Free Video Lessons about Descriptive Writing Structure
My recommended descriptive writing structure
- Zoom out – long shot: describe the whole scene in detail and mention something that you will return to at the end of your description.
- Zoom in: pick one detail, make it symbolic, and describe it in depth. This could be a good opportunity for an extended metaphor.
- Change perspective: imagine the scene through the eyes of somebody who is there – what are they feeling?
- Zoom in again: pick another symbolic detail to describe in depth. Pick something contrasting to your earlier symbol.
- Emotional ending: finally circle back to something mentioned in your opening paragraph, highlighting the emotional atmosphere.
A* Exemplar description of Japan during cherry blossom season
Memories of Cherry Blossom Season
It was April, and the time had come again for Tokyo to be velveted in a pink blanket. Shinjuku National Garden, vast and winding, was bustling with life: lovers made eyes in pedalos on the lake; a pretty girl posed for photos with petals in her hair; a tourist hunted for the best picnic location, dodging and diving around swarms of sightseers; and my grandfather held my sticky little hand, as I looked up at the blooms with awe-struck eyes. The air hummed with the click of cameras, the burble of conversation in a tapestry of languages, and the insistent shrieks of the cicadas. Cameras, conversationalists, and cicadas alike had all united here for a singular purpose: cherry blossom season had arrived.
Winter had been long. I remember that December that year had been brutal, bracing, unrelenting. Distantly, distantly, I recall biting cold mornings, snow crunching underfoot, and my dad bundling me four layers deep before taking me to school. Perhaps because of this, the bees were particularly thankful for Shinjuku’s reawakening landscape that year. One such bee danced gracefully between blossoms, bathed in the soft embrace of the late afternoon sun. Its tiny form, a marvel of intricate design, moved with an inherent rhythm, as if nature’s heartbeat were channelled through its translucent wings. The bee’s body shimmered like liquid gold, catching the sunlight in an iridescent dance. Delicate wings brushed against the petals; each touch was a renewal of life, a promise of another sunrise, another blossoming flower.
The sun dipped lower in the sky, casting the park in a rosy glow, and peering intently at the bees hovering from flower to flower sat my grandmother. She was hunkered down on a weathered bench, her gaze drifting softly across the park. Every so often, she met my eyes with a wink or blew my granddad a kiss. How many seasons had they passed together? Had they once ridden pedalos with the setting sun kissing their skin? How many blossoms had they watched bloom and fall?
Softly, petals spiralled to the ground, scattering like stardust beneath our feet. The floor was a confetti of blossoms, dusky pink, alabaster, fuchsia and ivory, vibrantly alive. But soon, the march of the crowds through the park ground the petals down into a soggy mulch that clung to my shoes. Over time, raindrops and footsteps would work together, coaxing the petals to merge with the soil, creating a rich bed that would nourish the very trees from which they had fallen.
It is April. I am no longer a little girl with sticky hands, and my grandfather no longer walks me through Tokyo’s parks. But nature does not heed the passage of time and has filled the skies with fireworks of blossoms once more. It is very quiet here. Singular petals fall from the trees above my grandparents’ grave before winding down to earth. They find home on my clothes, in my hair. When I close my eyes, I am back there, that April in the park when cherry blossoms briefly brought the world to life. How precious it is, to wait all year to see something so beautiful it cannot possibly last beyond a week and to possess memories too beloved to ever be replicated.
More exemplars for First Language English IGCSE
- Cinematic structure – a description of New York City
- Exemplar with an extended metaphor – a description of a British town after being bombed in WWII
- Find me on Youtube
Watch my free video lesson, download the resources and take the quiz
Want to learn a five-paragraph structure that will improve your descriptive writing for First Language IGCSE?
Discover how to instantly upgrade your writing, taking run-of-the-mill writing to the next level.
Watch the video lesson now – for free!
- 50 minute video lesson with subtitles
- Inspiration videos and pictures for your own writing
- Worksheet with a planning sheet
- PowerPoint
- Revision quizzes for descriptions and vocabulary
