Guidelines
for Writing Good Descriptions

Organization

• OVERVIEW. Begin with a brief overview that reveals the object’s
  (a) overall framework, arrangement, or shape, and
  (b) purpose or function.
• PARTS. Divide the object into parts and describe each part
  (a) in enough detail to use, make, or draw it, and
  (b) in a way that reveals its role, its relation to other parts.
• ORDER. Organize the part descriptions to help your reader:
  (a) spatial order (top to bottom, outside to inside), or
  (b) priority order (most to least important), or
  (c) chronological order (order of [dis]assembly).

Content

• SPECIFICS.
  • Include relevant specific features (such as size, shape, color, material, technical names).
  • Omit irrelevant background, confusing details, and needless words.
• COMPARISON. Compare features or parts with other things already familiar.
• CONTRAST. Contrast properties with different ones to reveal their significance.

Signals for Your Reader

• FORMAT. Clarify your text with:
  • Heads. Identify topics with clear, nested section headings.
  • Lists. Itemize related features with indenting and marks.
  • Figures. Integrate figures and text with labels and references.
• VERBAL CUES. Guide your reader’s expectations with:
  • Parallelism. Use parallel words and phrases for parallel ideas.
  • Proleptics. Use verbal links (also, but, however, etc.) to signal how your description fits together.