Descriptive writing language features

In general, descriptive academic writing is written in a formal style to convey an objective tone. Vocabulary choices, nominalisation and appropriate application of tense will help you achieve this style.

• Use clear, accessible language throughout. Do not use overly complex or formal language to sound “academic” as this can result in over-written and boring descriptions.
• Use subject specific vocabulary. Use the nouns, verbs and specific technical language relevant to your field of study. This will help add precise and accurate description.
• Include meaningful adjectives and adverbs to add depth to the description. You may notice that there are certain adjectives and adverbs that are typical of the topic - use them where appropriate.
• Abbreviations, initialisms and acronyms must be introduced in full words at first mention followed by the letters in brackets: e.g. Since the 1980s, multiple medical interventions have been developed for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
• Use nominalisation when appropriate. A nominalisation is a noun (thing or concept e.g. deterioration ) which is formed from a verb (action word e.g. deteriorate) . Overuse of nominalisations can make your writing tedious and difficult to understand because they shift the focus from actions to concepts and ideas and hide the action in the sentences. However, they can be useful in descriptive writing when:
  • you want to focus the reader on abstract ideas or concepts:
    e.g. The evaluation of new initiatives is vital to mitigate the risks.
  • they are the right technical term in your discipline:
    e.g. The medical intervention prolonged the patient’s life
• Use the active and passive voice where appropriate.
  • The active voice is when the subject (actor) is directly taking an action in relation to the object of the sentence: e.g. The participants (subject/actor) completed the online survey forms (object).
  • Writing sentences in active voice can be useful when:
    • you want to focus on the actor, and their accountability for the action:
      e.g. The research team communicated the information in accessible language.
    • you want to describe ownership of the ideas/argument:
      e.g. Previous studies focused on X. In this study we investigated Y (e.g. something that adds to/modifies X).
    • you want to be directly describe impact of one thing on something else:
      e.g. Too much screen time causes eye fatigue.
  • Passive voice is when the subject (i.e. agent performing the action) is replaced by the object (i.e. the goal or thing changed by the action) with a focus on the action rather than the person or thing performing it. In the passive voice the object is fronted in the sentence.
    • Passive voice can be useful in establishing an objective and impersonal tone:
      e.g. The online survey forms (object) were completed by the participants.
  • Writing sentences in passive voice can be useful when:
    • you want to focus on the recipient of the action, and or the results/effect of the action, rather than focusing on the actor:
      e.g. The participants were randomly assigned to different groups.
    • you are describing how something was done by a know actor and you want to reduce the use of personal pronouns:
      e.g. The EEGs were recorded in a comfortable and closed room. They were recorded before and after administration of placebo.
    • you want to tactfully describe limitations of previous research and critique literature:
      e.g. A mistake was made in the calculations.
    • When you want to maintain focus on the topic being discussed:
      e.g. The researchers wrote the report. The report was forwarded to the business department.
• Tense can vary depending on what you are describing – whether it is a past, ongoing or future phenomenon. Generally, like most academic writing, descriptive writing is written in present tense. However, when giving an account of methodology and results/findings you may need to use past tense.

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