Descriptive Writing- The Layout

Descriptive Writing- The Layout

Imagine a story about a fairground starts by describing the stalls and rides in detail. You may, for a long time, be picturing a busy fairground on a hot Summer’s day with jolly music and children laughing. The story may, in fact, be set on a cold winter’s night in a deserted, spooky fairground that is in disrepair.

For this reason it is important to start with the ‘big picture’ first and then build in detail as you progress.

Imagine you are a CCTV camera and are giving an overview of the scene so that the reader has a clear picture of it in their minds. Then focus on more details to add extra information (as if the CCTV is zooming in).

eg. ‘The Beach’

Paragraph one- Describe the beach, weather, time of day, how many people, landmarks, shops, food stalls, etc.

Paragraph two- ‘zoom in’ to a detail eg. a woman feeding her children some ice cream

Paragraph three- ‘zoom in’ to a detail eg. a ship on the horizon

Paragraph four- ‘zoom in’ to a detail eg. a busy arcade

Paragraph five- conclude the piece so it has a ‘natural’ ending.

Paragraphs two to four allow you to use your senses to add detail (see other sheet; Descriptive Writing- Using Your Senses). Remember to use plenty of adjectives and synonyms!