Vivid descriptions and how to create them!

Posted byH.R Phoenix, AuthorPosted inUncategorizedTags:,

I like to write stories but sometimes, and I am sure it is the same for most of us, I get stuck creating a character or a setting. This slows down the whole process of story writing, so I am here to help!

Settings

Ever wished you wanted to create a setting as magical as Hogwarts or as beautiful as the shire in the lord of the rings? The reason why you could almost picture the scenes from these books without watching the films is all down to vivid images.

Let’s start with this picture below 👇

First list some words that describe this image.

  • Dirty
  • Brown
  • Broken
  • Messy
  • Cracked
  • Creaky
  • Boring

Now let’s think, can we swap the words above for….better ones?

  • Grimy
  • Dirty
  • Filthy
  • Dusty
  • Dull
  • Beige

Then use similes,

The mattress was beige like the sponge of a coffee and walnut cake with holes big enough for a baby to fit through.

Or use metaphors,

The mattress was a thin patch of dirt and dust and it was heaven to broken springs and scattered fluff.

Here are the lines I came up with, write yours below!

Sarah’s gaze rested on the walls in the new room. They had thin squiggles running down the patterned wallpaper, marks that could only belong to a wild animal, and where the beige wall was exposed, was full of hairy legged spiders. A shiver ran down her spine and her brilliant blue eyes scanned the rest of the room carefully as flakes of yellow paint fell off the door and cascaded down to her well worn shoes. From the cracked mirror to the tall wardrobe laying on its side and the foul stench of a dead animal that shot up her nostrils, it was a horrible place to be. She took one glance at the landlady behind her, who was beaming broadly and plopped herself on the thin, lumpy mattress, her shoes tapping gently on the creaky floorboards. “Alright” Sarah said, staring at the cluttered floor and the large heap of clothes exploding with minibeasts. Sarah undid the frayed laces of her shoes and tossed it onto a spider which was clambering up the wall. The shoe hit the innocent creature with a loud squelch and its damaged body tumbled onto the cold floor. “I’ll take the room” Sarah announced, much to her dismay. The landlay, who was leaning against the doorframe, clapped her hands in delight. “Great” She exclaimed. “I will make you porridge!” It wasn’t great, thought Sarah, staring at the ugly, squashed pumpkin face of the landlady, it was all she could afford…..

I hope you liked the description above, sorry if I dragged on a bit, because I just love to write and would love to hear your creative writing, down in the comments below!

Published by H.R Phoenix, Author

H.R Phoenix is the creator of Penable. She likes to inspire people to write and is an author, editor, proofreader and illustrator. She is currently working on her mystery/thriller debut novel. When she's not working on a short story or writing awesome Penable Posts, she enjoys spending time painting, reading or hanging out with her two cute kittens...

28 thoughts on “Vivid descriptions and how to create them!”

  1. My godd!!! It is so beautiful!! You have got amazing talent my friend. By the way, I am writing one story… Which is descriptive. I have plans of publishing it online.. as an online book. Help me?

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Dragged on?! If that’s what you call it, then keep dragging my friend. I would love to read more of this. This is by far my favorite post of yours. How you started with a picture and came up with such an interesting plot. Loved it! ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: