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Teaching
Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas
Descriptive Writing
This
resource was developed by Writers’ Workshop teachers at Hobart
College to give students some starting points for their creative writing.
The prompts given for two specific locations can be adapted to help
students use their direct experiences imaginatively in any location.
The ‘Things to Remember’ section helps them to think more
deeply about the significance of what they experience.
At
Salamanca
- Lie
on the grass under the trees and look up through the leaves. Write
about the colours, the distortions, the sky…
- Sit
at a coffee shop and watch the people walk by. Choose a few interesting
characters to focus on and write a word portrait.
- Catch
snippets of conversation and jot them down. Work them into a poem.
- Sit
in Salamanca Square and think about the buildings, the colours
and the shapes. Focus on the contrast between old and new. What
do you notice?
- Visit
a gallery and choose a painting or two to describe.
- Sit
on the lawns opposite Salamanca and take in the whole streetscape.
What are your thoughts?
- Go
to the Abel Tasman Fountain or the fountain in Salamanca Square.
Read about it and write a description.
- Choose
something small to focus on: a wall, a patch of grass, a tree.
Capture the detail as closely as you can.
- Describe
the wares in a shop.
- Sit
in a café and describe the smells, tastes, sounds, sights.
- Walk
around the wharf and choose a boat to describe.
- Look
at the water. What do you notice?
- Look
at Parliament House. Describe the overall impression you gain
from the building before focussing on the detail. Imagine some
of the activity that is going on inside.
- Observe
the variety of fishing boats in the port. Describe their appearance
and the activity that is taking place on them.
The
Botanical Gardens
- Find
a spot on your own, shut the world out and think. What comes to
mind?
- Focus
on a single flower or tree and describe it.
- Go
to the Japanese Garden. Look at the differences.
- Record
the smells … sounds… touch in one particular place.
- Look
at some of the visitors in the garden. How are they using the
gardens? Describe the different ways particular people walk through
and experience them. How do they move? What do they respond to
or overlook? Consider the stories behind their visits.
- Focus
on the contrast between the gardens and what lies beyond their
boundaries.
- Think
about the role of time in the gardens - time of the day, time
of the year, time in history. What is it about this particular
time that strikes you as you look, listen and feel? Be as precise
as you can.
- Choose
a particular plant to focus on. Describe exactly what you see
and feel. Jot down the things this plant connects with in your
life, such as places, feelings, people, past events.
- Soak
up the mood that seems to dominate in the gardens today and choose
some words to describe it. Note the sights, sounds and sensations
that give you this feeling.
- Look
for a note that jars in the gardens. What seems obtrusive or out
of keeping? Describe the sound, sight or sensation and the effect
it has.
Things
to remember about descriptive writing
- Use
your senses
- Use
imagery (similes and metaphors)
- Be
allusive
- Reflect
and make connections with life issues
- Make
personal connections, think about what this reminds you of
- Tell
a story through description
- Be
honest, direct
- Observe
closely
- Find
your voice
- Focus
on the detail and the whole
- Think
about tone: humour, sarcasm, joy, humility, and sadness
- Reflect
on how do you feel
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