Descriptive Writing: Lesson 2

Description: Sensory Details

We continue our descriptive journey, with lesson 2. We explored naming our subject matter in lesson one, and pairing it with some descriptive words, adjectives, to get started. To see the full details look for the post entitled Writing Descriptively Lesson 1. Now let’s move on to skill number two, using sensory details.

Remember descriptive writing is never complete without representing our senses; sensory details. Without these, description would lack a serious thing! You have to become even more involved with your environment now; you have to explore the idea/thing/place/person/event you are planning on describing. Try to figure out how many of your senses could be involved in describing this item/place/event/person/, hereafter called the subject.

What can you see, hear, smell, taste, touch or feel?

For example, let’s say I’m going to describe a man standing on the dock at the beach. I would make a list of all the things I could see there: sand, sea, dock, man, sky. You could then decide if it’s day or night, sunset or sunrise; deciding this can dictate what you are able to see hear, smell, taste, feel, touch. Then you could do the same for all the things you could hear: wind, waves washing ashore, probably someone singing. Go on to what you could taste: salt in the air, and do this for all your five senses.

Please remember though that you don’t have to include sensory details for all your five senses, because sometimes it’s not important, based on what you are describing, or it may not be possible to explore it or not relevant to do so. E.g. who would want to taste a turtle shell, or rock, or poison ivy plant just to describe it?!

Types of Sensory Details

Sensory details help to create imagery (a mental picture that is created in someone’s mind when they read something, especially something described) that the reader can follow and it helps them to share more vividly in the experience you are trying to describe. Sensory details have more specific names:

visual – sight
olfactory – smell
gustatory - taste
tactile - touch/feel
audio -hear

However, it is more important to know them when you are assessing descriptive writing, but it’s always good to be familiar with these terminologies; makes you seem more knowledgeable about the subject.

See you again soon, and check out the other mini lessons. Cheers!

Comments

Something to Think About

What is Wrong with Wrong ? We hear about sin , we hear about wrong doing, we hear about criminality and all liked terms. Maybe you've even heard of one that I have never heard. Sin is a term used from a moral or religious perspective to define unacceptable states or behaviours. Criminality, on the other hand, just as unacceptable, is defined by established laws, which also encompass moral issues. But why is wrong wrong? If I should bite you now, what would happen to you? If I should bite you because I hate you, what would happen to you? If you should bite me back, what would happen to you and I? What would happen to us? Wrong doing/being, sin, crime, all these things hurt other people. It hurts us all; it hurts the people who experience it and it makes the ones who do these things worse. Wrong doing and wrong being does not cause peace. It does not encourage patience, or love, or joy. It creates an...

Testimonial I was introduced to Te Vida Divina products, and I have not regretted trying them. I love them because they use natural herbs and ingredients that you can just quickly look up online. They work well; I can attest to that. Here is a testimony of someone using the OUCH supplement for her chronic back pain. I think you will find it useful. There are many testimonies like this one about Te Divina products. So get on board and try them! If you are interested in earning online, or directly from sales. Let me know too, there is room for more! https://youtu.be/LeH2-_YoDgU To purchase or view this product, visit: https://gbopportunities.vidadivina.com/products/supplements/ouch

The Trade Off

What are you gaining or losing? Every decision we make in life is a trade off. This is because we are always gaining or losing something, and even both. Sometimes what we gain is more than what we lose. However, it can also be that you lose more than you gain. Let’s say you chose to stay up at nights and play your favorite game. It gives you pleasure, and you get to feel quite satisfied passing the levels and getting the gems, and the money in the game. But overtime, the trade off is bad health, poor memory from a lack of sleep, aches and pains from your body not repairing at nights, crankiness from the lack of rest. It might even become more detrimental when you're making decisions. If you examine the end result that is an awful trade - you traded your health for a few hours of fun! When you were playing the game at nights, this never crossed your mind, and if someone came to you and offered the pleasure of the game in exchange for your health, you probably would nev...

Cheers to Writing

Search This Blog