Improving Descriptive Writing

Painting an Original Picture

Purpose of Descriptive Writing

Describe something in an original and unique so that it appeals to the five senses

Touch it Taste it

Hear it See it

Smell it

Keys of Being Descriptive

Be original Be creative Stretch your imagination For example, instead of this:

• The hot, yellow sun went behind the mountain and covered the valley in red.

The sun cut itself on a sharp peak and bled into the valley.—John Steinbeck

Try this:

How’s This?

She was super hero beautiful. Her hair was as black as coal, her lips red as blood.

Is it original and creative?

Clichés: The Descriptive Killer

1 : a trite phrase or expression; Also : the idea expressed by it

2 : something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace

Finding Clichés Through Experience If you have seen it

Or heard it

It’s probably a cliché

Finding Clichés Through Others

Ask someone really old

(You know, anyone over 21)

Finding Clichés On-line

Choose a keyword to look up Go to a cliché website and look up the

keyword Cliché finder is one of the best places to look:

http://www.westegg.Com/cliche/ You may have to try more than one keyword

Fixing Clichés

Identify the clichés Replace them with more descriptive writing

– Think of a new comparison– Look up words in a thesaurus– www.m-w.com

A Little Practice Each of you will be given a poem Identify ALL the clichés Replace half of them (you can choose the easiest

ones if you’d like) Don’t worry about making it rhyme We’ll do the first stanza together

Which of the following do think are clichés?

She’s as pure as the driven snow,Her face is as white as a sheet,Her hands are as smooth as silk,Her nails as red as a beet.

She’s as pure as the driven snow,Her face is as white as a sheet,Her hands are as smooth as silk,Her nails as red as a beet.

She’s as pure as the driven snow,

Her face is as white as a sheet,

Her hands are as smooth as silk,

Her nails as red as a beet.

Her hair is like the golden sun,

Her eyes blue like the sky,

She’s as beautiful as an angel,

and as hot as a firecracker on the 4th of July.

Her temper is as quick as lightning,

Her hatred cold as ice,

Her laughter is loud and clear,

But her crying is as quiet as mice.

Her beauty may be skin deep,

But her mind is as sharp as a knife.

I’m just small potatoes,

And she seems larger than life

They say she’s one in a million,

But I don’t believe what they say.

If she’s all that and a bag of chips,

Why say it with a cliché?

Same Old New Girl

Assignments turned in tomorrow at the beginning of class will be eligible for full credit