Writing with Stardust: The Ultimate Descriptive Guide for students, parents, teachers and writers (30 page)

4. She had
mamba-black
, symmetrical eyebrows.

5. She had
kohl-black
,
sliver-of-moon eyebrows.

                                                  
EYELASHES

1. Her eyelashes were silky over her
acorn shaped eyes
.

2. She had finespun eyelashes over her
hazelnut shaped eyes
.

3. She had languorous eyelashes of feather-black atop her
walnut shaped eyes
.

4. She had spider’s-leg eyelashes that fluttered over her
grape shaped eyes
.

5. She had Cleopatra eyelashes of a lush, succubus-black over her
ungulate shaped
eyes
.

                                                             
EARS

1. She had elfin ears and
half-moon cheekbones
.

2. She had ethereal ears and
domed cheekbones
.

3. They were whorled like a sea nymph’s over her
prominent cheekbones
.

4. She had the fragile ears of a cherub over her
pinched-in cheekbones
.

5. She had gimcrack, seashell shaped ears and
concave cheekbones
.

                                                            
NOSE

1. She had a pointy nose and
blush-pink
lips.

2. She had a pert nose and
blossom-pink
lips.

3. She had a linear nose and
sorbet-pink
lips.

4. She had a film star’s nose above her
orchid-pink
lips.

5. She had a diva’s nose perched atop her
blushing, pilgrim-pink
lips.

                                                           
TEETH

1.  She had gleaming, bleach-white teeth and a
cherubic smile
.

2. She had sparkling, archangel-white teeth and an
angelic smile
.

3. She had pristine, calcite-white teeth and an
electrifying smile
.

4. She had bewitching, unicorn-white teeth and a
megastar
smile.

5. She had spellbinding, wizard-white teeth and a
megawatt
smile.

                                                      FINGERNAILS

1. She had manicured fingernails and a
dimpled chin
.

2. She had siren-red fingernails and a
hazel shell chin
.

3. She had hennaed fingernails and a
gently cleft chin
.

4. She had Aphrodite-red fingernails and an
acorn cup chin
.

5. She had stiletto shaped fingernails and a
coracle-perfect chin
.

                         CREATIVITY

‘Thoughts that glow and words that flow’.
That
is a mantra that every creative writing class should adopt. It distils the purpose of descriptive writing down to its very essence. The key question surrounding creativity is whether it is inbuilt or whether it can be taught. The answer is that both are applicable. There are people who claim to have the ability to ‘taste’ colours and apply colours to different sounds. This is called
synaesthesia
. Among others, Billy Joel and Eddie van Halen have this gift. Marilyn Monroe had it and Stevie Wonder has it also. I would argue that everyone has a residue of this type of ‘feel’ for individual words, sounds and colours in them.

A fascinating sub plot to this is Tolkien’s claim in 1955, backed up by tens of thousands since, as to what was the most beautiful word in the English language. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a poem based on its syllables and hundreds of writers have backed up Tolkien’s claim. The answer is on page 200. Also included is a list of 100 ‘pulse’ words. That is my term for a word that can be beautiful, impactful or have a powerful effect on a passage of writing.

In recent times, it has become fashionable to apply the suffix ‘scape’ at the end of a noun to paint an image of scope and vastness. Underneath are some examples. There is also a sample of words using ‘dust’. The words ‘sprinkling stardust’ have more wonder, beauty and resonance than any others I know besides ‘sole heir’ and ‘cheque enclosed’! The last column is a list of pulse words that can improve any story. 

   
The ‘scape’ suffix                       Words with dust                         Pulse words

       
           
DESCRIBING FEMALES

                                                    RED HAIR

LEVEL 1         LEVEL 2         LEVEL 3         LEVEL 4         LEVEL 5          OTHERS

1. Her hair was mercury-red and it
tumbled
over her shoulders.

2. Her hair was magma-red and it
crashed
over her shoulders.

3. Her hair was rouge-red and it
spiralled
over her shoulders.

4. She had tresses of Titian-red and they
plummeted
over her shoulders.

5. She had swirls of vermilion-red and they
cascaded
over her shoulders.

                                                   BLACK HAIR

1. Her hair was midnight-black and it
flowed
over her shoulders.

2. Her hair was kohl-black and it
plunged
over her shoulders.

3. Her hair was coral-black and it
toppled
over her shoulders.

4. She had locks of sable-black and they
surged
over her shoulders.

5. She had tresses of obsidian-black and they
swooped
over her shoulders.

                                                  
BLONDE HAIR

1. She had
lush
, sunrise-gold hair.

2. She had
lavish
, moon gleam-gold hair.

3. She had
luscious
, star flame-gold hair.

4. Her hair was ore-gold bright and
luxurious
.

5. Her hair was Arc-of-Covenant gold and
luxuriant
.

                                                 
BROWN HAIR