Atmosphere is the feeling, emotion, or mood that an author creates in a narrative through descriptive language.
Atmosphere is a very important and necessary part of any piece of descriptive writing as it describes the vibe of the
environment, situation or space. Many different elements contribute to atmosphere: the diction and setting that the
author chooses, the descriptions of people and things, the way that characters speak to each other, foreshadowing
(hinting at what’s to come) and so on.
Setting is when and where the action takes place. It establishes the environment and gives the reader a sense of place.
Use all five senses to describe the immediate surroundings to the reader to quickly immerse them in the
environment. The little details of how your marketplace smells, or what the wood of an old house feels like can
make all the difference in your descriptive writing, and really set the stage for a vivid reader experience.
When describing a place, you will want to add plenty of detail and use vivid words. For example, if writing about a beach
use words such as salty sea air, gentle breeze, soft sand, lapping waves or warm sun rays. The mood set for this beach
is calm and peaceful. When referring to a period of time or specific era, use words that describe how people felt during
the time and reflect on how they lived their lives. For example, during the Great Depression, the mood in the USA can be
thought of as somber. People lost their jobs, went hungry and experienced a wide range of emotions. Words such as
frightened, panicked and depressed are commonly used to describe people's moods during this time.
Descriptive words used for scenes:
The words you choose make a huge difference in creating a mood within your reader. To call something bustling and
vibrant is quite different from desolate and deserted.
Positive descriptive words:
• Attractive Beautiful Bustling Calm Charming Enchanting Fascinating Homey Inspiring Lively Peaceful
•
Picturesque Vibrant Quaint, Majestic
Negative descriptive words:
•
Bleak Boring Creepy Crowded Deserted Desolate Dull Horrifying Polluted Rundown Stormy Ugly
Use of Spatial Order
When the elements of a scene are described in a specific order, the scene becomes easy to understand. This is where
spatial order comes in. It is the method of organizing content in such a way that the details are described in the order of
their location in space. It is a logical progression of a scene that is usually described from left to right and top to bottom.
This method of description helps the readers visualize the scene better.
To form a logical relationship between the details, the writer needs to use transitions. They are words or phrases that
are placed in the beginning of a sentence to connect it with the idea expressed in the preceding sentence.
Above, Through, Across, To the side of, Between, On the top of, Against, At that point, Here, Nearby, Next to, Beside,
Beneath, Below, On the other hand, Attached to, On the right hand, On the left hand, Opposite, Into
► John locked the door and stood for a minute or two on a sidewalk taking the scene in. The morning
walk was calm and quiet. Across the street from him was a block-patterned wall of another building,
stretching end to end. The white wall had yellowed through the years, but looked quite strong. The
sun had cast shadows on it. A gray stone sidewalk that run along the wall seemed hushed. On the
sidewalk, on the left, was an old black streetlamp. This old rusty lamp, like the wall, had withstood
many seasons. Today, the lamp wasn't alone on the street. On the right, John could see a policeman
standing, reading a newspaper. He didn't even look up to see him on the other side of the street. He
was standing near a news-stand, whose owner was nowhere in sight. The colorful magazines,
newspapers, a stand, and a chair looked orphaned without their owner. John decided to cross the
road and ask the inspector about the newsstand owner.
► In the above section, the wall has been described first. It is the farthest from the reader. Then, the
sidewalk has been described. Then the elements have been described from left to right; the order in
which they are physically located. The use of spatial order helps the reader visualize the scene just
through words (even without looking at the image).