creative writing describing a room

• Inspirations

March 23, 2013

Writing: how to describe a room.

• Keep it simple.
• Talk about colors, patterns, decor, and unique architectural details, if they're relevant.
• Talk about furnishings and props, especially if characters use them.
• Talk about anything in the room if it reveals something about the characters within. 
• Talk about space.
• Talk about unique details that readers may not usually associate with a given place (especially for sci-fi and fantasy works, where the settings are purposefully different anyway).
• Describe it naturally with your own personal writing style and sensibilities.
• Get technical or overly-explicit.
• Divulge in unnecessary details.
• Tell about room's atmosphere or impression; show it instead.
• Overthink or overdo things.
• Dump details in one long paragraph.
• Describe things in a dull, dry, choppy, or uninteresting manner; use your natural narrative voice.
• Describe things that the reader will already assume for a given place, especially if such things don't contribute to the story.

16 comments:

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

i like ur writing style....

You are a great writer. I'll uses some of your examples in the future.

Brilliant, brilliant writer you are!

Thanks for this write up. Very well done.

Thank you. I came from Doug Walker's review of the second episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender where he talked about how the show makes you feel like you're in a room, and so I was wondering how one might do that in writing.

Thanks the writer

really helpfull thank you

Thanks, this has really been helpful.

This was really helpful thank you very much.

How to write excellent room descriptions

Today’s post contains tips on how to write excellent room descriptions for your text-based game.

The advice is especially applicable to multi-user dungeons (MUDs) but may also be useful for CYOAs and other roleplaying and writing games .

UPDATE (June 15, 2023): I’ve added a new section at the end of this post on how to use AI to help you write thematic room descriptions.

What is a room description?

In the context of text-based games, a room description is simply a description of a physical space in the game world.

Thus, a room isn’t always an indoor area with four walls and a roof. A room can represent any area, large or small, that player characters (PCs) might enter and interact with.

Descriptions of rooms are important because they help add depth to the game world while fueling the imagination.

A room doesn’t even have to be a physical space, for that matter! In a cyberpunk or fantasy game, it can represent a place in a digital world or dream world, for example.

With that in mind, let’s start by defining what makes an excellent room description.

I’ll then provide some building tips, as well as some writing ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

By the end of this post, you should know how to describe a room in writing and in a way that makes sense for your game and audience.

What makes an excellent room description?

Unless you’re building your own game from scratch, there’s a fair chance that the game you’re working on already has some sort of builder’s manual. Many games do.

If it includes a style guide , that’s the best place to start, as style and expectations can differ from game to game.

For example, some game admins prefer that you avoid writing in the second person.

Others might insist that you don’t write about the weather, as the game might already have a system for handling weather effects.

And of course, there’s always one’s personal opinion on what sounds best.

As for myself, I would argue that an excellent room description is…

• consistent in tone and style with other rooms in the area
• free of typos, mistakes, and grammatical errors
• doesn’t assume or force a reaction from player characters
• follows the rule of “ show, don’t tell ” and minimizes meta
• includes a unique feature or detail

To write outstanding room descriptions according to these principles, simply follow the 5 tips below:

1. Keep it consistent

Nothing says “sloppy” like a zone that’s figuratively all over the place in style and tone .

Here’s how to handle each:

Overall style

I tend to think it’s generally okay if an area has its own unique flair, and in many games, that’s expected.

After all, building for a multi-user dungeon (MUD) is a time-intensive volunteer effort.

Why wouldn’t you want your builders to create something special that interests them and includes their personal touch?

Even so, the rooms within that area should be consistent with each other and with the game’s overarching theme, or players won’t know what to make of them. They’ll be turned off or, worse, confused. They might not bother reading anything else in the area, and the work will have been in vain.

To prevent that from happening, make sure you’re following the game’s style guide as you build out each room. Follow the preferred point of view (first, second, or third), and avoid mix-and-matching.

For example, if your game is played in the third person, it might seem weird and off-putting to randomly include the second person (“You see a…”) in your descriptions.

If your game doesn’t have a style guide yet, building your first area is the perfect time to put one together! You’ll be able to flesh out a few bullet points as you decide what works best for your game. Then, it’s simply a matter of sticking to the rules you’ve laid out.

Tone and ambiance

Technical aspects aside, you’ll also want to pick a particular tone and convey a certain ambiance. Ask yourself what kind of emotions you want to evoke in your readers.

Do you want them to get goosebumps? Feel warm and cozy? Lost and disoriented? Wary?

Make a list. As you write out your room descriptions, refer back to it. This will help you stay focused on your original goals and ensure a more consistent tone throughout the area.

2. Spellcheck and proofread

Typos and grammatical errors can also make a game seem sloppy.

Not only that, they can be confusing for players. Did you write “west” when you meant “east”?

To avoid sending players on a wild goose chase, make sure you proofread your room descriptions for mistakes. Keep in mind that a spellchecker is handy for preventing typos, but it won’t catch everything.

If your client doesn’t include a built-in spellchecker, there are plenty of free browser-based options. Grammarly is extremely popular, for example, and includes a browser extension.

You can also get some help from your playerbase!

Encourage players to report typos and mistakes as they find them. As long as you provide clear instructions for submitting typos, you’re sure to get some useful feedback from your game’s loyal fans.

3. Avoid forcing reactions from PCs, especially if it’s an RP game

It’s important to remember that writing for a roleplaying game is different from writing fiction.

In a roleplaying context , the reader generally expects to have control over the thoughts and feelings of their character. Thus, you want to avoid writing descriptions that infringe upon their ability to roleplay their character’s reactions as they see fit.

For example, consider the following sentences:

• The sight of the waterfall takes your breath away.
• The sight of the waterfall is enough to take one’s breath away.

They’re pretty similar, right? But there’s a key difference.

#1 assumes that everyone who sees the waterfall will be affected by it and forces that reaction on the reader. It ignores the fact that the player’s character might be stoic or unaffected by romantic scenery.

#2 conveys the same sentiment but leaves it up to the reader whether their character actually has their breath stolen.

While this might seem like a minor distinction, it’s fairly important in roleplay-focused MUDs . Players may be offended if you assume their character will be cowering and afraid, filled with sadness, instantly enamored, and so on.

To write excellent room descriptions for this group, build rooms that evoke responses but don’t assume them!

4. Follow the rule of “show, don’t tell”

Outside of gaming, the “show, don’t tell” rule is a tool used by writers to help them focus on imagery and compelling descriptions.

But because roleplay MUDs are writing games based in text, the rule fits well here, too.

The rule has an added benefit in that it can help you become more aware of and avoid “meta” situations in your writing, even if it means you need to do a little telling to do so.

For example, consider the following descriptions:

• Ten Mile Forest is dark and gloomy with hardly any gaps in the canopy.
• Hardly any light filters through the dense forest canopy, creating wells of shadow amid the trees’ craggy trunks. A battered signpost reads, “Ten Mile Forest” in faded yellow paint.

Okay, so these descriptions are very clearly different!

#1 is an example of telling. I’ve told the reader that the forest is dark and gloomy instead of demonstrating it. I’ve also told the reader the name of the forest, even though their character might not have any way of knowing that information.

#2 is an example of showing and a little bit of telling. I’ve left it to the reader to surmise that the forest is dark and perhaps a bit gloomy. By including the signpost, I’ve avoided meta-sharing the name of the forest. Instead, I’ve given the character a reason to know that information, too.

This not only makes the description more immersive but helps the player avoid unintentional metagaming .

5. Include something unique

Last but not least, I like to include something unique in each room description. Even if it’s just a tiny detail, something that sets it apart from the rooms around it.

This tip might seem a bit more in the realm of personal preference, but if you want players to read your descriptions, you need to give them a reason .

If all of your rooms are the same copy-pasted lines, players will move through them with the same amount of care you put into the copy-pasting effort. Meaning: next to none.

That might be fine if your game is a hack-and-slash with very little roleplay or immersion.

If you want your game to be immersive and story-focused , however, unique features and details are a must for capturing players’ attention and fueling their imagination. They’ll expect to be intrigued, so don’t bore them with too many copy-pasted repeats!

At the same time, keep it concise .

Every room should have enough detail in it to support a roleplay scene, but that doesn’t mean every description needs to be three paragraphs of lengthy prose. Try to find that Goldilocks “just right” level that works best for your game and your playerbase.

Write room descriptions that are accessible

In addition to the above, it’s also important to consider the roles of color and ASCII in your writing.

You want to write excellent room descriptions for everyone, right?

Remember: if you’re using color alone to call out certain features, you’ll be placing blind players at a disadvantage. Their screen readers won’t be able to pick up on your visual hints.

Similarly, if you’re using a lot of non-alphanumeric characters in your room titles and descriptions (as bookends and borders), you could be inadvertently spamming screen readers.

Sometimes, it’s best to keep things simple and focus on the writing rather than the visual effects!

See also: building a more accessible MUD and implementing accessibility improvements for more tips.

Ideas to help you write excellent room descriptions

Now that we’ve gone over the do’s and don’ts of writing great room descriptions, it’s time to get those creative juices flowing!

Below, I’ve compiled some things to think about while brainstorming rooms and areas.

These can be especially helpful if you’re struggling with writer’s block or need a fresh perspective on a project.

The 5 basic senses

One way to start is by considering the 5 basic senses and how to include them in your individual descriptions:

• Sight. What visual features are present in the room or the area at large? Think both big and small, close and distant. Don’t forget to consider lighting conditions! Do any particular colors stand out?
• Sound. What sounds are audible? Birds chirping? Vehicles passing? People conversing? The hum of machinery, or the clink of cutlery?
• Taste. Is there a taste on the air? Taste and smell are closely related, so descriptions for these can be interchangeable at times. For example, the air might taste metallic if there’s a lot of blood.
• Smell. What odors, scents, or aromas are present? The word “odor” usually comes with a negative connotation – it’s something unpleasant. The word “aroma” usually comes with a positive connotation – it’s something pleasant, often associated with food. The word “scent” is fairly neutral.
• Touch. Is the character moving through rough terrain? Does the sand make travel difficult? Is there soft moss on the rocks? Even if it’s not something the character will actually touch, this is a chance to consider various textures in the room.

Try closing your eyes and imagining yourself in the place you’re trying to describe. You may be surprised by what comes to mind!

Features of city rooms

Here are some features to think about when describing city/town/village rooms and areas:

• Local population. Is the area sparse or crowded? Does it have any unique cultural features? How are people dressed? What languages do they speak? Are they generally well-off or poor or something in-between? Are there beggars asking for scraps? Religious types on their way to the local temple? Children playing in the street?
• Businesses and institutions. What do people do for a living in this part of town? Are there advertisements for goods and services? Hawkers? Pawn shops, offices? Hospitals, hotels? Blacksmiths? Fixers? What about things like schools, courthouses, and crematoriums?
• Vehicles and transportation. How do people get around? Flying cars, horse-drawn carriages, buggies? Are there elevated trains or subways? Skywalks, sidewalks, or paths? Is everyone able-bodied, or does your setting include people in need of assistance?
• Refuse and sewers. Is there trash, and if so, is it everywhere or only in some places? What does it smell like? Look like? Paper litter, plastic? Fast food wrappers? Dung? Are there flies?!
• Entertainment. What do people do for fun? Fight in the gladiator arena? Go to the movies? Take a stroll in the park? Visit the casino?
• Animals and greenery. Speaking of parks, are there any? Flower pots? Trees along the sidewalks and front lawns? What about common pets or stray animals? Birds?
• Lighting. How do people see when it’s dark? Do they need torches or braziers? Lampposts? Can people see the stars at night, or is it like living in Chicago, where the sky is a dull orange glow all the time?
• Architecture and building materials. You don’t need to be an expert in period architecture to write excellent room descriptions, but it’s good to have a general sense for design and building materials. Are buildings made of glass, steel, iron, wood, or plastic? Are the structures rigid with lots of harsh angles? Rounded and domed? Made of natural materials and designed to blend in? Roofing is something we often take for granted but is essential for providing shelter. Is it thatched? Shingled? Tiled?
• Food and water. Two more essentials we often take for granted.
• Decoration. Statues, wrought iron, fountains, and monuments, if outdoors? Paintings and other art, if indoors? What about drapes and wall coverings? Expensive and rare or cheap and abundant? What about upholstery, luxury fabrics , and other items with texture and social significance?
• Alleyways and hidey holes. Cities can be dangerous! Are there places for someone to slip away and lay low? Take shortcuts? Potentially get mugged? Are there fences or walls separating properties? Things for characters to climb?

Features of wilderness rooms

Wilderness rooms can be hard to write, as it might feel like you’re describing the same thing over and over. Hopefully, these ideas can help:

• Trees. Deciduous, evergreen. Old, young. How many rings? Groves, stands, knotty, roots, thick bark, smooth, silvery. Learn about leaf morphology for more terms and ideas! Is the tree cover heavy or sparse? (When I write about trees, I always end up thinking about My Side of the Mountain …)
• Flowers and herbs. Color, shape, scent, abundance. Can they be used for food? Rare and exotic or commonplace? Poisonous or medicinal?
• Animals. Whatever your setting calls for! Think about herd animals, carnivores, rodents, raptors, predators, and prey. Don’t forget insects, too!
• Insects and spiders. Actually, these guys deserve their own bullet point. Think: ants under rocks, dragonflies near water, grubs in the soil, etc.
• Inanimate objects. Rocks and boulders, cliffs, overhangs, bluffs, loose shale. Underbrush, branches, humus, peat.
• Ruins. Did a family or civilization inhabit the area, once upon a time? What evidence did they leave behind? Structures, crumbled walls, firepits, rusted tools, rotted fences?
• Food and water. Where can characters get it? Is it abundant or scarce? Wild fruit, berries, roots, grains, and veggies.
• Dangers. Jagged cliffs, a difficult river crossing? Loose rock? Hunters’ traps? Think about the dangers characters might face while traversing the area!

Think of the 5 basic senses when writing about the above. For example, the smell of loam or sulfur springs or the sound of rustling branches.

Getting help from AI

Did you know you can use ChatGPT to help you with room description prompts? Not only that, but you can get AI to write entire sample descriptions for you.

These tricks can be incredibly helpful if you’re short on ideas, struggling with writer’s block, want complete examples to work from, or if you have aphantasia and need help with imagery.

Aphantasia is the inability to visualize or recall sensory information, such as taste, touch, or sound. An estimated 4% of people have aphantasia.

If you don’t have an OpenAI account yet, you’ll need to sign up for one, first.

Once you’re logged into the system, open up a new chat and try giving the AI some instructions!

Here are a few tips to help you get a head start:

• tell it how many room descriptions you want at a time (e.g. “write me 5 room descriptions for a medieval fantasy multi-user dungeon”)
• specify the desired length of each description (e.g. “write 2-3 sentences per description”)
• describe the setting (e.g. “make each room describe part of a haunted forest”)
• tell it what kind of mood, ambiance, tone, or style you want (e.g. “make it sound eerie, to give the reader the chills”)
• give it some example details to focus on (e.g. “write about things like decaying bark, swampy areas, skittish wild animals, shifting shadows”)

When giving the AI instructions, the more specific you can get, the better.

Type all of your parameters out in the chat box, then hit enter and watch as the magic happens!

But don’t worry – if something came out not-quite-right, you can simply say, “Write the third description again, but this time focus on XYZ.” Or whatever it is you want it to fix.

The AI will know what you mean and will generate a new paragraph for you, taking into account the instructions you provided.

Example input and outputs for a cyberpunk MUD

Here’s an example I did just to see how well ChatGPT would understand my request and fulfill the parameters.

For instance, would it know that when I say “room description” I don’t actually mean a room in a building?

This is what I entered into the chatbox (I decided to go with a cyberpunk theme):

Because cyberpunk has been around for decades, I can guess that the AI will have a pretty good idea of the kinds of details that would fit the bill.

And here’s what ChatGPT gave me:

• The Neon Alley: In this dimly lit stretch of asphalt, shadows dance with pulsating neon lights that flicker from the countless holographic billboards lining the walls. The acrid scent of burnt circuits lingers in the air as the thrum of hovercars echoes through the narrow passage. Lone figures draped in tattered trench coats and fedoras lurk in the corners, their faces hidden by augmented reality masks. The street is alive with the chaotic symphony of jacked-in street vendors peddling illegal cybernetic enhancements, their loud hawking intermingling with the low hum of malfunctioning cybernetic implants from weary pedestrians. A flickering sign above a dingy noodle bar promises comfort in a world long forgotten.
• Vapor’s Haven: A dense fog of smog hangs over the street, suffocating the flickering streetlights attempting to cut through the haze. People scuttle by, their faces obscured by respiratory masks, their eyes reflecting a constant wariness. Dilapidated shops with faded signs offer holographic projections of illicit VR dens and virtual companions for hire. A cacophony of synthetic beats escapes the hidden doorways, each bass thump vibrating through the concrete underfoot. The pungent odor of synthetic chemicals and stale sweat fills the air, a reminder of the desperate pleasure seekers who’ve surrendered themselves to the embrace of illicit stimulants.
• The Chrome Bazaar: A sprawling marketplace of makeshift stalls stretches out before you, each one overflowing with a dizzying array of tech gadgets and bootlegged cyberware. The discordant symphony of competing advertisements blasts through every available speaker, merging into a disorienting cacophony. Ragged, cybernetically enhanced peddlers aggressively hawk their wares, their robotic limbs glinting in the harsh neon glow. The scent of overheated machinery mingles with the tang of rotting refuse, a constant reminder of the city’s decay. Hidden among the stalls, the faint whispers of secretive deals and shady information brokers permeate the air, reminding you that every transaction comes at a price.
• The Electric Crossroads: At the intersection of two main arteries, a web of tangled cables hangs overhead, pulsing with electricity. The steady drizzle of acidic rain hisses as it collides with the exposed wires, creating an eerie symphony of crackling sparks. Shadowy figures huddle beneath rusted scaffolding, their eyes reflecting the dull glow of streetlamps and the occasional flicker of faulty cybernetic implants. Dimly lit storefronts offer respite from the rain-soaked chaos, their windows adorned with illegal braindance chips and black market data cartridges. The overpowering smell of ozone and damp concrete assaults your senses, as if the city itself is crying out in agony.
• The Alley of Lost Dreams: A narrow, winding alleyway stretches before you, its concrete walls adorned with graffiti, each stroke of vibrant paint telling tales of rebellion and defiance. The gutters overflow with discarded dreams and crushed aspirations, mingling with the scent of stale alcohol and charred wires. Homeless souls huddle together, wrapped in tattered blankets, their augmented limbs gleaming in the scant light that filters through the towering skyscrapers. Flickering neon signs overhead offer fleeting glimpses of hope: from seedy body modification clinics promising a new identity to underground resistance movements seeking to topple the corrupt regime. In this forgotten corner of the city, the air crackles with desperation and the ghostly whispers of forgotten souls.

Note how I didn’t even ask for room titles, but it gave me some anyway. The AI knew what I meant when I said I wanted room descriptions for a multi-user dungeon.

(Pretty cool, but no surprise there, either. MUDs have been around for decades, too.)

While these titles and descriptions may not be perfect, they do give me some ideas and examples to work from and improve upon.

If you enjoy cyberpunk as a theme, check out my post on AwakeMUD CE . AwakeMUD is a Shadowrun-inspired game and is a good fit for players who enjoy collaborative storytelling.

A word of caution when using AI

And that brings me to my final point: the examples above are just a starting point – they’re not the be-all-end-all.

While they’re admittedly better written and less typo-laden than many human-generated descriptions I’ve read over the years, I wouldn’t settle for that as the standard.

AI can be a helpful tool that makes your life easier, but don’t let the convenience make you forget who you’re writing for – and why .

Ultimately, you’ll want to take inspiration from what you do like and what does work and keep going. Keep honing your descriptions, and they’ll be more than “good enough” – they’ll be excellent.

And that’s all for now! Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this guide on how to write excellent room descriptions helpful. 💜

If you enjoyed this post, check out my latest blog entry: Rare colors to intrigue your readers .

It includes many color terms that can help spice up your room descriptions. I’ve also included some bonus content for supporters below!

Bonus content

Bonus content is available to Supporters as a token of my appreciation. Your support means a lot to me and is a huge source of motivation for the blog. Seriously: thank you!

MUD Area Design: How I built an immersive 75-room area in 28 days

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a room description great.

An excellent room description does more than just tell players what they see. It engages the senses, sets the mood, and offers interactive elements that can be crucial to gameplay.

What makes it great will come down to your audience, however. If you’re writing for an audience of roleplayers or people looking for a story-driven experience, you may want to spend more time on the details.

How long should a room description be?

The ideal length of a room description can vary depending on the importance of the room, your audience, and the level of detail you want to include.

However, it’s generally a good idea to keep it concise yet informative. As a starting point, aim for about 50-100 words for standard rooms. For more significant or complex areas, you might go up to 200 words.

Can I use AI to help write room descriptions?

Absolutely, and it’s a game-changer! AI can help you write thematic room descriptions that fit the tone and setting of your game.

You can use AI tools to brainstorm ideas or even to write full sample descriptions to work from. Just remember to review and adjust the AI-generated content so that it fits the style you’re aiming for – and your intended audience.

What are CYOAs and how do room descriptions apply?

CYOA stands for “Choose Your Own Adventure.” These are interactive stories where the reader makes choices that affect the outcome. Room descriptions in CYOAs serve the same purpose as in MUDs: they set the scene and offer choices for interaction.

The key difference is that CYOAs are often more linear, focusing on story progression, while MUDs offer a more open-world experience.

How can I write room descriptions for players with aphantasia?

Abstract or flowery language can be confusing for players with aphantasia, so it may be better to limit the amount of imagery you use and stick to straightforward descriptions for anything important.

Also, most people with aphantasia can visualize some senses better than others, so including a variety (touch, taste, scent, sound) may help ensure they still have an immersive experience.

Andruid is a writer, roleplayer, storyteller, and nerd who tries to live by Bill and Ted wisdom, i.e. "Be excellent to each other." 

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How to Describe a Room in English

You might have to describe a room in English.

The most likely situation for doing this would be in the speaking part of the IELTS test. But it could also be in any other speaking or writing test too.

But it is also just a great exercise for you to improve your general English. Being able to describe anything in English shows you have a good command of the English language.

But where to begin?

How to do it? Where to start?

I am here to show you how.

So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

When describing anything — could be an object, a person, a building or a city — you should always start with the basic components.

In the case of describing a room that means you should think of the following questions:

What kind of room is it?

What size is it?

What shape is it?

Let’s go through the questions one by one.

What Kind of Room

In a normal house we have:

Living room

There could also be:

Dining room

Garden shed

For the sake of simplicity, we will use living room as our example.

The mistake that many students make when talking about the size of something is that they often try to be very precise. They might say something like: It is 6 metres long and 3 and a half metres wide, so that is 21 square metres in size.

You don’t need to talk like this. Not unless your job requires that you are exact. But most people have no idea how big the rooms are in their home.

So you can use words to describe the size. Like this:

My living room is pretty big

The living room is huge

My living room is about normal size

It is tiny!

It’s a bit small

It’s kind of big/small

Now does this say anything about the size of the room? Not really.

These terms are relative to the person speaking. So if you say My living room is really small . I might think it is small but if I saw it, I might think it’s average size.

It doesn’t matter.

If you use size words — big, huge, tiny, small — the examiner listening to you has a mental picture of how big the room is. It is enough for him to have an idea of what you are talking about.

Rooms generally come in two shapes:

Rectangle/oblong

So you can say:

The living room is a rectangle shape      

It is shaped like a square

Put It All Together

So if you combine all three of these elements — what kind of room, what size and what shape — you could have something like this:

The room I want to talk about is the living room. It’s pretty big, maybe the biggest room in the whole house. It’s shaped like a rectangle.

I would like to talk about the living room in my home. It’s like a normal-sized room I suppose and it’s rectangular in shape.

Our living room is kind of small. It’s a rectangle shape just like most rooms in people’s houses.

So that is the basics — what kind of room it is, the size and the shape.

When you say something like this, you are providing a good introduction to the room you are going to talk about.

Then you can go into more detail.

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The Details

When we talk about the details of a room, it means we talk about the following:

The Colour Scheme

The furniture.

The Window and the View

Most living room decorations are designed to make the family feel comfortable and at ease in their own home.

You could describe the decor as being:

Clean-looking

Comfortable

Old-fashioned

Traditional

Western-style

Asian-style

And that could be enough.

The examiner is not expecting you to describe all the features of the decor in the living room. There may be certain elements or features in your living room that stand out.

So you may have a large painting on the wall — if so, then you can describe the painting and say who bought the painting.

For example:

We have a painting of two dogs on the wall of our living room. The dogs walking in a field somewhere and it looks like an old painting but it is not.

My mum bought it in a local shop because she liked the look of it and wanted to have a painting on the wall to make it look less boring.

Or maybe you have a piano in the room:

My mum and dad bought a piano years ago because they wanted me to learn when I was a child. But I was never any good at playing the piano so it just sits there.

It’s more for decoration now.

Are you talking about the painting, the piano or the living room?

You are talking about the living room. The painting and the piano are part of the living room and the little stories you tell about these things are all part of your talk.

In this part, you just talk about the main colour of the room.

Most living rooms are white so just say that.

The living room is white.

There may be other colour elements in the living room but you need to say the main, most important colour first.

Don’t say something like My living room is white, red, green, purple and black.

Your living room may have other colour elements but you need to describe those elements. Don’t just reel off a list of colours!

So you could say:

The living room is white but the window frames are dark red.

Our living room is white but one wall is painted light green.

This is where you can go into more detail.

Let’s look at the main furniture items in people’s living rooms.

Coffee table/tea table

TV stand/TV

Bookshelf/Bookcase

Painting/Mirror

These cover the main kinds of furniture that people have.

And this is how you can talk about these things:

We have a big sofa in the living room. It’s dark blue and made of some kind of soft fabric — I’m not sure what it is. But it is very comfortable. Sometimes I like to lie on the sofa and listen to music or read a book.

The sofa in my living room is made of leather and it’s white. My mother always worries about it being clean enough. We sit on it when we want to watch the TV.

And again, if you talk about the things you like to do on the sofa — watching TV, reading a book — this is still part of your talk about the living room.

You can say similar things about an armchair:

My dad likes to sit in the armchair. He watches the news on TV then falls asleep.

Sometimes our cat jumps on to the armchair. My mum gets very angry about this.

Then you can talk about things like the coffee table and floor lamp.

We have a coffee table in the living room. It’s between the sofa and the TV. We out drinks on it and snacks we are eating. We also keep the TV remote on it. It’s a wooden table but has a glass top so it is easy to keep clean.

The floor lamp is next to the sofa. The light is softer than the ceiling light so it is more comfortable in the evening.

Then curtains:

The curtains are light grey. We keep them open during the day and close them at night. We close them and we have more privacy in the evening.

TV Stand/TV:

We have a big flat-screen TV in the living room. It is on top of a large TV stand. We can put other things on the stand too.

My mum has a little figure of a horse on the stand.

Rug/Carpet:

There is a rug on the floor. It’s dark red and made of wool. It’s very comfortable under your feet in the evening.

My dad always complains if we put our shoes on it because it makes it dirty.

Bookshelf/Bookcase:

There is a bookshelf in the corner of the living room. It is full of books but mostly my mum and dad’s books. I keep my books in my own room.

But it makes the living room look nice. It’s nice to see shelves filled full of books. It makes the room seem warmer.

On the wall, we have a large mirror. My mum bought it in an antique shop. I think it was quite expensive.

It makes the room seem bigger because of the reflection.

My mum always uses it to check her hair before she goes outside.

These are just some simple ideas of things you can say about furniture in the living room.

You can say what each item is made of and the colour but you can also add little stories too. The examiner will always like to hear stories in the IELTS test.

Window and View

Lastly, you can talk about the window and the view outside.

You just say where the window is and the size of it. Then you say what you can see outside.

We have a large window at the end of the living room. When I look outside, I can see the houses opposite our own house. I can also see the road outside.

We have only one small window and I can barely see anything outside. Just a wall. But the window lets in some light.

And that covers the details of the living room.

Now you can talk about how you feel about the room.

Why do you like this room?

This is where many students miss some valuable thing to say in the IELTS test. Usually, they just say if they like something or not.

This is not enough . You need to say WHY you like something.

So with our example of the living room in your house, just think of all the reasons why you like your living room.

I have put some examples below:

I like the living room because it is usually quiet and I can just lie on the sofa and relax, read a book or listen to music.

I like our living room because it is so airy and light. It feels very bright in the room.

I like the view from the living room. We look out over a nice park.

I like the two paintings in our living room. They are portraits of people from long ago. I look at them and get lost in another world.

Saying what you like about something is very simple. Just say what you like and why you like it!

What do you dislike about this room?

Equally, you can say what you don’t like about the living room.

I have listed some ideas below:

I don’t like the living room because it is always noisy and filled full of people. It drives me mad as there is nowhere to sit and be quiet.

I don’t like the living room because my dad is always watching TV there. And he is always watching the news — it’s so boring!

I don’t like the living room because it is so hot in there. The sun shines right through the window and makes it too stuffy.

Just as when you talk about the reasons why you like the living room, it is just as important to talk about why you dislike it.

What do you do in this room?

And finally, you need to say the activities you like to do in the living room.

Let’s go through a list of things that many people do in the living room.

Talk to my family

Read a book

Watch a movie

Talk to my friends on the phone/online

Do my homework

Study something

When describing a room, you can definitely say the kind of things you like to do in the room. This is all part of the description of the room.

And by talking about things you do in the living room, this may lead to a little story and that is always helpful.

Let me give you an example from my own life:

I like to watch movies in the living room with my wife. But she only likes certain kinds of movies. If I select a movie, she usually thinks it is boring and asks me to change it.

But if we watch a movie we both like it is very relaxing. We eat snacks and drink hot tea while watching the movie.

Am I talking about watching movies or describing the living room?

And the examiner would like what I said and it would be great in the IELTS test.

That is about it.

Remember the format when describing the room.

The Details — the decor, the colour scheme, the furniture, the window and the view

Why do you dislike this room?

What do you like to do in this room?

Go through all of these things and you can’t go wrong.

Now why not try by yourself or with your friends?

You can choose the room you are in. Or go online and look at pictures of rooms you can find on the internet.

Just keep practising and you will see great results.

Good luck and let me know in the comments below!

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18 thoughts on “How to Describe a Room in English”

This is great advice for students preparing for the IELTS test or for any English class or presentation. There is almost nothing better to hone your English than to describe things. It puts all the students’ skills and vocabulary to the test!

That’s good to know Leona! I plan to write a few more ‘describing things’ articles.

I DON’T KNOW what it is the meaning of IELTS, BUT you know what I like it in this IELTS is MORE HELPFUL to my FINAL REQUIREDMENT IN describing a room.

Hi Charlotte, many thanks for reading! IELTS means International English Language Testing System. Check this link for more info: https://www.ielts.org/what-is-ielts/ielts-introduction

Yes, this lesson is very good because as David says it may come up in the IELTS exam and students need to be prepared to talk about anything from many different angles.

Many thanks Leona!

It was really helpful Big thanks

You’re welcome, Ahmed!

It’s a wonderful presentation of my first class on: tell me something about your…….

Hi Morris, glad you liked it!

I admire you so much, sir. You spent your time and effort to help many people so that they’re good at English. Best wishes for you.

That is very kind of you to say so, Van! Best wishes to you too!

It is a very inspiring topic.

Hi Eirik! Many thanks! I hope it was useful to you.

I read almost all of your stuff, and I was extremely amazed with the guide. You are the best!

That is really good to hear, Eirik! I am so glad that you like what I write. Many thanks and have a great day!

You too! Good luck in the future, and I will be following you. 🙂

Many thanks, Eirik!

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The GSAL Journal

Passion, Curiosity & Creativity

An Old-fashioned Room

Oliver – Year 7 Student

Editor’s Note : Students were asked to complete the following creative writing task under timed conditions: ‘Describe an old-fashioned room as suggested by the picture’. Oliver’s response demonstrates some truly fantastic writing. ADM

The room had a musty odour, evocative of grandparents’ houses – the type that makes you feel safe and cosy. It was lit dimly by a tall lamp in the corner with a green lamp shade decorated with light, undulating patterns, all but lost under a thick coat of dust. There was drab, vile, green wallpaper; dark green contrasting curtains; a wide, thin rug with tassels on. A wooden rocking chair sat in the corner, furnished with an old, dilapidated cushion. A small, coal fireplace graced one wall beneath was a white, marble mantelpiece. On top of the mantelpiece danced porcelain figurines and ornaments.

On walls hung portraits of long forgotten people, who looked about the room with a proprietorial air. There was a sofa against one wall – a bland, beige coloured lump, which looked as if it would be itchy if you sat on it. A pink doll’s house was pushed up against a wall and enveloped in dust. It looked sad and lonely, as if it knew it would never be played with again. Next to it sat a hobby horse with chewed-looking ears, missing its rocker.

If you looked out of the ornate window, you would see an overgrown jungle of a garden: brambles and an oak tree with branches like twisted fingers and gnarled, twisted roots protruding from the ground like snakes.

This was my home, all those years ago.

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The student-led academic journal of the Grammar School at Leeds, showcasing passion, curiosity and creativity. Also on Twitter @gsaljournal - we would love to hear from you! View all posts by thegsaljournal

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11 Ways to Describe Rooms

For the next few months, weekly writing tips will include word choice suggestions. That includes:

• colorful and original descriptions
• pithy words and phrases
• picture nouns and action verbs
• writing that draws a reader in and addicts them to your voice

I keep a  collection of descriptions that have pulled me into the books. I’m fascinated how authors can–in just a few words–put me in the middle of their story and make me want to stay there. This one’s on how to describe rooms.

• Viking, Miele, KitchenAid, Sub-Zero, separate freezer, wine cooler, radiant bulb cookers. Stainless steel and oak. Pots and implements sat in glass-doored cabinets along one entire wall.
• Oversized reading chair
• A lazy Susan in the middle of the table
• Between them was a pot of something steaming and one upside-down mug and an ashtray with a cigarette burning in it.
• Past the lobby, a central dining area held a dozen tables, all filled with patrons. A din of laughter and chatter, in Mandarin, inhabited the space as waiters moved quickly between tables.
• I could settle into a deep overstuffed couch,  order a beer from a tuxedoed waiter and listen to the harp.
• On top of the table were two tea cups, both filled, tiny clouds of steam rising up from the tea. Two plates, on top of one was a hard-boiled egg, cracked open, and a piece of rye toast, a bite missing.
• Cabral’s threadbare apartment where like his bandmate Hernandez, he lived alone and sparely. There was no sign of a wife or children. No framed photos, no school drawings on the refrigerator.
• Entering this room always felt like entering a time warp.
• The walls were lined floor-to-ceiling in bookshelves, every inch filled, and in the corner of the room as a simple desk, neat and orderly, a few piles of paper stacked in the middle, and a small light on. In the center of the room, two red sofas faced each other across a large, round glass coffee table.
• Dickensian warren piled high with yellowed catalogs

More descriptors:

17 Ways to Describe Law Enforcement

24 Ways to Describe Pain

57 Ways to Describe Talking in a Novel

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42 thoughts on “ 11 Ways to Describe Rooms ”

I’m bad about forgetting to describe my characters’ surroundings. It’s very important, but I get WAY too caught up in telling the story!

Stephanie http://stephie5741.blogspot.com

Like Liked by 1 person

There’s definitely a balance. Some authors do so much describing, I’d call them ‘setting-drive’ as opposed to character- or plot-driven. I like equal measure of all three.

Great examples. I love it when rooms seem solid in my head as I read.

There are so many ways to describe them that have little to do with the pictures on the walls or the sofa and chair.

You’re going to have to compile all these tips into one publication. Thanks Jacqui.

I should have planned ahead for that one. I don’t have any of the attributions. Sigh.

Nice work. 🙂

Anna from elements of emaginette

Thanks, Anna.

Excellent post… these expressions are so useful for those of us who speak-read-write English as a First Foreign language… Thanks for sharing Jacqui… Sending best wishes. Aquileana 😀

I hadn’t thought of that, Aquileana. They are often a clever twist on language, aren’t they?

Fantastic examples to which we may aspire. 🙂

I realize I haven’t concentrated enough on room quotes, but these are pretty inspiring.

They are! Thank YOU. 😉

This is a great list, Jacqui. It must take a load of time researching these (I think I’ve told you this before) and it’s very much appreciated 😀

Thanks, Dianne. I’m a pretty fast typist so doesn’t take as much time as you’d think!

Are you sure it’s descriptions of rooms? I got stopped at lazy!!! and projected . . . A lazy judy in the middle of the table . . . or . . . Entering this room in my mind always felt like entering a time warp

Hehee. Isn’t life a lot like rooms?

I love this Jacqui!

Aren’t they cool!

I love this series of yours, Jacqui! 🙂

Thanks, Carol. It often keeps me going as I struggle with editing. I get lots of ideas from these great writers.

Don’t forget smell. “The room smelled old, stale cigarettes, dust and a faint hint of last night’s fried fish hit the detective as she opened the door.”

or something like that.

Yes–all the senses. Life isn’t authentic without those.

Great list! I really need to work on my descriptions to be able to evoke images the way these do.

Incidentally, where does #9 come from? I feel like I’ve read it before.

I’m sorry–I don’t remember. I often thought I should include credit, but I know I would have not kept the list then. And as long as I’m well below 10% of the book, I’m within copyright laws. Sigh.

A great list, Jacqui. How a person lives describes who they are as much as what they say, where they work, and how they choose to dress. Other items to consider are the view from the windows, the lighting, the height of the ceiling, and the sounds, as music playing or TV chatter.

Great list, Shari. Sometimes, those are the most important. Sounds–I forget about those too often.

I love your lists and prompts, Jacqui. They’re such great resources!

Thanks! I found them so useful in my writing, I wanted to share with readers. Sometimes, seeing how others have said it is all that’s necessary to craft our own unique description.

Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented: Here is a great post on various ways to describe a room.

Thanks for the reblog, Don!

You’re welcome. Great post

I do like well-described rooms as it places the reader immediately. Personally, I could happily have an oversized reading chair – already imagining it!😀

We find such comfort in surroundings. They put us at ease or on edge. It’s easy to skip by them in our writing, and we (meaning I) shouldn’t.

Oh no, not just you, Jacqui! I’ll be busy writing the ‘exciting’ part, then re-reading realise something is missing and it is that detail which brings it all to life. So important. Thank you for the examples and reminder!

Always love the oversized reading chair. Great list, Jacqui!

When my kids were little, I bought two readings chairs. They were each sized for two, so worked well with our family of four. Not four adults though–that gets a bit tight!

“A Room with a Description”, E M Forster might have said…

And he would have been right. It’s always in the eyes of the beholder, innit.

wonderfully descriptive – images come immediately to mind, thanks Jacqui!

You can see why I couldn’t gloss over these in the books I read. I had to save them.

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How to Write a Good Story

• Body Language (I)
• Body Language (II)
• Body Language (III)
• Body Langauge (IIII)
• Advice from Cliff Pickover (I)
• Advice from Cliff Pickover (II)
• Advice from Cliff Pickover (III)
• Advice from Cliff Pickover (IIII)
• Donna Ippolito
• Dialogue: The Music of Speech (I)
• Dialogue: The Music of Speech (II)
• Dialogue: The Music of Speech (III)
• Dialogue: The Music of Speech (IIII)
• Elizabeth Sims
• 7 Ways to Make a Good Story Great (I)
• 7 Ways to Make a Good Story Great (II)
• 7 Ways to Make a Good Story Great (III)
• Fixing Common Plot Problems (I)
• Fixing Common Plot Problems (II)
• Fixing Common Plot Problems (III)
• Fixing Common Plot Problems (IIII)
• Interlude: Joy on writing a good story
• Using the Reverse Dictionary
• 'Ly' Adverbs (I)
• 'Ly' Adverbs (II)
• 'Ly' Adverbs (III)
• Ernest Hemingway's app and advice (I)
• Ernest Hemingway App and Advice (II)
• Ernest Hemingway App and Advice (III)
• Ellen Brock: Omniscient Narrator & Third Person Voice (I)
• Omniscient Narrator & Third Person Voice (II)
• Omniscient Narrator & Third Person Voice (III)
• Interlude: Fun stuff (I)
• Interlude: Fun stuff (II)
• Randy Ingermanson: the Snowflake Method (I)
• the Snowflake Method (II)
• the Snowflake Method (III)
• the Snowflake Method (IIII)
• Gayle Moran on Points of View in Writing
• Points of View in Writing (II)
• Naming your Characters
• Interlude: Joy on Plotting and Characters (I)
• Interlude: Joy on Plotting and Characters (II)
• Writing From more than one Point of View
• Writing from More than One Point of View (II)
• Janice Hardy on Multiple Point of View Characters
• Jody Hedlund: 7 POV Tips -Avoid being Branded as an Amateur
• Words To Describe a Character's Voice
• Fictional vs Real Settings for your Story
• Janice Hardy: 10 Questions to Ask when Choosing a Setting (I)
• 10 Questions to Ask when Choosing a Setting (II)
• Randall S Hansen: Expanding Your Vocabulary (I)
• Expanding Your Vocabulary (II)
• Amanda Patterson: Guaranteed ways to bore your reader
• Richard Nordquist: 200 Common Redundancies (I)
• Common redundancies (II)
• 200 Common Redundancies (III)
• Eight Ways to Strengthen your Prose
• Leo Babauta: 31 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing
• 31 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing (II)
• Interlude: Joy on overcoming writer's block
• ProofEditWrite.com: Avoid Clichés
• Avoid Clichés (II)

Words to Describe a Room

• David Mesick: Three Things that will Make your Characters Deeper
• SaidSimple: When To Start A New Paragraph
• Rachelle Gardner: How to cut Thousands of Words without Shedding a Tear
• Passed or Past? (grammarmonster.com)
• Bare vs. Bear
• Chuck Wendig: 25 Things a Great Character Needs
• HOW TO PLOT A STORY
• ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
• Grammar Girl & Grammar Party: until, 'til, till, til
• Gilliane Berry: The Ten Worst Ways to End a Book
• Gary Korisko: How to Write With Confidence
• silverpen.org: Grand List of Fantasy Clichés
• Chuck Wendig: said or fancy-pants words
• When Should We CaPiTaLizE?
• Rob Hart: Plot Clichés
• Strange Horizons: Stories we've seen too often (I)
• Strange Horizons: Stories we've seen too often (II)
• Strange Horizons: Horror stories we've seen too often
• PunctuationMadeSimple.com
• Punctuationmadesimple.com: The Apostrophe

YOU ARE READING

This book is a collection of resources and random tips that will help you become a better writer and create stories worth reading. Since I've started the writing journey, and particularly started editing freelancers' works, I've discovered there are...

# advice # better # development # grammar # grow # howtowrite # improve # learn # links # resources # story # tips # writers

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Another grande resource for your ease of reference dear readers. I present *waves arms wildly* words that describe buildings or rooms and parts of buildings.

Now that I've made your life a million times easier, do me a favor and go check out my new competition (it's on my profile) where you can win a PRO EDIT of your ENTIRE manuscript. Whoa there, don't faint. I know it sounds too good to be true, but that's not the only prize. There are heaps more, and entering is easy as pie. Go on *waves off with hands* go have a look then.

http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/39290490-the-great-blink-fan-art-&-review-competition

Adjective - a building or room that is beautifully appointed, well appointed (etc), has everything you need, and is decorated very well.

Adjective - a baronial building or room is large, impressive, and built or decorated in an old-fashioned style.

Adjective - a beachfront building faces a beach or is very close to a beach.

BRICK-BUILT

Adjective - British - made out of bricks.

Noun - a building made of red-brown stone, especially one built in the US in the past.

Adjective - a burnt-out building or vehicle has had everything inside it destroyed by fire.

Noun - a building that is extremely unpleasant to look at.

Adjective - a carpeted room or area has carpet on the floor.

Adjective - a cavernous room or building is very large and dark.

Adjective - colonial buildings and furniture are made in a style that was common in North America in the 18th century.

COMFORTABLE

Adjective - a comfortable room or building is pleasant to spend time in, for example because it has nice furniture or is not too hot or too cold.

Adjective - a condemned building is in very bad condition and is going to be destroyed.

Adjective - relating to a style of architecture that uses tall thin columns with decoration at the top.

Adjective - provided with a roof.

CURTAINED-OFF

Adjective - British - separated from the rest of a room or area by a curtain.

Adjective - a dank room or building is unpleasant because it is cold and has walls and floors that are slightly wet.

Adjective - a darkened room or building is dark because there are no lights on inside.

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Setting Description Entry: Bedrooms

October 4, 2008 by BECCA PUGLISI

bed, night stand, dresser, armoire, make-up table, desk and chair, picture frame, window, closet, mirror, bookshelf, clothes hamper, wastebasket, wall shelves, phone, lamp, computer, notepads, books, rug, curtains, shade/blinds…

female: frilly, flowery, lacy, soft, pink/purple/yellow, hearts, stuffed animals, make-up/hair products, perfume, decorative pillows, canopy bed, diary, fuzzy-topped pencils, nail polish, bracelets, bangles, earrings…

male: sports memorabilia, geometric, spartan, darker colors, rumpled bedsheets, clothes on the floor, messy, dusty, CD collection, posters of girls (beach babes, film stars, Army, Action movies), toy guns, airsoft guns, action figures…

Music blaring, murmur of TV or talking on the phone, laughter, tick of a clock, radio alarm, click of computer keys while IMing, cat or dog scratching to get in, trill of a cell phone, squeaky bed spring, whispering, outdoor sounds leaking in through…

Perfume, hairspray, nail polish, model glue, body spray, deodorant, clean linen, sweat, rotting food, bubblegum, fabric softener, dust, wet towels, a whiff of dinner cooking in the kitchen, a spicy cheese smell from an open bag…

Bubblegum, the bitter taste of hairspray, breath mints, peanut butter and jam sandwich on a plate, a banana, granola bar, sugary pop, water…

silky, clean sheets, the unwelcoming hardness of pressing the alarm button, cool, smooth desktop, fuzzy sweaters, itchy sweaters, slippery t shirts, rough Cotton jeans, cool walls, soft, sinkable bead, balling up paper, tossing it into a garbage bin…

Helpful hints:

–The words you choose can convey atmosphere and mood.

Example 1:  When I could put it off no more, I tiptoed into Great Aunt BeeBee’s room. The floor was cold and gritty, dust and crumbs and who knows what else clinging to my bare feet. My only light came from a slit between the sagging curtains at the window, the feeble brightness barely enough for me to make out anything. I crept closer, trying to not gag on the smell of sweat and sickness. On the floor beside the bed I could just make out a twisted lump of blankets, but I couldn’t get up the courage to touch it. Please don’t be dead, I thought. I strained my ears for the sound of her rusty breath, and again remembered the sickening thump that had woken me…

–Similes and metaphors create strong imagery when used sparingly.

Example 1: (Simile)  I followed on Anna’s heels, catching the bedroom door seconds before it could slam in my face. Enraged, I sucked in a deep breath and pushed the door wide. My words curdled into nothing at the mess greeting me–clothes, text books and muddy shoes lay across the floor in knotted clumps, pages from a teen magazine peppered the walls and CDs marched across the unmade bed like a ticker tape parade…

Think beyond what a character sees, and provide a sensory feast for readers

Setting is much more than just a backdrop, which is why choosing the right one and describing it well is so important. To help with this, we have expanded and integrated this thesaurus into our online library at One Stop For Writers . Each entry has been enhanced to include possible sources of conflict , people commonly found in these locales , and setting-specific notes and tips , and the collection itself has been augmented to include a whopping 230 entries—all of which have been cross-referenced with our other thesauruses for easy searchability. So if you’re interested in seeing a free sample of this powerful Setting Thesaurus, head on over and register at One Stop.

On the other hand, if you prefer your references in book form, we’ve got you covered, too. The Urban Setting Thesaurus and The Rural Setting Thesaurus are available for purchase in digital and print copies. In addition to the entries, each book contains instructional front matter to help you maximize your settings. With advice on topics like making your setting do double duty and using figurative language to bring them to life, these books offer ample information to help you maximize your settings and write them effectively.

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers —a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Reader Interactions

April 16, 2015 at 8:35 pm

I’m not sure if I missed it or if its somewhere else on the website, but I’m looking for descriptive ideas for explaining the noises of a house at night. Specifically those, sort of, tinkling sounds of the materials expanding and contracting with the temperature. Any thoughts or directions on this would be hugely appreciated!!! 🙂

April 17, 2015 at 11:11 am

Hi, Elizabeth. We don’t have a thesaurus for noises, but you should be able to find many house sounds by looking at the different house-related entries in The Setting Thesaurus: attic, basement, bathroom, bedroom, etc. Each entry has a SOUNDS field; by looking through those entries, you might find the sounds that you’re looking for. Best of luck!

December 3, 2018 at 7:04 pm

i know its a little late but descriptives for what your looking for would be EX: hrough a window I could hear the risings and fallings of a conversation being held on a porch near the corner, chatting and yapping and playing and shrieking; a car passed on the street the creaking, the sea noises, and the night birds outside. or I was surrounded by the musty, oily, salty smell of the ship and the ocean, and realized how sharp one’s senses become in the dark. Every place has its own scent, a peculiar mixture of organic growth and human industry, of must, paint, wood and vermin.

July 19, 2014 at 10:50 pm

I hadn’t seen these entries yet! Now I REALLY want a setting set of books…. 😀

July 21, 2014 at 1:32 pm

You’re in luck, Kimbra! We’re working on the first draft of the Settings Thesaurus right now. No firm publication date yet, but we’ll place periodic updates here at the blog. You could also sign up for our free newsletter (link below), which will bring notifications about our upcoming books and other info right to your inbox :).

https://writershelpingwriters.net/newsletter-archive/

June 22, 2011 at 5:17 pm

It is possible we would, but if so it would be when (and if) we put the Setting Thesaurus into a book version. 🙂 So glad this is helpful to you! 🙂

June 22, 2011 at 11:33 am

I love your blog, thank you for pointing out the little things that go unobserved but are a great importance to each and everyone of our stories! By any chance would you be writing any of these for different time periods? Either way, thank you for the inspiration!

October 6, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Brilliant! This could actually double, somewhat, for a hotel room (with a few minor tweeks and add ons….smell…blech). Anyways, great stuff! Thanks for the inspiration!!

October 6, 2008 at 8:40 am

Boy do I know about bedrooms! My room was ALWAYS such a total and complete mess that my dad put a sign on my door that read, “Danger Disaster Area Three Feet Deep.” It remained on my door for many years.

October 5, 2008 at 11:10 am

*Gives some warm milk to PJ*

Thanks for coming over Rachel–we’re glad you found us!

October 5, 2008 at 12:02 am

Hey, wandered over from AW and poked around! These thesaurus posts are incredible. What a fantastic resource.

October 4, 2008 at 10:28 pm

I’m sleepy just reading it! Love this! Thanks!

October 4, 2008 at 11:46 am

I like the interior design mags too. I think it’s because I have a hard time imagining the potential of a room without some visual aids. I’m currently looking into remodling my kitchen, and my head reels at all the options and choices there are! Becca must be much better at this than I (and I wish she lived closer!) because she recently did a big reno in her new home.

Gutsywriter, one of the best things about this blog (and all online writing groups) is the ability to learn together. Becca and I have had such a great experience by pairing up and working through our writing woes, it was something we wanted to share on a bigger basis.

Each time we do an entry, we learn as we go, flexing the imaginative muscle to come up with descriptions and emotional actions that feel real.

October 4, 2008 at 10:49 am

Thanks for helping us again and again in our writing. It must take you a long time to put together your postings. A lesson plan in itself. I still have your emotional thesaurus on my laptop every time I rewrite a chapter and need more show and less tell.

October 4, 2008 at 9:35 am

This detail leaped out at me :

“the unwelcoming hardness of pressing the alarm button”

Sounds like a bedroom of the rich and famous. 🙂 I love looking at pictures of bedrooms in books on decorating and interior design and imagining how I’ll decorate my bedroom some day. Maybe I’ll have one of those low tables with padded tops as well.

LA VITTORIA DI BOLSONARO

GLI USA CONTRO L’EURASIA: IL CASO BANNON

DUM ROMAE CONSULITUR

NUOVI SCENARI GEOPOLITICI DEL CONFLITTO LIBICO

HEIDEGGER CONTRA HUNTINGTON

L’IMPERO EURO-SOVIETICO

LA FONTANA DEGLI AMANTI DELLA SCIENZA

I NUOVI ARMAMENTI

“POST-TRUTH” AND THE TRUTH OF THE POLITICAL: FREEDLAND VS. DUGIN

Claudio Mutti, Democracia y Talasocracia, Hipérbola Janus, 2017

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Awaken English

All things Educational. Sharing resources for Secondary English

Dystopian Creative Writing: The Room

Here is an excellent exemplar of creative writing based on the conventions of Dystopia.

This is a student piece written by Mohamed Zakaria bin Mohamed Said. It is entitled, ‘The Room’. Thank you for sharing your writing.

The small dull-grey clock read 8:30am. I rise from the simple white linen and I look over the suffocating space around me that I have lived around me that I have lived in my entire life. The room consists of a bed, old and rickety, a chair and desk, both are brown and worn and a small toilet. I find none of the qualities in these objects beautiful because they are not mine. I have only ever known the dry dusty room that is laid out so precisely before me.

 I move through my room with a sense of nostalgia that finds me at the beginning of everyday. Eyes on my ceiling monitor me like old owls. I feel trapped under their gaze. At 8:40am, the desk in front of me materializes food on a shiny transparent plate and as I eat, I weigh my past against my future. Both are without change. I try to think about who I am and where I came from, but these thoughts lead me to the fact that my identity is defined by the confines of the space around me. I stare up into the eyes again. My whole life I have been under their withering gaze, stripped of my humanity, a captive and dying prey.

My clock shows 9:00am and I begin the next part of my day. The struggle of staying sane . I have no concept of years, months, weeks, or days but only the time that I get from my old clock. I have no control over my life, that is in the hands of creatures that watch    me through their mechanical eyes. Time is transcendent, it proves to me that I exist. Do the white eyes control that as well?

Out of the corner of my eye a silhouette emerges, moving slowly. A spider crawls up over the chair looking about occasionally as he makes his way up to his web. The hairs on his legs shine silver and his black eyes reflect the grey room around him. I walk over to the chair to find the empty plate and I place it over the spider. At first the spider notices nothing of his new enclosure but he eventually realizes. He did not notice the plate or the change in air pressure but the spider noticed my piercing gaze burn through the plate. He felt surveyed and it was only then that the spider found his incarceration. Panic and claustrophobia enclosed the old grey spider like suffocating smoke. His black eyes darted about, his legs thrashed against the walls of the glass. Eventually the spider will die, but until then he would be stuck in a world fixed by the spaces around him. But I will never let that fate befall anyone and I release the spider.

At 9:30, something different happened. I was talking to the eyes in my ceiling when tears or fury and fire filled my eyes, and I wanted the creature in the ceiling to feel justice. A fire started, I felt incensed and betrayed I wanted somebody to understand. I wanted to communicate to the monster that what they were doing to me was wrong. I moved quickly across the room to use my strength against the worn chair and the brown desk. They were part of the reason that I was alive and trapped here. I was a fire, screaming, yelling and overcome with hatred. The sound of my voice became distorted and monstrous as it echoed from the walls. I was distraught and I wanted to become violent. A fire needs oxygen and I was running out of it in my enclosure.

After that it all changed. The light next to the eyes in my ceiling died. The light over my head burnt out. Everything around me was like infinite night. There was no sound but my racing heart and my rapid breathing. I am going to die. I had angered the creatures that kept me here. I had made them upset and they are going to kill me like I was going to kill the spider under the plate.

A part of the grey wall slid open revealing a long white clean open corridor. There was a wave of fresh cool air and smell that was pleasurable compared to the rancid stink in my room. I expected to die but nothing happened. I realized that just outside of was another world, outside of this room represents change. By stepping out of the room I would never go back. Somebody had released me. Somebody had felt enough pity or strength to free me of from my cage. Like a baby taking its first steps, I walked out of the Room.

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