Descriptive writing tips?

[Overkilled]

So ive got a English writing assessment coming up today I'd say I'm pretty good at English but last time I made the mistake of making my descriptive piece completely story driven. The best mark in the class had almost no story whatsoever, any tips for it?

[comefightme]

Thou shalt not write narrative

[Ravener]

Well first of all, what are you writing about? 
Being the best paper in the class, you could try to follow the style of that paper as well. 

[spellmanuk]

GCSEs? I have that assessment like next week

[ShadowCaptain]

So ive got a English writing assessment coming up today I'd say I'm pretty good at English but last time I made the mistake of making my descriptive piece completely story driven. The best mark in the class had almost no story whatsoever, any tips for it?

 

As far as descriptive writing goes, you really have to spend time building a picture in the readers mind

 

While if you were traditionally writing a story, your focus would be on the story etc, an assessment for descriptive writing is more concerned about the way you tell it

 

For example, an important plot point, can turn from a boring sentence, into something much more vivid

 

(Here is my made up on the spot example)

 

" It was a cold night out. James was on his way home.He saw a hurt puppy laying in the road, he ran out into the street to save the puppy, the car coming down the road stopped just in time not to hit him"

 

"The cold windy street was barely lit by an old flickering street lamp, the shadows of the old houses made James feel paranoid as he walked down the street, zipping up his red puffer jacket against the cold night. He heard a noise, he stopped still to hear. eyes darting around in the dark he spotted a tiny puppy laying in the street, without thinking James sprinted into the street to pick up the puppy...suddenly James was startled by bright lights and loud screeching, he had not seen the car coming down the street. James flinched, his first reaction to shield the puppy from the oncoming doom. 

 

"two inches" James remembered telling it to his pals in the bar, swigging down his last few sipfulls of weak beer, the car stopped two inches away from my head

 

 

Anyway ><

 

that was my shitty example of descriptive writing - basically you need to involve the human senses, and try and put those thoughts into the readers head, what did the place look like, feel like smell like, sound like

 

"A busy noisy market street" could become "A long narrow street, small tents on each side of the road filled with noisy merchants shouting out their offers of the day, forcing a way through the crowd of people"

 

 

Dont forget, if you DONT need to put a story in, then you do not have to sit ant think up a story!!! Writing a narrative, and writing descriptive are two very different things

 

I could probably write an A4 page describing a wooden box, without any story involved at all!!

[DebatED Nothing]

Show don't tell. I'm not good at advice but I did get full marks on this assignment a few years back

[Overkilled]

GCSEs? I have that assessment like next week

Year 10

[spellmanuk]

Year 10

well make sure you pass otherwise you'll end up like me suck doing it part time at college