Engaging Settings

We’ve identified the techniques of using point of view, active verbs, adjectives, and sensory details to describe settings. Now we need to apply them in our own writing.

Let’s look at how we can apply these same techniques to actually compose a descriptive paragraph. What do we need to know before we begin writing? We need to know the who, what, when, where, and how for our paragraph to establish the point of view.

For this first example, we’ll start by answering these questions and choosing a visual prompt for the setting.  

I need to compose a sentence in the chosen point of view that places Sam in the room in an active way. Here is my first attempt:

I’ve established first-person voice with the use of I and present tense with the verbs walk and sigh. I’ve also placed Sam in his sister’s room. With the point of view established, now I need to describe the setting by having Sam interact with the room. 

Next, I’ll use the chosen point of view to decide which sensory details to describe. Sam wants to choose a gift–I’ll start with that. Maybe he wants to know what Jenny likes or what she already has.

Now I need to choose an action—either Sam’s action or an action of some object in the room. I see some books around the room, a visual detail. Sam could pick one up—that would be an action. But is there a way to use an active verb differently here? Maybe with these covers? Yes—cover can be a noun, but it can also be an active verb. A paper jacket covers the book.

My next step is to choose an adjective, which is easy here because the book jackets in the photo have different colors: pink, green, and blue. Finally, I’ll put all of this together into a sentence or two.

I have a visual detail, and I could certainly include more visuals, but how can I incorporate the other five senses in this room? I need to use the same process for step 2:

> Choose an action related to an object.

> Choose an adjective to describe the object that can be experienced through the senses.

> Put them together into the established point of view.

Let’s try smell. The photo above is only an optional prompt, but I can use the items in the photo to inspire me. That looks like it might be a can of hairspray, or body spray, and makeup on the windowsill. Perfume is something that has a smell and could be a birthday gift. Sometimes perfume makes me sneeze—that’s an action—and sometimes is smells floral—that’s an adjective. Here’s my next sentence:

Notice Sam is still acting in the room. He walks and sneezes while also describing the sensory detail of the smell of the perfume.

I want to add one more sensory detail to the paragraph.I need to use the same process from steps 2 and 3:

> Choose an action related to an object.

> Choose an adjective to describe the object that can be experienced through the senses.

> Put them together into the established point of view.

There’s a computer on Jenny’s bed in the photo and headphones. Maybe Sam wants to see what music she’s listening to now; that’s something he can hear. Computers whir when you turn them on, especially old ones. I can use that sound for the following sentences:

Notice the multiple actions here—Sam plops down and wakes up the computer, and the laptop whirs. I use the adjective old, and I’ve added a few others as I write. If we put this whole paragraph together, it is 125 words long, which meets our minimum word count of 100 words for our initial instructional goal.