The Writing Company · The Mayor

Write to describe

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Step 1 · Pick a prompt

Pick one prompt. Choose a place with some life in it, because you are about to lend it some more.

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, and hold it

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

My one touch of personification (which thing comes alive, and where)

The last detail (where my path ends)

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

Hold one path, let every thing act, and spend your one touch of personification where it counts.

Action verbs you can borrow: snakesrollsclattersloomsflickerssettles

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.
I picked one path and held it to the end.
The things in my scene do the acting; nothing is announced.
I spent exactly one touch of personification, where it counts.
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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