Three Keys to Write a Good Descriptive Text

Three keys to write a good descriptive text - Descriptive text is a text that describes things, places, or people. This is a basic text that everyone should be able to write. In this article, we share with you three keys to write a good descriptive text: descriptive vocabulary, sensory details, and perspectives.

What is a Descriptive Text?

Descriptive text is a text that mentions the characteristics of an object as a whole, clearly, and systematically. Experts stated that descriptive text is writing that seems to "paint a picture by using words." In other words, descriptive text is used by the writer to describe a situation or situation, the character of the object comprehensively, by relying on vocabulary.

"Describing" is the keyword in the definition of descriptive text, and on that basis, it can be understood that the social function of descriptive text is to provide an overview to the reader. If you find an article that describes how the shape, color, size, of an object, then it is an example of descriptive text.

In writing descriptive text, the writer tries as much as possible so that the reader seems to be able to see, experience, feel, what is being described. The writer must not only be rich in vocabulary but also must be able to use appropriate and "living" words to give the readers a psychological touch and thus the reader can truly understand the content of the writing and achieve its functional purpose. This is called sensory detail, where the writer describes the situation of the object in detail, using certain vocabulary that can provide a "mental picture" of the object, and can be felt by the reader.

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A short article published by Weber State University explains that there are at least three objects that can be described, namely people, places, and things. Many things can be described from a person, whether it is his physical appearance, social and educational background, character and behavior, or other characteristics that distinguish a person from others. Likewise, by describing a place, its physical form, its characteristics, and even though the place is an inanimate object, a sensual depiction can be done by the writer; I think it's very much to describe.

Three Key to Write a Good Descriptive Text

Descriptive Vocabulary

Descriptive vocabulary are words that can be used by writers to describe objects. The writer can use a formal picture, where the description of the object is no more and no less or sober but clear. The writer can also use abstract images, where the description of the object is inserted with certain words that have mental content. Usually, this kind of picture is found in novels or short stories, for example, the writer describes an old house that seems to want to talk about its sadness because it is neglected. This is an example that the writer not only describes the object objectively formally but also describes the writer's subjectivity about the object which, although abstract, emphasizes the characteristics of the object.

There is no specific limit on the vocabulary that can be used in descriptive text. However, the writer must be able to use relevant words, and at least the words have the appropriate meaning or have meaning that gives meaning to the object. In the example, I just gave, of course formally no house can talk, except in fictitious writing. It's just that the word "talk" gives a certain meaning to the house but through the eyes of the reader. As I mentioned that the writer tries to make the reader seem to see and feel, the writer uses this strategy to provide a psychological touch to the reader. In this way, the reader can imagine the condition of the house with the writer's benchmark.

Rhetoric, such as metaphor, hyperbole, and personification, is a descriptive vocabulary that is often used by fictional writers, but because of its non-formal form, this kind of vocabulary is rarely found in writings with a formal context. Regardless of the formal or informal rhetoric, metaphor and its friends are descriptive vocabularies that have the potential to describe something.

Related to descriptive vocabulary, writers must also use sensory details in describing objects. For example, the writer wants to describe an orange. Descriptive vocabulary, in sensory detail, can be divided into at least five. For example, the shape is round, like a ball; the sound, for example, a splash-like sound when the orange is eaten; fresh aroma such as citrus; its taste, sweet, like juice, or maybe tart; then the touch, which is smooth, uneven, and sticky. Details like this not only have physical content but also give the reader a "taste" so that the reader can imagine the orange "both inside and out," unless the reader has never eaten or seen an orange in his life.

Besides being rich in vocabulary, the writer must also be able to translate what he can sense from the object into words. By translating the sensory capture of the object into words, the reader will be invited to understand the object through the writer's senses. This will be another problem when the writer, besides being poor in vocabulary, is also unable to give a mental picture of the object, according to his senses. For example, the writer wants to describe the smell of seawater, and the writer doesn't know how to describe it. Was he just going to say "seawater stinks?" then the reader will definitely think that the seawater is polluted by certain pollutants. This is, even more, a dilemma if the reader has never been on the beach and feels how the sea breeze carries the smell of seawater. The writer must think hard, what word is most suitable to describe the smell, maybe you will suggest "a faint rancid aroma," it's up to you as a writer.

Sensory Details

Sensory detail relates to the vocabulary mastered by descriptive writers about an object; not only that, the words that are mastered must be used in a relevant way, even in the form of rhetoric. Sensory detail, in my opinion, is the details of objects that can be sensed by the writer. Therefore, descriptive vocabulary with this view is not only formal, but also subjective and full of rhetoric, contains mental content, and provides a psychological touch.

An object must be perceived as if it were sensed with the eyes, ears, hands, nose, and tongue, before being written in a descriptive form. I call it as if because not all objects can be sensed completely, certain objects can only be sensed with a few senses.

In the process of observing objects with the senses, make descriptive vocabulary related to the object. And remember, the object can be imaginary, imagined by the writer. The descriptive vocabulary is then compiled and developed into descriptive text systematically.

• Eyes > Seeing > Shapes, colors, sizes, quantities;
• Nose > Smelling > Smells or Scents;
• Tongue > Tastes > Taste;
• Ears > Hearing > Sounds;
• Hands or Fingers > Touching > Coarse, smooth, even, wavy;

These are all sensory details. Descriptive vocabulary collected through sensory detail is material to be developed by the writer systematically. Without trying to gather vocabulary that describes the object first, then I think writing descriptive text will be very difficult, or at least difficult to manage.

Perspectives

Perspective is an important element in descriptive text. Perspective is the point of view taken by the writer in observing the object. Perspective can also be divided into two, namely, object perspective and subject perspective.

The object perspective is the different points of view taken by the writer to describe the object. For example, the writer wants to describe a five-floored building where he works as a journalist, so he can take the building's perspective from various directions. For example, “From the front view, the building looks like a multi-floor apartment that hasn't been painted in a long time. Meanwhile, if you look from the left side, you will think that the building is a cinema because the poster for the film Ghost of the Virgin is plastered." As it turned out, the building was an old office that was rented, and adjacent to a cinema and the cinema "borrowed" the walls of the building as billboards.

Subject perspectives are different observer subjects, which are involved by the writer as a source to add material to describe the object. For example, the same writer interviewed a co-worker about their office building, and the answer was "I think this building needs to be renovated before anything untoward happens. Because if you look at it physically, I think the foundation of this building is old and the wood is rotting too." The writer can involve other observers to anticipate certain parts that escape the writer's observation. Apart from being an additional source, observations of other subjects can be used as comparison materials that will enrich descriptive text.

Steps in Writing a Descriptive Text

The following are the steps that can be taken in making descriptive text. This is just a basic step that can be developed by the reader, who is also the writer later.

Planning

At this stage, the writer prepares an idea about the object to be described. It can be people, places, things, experiences, and so on. After that, relying on the social function of the descriptive genre, the writer then emphasizes the reasons why describing this object is important.

After that, the writer is obliged to collect vocabulary by using sensory detail. The writer observes the object, then collects descriptive vocabulary, collects material from various perspectives. And this can be made in the form of a particular diagram, according to the writer's choice. Make sure the writer knows the priority scale of the contents of the article later, whether in terms of the physical object or in terms of the non-physical object that you want to describe. In other words, whether the writer wants to write a total description or only a partial description.

Writing the First Draft

The writer begins to describe the object. The writer can start from the physical form of objects that can be sensed by the eye, such as shape, color, size, number, and so on, then proceed to other sensory details. Make sure each description is non-repetitive, clear, comprehensive, and systematic. The writer also needs to give a psychological touch to the reader, by using descriptive vocabulary that has a mental meaning of the object. Also, make sure that each descriptive vocabulary is developed in systematic paragraphs.

Revising the Draft

At the revision stage, the writer seems to need guiding questions. Especially for writing descriptions, the questions could be like this:

1. Have you provided sufficient detail in your description? Try to find another less detailed part.
2. Have you overlooked the small details that matter in your description?
3. Have you used words that show your psychology towards the object?
4. Does each paragraph meet the main idea you want to describe?
5. Are your paragraphs systematic and organized according to sensory detail? And from each point of view, you have chosen?

Previously, of course, the writer needs to re-read his own text. The writer also needs to read a lot of descriptive text models, make sure you don't ignore this either. Every time reading your descriptive text, then refer to the questions above. And this process will be completed, no matter how many drafts have been written, when your writing has satisfactorily fulfilled each of the above questions, at least for yourself.