How to Write a Descriptive Essay

Many of you do not know about the existence of different types of essays. Students for the most part cannot distinguish one type of essay from another. For example, let’s say you are assigned to write a descriptive essay. If you are interested in learning how to write a descriptive essay perfectly, then this post is what you need. We will tell you about this type of paper and the correct structure, as well as give advice that will teach you to write such essays in English quickly and competently. Before you understand how to write a descriptive essay, first of all you need to understand what it is.

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What Is a Descriptive Essay?

how to write a descriptive essay

A descriptive essay is a type of essay that allows you to describe something and to paint a picture for the reader in words.

Detailed Steps to Writing a Descriptive Essay

  1. Before you start writing your essay and come up with a plan, you need to put in the paper everything that you know about the topic. On this stage of gathering the information, you should not worry about its organization. To begin, simply put down each element and the characteristics of the function according to what you are describing.
  2. After you put all the information down, you can start to formulate the subtopics. Simply look at the items and bind them in their logical groups. These groups will be your main topics which you will consider in your body paragraphs. Here is a list of suggested topics for a descriptive essay.
  3. Your next step is to read through your information to come up with one major impression that you get from all that you have written. Brainstorm your information for a while and think whether you can come up with one thought or not. Does it sound difficult for you?
  4. When you are writing an introduction, you should keep in mind that it is your opportunity to impress readers, and you should use this opportunity. It is important to grab readers’ attention. Keep in mind that a reader decides whether to read further into your essay when he or she is reading the introduction. Present brief information of what you will write about in the body paragraphs. You can present here a fun fact, an anecdote, or something else that can interest readers. Remember that you should be direct and brief in your introduction. Include a thesis statement that will be understandable for readers.
  5. A thesis statement is the main idea of your essay that will be described in your essay. Use it to make readers understand the main purpose of your paper. Try not to use cliches in your thesis and make it intriguing.
  6. The body paragraphs should support the thesis statement. Don’t forget to use topic sentences. The main arguments are included in the first sentences of paragraphs. Also, use transition words in order to help readers follow your writing systematically. The number of paragraphs depends on the requirements that you get.
  7. Any essay needs a good conclusion to tie up everything that you have mentioned and make an accurate and full summary. In a descriptive essay conclusion, you should sum up your main thoughts and explain the general impressions or thesis using new words. Your conclusion is the last chance to impress readers.
  8. As a rule, you may ask to write a descriptive essay outline. It is written to detail the main points that will be described in the writing. Before you start writing an outline, it is important to understand the structure of your paper. It will help you to focus on the points that will be included in the descriptive writing outline.

Descriptive Essay Sample

Students who are not able to create essays in an interesting subject based on impressions, literary works, pictures, or videos can read through one of the descriptive essay examples to get some ideas on how to write their own papers. A descriptive essay is one of the most complex forms of a student’s activity and our sample will make it easier for you. In this case it is necessary to begin working on your paper by reading though a sample. Our descriptive writing examples are presented only for viewing, and you can’t present them as your own paper. However, you can use them to get some ideas on how to write your essay.

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steps to writing a descriptive essaytips on writing a descriptive essaydescriptive writing format

Useful Tips on Writing a Descriptive Essay

  • Start writing your essay with some general details that pertain to your subject. For example, if you choose to write about your childhood, you have to tell where you lived and who you lived with.
  • A competent introduction is required to determine the general theme and the approximate course of the author’s thoughts. In other words, it is necessary to concisely but completely indicate the direction of the essay, raising several questions on which the writer is going to seek answers.
  • There are several simple and efficient ways to get started. For example, if it is a question of a specific person, it will not be superfluous to devote a couple of sentences explaining what this person means to you, smoothly leading to his or her characteristics. You can use rhetorical questions to make your writing more interesting.
  • The most universal version of the introduction contains the author’s own opinion of what he or she is describing, and some lengthy reflections and assessments which are going to be developed in subsequent parts.
  • Then move on to facts that are more focused, which will help your readers to understand your topic.
  • It is also advisable to pay attention to the order of your thoughts in each paragraph. Be sure that they create a common mental picture of your subject. If you manage to describe it in this way, your essay will be successful.
    Concerning the number of paragraphs: of course five paragraphs (including the introduction and conclusion) is enough, but if you have more than three aspects of your subject to talk about, write more!
  • When writing your description, don’t forget that some information is not known by your readers. Avoid talking about topics in a way that does not communicate well to your reader.
  • The main part should logically follow from the introductory paragraph. In the heart of the work, it is necessary to present details to the reader, confirming the point of view set forth in the introduction.
  • The main task is to convince readers that you know what you are writing about. Therefore, the arguments, details, and descriptions need to be stated competently and consistently, starting from the less convincing to the most reliable.
  • Make sure your spelling and grammar is checked thoroughly. For this reason, read your essay several times and perform all necessary corrections.
  • Make sure that you stick to the descriptive writing format. In any case, it may influence your grade.
  • You can use various facts, links, quotes, folk wisdom, and eyewitness testimonies. In this case, each of the above arguments, details, and descriptions must be given a personal assessment, indicating your own point of view.
  • The final part is obliged to give clearly formulated answers to the questions raised in the introduction. It is important to remember that none of the issues raised should be left unanswered. If the author of the essay feels that some theme cannot be supported by arguments and that he or she is unable to draw a competent conclusion, it is better to remove the whole issue from the introduction.
  • Description is, in other words, the characteristic. It is most often used in texts aimed at verbal portraits, characters, and states of characters or the surrounding reality. In the description, qualitative adjectives and verbs in the present tense are abundantly used, as well as many artistic devices, like metaphors, epithets, and comparisons. The form of writing a descriptive essay is quite free and does not have a rigid structural framework.

How to Write a Descriptive Paragraph About a Person’s Appearance

Describing the appearance of a person, his or her face, body, gestures, and clothes, is one of the types of descriptive writing techniques students use. The main thing in this type of description is to find the characteristic features, the main qualities in the appearance of a particular person, and be able to convey them in words. The description of a person’s appearance is one of the most difficult kinds of descriptions.

According to the source in these descriptions, one can single out the description of a person’s appearance from memory, life experience, special observations, from what he or she has read, according to the imagination, or from a picture. The description of a person’s appearance, as well as other types of descriptions, can be scientific, artistic, or for business.

Naturally, not all types of descriptions can be dealt with by students easily. Students should have an idea how to deal with scientific description. The business description needs to be given more attention, since in life the ability to indicate the signs of a person’s face can be useful. In addition, this kind of work, requiring the ability to see the characteristic details of a person’s appearance, develops the skill of observation for students. Much attention should also be paid to the artistic description of a person’s appearance, since work on this type of description is of particular importance for enriching students’ speech.

Work on the description of appearance helps to develop observational skills and increase attention to the people around you, and to enrich the speech of students with “portrait” vocabulary, which they do not know enough. Work on the description of appearances prepares students for writing on literary topics.

What Places to Write About in a Descriptive Essay

If you are assigned to write a descriptive essay about a particular place, it may not be a very difficult task, as we all have beautiful places in our minds. You can write about a place that makes you happy for a long period of time. If you can’t recall a particular place from your memory, try to imagine it. You can write about the place in which you grew up. It can be an apartment, a house, a town, even a whole region. Write about the characteristics and features of the place you are describing. Don’t forget to mention the nature: mountains, forests, meadows, and so on. Write about the animals that live in the place you are describing.

A descriptive piece of writing is like a window into another world. Using creative examples and details, the author can present a scene that can vividly describe a person, place, or thing. The best descriptive paragraph includes all five senses – smell, sight, touch, taste, and hearing. You can see them both in fiction and in scientific literature.

All such pieces of writing include places, persons, or things that have a special meaning to the author. After defining the places or things, authors describe them in a way that is personal to them. While writing descriptive essays, it is important to bind all paragraphs together mentioning the personal value of the thing that is described. Short on time and need a high-quality essay? Payforwriting can assist you – request ‘write my essay‘ and meet your academic goals.