The Writing Company · The Mayor

Write to describe

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Step 1 · Pick a prompt

Pick one prompt. Choose a place you can walk through with your eyes closed, because your reader will be doing exactly that.

Step 2 · Plan it

Plan first. Fill in the five parts of the Path in short notes. A good path on paper is a scene the reader can walk.

Name the place (my scene, in one sentence)

Pick one path (top to bottom, near to far, or left to right)

Let the things act (at each stop, something does something)

Feed more than the eyes (at least two other senses)

Land the last detail (the one thing the reader should keep)

Step 3 · Pick one goal

One goal, chosen before you write, beats ten wishes after. Pick exactly one.

After you write, look for the proof in your own sentences.

Step 4 · Write your description

Keep to your one path, let the things themselves do the acting, and give the reader more than their eyes.

Action verbs you can borrow: leansglowsdripshumsrattlessettles

Step 5 · Sum it up

One more thing, once you have written. One sentence: what should the reader see, hear, and feel when they stand in your scene? If your description and your sentence disagree, believe the sentence.

Step 6 · Before you turn it in

Read your description once, out loud if you can. Then check.

My first sentence names the place, so the reader knows where they are standing.
I picked one path and kept to it, with no doubling back.
The things in my scene do the acting.
I gave the reader at least two senses besides sight.
I stayed out of the scene, so the reader watches the place, not me.
My last sentence lands on the detail that matters most.

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