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Descriptive Writing Generator FAQs

What is prowritingaid.

ProWritingAid is a digital toolkit that helps you craft your story and bring it to life.

ProWritingAid helps you unlock the full potential of your story by fixing grammatical errors, improving sentence clarity, and creating more engaging prose. Plus, it integrates with any writing app, so you can get support in whichever one you use.

It’s like having an English teacher, professional editor, writing buddy and honest critic sitting inside your favorite writing app.

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A free account allows you to edit and run reports on up to 500 words. It also gives you ten Rephrases and three AI Sparks per day, which are needed to generate descriptive detail. If you want more, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan .

How do I generate descriptions in-app?

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What software integrations does ProWritingAid offer?

ProWritingAid works in all major writing apps, like MS Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, Atticus, Apple Notes, and more. To access ProWritingAid in a computer-based writing app, you must install Desktop Everywhere. If you’re writing online, we offer browser extensions (Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge). Click here to learn more.

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The Best Descriptive Writing Examples From Books!

by Stefanie Newell | Mar 21, 2021 | Tips For Writers

As a newbie writer, you may be starting to figure out your own personal style of writing. You are discovering what kind of narrator you are best with, what length of books you prefer, what genre you want to write in, along with so many other things that factor into what your books will be like and what audience they will attract. Despite all of these things, one thing that is essential in whatever you explore is descriptive writing. Descriptive writing brings your readership into your writing by taking advantage of their imaginations. In this post, you will find descriptive writing examples that will help you utilize the senses to the best of your abilities as a writer.

3 Descriptive Writing Examples

1. “In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.” –Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

If you are looking for advanced descriptive writing examples, then this excerpt fits the bill. Hemingway uses only the sense of sight, but the scene is very easy to imagine. He uses things that everyone can recognize no matter who they are and he uses them to his advantage. This is what you want to strive for when using descriptive language. This is the kind of descriptive writing that would work extremely well in fiction or nonfiction, no discrimination.

2. “It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting […] The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight […] Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with starts […] It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens.” –J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The Harry Potter series provides lot of great descriptive writing examples due to the fact that it is meant for children. It still teaches a good lesson to newbie writers though. Sometimes, the most obvious descriptive writing is the way to go! You know your story, and sometimes that can lead to you accidently leaving out important details. Once you have finished your writing, it is always a good idea to go back and make sure you didn’t leave any descriptive language out accidentally.

3. “The flowers were unnecessary, for two o’clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

This descriptive writing example is short, but it gives a lot of information to the reader in just a few words. The description of Gatsby in this instance is very easy to picture in your mind. Just the idea of him being pale with dark circles under his eyes leads the reader to imagine the face of a very tired man. You don’t always have to exhaust yourself with descriptive writing, keep it short and precise. As long as you can picture your character from your writing, your readers will be able to as well.

Using descriptive language can be challenging, but descriptive writing matters in all genres . So, bookmark this blog and use these descriptive writing examples as a guide if you ever need a little help with your newest creation!

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Descriptive Writing Examples Generator

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Introducing WriteCream’s descriptive example generator : Crafting descriptive examples with a Single Click

Writecream descriptive writing examples generator is an innovative tool designed to assist writers in creating vivid and detailed descriptions that captivate readers’ senses and imagination. By incorporating sophisticated algorithms and language models, this generator generates a wide array of descriptive passages that paint rich visual and emotional landscapes.

Writers can input key details such as settings, objects, emotions, and sensory cues, and the generator uses its deep understanding of language to craft evocative descriptions that enhance the reader’s connection to the subject. Whether it’s bringing a serene natural landscape to life, depicting the nuances of a character’s appearance and personality, or conveying the ambiance of a historical setting, the descriptive writing examples generator provides writers with a wellspring of inspiration to elevate their storytelling through immersive and eloquent prose.

How It Works:

WriteCream’s descriptive writing examples generator harnesses the power of advanced AI technology to generate well-structured and coherent descriptive writing examples effortlessly. Whether you’re a student facing a tight deadline or a professional seeking to articulate your thoughts eloquently, this tool is your ultimate solution. The process is remarkably user-friendly:

1. User Input: Writers provide the generator with specific details such as settings, objects, characters, emotions, and sensory experiences. This input serves as the foundation for the generated descriptive examples.

2. Data Analysis: The generator has been trained on a vast dataset of text that includes descriptive passages from various sources. It uses this training to understand the relationships between words, the ways sensory experiences are described, and the overall structure of descriptive writing.

3. Semantic Understanding: The generator employs semantic analysis to comprehend the meaning and context of the user’s input. It identifies keywords, thematic elements, and potential associations within the provided details.

4. Pattern Recognition: Based on the input and its analysis, the generator identifies patterns that are common in descriptive writing. This includes identifying sensory cues, emotional tones, and thematic elements that contribute to effective descriptions.

5. Creative Formulation: Leveraging its knowledge of language and patterns, the generator uses creative algorithms to construct descriptive passages. It combines various linguistic elements to craft engaging and immersive descriptions that capture the essence of the input.

Key Features:

– Time-Efficient: No more grappling with writer’s block or spending hours researching and writing. The descriptive writing examples generator streamlines the process, letting you focus on refining ideas rather than wrestling with words.

– Customizable: Tailor the examples to your preferences. Edit, revise, and add personal insights to ensure the final output is a true reflection of your thoughts.

– Quality Assured : WriteCream’s AI technology ensures the generated examples are coherent, well-organized, and exhibit a high standard of grammar and vocabulary.

– Versatile Use: Ideal for students, professionals, and individuals seeking well-structured content for a variety of purposes, from academic assignments to business reports.

Create content in minutes, not weeks.

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Descriptive Words List: 400 Words to Make Your Writing Pop

Describing words or adjectives bolster the detail of your writing by modifying the language. Our descriptive words list will help you engage your readers.

Using descriptive words will help you better include your reader in your narrative. They fill in the gaps and change a sentence from merely informative to captivating.

Descriptive words are adjectives which modify nouns and pronouns, or adverbs, which describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. Identifying and using these will help you write stronger pieces and descriptive essays. Our descriptive word list is a good place to start. It also pairs nicely with our list of mood words .

What is the Purpose of Describing Words? 

Common endings for adjectives, example sentences using adverbs, what are some good descriptive words, what words describe movement.

Descriptive words  take writing from boring to engaging. Consider this sentence:

• She swam across the water.

While this tells you what is happening, it has little to help you imagine the scene. If you add some adjectives and adverbs and transform the statement into this:

• She swam speedily across the choppy water.

Now you have a better picture of what happened. In order to transform your writing in this way, you need a number of descriptive words at the ready, and this list of descriptive words will help.

List of Adjectives in English

Adjectives are the most common type of descriptive words, so first, we will look at these. These words describe features like shape, texture, color, and size. They help differentiate between items in a group by calling out distinguishing features.

In  English  grammar, you can use the following to describe nouns and pronouns:

• Adventurous
• Accomplished
• Comfortable
• Embellished
• Enthusiastic
• Everlasting
• Fashionable
• Intelligent
• Quarrelsome
• Questionable
• Thoughtless
• Uninterested

This list is not exhaustive, and there are many synonyms and other words that could be added. In addition, all colors are considered adjectives and describing words . Nationalities, like American or English, can also fit this list.

As you work on creating descriptive writing, get used to using these and similar words. You might also find our list of pronouns useful.

Example Sentences Using Adjectives

To better understand how adjectives look in sentences, consider these examples:

• The fuzzy red fox jumped over the tall fence. (red, tall)
• We like to visit the beautiful forest (beautiful)
• The garden shed feels damp this morning. (garden, damp)
• The trip to Disney World was magical. (Magical)
• The beautiful bird sat on the rough branch and sang. (beautiful, rough)
• The woman is short, but her husband is tall. (short, tall)
• I prefer cold climates. (cold)
• The luxurious hotel included soft robes for each guest. (luxurious, soft, each)

Because listing all adjectives in the English language is impossible, knowing their endings is helpful, especially for ESL language learners. Some of the common endings for adjectives include:

If you see a word ending in one of these, and you know it isn’t a noun, chances are high it is an adjective.

List of Adverbs in English

The English language also uses adverbs to describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. These descriptive words show intensity, number, and extent. They often end in -ly.

• Accidentally
• Aggressively
• Apathetically
• Assertively
• Astronomically
• Beautifully
• Begrudgingly
• Deceivingly
• Deliberately
• Differently
• Dramatically
• Emotionally
• Exceptionally
• Frightfully
• Frenetically
• Frivolously
• Hysterically
• Inquisitively
• Intelligently
• Impressively
• Ludicrously
• Methodically
• Mysteriously
• Neglectfully
• Obnoxiously
• Occasionally
• Pointlessly
• Significantly
• Splendidly 
• Substantially
• Technically
• Unexpectedly
• Victoriously
• Vivaciously
• Voluntarily

Again, this is not an exhaustive list. As you learn to identify adverbs or use them in your writing, look for words that describe verbs and other descriptive words that end in -ly.

Editing tip: Sometimes, adverbs can also serve as filler words that you can remove or use to slow down or speed up a piece.

To better understand how adverbs show up in sentences as descriptive words, consider these examples:

• The electric car drove so quietly we didn’t hear it coming. 
• My dog barked angrily at the intruder.
• The girls sang beautifully .
• He swam across the pool quickly .
• The box is surprisingly heavy for its size.
• The toddler walked very carefully across the slippery floor.
• Language learning is incredibly easy for some studentsand incredibly hard for others.

Like this? Check out our list of sensory words .

FAQs on Descriptive Words List

Descriptive words are words that make something easier to identify by describing its characteristics. Some good words that fit this include: Bright Adventurous Jovial Charming Peaceful

Some descriptive words describe the movement of an object. These include: Swiftly Fluidly Gracefully Smoothly Disjointedly

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Descriptive Writing: Definition, Tips, Examples, and Exercises

Descriptive writing is about using the power of words to arouse the imagination, capture the attention, and create a lasting impact in the mind of the reader. In this article, you'll learn how to employ descriptive elements in your writing, tips to enhance your descriptive writing skills, and some exercises to better yourself at it.

Descriptive writing is about using the power of words to arouse the imagination, capture the attention, and create a lasting impact in the mind of the reader. In this article, you’ll learn how to employ descriptive elements in your writing, tips to enhance your descriptive writing skills, and some exercises to better yourself at it.

Read the two sentences given below:

• I felt tired at work today.
• As the day wore on at work, I felt a cramp beginning to form at the nape of my neck, my eyes began to feel droopy, and the computer screen in front of me began blurring.

Which one of the two do you find more interesting to read? Most definitely the second one. This is because, while the first sentence merely tells you directly that ‘you felt tired at work today’, the second one explains the same experience in a much more vivid and relatable manner.

From this you can see that even something as simple as the above sentence can be transformed using literary devices that aid visualization, into something that someone can relate to. This is what descriptive writing is all about: heightening the sense of perception and alluring your reader to read ahead, because you have so much more to say.

Good Examples of Descriptive Writing

Given below are a couple of good pieces of descriptive writing from authors who know their business.

‘But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin’s hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry’s eyes darted downwards, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water…’ – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

‘I don’t know what I’d expected but it was something different than I saw. She looked unexpectedly young. Or, I suppose said better, she looked unexpectedly “not old”. Her hair, which was completely white, had a yellowish cast that could almost have been mistaken for a pale blond, and it was loose around her shoulders. And long. Longer than mine. No doubt she normally wore it pulled up in a bun, and such a style would have given her a more predictable little-old-lady look, but the way it was here now, parted on the side – long, loose, and straight – she seemed ageless as an ancient sculpture. This sense was enhanced by her skin. Though it had the fragile crepeyness of age, she had few wrinkles, especially across her forehead, which was smooth to a point of being almost waxy looking. She was of obvious northern Germanic heritage, with pale eyes and prominent features. Although she was not overweight, her bones were big and blunt, giving the impression of a tall, sturdy woman.’ – Twilight Children by Torey Hayden

Why be Descriptive While Writing?

• The purpose of descriptive writing is to inspire imagination. When you put your mind into making a piece of writing more descriptive, you automatically begin to pay attention to detail and refine your perception about things. You begin to imagine them as much more than, say a  party hat or a hard-bound book . You begin to look at them as a tall, pink, pointed paper hat with tassels , and a book that had a gleaming golden spine, and weighed a few good pounds .
• The next, and probably the most important benefit of descriptive writing is that in the process of trying to make the reader visualize what you want to say, you tend to use more interesting words. You want to convey a mental picture to your reader. So you’re bound to use words that might be unconventional or less-used. You will want to find words that exactly describe what you want to say, and will look for different words that mean the same. This will help you suitably build your vocabulary.
• The success of descriptive writing lies in the details. The more detailed your depiction of a plot or a character or a place is, the more you engross your reader. You become a keen observer and minder of details. You pay attention to the tiniest bits of information and appearance, which in turn helps you transfer the details into your writing.
• Since you have picked something to describe and have observed all its details, you are sure to understand the subject better. You may even come across bits and pieces that you may have missed the first time you looked at the object/subject in question. Thoroughly understanding what you’re going to write about is exceedingly important to the process of writing about it.

Tips you Can Use Identify what you’re about to describe

As you start with descriptive writing, identify exactly what you are setting out to describe. Usually, a descriptive piece will include the depiction of a person, a place, an experience, a situation, and the like. Anything that you experience or perceive about your subject can be the focal point of your descriptive writing. You build a backdrop by identifying an aspect of a subject that you want to describe.

Decide why you’re describing that particular aspect

While it can be a wonderful creative exercise to simply describe anything you observe, in descriptive writing, there is often a specific reason to describe whatever you have set out to describe. Tapping this reason can help you keep the description focused and infuse your language with the particular emotion or perspective that you want to convey to your readers.

Maintain a proper chronology/sequence Sometimes, you may get so caught up in making your work colorful and creative that you may end up having a mash-up of descriptions that follow no particular order. This will render the effort of writing useless as the various descriptions will simply confuse the reader. For instance, if you want to describe characters in a particular situation, begin by describing the setting, then proceed to the most important character of that particular situation, and then to the least important one (if necessary).

Use Imagery Imagery is the best tool you can employ in descriptive writing. Since you cannot show your reader what you are imagining, you need to paint a picture with words. You need to make the depiction of your imagination so potent that your reader will instantly be able to visualize what you are describing. However, don’t go overboard. Make sure that the focus does not dwindle stray. Keep your descriptions specific to the subject in question. The writing must be able to draw in the reader; hence, the writer should say things that the reader can relate to or empathize with. An introductory backdrop can often provide an effective setting for the remaining part of the piece. Great descriptive writing has the ability to lure the reader, enticing him or her to continue reading right to the end. While giving the details is important, it is how they are presented that makes the difference.

Hone the senses One of the most effective ways to make the experience you are describing vivid for your reader is to use the five senses: smell, sight, sound, taste, and touch. When the descriptions are focused on the senses, you provide specific and vivid details in such a way that it shows your reader what you are describing. So, when you describe a subject, depict it in such a manner that it involves the reader’s possible sensory interpretations. It must make the reader imagine what he would see, hear, smell, taste, or feel when he reads what you have written.

She gently squeezed the juice out of the plump, red tomato. She blended this juice into the simmering mix of golden-brown onions and garlic in the pan, and watched as they melded into each other. She then added the spice mixture that she had prepared, and the air was permeated with a mouth-watering aroma.

Use strong nouns and verbs effectively, adjectives intelligently It is true that the purpose of adjectives is to describe a subject, but overuse of adjectives in descriptive writing can render the piece shallow and hollow. Hence, make it a point to use other parts of speech to express the same sentiment. You’ll be surprised how effectively nouns, verbs and adverbs can be used to describe something, sometimes even better than adjectives alone. For instance, look at the two sentences below.

• The flowers were as fresh as the morning dew.
• The flowers had a freshness that could only equal that of the glistening morning dew.

The first sentence has used an adjective (fresh)  to describe the flowers. It is a good description too, because the comparison to morning dew is something that will immediately put the reader in the sense of mind that you want. The second sentence too has compared the freshness to morning dew, but has used a noun (freshness) and a verb (equal)  to do so, and in the process has probably enticed the reader to continue reading, more than the first sentence.

Pick related words Before you actually begin writing, it is always a good idea to build a word bank of related words and ideas. For instance, if you are going to be describing a flower arrangement, you could jot down a few ideas before you start describing it, like: vase, color, types of flowers, leaves, stem, style, shape, fresh, etc. Once you have these basic words, you could start descriptive sentences for each one. Then, carry on from there.

Display passion Impact is what you’re looking to create in the minds of your readers. You want your readers to relate and empathize with what you’re writing. This will be close to impossible if your work does not reflect the passion that you feel for it. Make them feel what you feel with the words you write. Language that relates to powerful emotions such as love, hatred, admiration, disgust, etc., can convey the range and intensity of the sentiment that you are trying to express. Use them to your favor and get the desired effect.

Exercises to Enhance Descriptive Writing

Given below are some simple, yet effective exercises that you can use to better yourself at descriptive writing.

Exercise 1 Decide on an everyday action, say ‘making a pot of coffee’ and write about it in a descriptive manner. Give yourself 3 words that you’re not allowed to use while writing about it. You’ll see yourself reaching for the thesaurus, which will help improve your vocabulary.

Exercise 2 Pick random objects like a hat, a burger, a chair, etc., and place them before you. Enlist the different names that these objects can be called. Describe each of the objects in sentences that have more than 15 words each. Be as imaginative as you can.

Get your ‘assignments’ read by an objective person to see if they can relate to and understand properly what you have tried to convey.

Make descriptive writing a rewarding experience, both for your reader and yourself. If you like what you write, chances are that your reader will too. As is evident, having a comprehensive vocabulary is the key to good descriptive writing. But mere vocabulary will fall short if your piece lacks passion, logic and interest. The trouble is that it can easily become an incoherent rambling of senses and emotions. To avoid that, present what you are writing about in a logical and organized sequence of thoughts, so that the reader comes away from it with a cogent sense of what you have attempted to describe.

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Need editing and proofreading services, guide to a perfect descriptive essay [examples & outline included].

• Tags: Academic Writing , Essay , Essay Writing

A descriptive essay is the most creative of all essay types. It involves the use of sensory descriptors and impactful narratives to depict an object, person, or even something abstract like an emotion. This type of essay is administered by teachers and professors to gauge your understanding of language. 

In this article, we will guide you through everything there is to know about descriptive essays. This includes the descriptive essay definition, some descriptive essay topics, and various examples. To help you in your essay-writing process, we have also included an outline of a descriptive essay. 

But let’s start from the beginning: What is a descriptive essay?

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What is a descriptive essay?

A descriptive essay is a highly creative form of writing which describes an object, person, location, experience, emotion, or situation. It makes use of vivid imagery and different figures of speech to create a beautiful and immersive experience for the reader.

This type of essay is often assigned in creative writing courses in schools or colleges. It does not involve the presentation of arguments or information. It just involves creatively expressing yourself with the help of various language devices. 

Unlike a narrative essay which involves telling a story, a descriptive essay only focuses on one particular object or idea. Although most essay topics are non-fictional, descriptive essay topics can either be fictional or non-fictional. 

Let us look at a few examples of topics for a descriptive essay.

Descriptive essay topics

Since writing a descriptive essay is a creative form of writing, it can cover a wide range of topics. These topics can range from practical experiences such as “My Grandpa’s Couch” to thought experiments such as “Living in a world with no concept of time”. 

Here are a few more descriptive essay topics:

• Exploring a ghost town
• A starry night in the mountains
• A day in the life of an explorer
• Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Wandering through the Swiss meadows 
• My childhood home
• Memories of grandma’s farm
• Experiencing euphoria for the first time
• My description of utopia
• My most treasured possession

Descriptive essay structure

Since descriptive essays are highly creative in nature, the descriptive essay structure is much more fluid as compared to most academic essay types. Although they do follow a general structure, there is no specific descriptive essay format. It serves more as a guideline than a hard and fast rule. 

Descriptive essays generally don’t revolve around proving a point or making an argument. The goal is to simply provide a vivid and detailed description of a particular subject.   

Let’s study the basic structure of a descriptive essay:

1. Introduction

Wondering how to start a descriptive essay? Like all essay types, the introduction of a descriptive essay is composed of three key elements: A hook, some background information, and a thesis statement. 

However, the thesis statement of a descriptive essay is different from the thesis statements of most academic essays. It simply makes a claim regarding the subject of your choosing.

Here’s an example of a descriptive essay introduction: 

• Background information
• Thesis statement

The last day of school—a momentous occasion that marks the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work and growth. Excitement hangs in the air as students gather for one final day of shared experiences and unforgettable memories. The hallways buzz with chatter and laughter, mingling with the anticipation of summer freedom. It’s a day of mixed emotions, as the promise of lazy days ahead clashes with the bittersweet farewell to teachers and classmates who have become like family. The last day of school is a mosaic of emotions, a snapshot of a moment that holds the weight of an entire academic journey, and a prelude to the new adventures that lie just beyond the horizon.

2. Body paragraph 

A descriptive essay usually has three body paragraphs. However, the length and number of paragraphs may vary depending on the complexity and scope of your essay topic. 

A body paragraph comprises of a topic sentence that focuses on a particular aspect of the subject. The topic sentence is elaborated upon by sensory, contextual, and emotional descriptors. Each paragraph ends with a transition sentence that provides context for the next paragraph.  

Let’s understand this better with the help of an example: 

• Topic sentence
• Description
• Transition sentence

Classrooms brim with finality and accomplishment. Doodles and scribbles now grace once-neat desks, testifying to idle daydreams and shared laughter. Colorful displays and academic achievements adorn the walls, silently witnessing each student’s growth. Empty lockers echo the countless exchanges and whispered secrets they once held. Yearbooks circulate like cherished artifacts, pages filled with smiling faces and heartfelt messages. Laughter and hugs fill the hallways as friends make promises to keep in touch and embark on summer adventures. The last day of school etches indelible memories, a tapestry of nostalgia and celebration that encapsulates the joy, camaraderie, and growth of their academic journey.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion of your essay should begin with the restatement of your thesis statement along with its broader implications. You can then provide a quick summary of all the important aspects mentioned in the body paragraphs. 

Finally, you can end your essay with a powerful statement or a clincher. This can include anything from a powerful lesson to a thought-provoking quote. The goal is to leave the reader with something to think about.

Here’s an example: 

• Restated thesis statement
• Summary of body paragraphs
• Concluding statement

As the final bell echoes through the hallways and students scatter in all directions, school leaves behind a lingering sense of closure and anticipation. It is a day filled with mixed emotions—a blend of nostalgia for the memories created, gratitude for the knowledge gained, and excitement for the new chapter that awaits. The last day of school symbolizes a milestone in each student’s journey, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. It is a time to reflect on the growth, challenges overcome, and friendships forged along the way. The last day of school is not an end, but rather a stepping stone towards new horizons, where each student will continue to learn, explore, and thrive.

Now that we’ve understood how to structure a descriptive essay, let’s figure out how to write it!

How to write a descriptive essay

In order to write a perfect descriptive essay you must effectively make use of multiple creative writing devices. These creative writing devices include figures of speech, imagery, sensory and emotional descriptors, as well as evocative language.  

If you find the essay writing process challenging, we’re here to equip you with essential tips on writing a descriptive essay. Let’s take a look at how to write a descriptive essay: 

1. Use figures of speech

Literary devices such as similies, metaphors, and imagery are creative devices that describe an object or a person in a figurative sense. These creative devices add an element of interest to your essay, making it more vivid, vibrant, and colorful. 

The use of figures of speech can turn an otherwise boring piece of writing into a masterpiece. Take a look at the following example:

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with thick bark and intertwining branches.

Although this example is a good start, it can be made much more interesting with the use of figures of speech .

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with its resolve as strong as iron. Its arms intertwined as they reached for the skies, yearning for the sun.  

The use of literary devices such as personification and metaphor makes the banyan tree in the second example come to life. This is how you can make your writing more vivid, descriptive, and poetic.

2. Use your senses

Sensory descriptors are one of the most important aspects of a descriptive essay. The key is to make the reader experience what you’ve experienced. This means appealing to all five senses of the reader. 

Although the visual aspect is important, you should also focus on how something sounds, feels, and smells. The experience of touching, smelling, or feeling something is more evocative than simply viewing it. 

Some sensory descriptors are used in a literal sense:

The smell of rain in July takes me back to my childhood. The pitter-patter reminds me of my mother’s footsteps, bringing us delicious snacks. 

They can also be used metaphorically:

The beautiful, cold gaze of the moon stunned us all.

3. Use evocative language

It is a good idea to use strong, evocative language that conveys an intense action or emotion. Creative use of words is an important factor in writing a descriptive essay since passive language leads to a dull, boring essay.  Let’s take a look at the following sentences: 

The 100-meter race was completed by Usain Bolt in under 10 seconds.

Usian Bolt whizzed through the 100-meter race in under 10 seconds!

The use of the word “completed” indicates no action and the use of passive voice makes the example dull. On the other hand, the phrase “whizzed through” indicates speed and intensity which makes the second example much more interesting to read.

Now that we’ve understood the different methods of writing a descriptive essay, let’s understand its outline.

Descriptive essay outline

The outline of a descriptive essay is less structured compared to most academic essay types. It merely serves as a guideline that you can use to flesh out your essay. It also helps you develop a coherent structure and logical flow for your topic sentences. 

If you’re not familiar with creating an essay outline, you can take help of essay outline generators . In order to help you further develop your essay, we’ve created an outline for your reference. The following descriptive essay outline revolves around the nostalgia experienced when going through an old diary.

Turning the Pages of Time

I. Introduction

A. Hook: Engaging opening sentence to grab the reader’s attention.

B. Background: Briefly explain the significance of finding your old diary and the memories associated with it.

C. Thesis statement: Clearly state the main idea of the essay, highlighting the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

II. The discovery

A. Setting the scene: Describe the circumstances and location where you stumbled upon your old diary.

B. Initial emotions: Express the range of emotions that flooded your mind upon finding the diary.

C. Anticipation: Share the anticipation and curiosity about what lies within the pages of the diary.

III. The diary’s contents

A. Opening the pages: Describe the physical act of opening the diary and the smell and texture of the pages.

B. Memories unfolded: Reflect on the memories and experiences captured in the diary entries.

C. Emotional impact: Discuss the emotional response evoked by reading your own words and reliving past moments.

IV. Nostalgic reflections

A. Time traveling: Explain how reading the diary transported you back to the time and place when the entries were written.

B. Reconnecting with your past self: Describe the process of reconnecting with your past self and reevaluating your thoughts and experiences.

C. Lessons and insights: Highlight any valuable lessons, self-discoveries, or personal growth revealed through the diary’s contents.

V. Resonating with present self

A. Relevance to current life: Discuss how the insights and reflections from the diary still resonate with your present self.

B. Perspective shifts: Explain any shifts in perspective or newfound understanding that arose from revisiting the diary.

C. Appreciation: Express gratitude for the diary and its role in preserving and enriching your personal history.

VI. Cherishing the rediscovery

A. Preservation: Discuss the steps you took to preserve and protect the diary after finding it.

B. Future reflections: Share your intentions and plans for continuing the habit of journaling or preserving personal memories.

C. Closing thoughts: Reflect on the lasting impact of finding your old diary and the value of personal reflection and self-expression.

VII. Conclusion

A. Recap: Summarize the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

B. Significance: Emphasize the personal and emotional significance of reconnecting with your past self through the diary.

C. Closing remarks: Conclude with a reflection on the power of personal artifacts and the importance of preserving one’s history.

Now that we have taken a look at the descriptive essay structure let’s look at an example.

Descriptive essay example

To help you better understand the process of descriptive essay writing, we’ve constructed an example. The following example revolves around an imaginary situation. It describes the writer’s voyage through the cosmos.

Exploring the Cosmos

As the rocket engines ignited, the powerful thrust propelled us into the vast expanse of space. The vibrations rattled through the cabin, merging with the palpable anticipation that filled the air. We were embarking on a remarkable journey through the cosmos, leaving behind the familiarity of Earth and venturing into the unknown.

Outside the small window, the twinkling stars grew brighter, casting a mesmerizing glow on the infinite darkness. The view was awe-inspiring as if we were floating amidst a sea of diamonds, each one beckoning us to explore its mysteries. The depth and grandeur of space stretched out before us, reminding us of the minuscule nature of our existence in the universe.

As we traversed through the cosmic void, weightlessness engulfed our bodies, releasing us from the Earth’s gravitational pull. Every movement became a ballet, effortlessly gliding from one corner of the spacecraft to another. The sensation was both exhilarating and disorienting as if the boundaries of physical limitations had dissolved.

The silence in space was profound, a symphony of tranquility. Without the interference of atmospheric sounds, we were left with the gentle hum of the spaceship’s systems and the rhythmic beating of our own hearts. It was a humbling reminder of the vastness and serenity that lay beyond our home planet.

Farther into our journey, celestial bodies came into view, captivating us with their sheer beauty. The fiery hues of neighboring planets illuminated the darkness, displaying their own distinct personalities. We marveled at the majestic rings of Saturn, a delicate masterpiece encircling the giant planet, and the crimson swirls of Jupiter, a tempestuous giant with its own cosmic dance.

Time seemed to lose its grip on the vastness of space. Hours felt like mere moments as we traveled through light-years, witnessing the unimaginable beauty of celestial phenomena. We were reminded of the sheer magnitude of the cosmos, a testament to the wonders that lie beyond our earthly confines.

Eventually, the time came for us to return to our home planet. As we reentered Earth’s atmosphere, the fiery descent illuminated the sky, marking our triumphant return. The journey through space left an everlasting mark on our souls, forever changing our perception of our place in the universe.

Our journey was more than a physical exploration; it was a voyage of wonder and introspection. It taught us the fragility and interconnectedness of all things and ignited an insatiable curiosity to continue unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. We were forever transformed by the immensity and beauty that awaited us beyond our pale blue dot in the vast expanse of space.

After writing the essay, it’s important to edit and proofread it, which is a not easy. If you find essay editing challenging, you can consider taking the help of an essay editing service .  

Want to keep reading? Here are the newest articles we’ve worked on:

• How to Start an Essay
• Expository Essays | Step-by-Step Manual
• How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• Types of Essays
• Compare and Contrast Essay

Frequently Asked Questions

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A Guide to Descriptive Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Jan 7, 2021 | Creative Writing | 9 comments

What is descriptive writing?

Writing description is a necessary skill for most writers. Whether we’re writing an essay, a story, or a poem, we usually reach a point where we need to describe something. In fiction, we describe settings and characters. In poetry, we describe scenes, experiences, and emotions. In creative nonfiction, we describe reality. Descriptive writing is especially important for speculative fiction writers and poets. If you’ve created a fantasy world, then you’ll need to deftly describe it to readers; Lewis Carroll not only described Wonderland  (aff link); he also described the fantastical creatures that inhabited it.

But many writers are challenged by description writing, and many readers find it boring to read — when it’s not crafted skillfully.

However, I think it’s safe to say that technology has spoiled us. Thanks to photos and videos, we’ve become increasingly visual, which means it’s getting harder to use words to describe something, especially if it only exists in our imaginations.

What is Descriptive Writing?

One might say that descriptive writing is the art of painting a picture with words. But descriptive writing goes beyond visuals. Descriptive writing hits all the senses; we describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel (their tactile quality).

The term descriptive writing can mean a few different things:

• The act of writing description ( I’m doing some descriptive writing ).
• A descriptive essay is short-form prose that is meant to describe something in detail; it can describe a person, place, event, object, or anything else.
• Description as part of a larger work: This is the most common kind of descriptive writing. It is usually a sentence or paragraph (sometimes multiple paragraphs) that provide description, usually to help the reader visualize what’s happening, where it’s happening, or how it’s happening. It’s most commonly used to describe a setting or a character. An example would be a section of text within a novel that establishes the setting by describing a room or a passage that introduces a character with a physical description.
• Writing that is descriptive (or vivid) — an author’s style: Some authors weave description throughout their prose and verse, interspersing it through the dialogue and action. It’s a style of writing that imparts description without using large blocks of text that are explicitly focused on description.
• Description is integral in poetry writing. Poetry emphasizes imagery, and imagery is rendered in writing via description, so descriptive writing is a crucial skill for most poets.

Depending on what you write, you’ve probably experimented with one of more of these types of descriptive writing, maybe all of them.

Can you think of any other types of descriptive writing that aren’t listed here?

How Much Description is Too Much?

Classic literature was dense with description whereas modern literature usually keeps description to a minimum.

Compare the elaborate descriptions in J.R.R. Tolkien’s  Lord of the Rings  trilogy  with the descriptions in J.K. Rowling’s  Harry Potter series  (aff links). Both series relied on description to help readers visualize an imagined, fantastical world, but Rowling did not use her precious writing space to describe standard settings whereas Tolkien frequently paused all action and spent pages describing a single landscape.

This isn’t unique to Tolkien and Rowling; if you compare most literature from the beginning of of the 20th century and earlier to today’s written works, you’ll see that we just don’t dedicate much time and space to description anymore.

I think this radical change in how we approach description is directly tied to the wide availability of film, television, and photography. Let’s say you were living in the 19th century, writing a story about a tropical island for an audience of northern, urban readers. You would be fairly certain that most of your readers had never seen such an island and had no idea what it looked like. To give your audience a full sense of your story’s setting, you’d need pages of detail describing the lush jungle, sandy beaches, and warm waters.

Nowadays, we all know what a tropical island looks like, thanks to the wide availability of media. Even if you’ve never been to such an island, surely you’ve seen one on TV. This might explain why few books on the craft of writing address descriptive writing. The focus is usually on other elements, like language, character, plot, theme, and structure.

For contemporary writers, the trick is to make the description as precise and detailed as possible while keeping it to a minimum. Most readers want characters and action with just enough description so that they can imagine the story as it’s unfolding.

If you’ve ever encountered a story that paused to provide head-to-toe descriptions along with detailed backstories of every character upon their introduction into the narrative, you know just how grating description can be when executed poorly.

However, it’s worth noting that a skilled writer can roll out descriptions that are riveting to read. Sometimes they’re riveting because they’re integrated seamlessly with the action and dialogue; other times, the description is deftly crafted and engaging on its own. In fact, an expert descriptive writer can keep readers glued through multiple pages of description.

Descriptive Writing Tips

I’ve encountered descriptive writing so smooth and seamless that I easily visualized what was happening without even noticing that I was reading description. Some authors craft descriptions that are so lovely, I do notice — but in a good way. Some of them are so compelling that I pause to read them again.

On the other hand, poorly crafted descriptions can really impede a reader’s experience. Description doesn’t work if it’s unclear, verbose, or bland. Most readers prefer action and dialogue to lengthy descriptions, so while a paragraph here and there can certainly help readers better visualize what’s happening, pages and pages of description can increase the risk that they’ll set your work aside and never pick it up again. There are exceptions to every rule, so the real trick is to know when lengthy descriptions are warranted and when they’re just boring.

Here are some general tips for descriptive writing:

• Use distinct descriptions that stand out and are memorable. For example, don’t write that a character is five foot two with brown hair and blue eyes. Give the reader something to remember. Say the character is short with mousy hair and sky-blue eyes.
• Make description active: Consider the following description of a room: There was a bookshelf in the corner. A desk sat under the window. The walls were beige, and the floor was tiled. That’s boring. Try something like this: A massive oak desk sat below a large picture window and beside a shelf overflowing with books. Hardcovers, paperbacks, and binders were piled on the dingy tiled floor in messy stacks.  In the second example, words like  overflowing  and  piled are active.
• Weave description through the narrative: Sometimes a character enters a room and looks around, so the narrative needs to pause to describe what the character sees. Other times, description can be threaded through the narrative. For example, instead of pausing to describe a character, engage that character in dialogue with another character. Use the characters’ thoughts and the dialogue tags to reveal description: He stared at her flowing, auburn curls, which reminded him of his mother’s hair. “Where were you?” he asked, shifting his green eyes across the restaurant to where a customer was hassling one of the servers.

Simple descriptions are surprisingly easy to execute. All you have to do is look at something (or imagine it) and write what you see. But well-crafted descriptions require writers to pay diligence to word choice, to describe only those elements that are most important, and to use engaging language to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Instead of spending several sentences describing a character’s height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, and clothing, a few, choice details will often render a more vivid image for the reader: Red hair framed her round, freckled face like a spray of flames. This only reveals three descriptive details: red hair, a round face, and freckles. Yet it paints more vivid picture than a statistical head-to-toe rundown:  She was five foot three and no more than a hundred and ten pounds with red hair, blue eyes, and a round, freckled face.

10 descriptive writing practices.

How to Practice Writing Description

Here are some descriptive writing activities that will inspire you while providing opportunities to practice writing description. If you don’t have much experience with descriptive writing, you may find that your first few attempts are flat and boring. If you can’t keep readers engaged, they’ll wander off. Work at crafting descriptions that are compelling and mesmerizing.

• Go to one of your favorite spots and write a description of the setting: it could be your bedroom, a favorite coffee shop, or a local park. Leave people, dialogue, and action out of it. Just focus on explaining what the space looks like.
• Who is your favorite character from the movies? Describe the character from head to toe. Show the reader not only what the character looks like, but also how the character acts. Do this without including action or dialogue. Remember: description only!
• Forty years ago we didn’t have cell phones or the internet. Now we have cell phones that can access the internet. Think of a device or gadget that we’ll have forty years from now and describe it.
• Since modern fiction is light on description, many young and new writers often fail to include details, even when the reader needs them. Go through one of your writing projects and make sure elements that readers may not be familiar with are adequately described.
• Sometimes in a narrative, a little description provides respite from all the action and dialogue. Make a list of things from a story you’re working on (gadgets, characters, settings, etc.), and for each one, write a short description of no more than a hundred words.
• As mentioned, Tolkien often spent pages describing a single landscape. Choose one of your favorite pieces of classic literature, find a long passage of description, and rewrite it. Try to cut the descriptive word count in half.
• When you read a book, use a highlighter to mark sentences and paragraphs that contain description. Don’t highlight every adjective and adverb. Look for longer passages that are dedicated to description.
• Write a description for a child. Choose something reasonably difficult, like the solar system. How do you describe it in such a way that a child understands how he or she fits into it?
• Most writers dream of someday writing a book. Describe your book cover.
• Write a one-page description of yourself.

If you have any descriptive writing practices to add to this list, feel free to share them in the comments.

Descriptive Writing

Does descriptive writing come easily to you, or do you struggle with it? Do you put much thought into how you write description? What types of descriptive writing have you tackled — descriptive essays, blocks of description within larger texts, or descriptions woven throughout a narrative? Share your tips for descriptive writing by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

Further Reading: Abolish the Adverbs , Making the Right Word Choices for Better Writing , and Writing Description in Fiction .

I find descriptions easier when first beginning a scene. Other ones I struggle with. Yes, intertwining them with dialogue does help a lot.

I have the opposite experience. I tend to dive right into action and dialogue when I first start a scene.

I came across this article at just the right time. I am just starting to write a short story. This will change the way I describe characters in my story.

Thank you for this. R.G. Ramsey

You’re welcome!

Great tips and how to practise and improve our descriptive writing skills. Thank you for sharing.

You’re welcome, Bella.

Hello Melissa

I have read many of your articles about different aspects of writing and have enjoyed all of them. What you said here, I agree with, with the exception of #7. That is one point that I dispute and don’t understand the reason why anyone would do this, though I’ve seen books that had things like that done to them.

To me, a book is something to be treasured, loved and taken care of. It deserves my respect because I’m sure the author poured their heart and soul into its creation. Marking it up that way is nothing short of defacing it. A book or story is a form of art, so should a person mark over a picture by Rembrandt or any other famous painter? You’re a very talented author, so why would you want someone to mark through the words you had spent considerable time and effort agonizing over, while searching for the best words to convey your thoughts?

If I want to remember some section or point the author is making, then I’ll take a pen and paper and record the page number and perhaps the first few words of that particular section. I’ve found that writing a note this way helps me remember it better. This is then placed inside the cover for future reference. If someone did what you’ve suggested to a book of mine, I’d be madder than a ‘wet hen’, and that person would certainly be told what I thought of them.

In any of the previous articles you’ve written, you’ve brought up some excellent points which I’ve tried to incorporate in my writing. Keep up the good work as I know your efforts have helped me, and I’m sure other authors as well.

Hi Stanley. Thanks so much for sharing your point of view. I appreciate and value it.

Marking up a book is a common practice, especially in academia. Putting notes in margins, underlining, highlighting, and tagging pages with bookmarks is standard. Personally, I mark up nonfiction paperbacks, but I never mark up fiction paperbacks or any hardcovers (not since college).

I completely respect your right to keep your books in pristine condition. And years ago, when I started college, I felt exactly the same way. I was horrified that people (instructors and professors!) would fill their books with ugly yellow highlighting and other markips. But I quickly realized that this was shortsighted.

Consider an old paperback that is worn and dog-eared. With one look, you know this book has been read many times and it’s probably loved. It’s like the Velveteen Rabbit of books. I see markups as the same — that someone was engaging with the book and trying to understand it on a deeper level, which is not disrespectful. It’s something to be celebrated.

Sometimes we place too much value on the book as a physical object rather than what’s inside. I appreciate a beautiful book as much as anyone but what really matters to me is the information or experience that it contains. I often read on a Kindle. Sometimes I listen to audio books. There is no physical book. The experience is not lessened.

I understand where you’re coming from. I used to feel the same way, but my mind was changed. I’m not trying to change yours, but I hope you’ll understand.

You’ve provided some great information and advice. One thing I might add–it is helpful to consider the POV character. For example, what will they notice in a restaurant? A police officer may notice the placement of the exits, the tattooed man carrying a side-arm, the security cameras on the ceiling, etc. The descriptive items he would notice would be very different from those of an elderly grandmother or a fifteen-year-old teenaged girl.

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What Is Descriptive Writing and Why Is It Important?

Descriptive writing makes your text more immersive. It helps your readers to paint a vivid picture in their heads.

Plain writing: The flowers were pretty.

Descriptive writing: The colorful flowers brought life to an otherwise lifeless sidewalk. The different shades of the green stems and leaves were the perfect backdrops to the yellow, orange, and red petals that seemed to sway softly with the breeze.

Writing With Details

Imagine this: It’s lunchtime, and you’re hungry. You sit down to eat at a restaurant and are surprised to see there are only two options on the menu. One is a single piece of room-temperature bread. The other is toasted bread with avocado, onions, peppers, scallions, and a fried egg on top of it. Which option are you going for?

Think of the room-temperature bread as writing that lacks descriptive details. The avocado toast? That’s descriptive writing that leaves your readers satisfied. Intrigued? Continue reading below to learn more about what descriptive writing is, why it’s important, and how to include it in your writing.

What Is Descriptive Writing?

So, what exactly is descriptive writing ? It’s when you immerse the reader into your writing, whether you’re describing people, places, objects, or scenes. Descriptive writing allows the reader to paint a picture in their head. Descriptive writing makes your text more appealing and therefore draws in the reader.

But which type of writing benefits from descriptive writing ? Nearly all of them do; especially creative writing. You’ll want to steer clear of descriptive writing in technical papers or academic writing. Unless, of course, your academic paper is about literature or writing. Professional emails also shouldn’t include descriptive writing . For example, if you’re sending an email to your boss explaining that you’re home sick, the last thing you want to do is add details.

Why Is Descriptive Writing Important?

There are many writing hacks you could use that’ll improve your text. Using descriptive writing can help enhance your text for many reasons:

• It brings your writing to life.
• Readers better understand and envision the message you would like to convey.
• It makes your writing fun to read.
• Lastly, it strengthens your abilities as a writer by forcing you to be more creative.

How To Be Descriptive In Your Writing

There are several ways to use descriptive writing in your text. We’ll cover a few of them below and provide examples.

1. Engage senses by using details.

Adding specific details helps your readers visualize what you’re writing about.

As soon as I walked into the bakery, I was greeted by the warm, intoxicating air of freshly baked cookies.

2. Use precise synonyms.

Some words are more accurate than others and can help you better portray what you’re writing about.

She wore a scarlet-colored dress.

3. Use metaphors, similes, personification, or other figures of speech.

Figures of speech can make your writing more relatable and easier to understand.

I felt like a young boy on Christmas morning getting ready to open all his presents.

It’s All About the Details (As Well as Correct Spelling and Grammar)

Descriptive writing can make your writing magical. It can transport your readers from their sofas to whatever it is you’re writing about. But as powerful as descriptive writing can be, it cannot undo the negatives brought upon by spelling and grammar errors. That’s why it’s always a good idea to use LanguageTool as your writing assistant. Not only will this multilingual text editor detect and correct errors, but it will also provide the synonyms you need that’ll help make your writing more descriptive.

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In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

DESCRIPTIVE THESAURUS COLLECTION

Every descriptive thesaurus we create starts here on the blog as an experiment. Basically, we explore a topic for up to a year, and post by post, build a collection of entries that writers can use to brainstorm certain elements of their story & strengthen show-don’t-tell skills.

Depending on the topic and how much time we have, some blog thesauruses become books, but others don’t.

Each thesaurus collection is a valuable tool, book or not, and so they are all moved to a permanent home once complete: One Stop for Writers’ THESAURUS , the largest descriptive database available to writers.

When we move a collection to One Stop for Writers, we hang onto a small ‘sample’ that writers can use for free. You can find these below – enjoy!

Ready to level up your fiction?

Character Type and Trope Thesaurus :

There’s a reason we see certain character archetypes and tropes being used over and over in stories—because they’re familiar to readers and fulfill specific roles. Learn how to incorporate them into your story while also developing them into well-rounded and never-seen-before characters.

Status: Still in development. Blog-only for now.

Fear Thesaurus :

Debilitating fears can be crippling for a character, limiting them from day to day and holding them back from their best life. See how these real-life fears might be a problem for your character and hamper them in their story.

Is it a book? No, not yet.

Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here , and get ready to use it to plot how this fear must be addressed for them to succeed in the story!

Relationship Thesaurus :

A character’s relationships can either provide support and encouragement or setbacks and misery. Some even do both. Plan those relationships with care, choosing the ones that will further your story.

Conflict Thesaurus (Samples) : 

Every scene needs conflict. Sometimes that comes in the form of a major obstacle, and sometimes it’s something minor that amps up a character’s stress. Big or small, conflict should always further the story.

Is it a book? Yes, two in fact. The GOLD & SILVER editions span 225 conflict scenarios.

Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here .

Occupation Thesaurus (Samples) :

What job should your character have? What does this say about his goals, passions, or priorities? Careers are important not only for helping define your characters but also as a means of furthering their overall story goals.

Is it a book? Yes! Find it here . Inside is 120 job choices broken down by skills, personality traits, training, how they might lead to friction opportunities and impact your character’s needs. You’ll have everything you need to write them and their job with authority. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here .

Character Motivation Thesaurus (Samples) :

What’s your character’s overall goal? Why does he want it so badly? What might he have to sacrifice in order to achieve it? What roadblocks could stand in his way? Flesh out your character’s inner and outer goals, as well as their inner and outer conflict, so it all makes the most sense for you and for readers.

Is it a book? Not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here , and get ready for plotting a story to become criminally easy.

Weather & Earthly Phenomenon Thesaurus  (Samples) :

Create the perfect mood and atmosphere for your scene using emotion-targeted sensory description.

Is it a book? Not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here , and get ready to strengthen scenes by setting the mood, foreshadowing events, and using sensory details to pull readers in.

Physical Feature Thesaurus  (Samples) :

Hone in on your character’s specific physical features to describes them in a compelling and memorable way, all the while providing clues to the reader about who they really are.

Is it a book? No, not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here and skip the boring, laundry-list description. Instead, use it to hint at the character’s personality, emotions, passions, backstory, and more.

Character Trait Thesaurus  (Samples) : 

Build a dynamic character with a mix of positive and negative qualities, so readers find them interesting yet relatable. The lists of behavioral cues for each trait will help you write their actions & decisions in a way that matches who they are.

Is it a book? Yes, three in fact. You can purchase the Negative Trait and Positive Trait books separately in various formats, including print, or as a cross-linked digital box set . Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find both databases here: Positive Traits and Negative Traits .

HOT TIP: Create your characters using the Character Builder , which sources all character-specific databases at One Stop!

Color, Texture, and Shape Thesaurus  (Samples) :

Add layers to your description by choosing the perfect comparison, simile, or metaphor for different shapes, colors, and textures in the natural and urban worlds.

These little details can pay off big when you describe them the right way!

Is it a book? Not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find them all at the site: the Color & Pattern Database , Texture Database , and Shape Database .

Setting Thesaurus  (Samples):  

Make your scene descriptions come alive by including smells, sights, tastes, sounds, and textures to your setting.

Is it a book? Yes, two in fact. The Urban Setting Thesaurus and Rural Setting Thesaurus are two halves of the same whole, covering 250 locations & all the description you need to make scenes come alive for readers. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes, and it’s been expanded. Find it here .

Theme and Symbolism Thesaurus  (Samples) :

Deepen the meaning of your story through the use of iconic symbolism for different literary themes (the passage of time, coming of age, etc.).

Is it a book? No, not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here and use it to add depth to important story moments, drawing readers in on an emotional level.

Emotion Thesaurus  (Samples):  

Avoid frowns, shrugs, smiles, and eye rolls as you craft unique body language, thoughts, visceral sensations, and action for any emotion your character chooses to express. This sample of blog entries has been published not once, but twice, with the 2019 Second Edition of The Emotion Thesaurus  containing a total of 130 emotions.

Is it a book? Yes, two in fact. The original looked at 75 emotions and the expanded edition pictured here , 130 emotions. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! It’s been expanded further to 135 emotions and many entries have additional content. Find it here .

The Talent and Skill Thesaurus (Samples): 

Add authenticity to your characters by giving them skills or talents that make them unique and interesting.

Is it a book? No, not yet. Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! We’ve expanded it quite a bit, making it even easier to find ways to make your characters stand out. Find it here .

Emotional Wound Thesaurus  (Samples) :

Emotional wounds from the past have the power to greatly impact our characters’ personalities and choices in the future. Get to know your characters intimately by choosing the right emotional wound; understanding its effects will enable you to write realistic, fully-formed characters that resonate with readers and make sense for your story. 

Is it a book? Yes! Find it here . Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here . It’s been expanded and enhanced, giving you more brainstorming options when it comes to finding backstory events that have not been forgotten and will cause problems in the story.

The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus

Originally entitled Emotion Amplifiers , this companion to The Emotion Thesaurus contains states of being that are often confused with emotions. Amplifiers (stress, addiction, pain, and attraction, to name a few) make a character more emotionally volatile and prone to bad decisions and mistakes. They’re great for adding tension and generating conflict, as well as providing much-needed growth opportunities.

Is it a book? Yes! Find the 2nd edition (expanded to 52 entries) here . Is it at One Stop for Writers? Heck, yes! Find it here .

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If you are a fan of our show-don’t-tell writing guides and want to know when the next one will be available, just add your email here . We’ll fire off a quick notification as soon as it hits the shelves.  🙂

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Reader Interactions

November 26, 2020 at 10:59 am

all of these are so helpful, thank you! i’m a young aspiring writer attempting to finish my first book and these thesauruses and this website as a whole has saved me more times than i can count.

November 26, 2020 at 3:35 pm

So glad to hear they are a help, Ash!

September 22, 2020 at 10:59 am

hello angela im from india..my son,12 yrs old,is studying gcse …where he needs to write creative write ups..our english is not that good..your books seems to be helpful…however i would like to know if someone needs whole set all how and where to buy from….also do you have any book on sci fi .like space…alien? i would also like to know if there is any blog where my son can join to learn and share creative ideas?please do let me know

September 22, 2020 at 2:35 pm

Hi, Sheetal. Becca here. So glad to hear you’re looking into writing resources for your son. To answer your questions, you don’t need to buy the whole set of books because they each stand along in terms of instruction. I would say to start with The Emotion Thesaurus (since I believe it has the instructive content that would be most helpful for someone his age) and then the character trait books, which will give him a crash course in characterization and character building. If you’re interested in purchasing any of our books, that information can be found on our Bookstore page ( https://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/ ).

Our books are meant to help writers of all genres, so we don’t currently have anything specifically for sci-fi stories, so I’m afraid we can’t help you there. But if you’re looking for a place where you son can share his work, I highly suggest Critique Circle (www.critiquecircle.com), which is an online community of writers who share excerpts of their work and offer their feedback on other people’s stories. That’s where Angela and I met as critique partners and they don’t have an age limit, so it’s possible your son could find some good advice and partners there.

Best of luck to you and to him!

September 28, 2020 at 3:44 pm

As far as I’ve found on this site, the space ship and space port entries in the setting thesaurus could be helpful starting points for sci fi.

August 28, 2020 at 5:35 pm

I have ordered half a dozen of your thesauruses and am learning plenty. But there is a problem with The Urban Setting Thesaurus: from page 4 to 144 the last line or two of print at the bottom of each page is missing or partially missing, rendering the book useless for me. Is there a way for me to get a replacement book? I could send you the book for you to check for yourselves. Thanks and have a great day!

August 29, 2020 at 12:12 pm

Hi Patricia,

I am thrilled the books have been helpful but so sorry you received a defective copy! This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen when the ink runs low at the printer. The good news is most online e-tailers are great about sending a replacement copy, so wherever you bought it from, they will have a contact link for returns and replacements. For example, here’s Amazon.com’s: https://www.amazon.com/spr/returns

The etailer is the one who requests the copy on your behalf and has it printed, so they are the one to reach out to for a replacement copy at no cost (or shipping). They may ask for a screenshot of the damage. I’m not sure where you purchased from, but usually the link for returns and replacements in in the footer of that page’s site. If you need help fuinding the link, just let me know who you bought it from and I’ll scout around for the link. 😉

November 12, 2019 at 1:43 pm

Is there any new thesaurus on its way? I would definitely like to see the occupation, conflict, and motivation – these three thesauri on my kindle asap. Please don’t make us wait for long. Thanks for your invaluable contribution to the development of writing skills that I am trying to study and practice for a long time. Regards.

November 13, 2019 at 7:57 am

The Occupation Thesaurus is next, releasing sometime in 2020. If you like you can sign up to our notification list here: https://twitter.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=cc1cb11597b48d3f26dd7e1c3&id=f6515a7617 and you’ll get an email each time a new book’s date is set & when ti releases. 😉

Not every thesaurus becomes a book, but they are always accessible through a subscription at One stop for Writers (where we can expand the thesauruses easily): https://onestopforwriters.com/character_motivations

August 9, 2019 at 4:11 pm

I purchased the Emotion Thesaurus in ebook form and it doesn’t have an Appendix like my paperback copy of The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, was it supposed to have one or not? Thanks.

August 10, 2019 at 6:40 am

Can you give us a bit more detail, such as where you bought the ebook so we know what type of file this was (kindle, kobo, etc.?) Thank you, Angela

January 21, 2019 at 6:32 pm

What I would like is to have the option to purchase all the thesaurus’ in PDF version, so I can add it to my kindle and have it next to wherever I am. So the Occupations/Weather etc, etc would be available to download for say $9.99 US.

I’m not bothered about having a subscription to an online website I would far prefer the option of purchasing the PDFs. These are such great books I want them all on my shelf somehow.

January 21, 2019 at 9:53 pm

Right now what we find works the best for us is to have all the collections in one place at One Stop for Writers. This was we can expand and add to the thesauruses whenever we want because we’re not limited by a page count or the “2-page spread” format we follow in books. Some of these thesauruses will become books though–we just need time to do them as they take a lot of energy to complete and research thoroughly. 🙂

May 20, 2019 at 9:17 am

I believe that was not what Emma was asking about. She wanted to buy all of the books as PDFs, rather than subscribing to your website. So do I.

I’m sure you’re making plenty of money selling temporary access for $90 a year … but there’s a market besides that of professional writers who can afford that as a business expense. For example, you’re getting $0 from me instead of, say, $20, because I too would buy a PDF compilation (if you didn’t include Digital Restrictions Management — I will not buy DRM-locked books out of principle) but I’m not going to pay anything for temporary access to a site that I might need to use two or three times a year, but have to continue paying for when I’m not using it.

May 20, 2019 at 9:33 am

We understand what you’re saying, and why you would rather purchase all the WHW thesauruses in PDF form rather than join a subscription service to access them. The problem is that we don’t have PDFs for all of our thesauruses. It takes quite a chunk of time to clean up a thesaurus, format it, add the necessary instructive front matter so writers will know how to best use the information, and turn it into a digital book (even in PDF form). As such, we’ve had to make hard choices about where our time should go, and we’ve decided to only create PDFs for collections that are being made into books.

This is why Angela suggested One Stop for Writers——because all of our thesauruses can be found there in their entirety. We understand that the subscription model isn’t for everyone, but because we can’t provide what Emma was asking for, we suggested the only other option we currently have. We do appreciate you letting us know what products/formats would be most helpful for you, since this guides our decision making.

November 1, 2018 at 10:06 am

Hi, It feels kind of funny to ask this, but can we please have a thesaurus of obstacles, conflicts, problems, stakes or something like that?

Thanks & regards, Krishnendu

November 1, 2018 at 12:05 pm

We actually have this at our second site, One Stop for Writers. You can find generators on these topics here: https://onestopforwriters.com/generator And there’s a free 1-month code here if you need it: https://onestopforwriters.com/image_tips

May 8, 2018 at 12:00 am

Hi, I’ve taken a brief skim-through of the thesauruses you offer here, but I’m unsure if you have what I’m looking for.

I’m looking for a thesaurus (or another resource) that can give me a list of words to use as types of emotionally-tinged synonym for “said”.

For example “XXX!” she spat, or “X-XXX…” she stammered, or “A, B, C, D…” she rattled off.

Any help would be appreciated.

May 8, 2018 at 12:02 am

Ah, I see another comment on this 1 page ( https://writershelpingwriters.net/suggestion-box/ ) that asked for the same thing. Guess you don’t have it yet then?

May 8, 2018 at 8:54 am

Hi, Jimmy. We don’t currently have a resource for that. The closest thing is our Weak Verbs Converter tool ; just scroll down to the “Say” heading to see other words you can use.

The truth is that while some alternatives for “said” are ok to use, “said” typically works better because it’s invisible. When we get too flowery with the dialogue tags, they start to stand out and call attention to themselves. “Said” is one of those words that’s so common; like the , and , and I , it doesn’t get repetitive. So do feel free to throw in the occasional alternative when the situation calls for it, but do so sparingly. For the most part, it’s better to just stick with said . 🙂

May 8, 2018 at 6:12 pm

Thanks for the reply and the advice!

May 9, 2018 at 8:25 am

My pleasure!

December 29, 2018 at 10:08 pm

These have been very helpful to me

https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/words-to-use-instead-of-said http://literallycait.tumblr.com/post/165517499005/words-to-replace-said-except-this-actually-helps

February 22, 2018 at 2:10 pm

Hi, I must admit that all these fruits of your invaluable metculus efforts enriched me to give my ability to express myself a truely desirable orientation, which is why I am requesting for something more; can you please bless us with a thesaurus of plot drivers? Regards….

February 22, 2018 at 2:17 pm

If you are looking for help on plotting, maybe check out our plot complication idea generator (and the Story prompts one!) at our other site, One Stop for Writers: https://onestopforwriters.com/generator

You might find this helpful. 🙂

September 29, 2017 at 10:14 pm

Hello Interested in hearing and reading ur books online.

July 5, 2017 at 11:55 am

What are you working on next? 🙂

July 5, 2017 at 12:27 pm

We are currently finishing the Emotional Wound Thesaurus book, and looking to October for release. 🙂 Are you on our notification list? If not, put yourself on it if you like, and we’ll send out an email when there’s a firm date. You can find the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezNaxWvLZdk_jE1fVTXDHgcha2YbqGEzoMp9qngPvEUtesCw/viewform

December 14, 2017 at 3:46 pm

GOT IT! IT’S AWESOME

December 14, 2017 at 6:40 pm

I am so glad you found One Stop! That is our special project, and we absolutely love the freedom of being able to create amazing tools for writers there. I hope you find it really helpful! And thank you for the kind words. We love helping others. 🙂

June 19, 2017 at 7:16 pm

I am a professional international psychologist with two minors; business management and english (lit) I need a thesaurus or online, I do not care, that I can get to easily, or have it attached already to my word: to purpose different wording possibilities. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would be grateful and appreciative

June 19, 2017 at 11:54 pm

There are 13 description thesauruses for writers at One Stop For Writers: http://www.onestopforwriters.com

December 18, 2016 at 5:45 pm

I would like to order one copy of, Emotional Thesaurus.

December 19, 2016 at 8:53 am

Hi, Hugh. I’m so glad you’re interested in getting a copy of The Emotion Thesaurus. We don’t sell them directly but use distributors to do that for us. This page contains links to the various places it can be bought, including Indiebound, which will show you any independent bookstores near you that carry our book. Please let us know if you have any trouble. Have a great week!

November 6, 2016 at 7:10 pm

There’s so much I need to learn about writing well. Mostly I concentrate on good plots. Thanks for what you do.

August 24, 2016 at 5:08 pm

In the Negative Trait Thesaurus, Appendix A: Needs and Lies, the Associated Needs and Lies would be souch easier to view, understand and internalize if the information was s into 2 columns. That way the Need and the Lie ( the dicotomoy) would be visually laid out side by side, instead of 6 or 16 lines later.

August 24, 2016 at 7:22 pm

Thanks for the feedback, Patricia. We are always interested in what will make our books better. 🙂

May 23, 2016 at 11:31 am

Has there been any thought about a book on similes? I am anxiously awaiting the new thesaurus coming in June, but coming up with a powerful or even a simple simile sometimes becomes taxing. It doesn’t have to be an entire book. It could be an add-on to what you already have on this site.

May 23, 2016 at 3:23 pm

There isn’t a book on Similes by us, but there are many, many examples in the two Setting Thesaurus volumes releasing in June.

April 27, 2016 at 6:28 pm

As always, very helpful!!

April 3, 2016 at 2:27 pm

Are you planning on doing one on physical motion and movement? It would be helpful in my editing if I were able to describe characters movements in a variety of ways. I like to add a depth to my characters by giving them movement. For example, a regular thesaurus tells me alternate words for walk is: march, parade, step, and so on. I’m looking for shuffled, limped, ambled, etc. I am also looking for replacements for phrases such as ‘walked around’, ‘walked behind’…

April 4, 2016 at 12:35 pm

Something that will help you Keri is the Weak Verb Converter Tool on the Tools for Writers page. This has many stronger options for “weaker” verbs. https://writershelpingwriters.net/writing-tools/

April 10, 2016 at 5:29 pm

Thank you! The link has been a great help!

January 6, 2016 at 1:10 pm

I don’t comment often but I sure enjoy your information. Question: I have purchased the Emotion Thesaurus and find it very useful. Will you be publishing the other Thesauruses in hardback? The guests commentators on your site offer really great input. I look forward to seeing Writers Helping Writers pop up on my computer. Thank you.

January 6, 2016 at 2:29 pm

Hi, Joanne. I’m so glad you’re finding helpful information at our site, and that your copy of the Emotion Thesaurus is coming in handy :). I don’t know if you’re aware, but there’s a free companion to that book called Emotion Amplifiers; you can download a copy at Amazon or Smashwords. We also have a published version of our Character Traits Thesaurus; that one is in two volumes, The Positive Trait Thesaurus and The Negative Trait Thesaurus. Those are available in print and digital copies; you can find distribution sites on our Bookstore page. The Setting Thesaurus is the next collection that will be turned into book form. That will have two volumes also (Urban and Rural settings), and those are due out in late spring. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Happy writing!

December 23, 2015 at 1:07 pm

Dearest Becca: First of all, thank you for this outstanding site. I bought the book about Positive traits and I love it. However I have a hard time trying to describe old, creaking, wooden floor, and all the words that I think of, do not fit in. How would you describe this type of floor in an abandoned house? You have to watch out because the floors are uneven, you may fall, etc, etc….

December 27, 2015 at 6:45 pm

Hi, Julio. I’m so glad you’re finding the Positive Traits book helpful. As far as describing the old wooden floor, I would focus on words that show how it sounds and feels. Write a paragraph about your main character crossing the floor in the dark, where he can’t see and must instead rely on his other senses. His toes stub the uneven edges of the warped boards. He slides his feet across the rough boards, feeling the spots where the finish has worn off. The sound of the boards creaking is loud in the dark. This description isn’t one you’re likely to use in your story, but it will give you ideas for what details can be used to make your descriptions more vivid and realistic for readers. I hope this helps!

September 18, 2015 at 9:13 am

Thank you so much! This is a gold mine here…food for thought and composition. So much hard work to benefit writers. This is an amazing legacy. Most grateful!

August 18, 2015 at 9:35 pm

How would you describe yearning in a child. Like they want to do something but are afraid.

August 18, 2015 at 11:10 pm

I would describe the thought process of wanting something and then the fears. Also think hesitation and start/stopping in body language and action.Like taking steps forward, then stpping, reversing direction, that sort of thing. Or making a decision, and then reversing the decision.

August 4, 2015 at 5:46 pm

How would you describe the sounds of a fiddle being played?

August 4, 2015 at 7:03 pm

I would try to describe the melody be how it makes the listener feel. Give it an emotion component. 🙂

August 4, 2015 at 10:10 pm

July 13, 2015 at 1:28 pm

Do the two of you ever plan on attempting to possibly turn all of these into books (physical and/or eBook) in the future? The reason I’m only asking because I think it would be great to have them as a use. Especially for those who are on the road, having no way to connect to the internet, or just not wanting to actually be on the internet at that given time due to whatever given reasons. (Such as getting easily distracted and whatnot.) If not, that’s fine! I can just come back and forth with looking all of this up on here! ^^;;

July 13, 2015 at 1:46 pm

Hi, DJ. I’m glad you’re finding so much of our content useful. Some of it we will be turning into books; the Setting Thesaurus, for example, should be out this winter *fingers crossed*. But some of the material we won’t be publishing, because not all of it is in high demand. So yes and no :).

July 16, 2015 at 4:06 pm

Hey! Some is better than none! So I’m not complaining. Either way, I’ll be using this site in one way or another regardless of the situation.

May 23, 2015 at 3:11 am

Would you be willing to come up with a thesaurus for smells.

May 23, 2015 at 4:14 pm

Hi, Chellie! We’re always open to new ideas :). What kind of information would this cover?

May 24, 2015 at 1:37 am

The description for smells is extensive, but I will try to narrow it down to a shorter version of what I was thinking. It would combine a lot of what you already have, but I think it would help writers become more rich in their story telling. I am not as good a writer as others I have not been doing it long.

I must admit I am guilty of not taking the time or attention to identify smells, I have been trying to remember to do it in different situations, but those who are a lot like me that do not smell as well as others do.

I compensate by adding verbs to smells, kind of like bringing them to a little bit of life, such as waft, surround, wrap, assault etc…

Like others when I hear sounds, smell things or feel specific feelings they will spark or trigger memories which in turn elicit emotions, connect smells with emotions.

Sometimes smells will cause images to form in my mind, sometimes they are not even related to the smell, I am sure I am not the only one who does this.

I can try to put together something for you, but it will take a while, smells are the most difficult thing to do, but I cannot do it alone.

May 24, 2015 at 3:30 pm

Ok, I think I see what you’re saying. I can see how something like this would be helpful. Please don’t go to any trouble putting anything together, only because I don’t know when/if we would be able to do a Smells Thesaurus (since we have a list of possible thesauri that we’re working through). We will add this one to the list of possibilities and see what happens :). Thanks so much for your input, Chellie!

September 16, 2016 at 9:42 am

Becca, I hate to ask for more as you already have so much wonderful information here. However, I’d like a book like the one asked for above, especially if it could cover all the senses. Smell, taste, touch, sight, sound. To me it sounds like such a tall order that I think I’m asking for too much. But it would be so helpful (eyes cast heavenward in supplication). Oops, sorry for the flying body parts.

I’ve bought all your thesauri in ebook form as they came out. Now I’m scraping the money together to get the hard copies.

Whatever you want to put in book form I will buy and be thankful for. And I really appreciate your emails. I save most of your columns on my hard drive so I can use them at any time. Sorry use isn’t the word I want, but had a stroke in November of last year and words won’t always come.

September 16, 2016 at 10:51 am

Judi, there’s never any harm in asking. We’re always grateful for feedback from you all about what you’d like to see; it’s a part of what drives our choices regarding new thesauruses. We’ve added this idea to the hopper and will take your comments into account. And thanks so much for your kind words. I’m so glad that our books and resources are coming in handy :).

March 4, 2015 at 1:05 am

I teach a nonfiction picture book class and at the beginning of each class, your books are must haves for every aspiring writer. Have you considered doing your other thesauruses (settings, colors, etc) in an ebook format? Even for a nominal fee? It would be so worth it to me and I am sure to many others as well.

March 4, 2015 at 10:07 am

Hi, Kristen! Thanks so much for promoting our books through your nonfiction picture book class. People like you are doing the heavy lifting for us when it comes to marketing our books, and Angela and I really appreciate it! We talk quite a bit about which thesauri to turn into books. Some have been better received than others and we feel they would sell well as books. Others, not so much. We’ve discussed the ebook-only option, and it’s something that makes sense for some of our smaller collections. Some of them, honestly, we may never publish in book form. But as new products become available, we’ll announce them here, so stay tuned :). Thanks again for your support and feedback.

February 18, 2015 at 2:25 am

Hey guys, I recently purchased all your thesaurus collection, and I would like to know witch one should I start with?

February 18, 2015 at 10:25 am

Hi, Júlia. Thanks so much for buying the books! As for which one to read first, it kind of depends on what you’re most interested in learning. The Emotion Thesaurus contains a lot of in-depth information about the importance of showing instead of telling; while it focuses mostly on how to show character emotion, the techniques shared can be applied to any of the descriptive writing in your story. If you feel like that’s an area you could hone in your writing, I would start there. If you’re focus is on character building and characterization, I’d suggest starting with The Negative Trait Thesaurus; it goes into great detail about how flaws are formed, the importance of knowing your character’s backstory, and how to go about creating unique and realistic characters.

The good news is that the books aren’t sequential, so you can honestly start with any of the three and come away with new techniques and information to help with your writing. Best of luck!

February 13, 2015 at 8:56 pm

This is so awesome! I’ve been building a collection like this for ages, but mine is pitiful. You are an answer to prayer. Thank you.

February 13, 2015 at 9:36 pm

Very happy you found you way here, Connie! 🙂

December 14, 2014 at 6:36 pm

Thank you, I am looking forward to them and I will purchase them. The emotion thesaurus has gotten me out of many stressful binds and the personality traits, both have served me well.

December 13, 2014 at 1:28 pm

First off, I love the three books, the Emotion, Negative and Positive traits Thesaurus books; I first purchased the Emotion thesaurus and it helped me so much I purchased the other two. They are very helpful resources; if you were to put the other thesaurus’ in eBook form I would purchase them without hesitation. Thank you so much for the help.

December 14, 2014 at 1:15 am

Chellie, thanks so much for taking the time to write us. We are so pleased you are finding our books helpful! Converting our blog content and then expanding it to become an ebook and print book takes a lot of time, and so it is rewarding to hear from people that the time is well spent and they are getting good use from our collections. We hope to have two more books ready in April (on setting)!

January 19, 2015 at 5:15 pm

December 5, 2014 at 8:01 pm

I got here by someone saying this was like a Paradise for an author. And she was so right!

November 14, 2014 at 11:54 am

Thank you very much for useful resources! I have a doubt, though – why are the titles strickenthrough?

Also, a suggestion: maybe you could make a verb substitute thesaurus, for replacing weak verbs for powerful ones (exploded instead of ran, for instance).

Thanks a lot for the awesome content!

November 18, 2014 at 10:01 am

Hi, Thiago. Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention. We experienced some kind of technical snafu this weekend that I believe triggered the strike-throughs. It should be fixed now. As for your suggestion, we don’t have a weak verb thesaurus in the pipeline, but we do have an Active Verbs List on our Tools page. I believe this might be what you’re looking for :).

November 18, 2014 at 10:36 am

Hahaha that’s exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for pointing it out to me! I’m gonna go crazy with this in the rewriting! 🙂

All the best for you, and thanks again.

November 6, 2014 at 8:07 pm

Thank you so much for your presentation to National Assn. of Memoir Writers and for sharing this site with us.

November 6, 2014 at 8:12 pm

Thanks so much for having me. I think you guys have a very challenging job to do, which of course makes it so very rewarding and worthwhile. Go Memoirs!

October 22, 2014 at 11:30 am

Best site ever. I have scoured the internet looking for something just like this. Silly thing is, I have had The Emotion Thesaurus for months, but was so wrapped up on what was in it, I didn’t take the time to look at the book itself and find the website, until showing my Aunt your amazingly helpful book. Thanks so much.

What about smell descriptors? That would be great.

October 1, 2014 at 9:43 pm

This is paradise for young writers like me. It makes me giggle as I read through your posts. Thank you so much for sharing these to us.

October 2, 2014 at 9:56 am

so glad you found us, Ysadora!

May 16, 2014 at 12:11 pm

Hello! I have just started using this site and I must say that it just blew me away! I have been having some trouble writing some certain scenes lately as I didn’t know how to describe some objects, and this helped me a lot as a beginner. This is awesome!

May 16, 2014 at 12:16 pm

So glad you found your way here, Summer Splash! Happy exploring & writing!

May 12, 2014 at 6:18 pm

I have only just begun to explore the wonderful tools available on this site, so please forgive me if I recommend something that you already have. I think it would be useful to have an Injury Thesaurus, or something similar, where one could find the causes of an injury and the immediate and subsequent effects. What I’ve seen of your collection so far is full of helpful writing tips; thanks for sharing your expertise 🙂

May 13, 2014 at 8:12 am

This is an interesting idea, Kat. We’re always open to new thesaurus ideas that will be helpful to writers. Thanks for sharing!

March 24, 2014 at 5:58 pm

I love this blog. Your title intrigued me, but your resources hooked me. I scanned through your thesaurus and was blown away by the descriptions, the advice and the warnings. I felt like you catered this site for people like me. Sometimes, I like to ‘get the info’ without slogging through a maze of metaphors. I am now, and will continue to be, a faithful follower. Great job!!! 🙂

March 24, 2014 at 6:54 pm

We’re so glad to have you here, Ella. Make yourself at home :).

March 16, 2014 at 10:24 pm

I Love these and I seriously think they would make great android apps for writers on the go. I have the emotion thesaurus in hard copy and love it. Thank you for these. I have shared your books with my writing group who’ve flown to their computers to buy them too. Fabulous tools. ~Christina

March 25, 2014 at 12:58 pm

Thanks for the kind words, Christina. Angela and I have talked a little bit about apps to go along with our books. There’s nothing in the works right now, but down the road, we very likely could come up with something. And thanks for spreading the word with your writing friends 🙂

December 16, 2013 at 12:09 pm

I love all your theasauri. It would be wonderful if all were put in PDF so I could download them all. Hope you never run out of ideas.

[…] other online resources, my favorite resource for a descriptive vocabulary is — hands down — WritersHelpingWriters.com. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have compiled an incredible collection of thesauri for […]

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[…] https://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections/ Go to this website as the authors have created Thesauri about so many parts of writing including 2 on Negative traits and Positive traits. They go into extreme depth and it is so interesting. It is also very helpful and teaching you how to show and tell these traits and so much more. […]

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[…] There is a thesaurus for practically anything and everything that a writer might be puzzled by, with more coming out as the authors complete them. Their offerings include The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus as well as The Negative Trait Thesaurus and such in-depth subjects as The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus, The Symbolism and Motif Thesaurus, and The Talent and Skill Thesaurus, plus many more. You can read about them and learn where to purchase them on Angela and Becca’s website. […]

[…] Descriptive Thesaurus. A thesaurus on how to describe everything from settings, to colors, to people. […]

[…] 1. The Descriptive Thesaurus Series […]

[…] you don’t like books, there are hundreds of different thesauruses out there for you to use (including some just for writers). Seconds, mere clicks […]

[…] with plot planning, self-editing and promoting your book. You’ll be especially excited about the collection of thesauruses for emotions, talents, skills, physical attributes and other important character […]

[…] tells to help portray emotions in a variety of ways. It still has some fairly extensive (and free) guides to characterization and setting, as well as some general advice […]

[…] This robust sampling from the published book lists the physical manifestations of many emotions. https://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections ~~~To get updates on my new titles for 2016 and beyond, sign up, click here. […]

[…] with plot planning, self-editing and promoting your book. You’ll be especially excited about the collection of thesauruses for emotions, talents, skills, physical attributes and other important character […]

[…] Don’t have a villain as yet? Try my quick and easy recipe to develop characters to get you started. Just toss in some extra negative traits to make sure you get enough nasty in there. Having trouble with finding negative traits, try Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s book The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws. […]

[…] from The Emotion, Positive Trait, and Negative Trait thesauruses (and their other thesauruses on Writers Helping Writers) to Bath and Body Works Pocket Notes booklets (I used to work there) that list the key notes of […]

[…] Descriptive Thesaurus. A thesaurus on how to describe everything from settings, to colors, to people.  […]

[…] The Emotion’s Thesaurus -Descriptive Thesaurus Collection (story) […]

[…] and “The Negative Traits Thesaurus”? And then there’s the rest of the thesaurus collection at WritersHelpingWriters.net. All that is now updated, enhanced and available through a brand new […]

[…] author of the book “Three Lines.” Follow her @blackinkpinkdsk Angela Ackerman over at Writers Helping Writers is one of my favorite go-to resources for advice on characters, setting, word building, symbol […]

[…] and Ends Show Emotion With Body Language (scroll down for samples) Descriptive Thesaurus Find a Career With Wages Behind the Name – First Name History/Origin Name Generator Currency […]

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[…] of a word. Doing this research makes you a stronger word smith. Don’t just use one type of Thesaurus, just as you would not use the same word over and over again in your stories. Think outside the box […]

[…] thesauri specifically made for writers. Thesaurus.com can only do so much. I particularly love the thesaurus collection written by the ladies over at Writers Helping Writers (formerly The Bookshelf Muse). They have […]

[…] Every writer needs to have good reference books at hand. Yep, good old fashioned, hard copy dictionary and thesaurus. I know there are free ones online, but there is still something awe-inspiring about holding a giant dictionary in your hands and skimming through the myriad words you can use to express yourself. Call me a geek, but I still love and use the good old Webster’s and Roget that I used in college. Other options would be the Synonym Finder,  The Emotion Thesaurus,  The Negative Trait Thesaurus, or The Positive Trait Thesaurus – all are excellent resources. Check out the other thesauruses (thesauri?) that these talented authors are working on here. […]

[…] Well then you can imagine my excitement at discovering an abundance of alternative thesauruses at Writers Helping Writers. You’ll find links to scads of helpful resources, such as the Weather & Earthly […]

[…] THESAURUS COLLECTIONS […]

[…] can also check out their blog Writers Helping Writers where Angela and Becca have more Thesaurus Collections on the […]

[…] Story is my go-to book for plotting, and I love Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s Thesaurus Collections for building characters, settings, moods and more! […]

[…] recently won The Emotions Thesaurus and companion pieces The Positive & The Negative Thesaurus from Angela Ackerman and Becca […]

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[…] post is about helping two writers who’ve created an amazing tool for writers.  https://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections/  This is a website you must check out.  I absolutely love their Emotions Thesaurus, and their […]

[…] Thesaurus Collection includes unique descriptions and tips for how to use the entry in our writing. Find collections for […]

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WRITERS' RUMPUS

Authors & Illustrators Wild About Kidlit!

Descriptive Writing Toolbox

As a Licensed English Teacher for children grades 5-12 and experienced reading/writing tutor, I’ve taught descriptive literary techniques to middle and high schoolers alike. But in my humble opinion, we should never outgrow the desire to add vivid descriptive details to our stories. Which elements you add to YOUR personal toolbox (grammar and/or figurative language) depends on your unique writing style. No matter which collection of descriptive writing tools you choose, all will help you SHOW instead of TELL!

GRAMMAR TOOLS: 

ADVERBS: For variation, consider using an adverb to describe a plain verb like walk. Instead of galloping, dashing, or scurrying, your character can walk deliberately, carefully, or gracefully . While the majority of adverbs end in LY, some (well and better are two examples) do not. If you desire a refresher on grammar terms, I recommend you check out fun books like this series by Brian P. Cleary and Brian Gable.  REPETITION:  Sometimes a word, phrase, sentence, or sound bears repeating and repeating and repeating …! This technique is used to great effect in picture books , or any time you wish to make an emphatic point, create structure, echo the main theme, or love the way repetition sounds. Ever wonder why the Gettysburg Address remains one of the most admired and recited speeches of all time? Lincoln was a master of the persuasive power of repetition (mixed with parallelism): “… a government for the people, by the people, and of the people …”

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TOOLS:

MAGIC METAPHORS: Metaphors are magic because they possess the power to turn one thing into another. These work best when equating an emotion, sensation, or body part to something concrete. Are your eyebrows wiggling caterpillars ? Is your frustration a dog without a bone or a squirrel that can’t reach the bird feeder? As you see, my metaphors turn into animals, but yours can turn into anything from our world or beyond.

IDIOMS: Much like metaphors, idioms call call one thing something else. But in this case, the “something else” is one of those odd expressions that we can recite by memory but wonder how it came about. Unless you want to create a character who regularly spouts idioms like “it’s raining cats and dogs,” and “it’s a piece of cake,” you may think twice about letting these take up space in your toolbox. 

PERSONIFICATION: Notice the person inside personification? This figurative tool means to imbue an inanimate object with human-like attributes. For a great example of this, look to Charles Dickens’ classic, A CHRISTMAS CAROL , in which fog extends its grasping fingers in a truly menacing scene. Since reading that passage years ago, I’ve never been able to view fog without shivering.

ALLUSIONS: Not to be confused with illusions (now you see it, now you don’t), this descriptive technique means referring to a well known literary character or person in your writing. What images come to mind when you think of Don Quixote? Did you know this classic character inspired the word quixotic, which means “ exceedingly unrealistic, romantic, and idealistic” ? The Greek Gods and other mythological characters also make excellent references, as do any of the delightful characters from Aesop’s fables. 

OXYMORONS: In literary terms, this means placing contrasting words together to create new, thought-provoking meaning. Deafening silence , an open secret , and being alone together are three oxymorons that suggest a world of plot possibilities. 

Related Post: Show and Tell for Writers by Laura Cooper

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10 comments.

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Very Good tool box tips, Thanks

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Great toolbox, chock-full of information. Thanks, Laura!

Like Liked by 1 person

Thank you for this, Laura. I needed this reminder on all the tools we have the box.

What a great post! Thanks for the helpful reminders!

Wonderfully helpful list, Laura! I’ll be coming back to read this during the editing process. Thanks for sharing!

Excellent tool box tips! Thank you!

Great tool box tips!

Wow! What an informative and engaging post, Laura!

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Last updated on Feb 07, 2023

The 50+ Best Writing Websites of 2024

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

The Internet is full of writing websites and blogs to help people reach their creative goals. If you’ve always dreamt of writing your own book  but don’t know how to get there — or if you’re in the process of writing, but feel unsure about what to do next — then it’s your lucky day! Here we have all the best writing websites of 2024 in one single place for your convenience. They’re also organized by category, and alphabetically within each of those categories, to make each one easier to find. Enjoy!

Best writing websites for writing craft and inspiration

1. Almost an Author

Offering up new content every day, Almost an Author covers a grand scope of writing topics. From genre-specific advice to emotional support on your writing journey, there's tons of useful info here for beginner and veteran writers alike.

2. Association of Writer & Writing Programs

Having just marked their 50th anniversary, AWP is one of the premier authorities on writing. The AWP website provides resources and ample opportunities for authors, teachers, and students at every point in their career. Here you’ll be able to find information about writing programs, career options, and conferences all over the world. Keep in mind, though, that access to some of these features is restricted to members only.

3. Creativity Portal

This is a wonderful hub for helpful resources that has been around for a whopping nineteen years! Here you can find writing prompts, creative coaching, printable writing templates, and interviews with authors that will help nourish the right side of your brain.

4. Daily Writing Tips

As the name suggests, this site offers daily writing tips ranging from open-ended prompts and exercises to grammar, spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary. It also covers all writing levels and professions , so it doesn't matter how far along you are in your writing career — DWT is sure to help you out.

Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a master’s degree, you can get your own "DIY MFA" right here! This site (founded by Gabriela Pereira ) aims to cover everything you would learn in a graduate program, while giving you the freedom to choose your own areas of concentration and allocate your time as you please. 

6. Electric Literature

While not exactly a craft-focused website — so no straight-up writing advice or prompts — this nonprofit digital publisher showcases literature-related essays, criticism, and recommended readings. If you're looking to brush up on both literary theory and recent literary trends, Electric Lit is the place for you.

7. Fiction University

This virtual university, run by award-winning author Janice Hardy, contains tons of advice and concrete examples to help authors build a strong writing foundation. It's full of blog posts by professionals who share their own processes and techniques, providing tips not just on what you should do as a writer, but on how  to make it happen.

8. Helping Writers Become Authors

Longtime author K.M. Weiland offers writing advice that ranges from outlining and structuring to characterization and dialogue — plus all the little details in between. She updates her blog faithfully with topical posts that would pique any writer's (or non-writer's) interest.

9. Insecure Writer's Support Group

Writing is intimidating for everyone , whether you're a multi-published author or you're just starting out. That's why getting support, guidance, and motivation throughout the process is vital! On IWSG, you'll discover a wealth of information on writing, publishing, marketing, and anything else you might need to ultimately overcome your insecurities.

10. Literary Hub

LitHub boasts a superb selection of content for all things literary. Here you can get all the latest book-related news, posts on design and the craft, your daily dose of fiction, and sparkling reviews of new works. One of this site's best features is its section on literature in translation — a great resource for those who want to read books and authors from around the world.

11. LitReactor

The LitReactor blog consists of writing classes, workshops, and a myriad of posts on writing and books ( some of which are even written by us! ). There’s also an online magazine that includes interviews, criticism and analysis, and seasonally appropriate reads and recommendations.

12. Chill Subs

If you're active in writerly circles on social media, you've probably already heard of fan favorite Chill Subs. This all-in-one submissions tracker and directory gives you everything you need to find the right literary magazines and contests to submit to — and get published by. The slick interface and handy-dandy filters help you cut through the noise, increasing your chances of meeting your literary match.

13. LitRejections

An unfortunate occupational hazard of with writing is rejection. This is where a site like LitRejections comes into play! It offers personal stories to help discouraged writers persevere through rejection, and maintain hope and motivation as they move forward in their careers.

14. Live Write Thrive

In this website by professional writer and editor C.S. Lakin, you’ll find plenty of nuanced writing anecdotes and tips. Lakin also supplies annotated critiques that can help you prep your book for publication.

15. NaNoWriMo

Besides serving as the official information hub for NaNoWriMo, this site also lends constant support for those struggling to "win" National Novel Writing Month . Make sure to check out the NaNoWriMo forums, which are chock-full of other people's personal writing tips and strategies to get you through November — and every other month of the year — as a writer.

16. Now Novel

This comprehensive website, founded by author Bridget McNulty , is a go-to for just about every writing-related question you might have. Here you'll also find advice, courses, and even an author dashboard where you can keep track of your own writing progress.

17. Positive Writer

If you often feel uncertain about your creative abilities, this is the site for you. Bryan Hutchinson created Positive Writer to encourage and inspire all those who want to write, no matter how much experience or confidence they have.

18. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid offers a fantastic manuscript editing software that analyzes your writing and creates reports for you to learn from! This tool also includes a thesaurus, grammar checks, style suggestions, and more — you can learn all about it on the ProWritingAid blog, or in our review of the app !

19. She Writes

A well-established writing website with a feminist bent, She Writes is "the largest online community and content site for women writers... all around the world." The site features thoughtful posts and resources to help writers on their journeys, as well as a personal She Writes blog page for every user who signs up.

20. Well-Storied

Here you can find recent articles, workbooks, tutorials, and fascinating discussions on writing. Kristine Kieffer has an extensive archive of posts as well, where you can procure information on just about any topic related to books and writing.

21. The Write Practice

Fulfilling the promise of their name, every single post on this site emphasizes putting theory into practice! There's simply no better way to become a writer than by creating a routine, and that’s exactly what The Write Practice helps facilitate.

22. Writer’s Digest

Writer's Digest is one of the most encyclopedic writing websites out there — after all, the print magazine has been around for almost a century now! Here you’ll find genre and vocation-organized articles, events and competitions, webinars, templates, tutorials, and so much more.

23. Writer Unboxed

Writer Unboxed features articles by authors and industry professionals, focused specifically on the craft and business of fiction writing.

24. The Writing Cooperative

Plain and simple, this is a group of people who want to help each other become better writers. On Writing Cooperative, you will find articles that cover just about every aspect of the writing life. They also have monthly writing challenges to keep you incentivized, and there’s even a space where you can submit your own article to the blog!

25. Writing.com

This is an absolutely all-inclusive community for writers. It’s open to all levels and provides a supportive environment for all members , as well as portfolios to store and display their writing. Like most writing websites, it also includes a plethora of writing tools, contests, and rewards.

26. Catapult: Don’t Write Alone

Don’t Write Alone is a blog written by the Catapult team dedicated to helping writers grow their skills. As a publisher and magazine founded in 2005, Catapult has seen a lot of works and now they’re spilling all the details. From interviews, to craft essays, to writer lifestyle essays, Catapult covers it all.

27. Kirkus Review’s Writers’ Center

Kirkus Review is known for its prestigious $50,000 dollar annual prize and its bi-monthly issues where they critique hundreds of recently published books. But, did you know they also have a section of their website devoted to helping emerging writers grow their skills and navigate the publishing industry? They’re always up to date on the latest trends — if they aren’t creating new trends themselves.

28. Writers Write

An invaluable resource for creative writers, business writers, or bloggers, Writers Write offers over 1400 articles, courses, and workbooks to help you take your writing practice to the next level. Alongside their educational content, they offer book reviews, trivia on famous authors, and prompts. Sign up for their inspirational newsletters for regular hits of motivation that will keep you writing.

29. The Narrative Arc

Beginning as a home to Andie R. Cranford’s writing journey, The Narrative Arc is now a treasure trove of practical tips and prompts to inspire your creativity. Breakdowns of popular books are particularly handy for the budding author — but whether exploring writing for the first time or tightening the bolts on your Franken-novel, the site's ideas on craft are elegant and inspiring.

Best writing websites in the publishing industry

30. Agent Query

This database allows authors to perform in-depth searches for literary agents. You can narrow your search by genre and keywords, view full profiles , and see if any agents are currently accepting queries — all for free!

31. The Creative Penn

Besides being a bestselling author on various topics, Joanna Penn is also a leading voice in self-publishing. On her punnily named site, you’ll find abundant information related to writing , self-publishing, marketing, and everything else you might need to make a living as a writer.

32. Digital Pubbing

Digital Pubbing provides industry news, interviews with indie authors, and resources for learning all about ebooks and the publishing industry. In accordance with the name, this is the perfect site for any author hoping to absorb some serious digital knowledge.

33. The Independent Publishing Magazine

We know it might seem like we're repeating ourselves, but this website really is all about publishing (both independent and traditional, despite what the name indicates). Whatever info you need about self-publishing, traditional publishing, or hybrid publishing, you’ll definitely be able to find it here.

34. Publishers Weekly

And if you have a specific question about the publishing world, you’ll most likely find the answer here. This weekly magazine is packed full of news, reviews, announcements, and many other resources on the industry. It has been dubbed as "the Bible of the book business" and with its extensive archive, it’s easy to see why.

35. Publishing Perspectives

Publishing Perspectives is another leading source of publishing info, specializing in industry news and topical articles. Aimed at publishers, agents, and authors alike, it features a variety of posts that cover book fairs, distribution, education, and much more.

36. Query Shark

Not sure where your query letter is up to snuff ? Query Shark offers the opportunity to have your query critiqued, and to read detailed query critiques of other authors' letters, so you can get the best possible results for your book. Be warned, though, that this sharp-toothed feedback isn't for the weak of heart.

37. Writer Beware

This amazingly thorough site compiles information on schemes that affect authors , especially those run through email and the Internet. It’s sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, but obviously applies to authors everywhere. If you're a fresh-faced author trying to get published, definitely check it out — it could save you from losing thousands of dollars in an elaborate scam.

38. The Darling Axe

When the industry professionals at The Darling Axe aren’t working on manuscripts, they flock to the internet to share their hot takes on the publishing industry. They also host writing contests throughout the year to build a writing community and give unpublished authors the chance to get feedback from professionals.

Best writing websites for marketing and design

39. David Gaughran

An experienced author of historical adventures, short stories, and popular books for writers, David Gaughran is one of the definitive writing experts out there. His eponymous blog contains plenty of info on marketing and self-publishing, plus workshops to help aspiring authors. And similar to Writer Beware, he's the noble opposition of online publishing scams and scammers — so if you're frustrated by these issues, you'll discover a blissfully sympathetic voice on his blog.

40. Kikolani

Focused specifically on marketing, Kikolani offers tips and strategies for bloggers who want to grow their presence and attract more readers. Here you’ll find information on brand development, social media, customer retention, and other useful tips that you can put to good use as a blogger. (If you're just getting started, though, we'd recommend this course .)

41. Kindlepreneur

Dave Chesson is — in his own words — a “digital marketing nut.” His blog has all the information you could ever need about Kindle book publishing , how to write to market, increasing your rankings on Amazon, and lots more practical tips and advice.

42. Storiad

Storiad is a marketing platform that helps authors and publishers sell books. Go here for essential information on writing apps, databases, tools, and budgeting to help you run your own publishing campaign from start to finish.

43. Writers & Artists

Part of the distinguished Bloomsbury, Writers & Artists has quite a few articles on writing and the self-publishing process. They also offer editorial services and events on many different topics, like genre-specific writing courses and how to get connected with agents.

44. Your Writer Platform

Naturally, this site is dedicated to building your very own writer platform. There are tons of tips, resources, tools, how-tos, and even individual consulting services to help you build the platform that works best for you and your marketing needs.

Best writing blogs by industry professionals

45. Goins, Writer

Bestselling author Jeff Goins created this blog to share his thoughts on writing and to inspire others to chase their creative dreams. He's especially good at breaking complex topics down into digestible bits — new writers, go here for your primers.

46. Jane Friedman

With copious experience in the publishing industry, Jane Friedman offers online classes and articles on the entire process of book publishing. She's a real goldmine of business knowledge, so keep her in mind for when you're ready to publish your book.

47. Nail Your Novel

As a bestselling former ghostwriter who now publishes under her own name, Roz Morris provides advice about writing, self-publishing, and of course, ghostwriting. If you're interested in becoming a ghostwriter, be sure to check out her courses!

48. Nathan Bransford

Nathan Bransford is a former literary agent who posts all about the inner workings of publishing, as well and information on agents and self-publishing. He also does consultations, edits, and critiques. 

49. Rachelle Gardner

Skillful agent Rachelle Gardner has negotiated over 200 contracts with over twenty publishers and helped more than 100 authors fulfill their dreams of publishing. On her blog, she offers writing, publishing, and social media coaching, along with general writing and publishing tips.

50. Kris Writes

For regular insights from a New York Times bestselling author, look no further than Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog. On Mondays, she posts free short stories for authors to find inspiration in, and Wednesdays she posts in her “Business Musings” collection where she breaks down news from the publishing industry and offers her inside opinions. 

51. The Marginalian  

Maria Popova describes her site as “a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually, poetically — drawn from my extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tendrils of human thought and feeling.” She sends out a Sunday newsletter with thoughtful deconstruction of the week’s best liberal arts goings-on to help broaden her readers’ appreciation of the creative world.

52. John August

For all the screenwriters out there, John August co-hosts a weekly podcast with fellow screenwriter Craig Mazin discussing both the craft and business of screenwriting while breaking down popular movies. To help screenwriters really get a feel for the process of working with a studio, John has posted multiple versions of scripts from different stages in the production process on films and series he’s written, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Big Fish , and Chernobyl .

What are some of your favorite writing websites? Let us know in the comments below!

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I have been using Scribbr for more than three years! As a non-native English speaker, it has always been difficult for me to improve my writing in my theses and papers. Scribbr always returns the edited document promptly and provides the flexibility to customize my editing requests (for example, keeping LaTeX annotations and editing specific sections of a long paper). I will definitely continue to use Scribbr in the future.

Citations are Easy With Scribbr

It makes creating citations so much easier. However, sometimes trying to cite a website will show an error and you may have to enter the details manually. Still very much worth it!

Citation Generator is the best citing…

Citation Generator is the best citing website I have ever used! I am a college student who is constantly needing to cite their sources and this is the website to use. It is very reliable and works great! 100/10 would recommend.

Like having someone next to me.

I loved how detailed the notes were in my editing by Doug. I felt like he was right there with me from his comments. He gave specific directions and advice. It was such a pleasurable experience.

Best and Easy Quick Citations

Had not been in school in over 12 years and APA seemed almost like a foreign language. Scribblr made returning back to school and APA citing easy and quick.

Everything you need to write an A-grade paper

Free resources used by 5,000,000 students every month.

Bite-sized videos that guide you through the writing process. Get the popcorn, sit back, and learn!

Lecture slides

Ready-made slides for teachers and professors that want to kickstart their lectures.

• Academic writing
• Citing sources
• Methodology
• Research process
• Dissertation structure
• Language rules

Accessible how-to guides full of examples that help you write a flawless essay, proposal, or dissertation.

Chrome extension

Cite any page or article with a single click right from your browser.

Time-saving templates that you can download and edit in Word or Google Docs.

Help you achieve your academic goals

Whether we’re proofreading and editing , checking for plagiarism or AI content , generating citations, or writing useful Knowledge Base articles , our aim is to support students on their journey to become better academic writers.

We believe that every student should have the right tools for academic success. Free tools like a paraphrasing tool , grammar checker, summarizer and an  AI Proofreader . We pave the way to your academic degree.

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Frequently asked questions

Our team helps students graduate by offering:

• A world-class citation generator
• Plagiarism Checker software powered by Turnitin
• Innovative Citation Checker software
• Professional proofreading services
• Over 300 helpful articles about academic writing, citing sources, plagiarism, and more

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

• PhD dissertations
• Research proposals
• Personal statements
• Admission essays
• Motivation letters
• Reflection papers
• Journal articles
• Capstone projects

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .