How to Write a Descriptive Paragraph

If you want to immerse your readers in your writing or story, nothing is more effective than writing sharp and vivid descriptive paragraphs. Let your creativity lead, experiment with structure and content, use novel and dramatic phrases to engage your readers. Whether it’s describing people, places, or things, your paragraph needs to make the reader feel like they’re in the same place, spending the moment with you and your characters.

Table of Contents

Describing people

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Begin the paragraph with an overarching topic sentence that introduces the character. A succinct introductory sentence at the beginning of a paragraph will help you grab the reader’s attention and shift the focus to the character you want to portray. Make your first sentence clear and concise, focusing on one feature of your character’s physical appearance so that you don’t overwhelm the reader with too many descriptive details at once. You can also split the topic sentence into two sentences for clarity and coherence. Start with a sentence like: ^{[1] X Research Sources}

“I’ve never seen anyone as tall as Mr. Bixler.”
“Hair is Melanie’s most prominent feature.”
“To understand John’s train of thought, you just have to look at his hands. They never stop moving.”

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Aim for the most prominent feature of the character’s appearance. To engage the reader even more, you’ll go straight from the overarching introduction to the most interesting or strange feature about your character’s physical appearance. Think of the first thing you notice or the most impressive feature. If it’s a creative piece like narrative writing, you can also use this as an introductory sentence. For example, you could write: ^{[2] X Research Sources}

“Usually I don’t pay much attention to people’s skin, but Natasha’s skin seemed to glow. If night falls or the whole classroom is in darkness, I can still see her dimly lit out of the corner of my eye.”
“His arms seemed too long for his body, and they were surprisingly muscular, like a pair of pale gray pythons.”

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Focus on the details of the look that evoke the character’s personality. By carefully choosing descriptive words, your paragraph can paint a vivid portrait of your character, while also giving the reader an idea of what that character really is. Look for strong, lively words that get what you mean and create a tone that matches the character. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Express your personality through physical description

Friendly or likable: “He has a habit of leaning down, looking me in the eye, and smiling.”

Arrogance: “He stood taller than everyone else in the room, looking over everyone’s heads as if he was looking for something more remarkable.”

Ambition: “She strode confidently, as if the energy from her legs was transmitted to the ends of her small, silky hair tied up and bouncing around her back.”

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Add the final details to create a sharp portrait. Make sure your readers get a clear idea of the most important features of your character’s physical appearance. You should at least mention the main features of the body, clothing and facial expressions, as these are the things that curious readers want to know most. Keep using descriptive words and challenge yourself to describe the characters in unique ways. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

To describe her face, for example, you could write “Her nose and two front teeth are slightly crooked. She kept pushing her long hair in front and back, and every now and then she brushed her bangs across her eyes as if she didn’t understand why they were there.”
To describe your body or outfit, you can write “The guy is tall, but he looks like he wants to apologize for his size. He was hunched over, his neck bent over the phone, and the gray clothes he was wearing seemed to blend into the walls.”
Even the overarching details you’re describing should only be mentioned if it helps the reader get a better idea of the character’s personality or impression. For example, if eye color doesn’t hint at deeper aspects of your character, you don’t need to include it.

Describe an object

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Talk about the size and shape of the object. The best way to start a paragraph describing an object is to tell the reader immediately about the location and size of the object. How much space does it take up? Can it fit in the palm of your hand or cover your entire body? Has it been lying there for a long time under the dust or is it constantly in motion? You can split the topic sentence into two sentences for clarity and smoothness. For example: ^{[6] X Research Source}

“She’s been wearing that necklace for so long that it seems to blend into her skin. The thin necklace and the tiny pendant are centered below the collarbone.”
“The water bottle was lying in the dirt on the side of the road, so dented that it was impossible to guess its original shape.”

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Describe sensory details such as color, texture, or taste. Powerful sensory details can help readers visualize something they’ve never seen before, or bring new light to something familiar. Condensed details that touch the reader’s touch, smell, taste or sight will bring things to life. You can describe how heavy or light the object is, how hot or cold it is, how hard it is, how it tastes. Use your creativity! ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Use sensory details

Sight: “The bright bulb emits flashes of almost purple light.”

Hearing: “The bag creaks when I open it.”

Tactile: “The bark is so rough that it cuts the skin, causing the girl’s hand to be scratched when she touches the tree.”

Taste: “The pizza smelled of garlic and was so salty that he drank a glass of soft drink as soon as he ate one.”

Smell: “When they opened the box, a faint pungent smell characteristic of old paper wafted up.”

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Talk about the use of that object. What do you use this thing for – or do you not touch it at all? Why use? Why not? Vivid descriptive words that introduce the use of the object can take the reader’s imagination further, and even imagine how they would use it. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

For example, you could write, “It’s her lucky pencil, the one she only uses for tests and always keeps in a separate compartment of her backpack. She sharpened the pencil slowly with a small hand-held pencil sharpener and carefully put the shavings in the trash.”

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End with a sentence stating the importance of the item, depending on your tone of voice. If you spend a whole paragraph just describing the thing, tell the reader why it’s important. You can speak directly if you write in a short and concise voice. If you want to be more subtle, try including details about the object or how you maintain it. ^{[9] X Research Source}

For example, you could show the reader how important that object is by saying, “Every night he takes off his watch when he goes to the bathroom, gently wipes it with a wet tissue, and places it on a small piece of cloth on top of it. bedside cabinet.”
In more direct expressions, you could write “The diary was passed from grandmother to Katie’s mother, and now in her hands. It is the oldest thing she has and her dearest treasure.”

Write a paragraph describing the place

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Start with a sentence that describes the first thing that caught your eye in that place. What is the first thing you notice when entering a house, an office or walking down the street? A building, a sign, a window, even a group of people? Anything that makes the place interesting in your eyes – real or imagined – is bound to attract your readers. Consider focusing on features that you will then describe in detail in the passage. You can split the topic sentence into multiple sentences for clarity and coherence. Try writing sentences like: ^{[10] X Research Sources}

“Not only are these buildings tall – they are so tall, they shoot straight up into the clouds from the ground and seem miles high – but they are incredibly clean, almost transparent. The buildings were like towers rising into the air, so high that they looked like they were made of air rather than steel.”

“The beach is empty, but you can guess it’s not like that on weekdays. Garbage was strewn everywhere, towels were left behind, ice buckets were overturned, there was even an open umbrella stuck in the ground. ”

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Highlight small details to make the description more interesting. Almost everyone knows what a bedroom, a classroom or a grocery store looks like. By focusing on the particular details that make that bedroom, classroom, or store unique and different, you’ll engage your readers and help them visualize the place. For example, you could write: ^{[11] X Research Source}

“The river rose to overflowing over the two banks, the turbid water spilled onto the road, but no one seemed to mind. I saw a man riding a bicycle along the wall, stepping on his pedals through large puddles in the road.”
“The area is a typical suburb, but it is next to a two-lane road, beyond which are cornfields stretching as far as the eye can see with a green fluttering in the wind, dotted here and there are houses. ramshackle farm.”

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Use unexpected and unusual words to bring life to the place. Even the most seemingly dull places can come alive and enticing when described in powerful words. Look for words that capture the spirit of the place, whether it’s a quaint old house or a teenager’s bedroom. Try using words you don’t normally use to see what effect they have in the passage – the results may surprise you. ^{[12] X Research Source}

For example, in the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Margaret Atwood describes a room with the sentences “One chair, one table, one lamp. On the ceiling was a bas-relief shaped like a garland, in the middle there was a gap filled with mortar that looked like a face missing an eye.”

Advice

Try to help the reader feel what you are describing through sensory words instead of speaking directly to the reader.
Review the text and check for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. You can also ask someone to proofread your essay.

Steps

Describing people

Describe an object

Write a paragraph describing the place

Advice

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