Introduction to

GCSE English Language –

Paper One

Descriptive Writing
Pupil name:
Teacher name:
Tutor name:

You will be asked to spend around 45 minutes on this question. You

could be asked to write a descriptive piece or a narrative piece.
There’ll be a choice of two tasks, but they could both be a
description, both be a narrative, or you could get the choice
between the two styles of writing.

Every year, the exam board say that what earns students the most
marks is taking the time to write a decent plan.

So that’s what this booklet is going to be about: planning.

You can turn each plan into a full piece of writing, but the main
focus of this is to get you used to planning descriptions focused on
the six elements of dramatic imagination.

Sound & silence

Movement & stillness
Light & dark
 What are the six elements of dramatic imagination?
Sound & silence
Movement & stillness
Light & dark

These six categories come from drama more than from creative writing.

These are the things which bring a scene to life. When you watch something – a play, a
television program, or a film – then each of these six things will be involved.

Before you start a piece of descriptive writing, you could imagine that you have been
placed somewhere in a scene. You can’t interact with anything – you can just look, and
listen. Being a descriptive writer is sometimes like being a CCTV camera.

Things will be noisy! The characters, background noise, the weather, nearby wildlife –
all of these contribute to the reality of a scene. What noises you choose to include, and
how you describe those noises, will help contribute to the mood of your writing.

But there will also be silence – it could be a coincidental and momentary lull, or a really
purposeful moment of quiet – ‘the calm before the storm’.

Some things will move – this could be the main focus of what you’re writing about, or
something seemingly inconsequential moving in the background. Think about how
things interact – if you introduce a description of ‘whipping winds that whistle’, then
you need to tell your reader what it is that they whip!

Other things will remain still! This has to be handled sensibly; write about things that
resist being moved, or whose stillness is in contrast with the movement of something
else. Avoid cliché though: don’t tell your reader something was “still as a statue”…

There will be sources of light. Describe these sources themselves: the sun, the moon,
stars, a lamp, a fire, a TV screen flickering… But also, describe the way the light hits
other things in your description.

And where there’s light, there’s darkness. Think about where your light-sources are:
what shadows will they cast? Where will the light not reach? Who, or what, is left in
darkness?

Planning out your content in this way will ensure you really bring a scene to
life. It also gives you lots of opportunity to think about clashes and contrasts
– it should force you into writing with juxtaposition and antithesis. You need
to craft your writing in other ways, but this should help.
Write a description of boats near a seaside town, as suggested by this image.
Just notes and ideas first – see my example below. Add anything you can think of that I’ve missed out!

Sound Silence
The sea, lapping against rocks
Waves crashing The ‘gap’ between waves
Conversations taking place on/between boats
Conversations taking place in/between homes A house which shuts all doors and windows
Boats’ sails flapping in the wind
Seagulls & other marine wildlife The moment the wind drops
Someone fishing – casting, reeling, catching etc.

Movement Stillness
The moored boats drifting gently
One boat sheltered from the wind
The boats actively sailing: leaving/returning
Sailors at work
A seagull who’s landed on a rock
Fishermen at work
People on the shore; in/out of their houses
Sails when the wind drops
The waves/tide
Smoke coming out of the chimneys
A fisherman, waiting for a bite
Seagulls & other marine wildlife

Light Dark
Sunlight – a corridor of light on the ocean Shadows of the boats on the water
Ripples in the water; circles of light Alley-ways between houses

Reflections off the water, and the windows Rocks/shoreline facing away from the sun
Lights from people’s homes Shoals of fish underwater

Lamplights on boats The lights of a house being turned off

 So you’ve planned some content: now what?
Now you’ve got something to write about, you need to think about how you put it all
together into one piece of descriptive writing.

Don’t write six paragraphs – one for stillness, one for movement etc.

Don’t talk about the picture. “In this picture I can see…”

Instead, try to move from place-to-place or idea-to-idea. Move from the ‘whole’ scene
into little, specific details, and then back out again. If it helps, as we said earlier, imagine
you’re actually watching a play, a television program, or a film – think about cameras
that pan across scenes, which zoom in and out, which track something that moves etc.

Must haves:

 Appropriate paragraphs, of different sizes, shapes, and structures

 Varied language devices: similes, metaphors, personification

– think figuratively!

 Ambitious and varied vocabulary

 Accurate and varied use of punctuation

 Sentences of different lengths, chosen for impact

 Sensible transitions between ideas and paragraphs. Think about

relationships, and the way different things interact. Prepositions are your
friend here!

Variety and accuracy are key. But beyond those technical aspects, it’s just got to make
sense. You are bringing a scene to life for your reader: they should be able to picture it,
smell it, hear it. Bear this in mind when you’re writing, and you’ll do well.

Once you’ve written it – stop, re-read, redraft, improve. You’ll probably make mistakes
on a first draft. That’s fine, as long as you can spot them and fix them. And even if it’s
mistake-free, a piece of writing can usually be improved. Spend a few minutes after
you’ve “finished” making sure it’s as good as it can possibly be.
Annotate this example. What would an examiner like about it?

Waves swell and grow in the wind, starting out small and slow, far from
shore, but rising and rushing as they approach the rocks where they crash
and smash, flinging their salty spray high. This spray seems to hang in the air
for a moment, before dropping to the ground. Then, a pause – a lull – before
the next wave arrives.
As they make their journeys towards land, the waves navigate the boats –
some sailing, some simply drifting gently in the breeze. From one, a
fishermen casts out his line; it lands in the water, sending out huge, arcing
ripples: circles that glimmer in the sunlight, before disappearing, melting into
nothingness.
One boat, positioned behind rocks and hidden behind houses, is sheltered
from the wind. It sits, perfectly – almost ominously – still. For all of the
others, gusts of wind temporarily fill their sails, stretching their canvas tight
before releasing them again. But this one, far removed from the corridor of
brilliant sunlight which seems to cleave the ocean in two, sits in the dark,
lifeless.
Elsewhere, though, life is everywhere. A seagull lands on a rock. A shoal of
fish forms a black cloud scarcely visible beneath the ocean’s surface. A
school-child skips from his front door. His parents wave him off, silhouettes in
their doorway, framed by light. When he is out of sight, the door is slammed
shut, the bang echoing around the dark alleyways that separate the houses.
The fishermen has a bite now. Furiously, he reels and strains against the
pressure which bends his rod, threatening to break it. After losing a violent
struggle, the fishermen, despairing, throws his rod down and turns back to
face the shore. He identifies his own house on the seafront, and traces the
smoke billowing from the chimney, grey ghosts dancing gently in the breeze.
From one of the houses comes the clattering sounds of a couple arguing. The
shrieks and shouts echo around; everyone else clearly hears, as all other
sounds quieten and then disappear. It seems the argument has everyone’s
attention until it ends, abruptly, with the slamming of a door.
Angry clouds gather in the sky, threatening to burst and pound the boats and
houses with rain. The whipping winds drive those black clouds until they
begin to cover the sun, casting everything into darkness. In response, the
windows of the houses begin to flicker with candle-light, and the lamps are lit
on the decks of the boats.
Write a description of a café scene; the window overlooks the street outside.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
Write a description of coastline at night, as suggested by this picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a description of a
woman watching a fire blaze
outside of her window.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a description of a
young child having a piano
lesson as suggested by this
picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a description of a wet
and windy city scene, as
suggested by this picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a description of a
waterfall and a river, as
suggested by this picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a description
of a café scene as
suggested by this
picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
 Write a
description of a
moonlit lake as
suggested by this
picture.

Sound Silence

Movement Stillness

Light Dark
You’ve now seen a ‘plan’ using the six elements of dramatic
imagination model, and how I’ve turned it into a descriptive
piece of writing.

You should have planned eight descriptions of your own now.

Pick some of them and write them up!

You should aim to write for 35 or 40 minutes continuously. This

would leave you some time in the exam for proper planning.

Things the examiner will be looking to see:

- Accurate and varied punctuation ( ! ? : ; , . - )

- Ambitious vocabulary with accurate spelling

- Accurate and varied sentence lengths

- Accurate and varied paragraph lengths

- Effective and varied use of linguistic devices

- Simile
- Metaphor
- Personification
- Repetition
So as you can see – accuracy and variety are key.

BUT – the main thing is to have stuff to actually describe.

That’s where planning comes in handy!