Writing Descriptive Sentences
Through descriptions, we express a person, event, or place. No one has moved me more than Oscar Wilde (yet). So, let’s examine his famous novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and learn the key tools for writing descriptive sentences through language and literary devices.
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When we write, the goal is to produce emotion. It can be with anything in a scene: a chair, a person, or a place.
But how do we do that? Poetry. Whether or not you enjoy the medium, you will agree that language is vital to all writing forms. Poetry particularly practices this because every word and punctuation mark means something (as should they in novels.) As writers, we must be selective with our diction; we are finding a rhythm to construct our message.
Let me show you an example.
“His nature had developed like a flower, had borne blossoms of scarlet flame. Out of its secret hiding-place had crept his soul, and desire had come to meet it on the way.”
Do you agree that this sentence sounds like a song? What do you think Wilde is showing us here?
The author displays a character blossoming out of his introversion; we witness him transform into someone else. From the descriptions, we sense their conversion towards vanity and desirous ideals. Hence the use of metaphor for flowers in this situation; the story is about conceit, and our main character turns into a Narcissus.
It’s a magnificent way to describe a character's transformation rather than saying something such as, he came out of his shell and started to become desirous. This is a terrible description for a few reasons:
It is all tell and no show
It’s cliché
It’s written in the passive tense
Tools for writing descriptive sentences:
literary devices and language.
While reading a lot of different prose, I encountered my favorite poetic descriptions are mostly metaphors or similes. Oscar Wilde exemplifies this throughout the book.
“‘I was dominated, soul, brain, and power, by you. You became to me the visible incarnation of the unseen ideal whose memory haunts us artists like an exquisite dream.’”
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Metaphor and Simile
These literary devices act as a universal language for any reader by making the sentences poetic and relatable. In the example above, the author describes the artist as feeling dominated by their muse: Dorian Gray. From the diction, we understand this feeling is both a welcome and an intrusive sensation for the character based on the language; Wilde uses haunt, ideal, and exquisite.
The author doesn’t say: you became my muse and haunted me since the day I met you.
Can you feel the difference? The former makes you feel the character’s internal realm. While the latter may evoke emotion, it's not nearly as effective. My example doesn't represent the depth of suffering or adoration the character has; it simply tells us what the character feels. So, Wilde’s description is stronger because it gives us empathy as readers for the artist.
The last literary device I must mention when writing descriptive sentences is imagery. It's another tool that shows your reader what is in a scene.
“The waving of crooked, false-jewelled fingers gave grotesqueness to the words.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Grab the book!
Imagery
Imagery may be the most important literary device for descriptions—give us color, texture, smell, taste, etc. You want to ensure you are producing one or more of the five senses—after all, that is what you do when you describe something.
In the example above, Wilde gives us the sense that the person speaking is hideous. He uses words like crooked and false-jewelled, which share a sinister and disgusting essence, and we witness the action of that character in our minds.
Another example,
“Lord Henry went out to the garden and found Dorian Gray burying his face in the great cool lilac-blossoms, feverishly drinking in their perfume as if it had been wine.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Tell me what you think Wilde is doing here in the comments below.
Writing poetic descriptions to enhance your sentences doesn’t have to be difficult. And I’m not telling you to write pretty prose; take with you tools to make your writing dynamic. Focus on the language and choose the appropriate literary devices. You will find many will weave through your themes; it's magic!
Now, this isn’t a formula for every sentence. In fact, every description will and should be different. Harness the emotion you are provoking from within and present it in a relatable way that means something to you. It will create a feeling for your reader, trust me.
Key takeaways for writing descriptive sentences:
While writing your descriptions, focus on language and literary devices because you want to show your readers what you see or feel through words. I ingest stories as if they are a movie playing in my mind. I know the author is keyed into their descriptions, characters, and themes when I stay connected to those images, which evoke emotion—at that point—I can’t put the book down.
“‘Because to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else’s music, an actor or a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one’s self. Of course they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion – these are the two things that govern us.’”
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Please let me know if this is helpful for you on your writing journey. I would love to chat with you about Oscar Wilde and writing descriptive sentences in the comments below.
Happy Writing —
