Overview

In writing a descriptive paragraph, you should create a particular mood in your topic sentence and then use well-ordered details to reinforce the mood. Choose precise nouns and vivid modifiers to make your description clear and lively. To orient your reader, use spatial order, describing the scene from top to bottom, left to right, or far to near, for example.

Use brainstorming, freewriting, or clustering to help you think of an imaginary place and person to write about. Including specific details in your descriptions will help make your place and character come to life.

You can better understand how to incorporate writing techniques into your own work by reading and then responding to literature. When analyzing a character, consider the author's physical description. Often, the writer presents the most important facts about a character first. You can also learn about characters by what they think, say, and do in the story. Also consider how other characters react to the character you are analyzing. Often, thinking about how a skilled author provides details about a character can help you improve your own writing.