Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing in IGCSE is often considered the more demanding of the two options during the exam (narrative and descriptive), as rather than simply rambling on, it requires a relatively strong vocabulary to describe the relevant mood, creative and original syntheses of images, and fluency. It also requires touching on certain devices and points, like literary devices (metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, etc.) and the five senses. You must also include variation: not only of sentence lengths, but also types (for example, starting with different sentences). Overall, your aim is to show, NOT tell. 

This video: 'Mr. Bruff's Tips for Descriptive Writing' would definitely be helpful in understanding these tips better. This link: https://igcse-revision.wikispaces.com/Descriptive+Writing provides you of the understanding of the kinds of devices you should use, but I'm not here for that. 

I'm here to show you what your answer should look like and other tips rather than the simple list of english literature conventions. I saw maybe one or two sample answers during my entire IGCSE, and that's what really made a difference to my writing

Here's an example of descriptive writing that I've written up to give you an example of what it should look like, as I've found that a sample answer often proves to be more valuable than anything else:

Describe the scene and atmosphere when you visit a theme park, fairground or carnival.

The sweltering heat seemed to mitigate as brilliant blue sky mellowed into a placid orange, the salty sea breeze spraying onto the light brown boardwalk. The pink cotton candy sticks were like the feathery clouds dotting the sky, but those clouds above weren't nearly as sugary or fluffy. Only static black thread and toothpicks molded into an infant’s building blocks from afar, the bright multicolored lights flashed here and there on the solid spinning structures as I gaped in awe from the mobbed ticket booth. 

Shrill screams burst out. Creaking metal clash. Clowns guffawed. But together, with the jovial, timeless carnival music accompanied by giggles of laughter from prancing children, a mellifluous tune was composed. Overwhelmed by a strong scent, I became a hound dog, searching for the source - was it the gooey, cheesy-caramel mix of popcorn? Or wafts of the rich, indulgent burger flowing from the small cafe? A man held the sides of a filthy tall trash can, retching, his face dunked in, his whole body wriggling like a caterpillar. Food - later. 

Like a thin stream of ants to a lollipop, people trickled into line, which was getting longer than the 250 foot drop itself, and would take longer than four seconds. Chattering like monkeys, they were oblivious to the lengthy stretch, prattling on and on about the supreme banana that they would experience in around an hour. They were as enraged as bears as I flashed my VIP pass, gritting their teeth as if ready to take a bite out of me. And I, like a fluffy rabbit, hid my face and scuttled quickly away from the scowls of the predators. 

Floating with the clouds, the ferris wheel was a rolling bracelet, the water slide a twisted loop of string, the cable cars moving marbles. It looked just as small and tidy as the map on my brochure - ah!  I had felt weightless - my stomach was in my throat, my sweaty hands clenched the seat, my eyes popped open. I was shaking like a tambourine, yet a wide grin rested on my face, like my comrades. 

Giant fluffy bears, elephants, and dogs, their arms outstretched, beckoned me over to small shops, where money was sure to go down the drain. The ring was to be placed on the giant open mouth, and three would result in a perfect marriage - me and my lion. One, two and three! I had emerged victorious from the exhilarating battle. Lugging my trophy around as a sign of great skill (perhaps luck), licking a triple-scooped rocky road ice cream cone, envy shone on every child’s face as they gawked at me. I lived the life of a child as an adult, for that brief evening.

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Of course, there are some uncomfortable phrases that don't fit in - I've highlighted one of them. Your image needs to be likened to that of a wider audience rather than simply something that may make somewhat sense to you. What that highlighted portion was supposed to be was the black shadow of roller coasters in various shapes as the sun set behind the park, but that clearly was not able to convey its message to the audience. Therefore think about each image and if it's clear to you and will be clear to the examiner. Try to find a better way to illustrate the highlighted phrase, and try to do the same with phrases with your writing. 

Most of descriptive writing is simply imagining a familiar scene in your head, and looking at each individual aspect, then trying to put all of those aspects together in an interesting way. It all comes with practice and feedback, and continuing that loop until perfect (though for english, there's almost always room for improvement).

I'll continue to post more essays to allow give a better idea of what a descriptive answer should look like.