are many types of descriptive essays. The most familiar ones are those that targets on describing people, places or buildings, and objects. Here are few examples of descriptive essays:

• – The Swimming pool
• – Fond memories
• – The Horse Farm
• – A mountain resort
• – My Christmas Day celebration in London
• – Lou’s cafe
• – A beautiful paradise
• – The photo
• – My Home
• – The football field
• – My first birthday surprise party
• – Grandpa’s place
• – My mystical place
• – My first flight
• – The Oak tree
• – The endless day
• – My mother’s dining room