Descriptive essays are among the common types of essays you encounter in college. Unfortunately, writing your first descriptive essay may often prove an upward battle. Besides struggling to come up with a topic, you may find yourself confused about the type of information you need to express within your paper.
If you were struggling with the descriptive essay, this article will highlight what is expected of you in a descriptive essay and the steps to consider when writing your essay.
What is the purpose of a descriptive essay?
A descriptive essay is aimed at describing a person, a place, an event, or a phenomenon. This essay should thus narrate accounts of a phenomenon while painting vivid pictures in descriptive language.
The essay should thus illustrate the details of a phenomenon helping the reader understand how an event transpired, the appearance of a place or item, and the driving forces behind a given outcome. Descriptive essay writing, therefore, calls for mastery in illustrating a feeling, person, and place using descriptive words.
How to write a descriptive essay?
Like all essays, the descriptive essay requires a proper approach to ensure the desired outcomes. Some of the steps to consider when writing a descriptive essay are:
- Topic selection
Topic selection bears much primacy in essay writing. poor topic selection may doom you to struggle with your paper and drain your writing inspiration. Before you write your essay, start by gauging various topics at your disposal and settle for the one that piques your interest.
Preferably, settle for a topic that you experienced firsthand as this is easier to prepare and write.
- Conducting extensive research
After choosing your topic, conduct research to identify the key ideas that could anchor your narration. Depending on the topic, you may brainstorm the order of events or search for the description of a given phenomenon to tackle all possible details of a topic.
- Preparing an outline
A descriptive essay outline is a crucial element for your writing efforts. This document allows you to get a grasp of the essay and also guides your writing without the interruption of conflicting ideas. For this, familiarize yourself with the descriptive essay format and sort out various ideas from the previous step into various chapters within your essay.
- Drafting and editing
Finally, write your paper and perform multiple rounds of editing to ensure that your paper is in line with the essay guidelines provided by your tutor.
Topics for descriptive essay on a person
- To introduce yourself to someone you have never met
- Your preferred historical location
- An occasion that altered your life
- Tell us about your best friend
- What distinguishes you from others?
- Name a person you miss
- Describe your relatives
- Your neighbor to the rear
- The most admirable behavior of a loved one
- My very first instructor
- Describe a friend of yours
- My favorite singer
Topics for descriptive essay on a place
- My childhood home
- My preferred location in my hometown
- Favorite academic setting
- My ideal residence
- A museum I recently went to
- The day I traveled abroad
- Tell us about your street
- Tell us about a building site
- A beach away, a dilapidated school building
- The first time I rode a metro
- Describe a spooky location
- Describe the coffee shop of your choice
Good descriptive writing topics
- The movie character I love best
- My initial abroad journey
- My first love
- My preferred musical genre
- The historical museum visit
- Personal superstition
- The most significant figure in our history
- A steamy summer day
- How a typical day for me looks
- What I think of God
- How does it feel to be a police officer?
- Your preferred day
- Tell us about your first computer
Interesting ideas for descriptive essays
- Your trusted advisor
- Describe a situation that put your life in danger
- How do you deal with challenges in life?
- Your preferred trip memory
- Describe how a priceless friendship first began
- The realization that you are in love
- The hardest duty you have to complete
- The knowledge of experiencing heartbreak
- How being in a school choir feels
- What’s it like to triumph in a school contest?
- Relaxing by playing video games
- Your preferred aspect of gardening
- Describe a rite or event you participated in