Build a picture with your words: 5 descriptive writing tools

Hi. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. In today's video, I'm going to give you

five descriptive-writing tools. Now, what is "descriptive writing"? Just like

it sounds — you're going to be describing something, or you're going to

be describing someone, or a place, or a situation, or an action. Okay? So, it's

very important that you make it easy for the reader to basically understand what

you're saying. And you're going to do that by appealing to certain aspects of

his or her mind, as he or she is reading. Okay? Now, all of these things

you can, of course, use in spoken English as well. But you can do a lot

more in spoken English because you have your hands, you have your facial

gestures, you have your body gestures. You can go back and repeat. In writing,

you have to be very clear and very precise with your words in order to help

the reader get that mental image that you want. So, the first thing you're

going to do is you're going to use a lot of adjectives and adverbs. Okay? Very

important. People don't use these enough when they're trying to describe things;

and it's harder for the reader, basically, to relate; to have a sort of

relationship with what they're reading. Now, another thing you can also use is

prepositional phrases, but you're going to be using these as adverbs and

adjectives. You can use them for other purposes as well, but I want you to

start using more of these in your writing to help the reader get closer to

the... to the topic or to the subject. You're going to use these to add

visuals. Okay? You're going to add colour, you're going to add shape,

you're going to add size, you're going to add... use these to add pace. If you

want the action to move faster or slower; if you want the reader to slow

down and focus, or if you want the reader to just read quickly and get to

the next point, which is more important. You're going to add spice. Now, you're

thinking "spice" as in food — same thing; you want to give your writing

flavour. You don't want your reading to be very boring, just, you know... here's

details, details, details. You want to give it a little bit of excitement for

the reader to keep his or her attention while you're giving him or her

information. You can use it to show attitude; you can use it to show a lot

of things. Okay?

So, let's look at an example. "The man in the hat stood up to leave". So,

there's a pre-... there's a conference or a presentation, and the man who has

the hat on... so, we're using this... "in the hat" — this is a prepositional

phrase. And yes, it gives a bit of a visual; it gives a description, but

more: It's used to identify which man. There are a lot of people in the room.

So, "The man in the hat stood up to leave". Okay, so you're giving me

information. I know there's a man. I know he's wearing a hat. I know he stood

up; looks like he's about to leave. But that doesn't give me very much

information, as a reader. I can't really visualize the situation. So, look at

what I did: "The elderly gentleman in a fedora hat". So, first of all, I changed

"man" to "gentleman". "Gentleman" is still... it's still a man, but I'm

adding the adjective, here: "gentle" — just making a different sort of

connotation; a different subtle difference in meaning. "Elderly". Now,

basically what this does is it give you a different impression of this man. He's

not a young man; he's not a middle-aged man — he's a little bit older. So, older

people have a different approach to them; a different view of them. Right?

"...in the fedora hat". Now, a "fedora hat" is basically a... has a rim; a

brim. It's like a... in the top, and then it's a little bit tucked in. You

don't need to know, but it gives you a general idea. It's not, like, a baseball

cap. Right? It's an... it's a hat that an elderly gentleman would wear, for

example. So, "The elderly gentleman in a fedora hat". Plus, we also have a

different impression of "elderly men in hats" than we do of "young men in

baseball caps". Right? So, right away, I'm giving you a more detailed visual; a

better description of this person. And your impression of the situation has to

change because of it. Right? "...stood up in a huff". (exhales) That's called a

"huff", basically. So, "he stood up in a huff", so he stood up a little bit

angrily. He's not... he's not very pleased with what's going on in the

conference or the presentation. So, he stood up a little bit angrily, intending

to leave. So, it's... obviously he's going to leave. But right away, I have a

very different image in this sentence than I do in this sentence just because

I gave more details. And notice here: "in a huff" — this is a prepositional

phrase. It's telling you how he stood up, so it's an adverb. So, prepositional

phrases as adverbs or adjectives, or just simple adverbs and adjectives. Now,

number one, this goes very clearly directly with number two: Appeal to the

senses. Sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch — the five senses. Make sure that

you're appealing to the reader's senses. Why? That way the reader can engage with

the situation; with the topic; with the character; with the people being... he

or she is reading about. Right? It creates a mental picture, and it allows

the reader to relate.

So, "The suspect's clothes were dirty, suggesting he slept outside or in the

streets the night before." So, okay. The suspect's clothes were dirty. Dirty,

okay. You think maybe he spilled some coffee on himself. "...suggesting he

slept outside the night before or on the streets the night before" doesn't

really... you can't really relate that. So, we want to give you a more visual,

and we want to appeal to your senses. "The suspect's clothes were covered in

brown stains and dust. They had ragged holes throughout and gave off a pungent

odour of old sweat and garbage." So, not just dirty, but stains; brown stains,

and no. We can guess where brown stains came from; they can come from anything.

"He was full of dust". Okay? "There were holes all over his clothes", not just

hole, like this; but a ragged hole. So, the "ragged" gives you a sense of touch;

like, a little bit of texture as well. Okay? Means, like, maybe he got caught

in something and it ripped. Okay? And he... "ragged holes". "...gave off a

pungent odor". A "pungent" means a very strong smell. "Pungent odour" — strong,

sharp smell; not good one. Right? "Pungent" is not good. "...of old sweat"

means he hasn't showered in a while or bathed. "...and garbage" means he was

covered in maybe food; maybe somebody's garbage. Maybe he slept in a dumpster.

And then: "suggesting that he had spent the night on the street". So, this

description — the visual description makes the conclusion that he slept in

the streets, first of all, much easier to accept as a reader and more obvious.

And you're looking at him; you have a very different impression of him. He's

no longer a suspect. A "suspect", you think criminal. Okay? This guy, you have

to feel a little bit sorry for, or... either you feel sorry for him or he's a

little bit pathetic. Right? So, you don't know if you feel bad for him, or

some people will actually feel even worse and needs more punishment,

etcetera. It doesn't matter, but you're creating an impression by appealing to

the reader's senses. Okay? So, that's two. Let's look at a couple more.

Okay. So, now, we're going to look at three more tools; and these are actually

quite underused, I find. People don't use them enough because a lot of people

are afraid to use them. Okay? Don't be; they're very good tools for description.

We're looking at simile, metaphor, and analogy. Now, good writers or

professional writers use these all the time because it's very easy for a reader

to understand something by looking at something else. Okay? If something is a

little bit complicated, give them something else that's... they can make

the relay... the relationship between them, basically. They can connect the

two things and get an understanding. So, when we use simile, we're comparing

something to something unrelated. They don't have to be similar things; they

could be completely different, but you're comparing them because they have

the same effect on the reader's understanding. And we... with simile, we

use: "as" or "like". So, for example, if I want to describe Jim — okay? — Jim's a

very big guy. Like, he's very tall, very wide; and when he walks, if... if he

hits somebody, even by accident, he will knock them over; maybe even hurt them.

So, "Jim looks like a human wrecking ball". Now, if you're not sure what a

human... like, what a "wrecking ball" is, like, you have a chain on a... like,

a truck, whatever, with a huge metal ball that they use to... if they want to

destroy a building or break down some walls, the ball goes up, they drop it,

it goes: "Boom" — the whole building kind of destructs. Jim looks like this.

Does he really look like that? Of course not. But you create an image; you create

an impression — a very big, very strong, very dangerous to walk into. Now, a

metaphor is very similar. We can look at two completely different things, and use

them as an... as a way to connect ideas for the reader. Right? So, basically,

we're using something to mean something else. Now, the difference is that we

state it as a fact. So, I say: "Jim is a human wrecking ball". Of course, he's

not. But by saying it like that, we give the impression of what kind of...

physically, what kind of person Jim is. He's big, he's strong, he's dangerous.

Okay? And we have analogy. Now, analogy is similar to both of these, but we use

analogy to explain something that's complicated by explaining something

that's more simple. Okay? And, usually, it's much more developed than a simile

or a metaphor. Okay? So, we're explaining something by explaining

something else. So, if I want to explain why it's dangerous to walk in front of

Jim — well, he's really big. Well, think of it like this: "You know how a

wrecking ball is used to bring down a building because it's so big and strong?

And when it hits the building walls, the walls collapse and the whole building

comes down? Well, Jim is like that." Okay? And that's the analogy. Here's a

little situation. Here's Jim. Jim is similar to this, and that's where we

have the analogy. Okay? So, very important tools. Now, I'm going to show

you some more examples, so you'll have a better understanding of these.

Okay. So, let's look at some examples of similes, metaphor... simile, metaphor,

and analogy. Now, again, similes are the easiest to identify because you have

"as" or "like". "Janet sings beautifully. Her voice is like an

angel's". So, again, I'm comparing her voice, an angel's voice — you can have

that imagery together, and she obviously.... again, you imagine an

angel's voice is very beautiful and clear — that's what Janet's voice is

like. Okay? And that's why it's very simple with a "like". Remember: "like"

followed by a noun; "as" followed by a clause — if you're wondering the

difference. Now, conspiracy theorists would like us to believe that the Earth

is flat. Obviously, they don't want us to believe the Earth is flat, or the

Earth is not flat, but they want us to believe that we shouldn't believe

everything we're told by scientists, or everything we're told by experts, or

whatever. Right? Everybody wants you to go out... the conspiracy theorists want

you to go out and find out for yourself: "What is going on?" Get all the

information; don't believe everything you're told. Okay? And everything is

actually quite simple. The Earth is flat — think, like, the old days. Now, if you

want to know some more famous examples of a metaphor: "All the world's a stage,

and all the men and women merely players". If you're not sure where this

came from, it's Shakespeare. Okay? "All the world's a stage" means life, or

the... the whole world we live on is a theatre stage, and all of us are just

players. So, he's comparing life to a play. Okay? That's a direct metaphor.

And remember: "All the world's a stage" — this is a "be" verb "is", stated like

a fact. "The world is a stage" — nothing more. "We are just actors". We come on;

we get off. That's life. We were... we're born, we die, we do... we act our

part throughout. Okay? And analogy. Expressing an idea clearly in writing is

difficult. Now, how are you going to explain to someone why expressing an

idea in writing is difficult? It's a very abstract idea. It's very difficult

to explain that. So, you're going to use an analogy. Okay? Let me just erase this

and put a period; start a new sentence. "It's like trying to copy a photo in the

writer's mind, and pasting it in the reader's". So, I think everybody knows

copy and paste. Everybody uses computers; everybody cuts and pastes

things all over the place. So, I'm comparing writing to copying and

pasting. It's very difficult to be a writer to express ideas clearly, because

we're trying to get... the writer is trying to get his or her mental picture

or ideas into the reader's head, which is very difficult to do. It's like copy

and paste. But that's not a very easy thing to do because we're not computers.

Right? We're human beings; we have our own ideas. The reader has his or her own

mind; the writer has his or her own mind. But I can... I can express to you

how difficult it is by giving you something easier to understand, like,

copying and pasting. Okay?

So, these are the tools you're going to use in writing. Use them a lot. Now,

especially those of you taking tests, like IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, ACE, CAE —

whatever. All these... all the writing sections can use this; especially for

descriptive essays, but even other essays. When you want to make a point

very clear, compare it to something simpler, or easier for a reader to

understand. Use adjectives and adverbs, prepositions, prepositional phrases,

make sure you appeal to the senses, and the reader will be... will have a much

easier time getting your ideas. Okay? Now, if you have any questions or

comments, please go to www.engvid.com; there's a comment section — you can ask

me questions there. There's also a quiz, if you can... I'll give you some

examples of metaphors and similes, analogies, etcetera that you can

practice with. Please go to my YouTube channel and subscribe. And come back for

more helpful lessons, I hope. I'll see you then. Bye.