How Do I Choose the Best Descriptive Essay Topics?

Choosing the best descriptive essay topics is all about picking a topic that you know personally and are passionate about. Once you have a set of ideas, you can begin to narrow the topics down by which ones will be reasonable to describe. In most cases, it is best to choose descriptive essay topics that have emotional aspects as well as tangible ones; this will make it easier to create a connection between the subject and the reader.

Good descriptive essay topics depend generally on the writer. If you decide on a topic that you know little to nothing about, it will likely be difficult to come up with enough information to write a paper about it. For example, a person who has never eaten a strawberry will typically have a difficult time describe the fruit’s taste and smell in his or her own words. By picking descriptive essay topics with which you have personal experience, you will be able to provide readers with your own ideas on the subject, thereby making the essay more believable. It will also typically be much easier to write.

It is usually a good idea to pick descriptive essay topics that you have a strong connection to. Your level of interest in the subject will typically show through in your writing and offer intangible information to provide the reader with rather than just the physical senses. In most cases, it will also be much more enjoyable to write a paper on something you feel strongly about rather than just any random topic.

Once you have several subject ideas that you have experience with, determine which subject will provide the most material. You can do this relatively simply by creating a chart for all of your topics. Next to each topic, create different columns for sensations, colors, parts of the subject, and emotions. In each column, write down ideas for all of the descriptive essay topics. From this point, determine which entries lend themselves best to a descriptive paper; this chart can also be helpful in mapping out your essay once you’ve chosen a subject.

If you have several descriptive essay topics that have a lot of material, try to narrow down your subjects to ideas that may be of interest to your reader. In many instances, choosing a subject with emotional aspects can be helpful because writing to the readers' emotions can be one of the most effective ways to draw them into the essay. For example, while describing a piece of machinery may have a lot of fact-based information; writing about a warm, sunny afternoon, however, may allow you to write emotional descriptions rather than just physical.