This task requires you to write a description, but this does not mean simply describing everything you can see in the image (if this is given to you as a prompt). Instead, you should use the image as a springboard into your imagination, and not limit yourself to just what you see. An image enables you to draw upon the senses, as well as including any people in the image in your description, but it is important not to stray into uncontrolled narrative. You do not need a plot for a piece of descriptive writing; this is primarily where description differs from creative writing.
If you are not given an image to support the piece of description, you have to work a little harder, but you are free from restrictions. Consider what appropriate image you could draw upon for inspiration. Try to keep it minimal and something that could be imagined by all.
As with any extended piece of writing, planning is vital. You should spend 5 minutes annotating the image, or mind-mapping your ideas before you start writing.
The examiners will reward responses which consider how the conventions of form can be used to convey your ideas. Descriptive writing should be a “snap-shot” of a moment. Imagine yourself behind the lens of a camera.
Below is a suggestion of form for a piece of descriptive writing:
Descriptive writing form |
Panoramic |
- Broadly describe the scene
- Introduce the time and atmosphere
- In the market example, this could include colour and how tightly packed everything is
|
Zoom |
- Focus your lens in on one segment of the image
- Choose smaller, less obvious details
- In the market example, this could be the butcher on the right cutting into the animal carcass
|
Single line |
- Emphasise the key feeling of your description in one line
- In the market example, this could involve smell
|
Shift |
- Focus your lens on another segment of the image
- If you started in the foreground, then move to something in the background
- In the market example, this could be the lady dressed in dark colours at the back, grasping a bag
|
Shift |
- Now move your lens to a final segment of the image, or suggest something that is just “off camera”
- In the market example, this could be the lady with her back to you in the middle of the picture
|
Panoramic |
- Zoom out again to look at the scene from a new perspective
- How has it changed? Time? Atmosphere? Mood?
- In the market example, you could change the time of the scene from early morning to mid-afternoon
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Remember, you can include action or movement in your description, but this should not involve any story progression or interaction. Any action should only cover a short period of “real time”, such as the wind blowing a basket over. Something seemingly inconsequential could move in the background, which is especially effective if you contrast this with things that remain still.
Your paragraphs should be appropriately linked, but should vary in terms of size and structure. Variety and accuracy are key; you are bringing a scene to life for your reader, so they should be able to picture it, hear it, even smell it!