When writing a descriptive narrative, you must learn to fully convey an experience.  In order to effectively convey that experience, you should employ sensory details (known as imagery) and figurative language (such as personification, metaphors, and similes.)   You must also be conscious of how you convey the sequence of events – or time. 

Paragraphs are still the central unit of organization in a descriptive essay.  While topic sentences in a descriptive narrative may not convey the “claim” of the story, they are still vital in establishing the tone, mood, action, or setting of the paragraph.  Each paragraph must have a specific function within the whole of your narrative.  Are you conveying action?  Are you reflecting?

• Craft each sentence so that it needs to be exactly where it is in the paragraph; each sentence should need the sentence that directly precedes it and directly follows it.   The strongest paragraphs will develop the narrative with each sentence. 

• Model your descriptive narratives after the most effective passages from your reading.  Most published authors construct sentences that combine action with description and reflection; how can you use your favorite passages as models for your own writing?

Sensory details put the “descriptive” in descriptive narrative.   As you brainstorm and draft your essay, try to develop as many sensory details as you possibly can, engaging each of the senses: 

• • Visual: sight 

  • Tactile: touch

  • Auditory: sound                                           

  • Olfactory: smell

  • Gustatory: taste

  • Kinesthetic: movement

  • Organic: internal bodily sensations

Then, select only the best or most unique descriptions—the descriptions you’ve only ever seen in your essay.  The way you describe the concrete setting of your narrative can help communicate how you felt about the experience.  Avoid clichés, or descriptions you’ve heard a thousand times, but also know you may have to write a few clichés in order to get to a special description. 

Figurative Language: Develop figurative language to make your narrative rich and layered in meaning.  As you brainstorm and draft your essay, try to develop as many unexpected comparisons as you can.  Then, select the descriptions which best fit the tone and mood of the experience you’re trying to convey.

Sequence of Events & Time: The “sequence of events” is essentially the plot of your narrative.  While you do not need to present the events in the order in which they took place, you should map out the sequence well before you begin to draft your essay. 

• Tip: Focus on a small moment and delve deeply into the space of that moment.  A common mistake is to try to portray an “event” which happened over months or years.  By focusing on a particular moment, you will force yourself to reflect deeply on that experience, thereby conveying something meaningful to your reader.