Who is write for the Readers

Description is a genuinely important style of writing, but it's one that is never, in the real word, used as an end in itself. Description is instead used to support some other writing purpose, such as narration (story-telling), explanation, persuasion, argument, etc. At school, however, it's a part of your English exam - often on English paper 2. Without doubt, it's a skill you need to master.

Effective description works because it helps a reader feel a part of the scene being described. If you look closely at how this kind of writing is created, you'll find many refereces to one or more of the senses such as what can be seen or heard. This is called sensory description. This use of the senses allows the reader to enter the scene more effectively by involving them directly and by evoking a more emotional response. It works because it creates imagery in the mind.

In the following brief extract you'll see how writer achieves this. Look closely at the writing to detect the methods. This info gives his rider the sense that he is Showing us the woman rather than merely telling us about her. This is a central aspect of effective descriptive writing: wherever possible, show, don't tell! Also notice that the 'showing' works because use of vivid and original figurative language.

She was waiting for me, a white face behind a dusty window. She smiled, her painted mouth unfurling as a red flag cought in a sudden breeze. Her hair was dyed dark-auburn. Her legs were a Mesopotamia of varicose veins. She still had the tatters of an extraordinary beauty.


She had been making pastry and the grey dough clung to her hands. Her blood-red nails were cracked and chipped.


Can you imagine a car journey? What might you see, tough, smell, taste and hear?

Seen

• Like a fiery red fish, the Ferrari Testarossa punched its way past our ageing Ford Fiesta .....

touched

• the open window allowed a cool spring breeze to caress my cheeks .....

smelt

• an ancient jalopy of a school bus spluttered along in front of us spewing out nauseous black clouds of exhoust ....

tasted

• the bitter taste of the pre-trip travel sickness pill still clung to back of my throat ....

heard

• the screeching siren of an ambulance forced us to pull in and wait till it passed ..............

What do you think the above expression of something that should be pour into your sentence. You'll gain a higher grade, too, so it must be worthwhile.