Common Descriptive Essay Mistakes (+ How to Fix Them)

Why Mistakes Matter in Descriptive Essays

Descriptive essays are graded differently from other essay types. Your professor isn't just looking for solid arguments or research. They're evaluating your ability to create sensory detail, use vivid language, and organize descriptions logically.

Small mistakes can drop your grade significantly. A weak introduction loses the reader's interest immediately. Overusing adjectives makes your writing feel cluttered and amateurish. Missing sensory details means you're only showing part of the picture.

Knowing what to avoid is as important as knowing what to do. That's why this guide focuses on the mistakes themselves, so you can catch them before your professor does.

The 10 Most Common Descriptive Essay Mistakes

These are the mistakes we see most often in student descriptive essays. Each one has a specific fix, and we'll show you exactly how to correct it.

Mistake #1: Telling Instead of Showing

When you tell, you state facts about your subject. "She was nervous." When you show, you give observable details that let readers draw their own conclusions. "Her hands trembled as she shuffled her note cards."

Most students make this mistake because telling is faster and easier. You've got three other assignments due this week; who has time to craft perfect sensory details? But here's the thing: taking an extra 10 minutes to show instead of tell is what separates a B paper from an A. It doesn't engage your reader's imagination; it just summarizes the experience.

Why This Loses Points: Telling fails to create mental images. It sounds like a summary, not a description. Your professor wants to see you paint a picture, not label it.

Before (Telling): "The bakery was warm and welcoming. It smelled good and looked clean."

After (Showing): "Steam fogged the bakery windows as the scent of cinnamon rolls drifted into the street. Inside, flour dust hung in the air like snow, settling on polished counters."

How to Fix: Replace abstract words like happy, sad, or beautiful with observable details. Ask yourself: what would a camera see, hear, or smell? Use action verbs instead of "was" and "were." If you've written "was" or "were" more than twice in a paragraph, you're probably telling instead of showing. Learn more about showing vs telling in our complete descriptive essay guide.

Mistake #2: Vague, Generic Language

Generic descriptions like "The car was nice" or "The food was good" could apply to anything. They don't create a specific mental image of YOUR subject. Your reader can't visualize the difference between your grandmother's house and anyone else's if all you say is "old and full of interesting things."

You'll recognize this mistake when you read your essay aloud and realize every sentence could describe a dozen different things. That's the test: if your description fits anything, it describes nothing.

Why This Loses Points: Generic language doesn't help readers see what makes your subject unique. Professors can tell you're not engaging deeply with your topic.

Before (Vague): "My grandmother's house was old and full of interesting things."

After (Specific): "My grandmother's house smelled like lavender sachets and yellowed paperbacks. A 1940s radio sat beside a velvet armchair, its fabric worn smooth at the armrests."

How to Fix: Replace "nice," "good," "bad," and "interesting" with precise adjectives. Use brand names, specific numbers, and exact colors. Instead of "old car," write "1967 Mustang." Instead of "blue ocean," write "turquoise water with foam white crests." Ask yourself: what makes this different from all others like it?

Mistake #3: Overusing Adjectives (Purple Prose)

You've probably heard that descriptive essays need lots of adjectives. But piling them on doesn't improve your writing; it clutters it. "The beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking sunset" is actually weaker than just "the sunset blazed orange across the horizon."

Students think that more adjectives equal a better description. It doesn't. Too many adjectives compete for attention and dilute each other's impact. I've graded essays where students used five adjectives before a single noun, and ironically, I couldn't picture what they were describing.

Why This Loses Points: Purple prose sounds try hard and amateurish. It makes your writing harder to read and weakens the impact of each individual word.

Before (Too many adjectives): "The tall, dark, handsome, mysterious, brooding stranger entered the small, dimly lit, cramped, dingy room."

After (Right amount): "The stranger ducked through the doorway, his frame too large for the cramped room. A single bulb cast shadows across his face."

How to Fix: Limit yourself to a maximum of two adjectives per noun. Three is acceptable only when absolutely essential. Choose strong, specific adjectives instead of multiple weak ones. Let nouns and verbs do the heavy lifting. "She sprinted" is better than "she ran very quickly."

Mistake #4: Ignoring Non Visual Senses

Most students describe only what things look like. They forget that real experiences engage all five senses. Your beach description might mention white sand and blue water, but if you're not including the salt spray on your lips or the rhythmic crash of waves, you're missing 80% of the sensory experience.

Here's what happens: you close your eyes and remember the place you're describing. You see it perfectly in your mind. But when you write, you only describe what you saw, forgetting that you also heard seagulls, smelled sunscreen, and felt sand between your toes.

Why This Loses Points: Visual only descriptions feel flat and incomplete. They don't transport readers to the scene; they just show a picture.

Before (Visual only): "The beach had white sand and blue water. Palm trees lined the shore."

After (Multi sensory): "The beach stretched ahead, white sand hot beneath my feet. Salt spray coated my lips as waves crashed rhythmically. Palm fronds rustled overhead, their dry whisper mixing with seagull cries."

How to Fix: Use a sensory checklist for each paragraph: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Aim for at least three senses per paragraph. Start with non visual senses first they're often more memorable. The smell of rain on hot pavement tells readers more than "dark clouds overhead."

See more examples of multi-sensory description in our examples guide.

Mistake #5: No Clear Focus or Dominant Impression

A dominant impression is the overall feeling your essay creates, peaceful, chaotic, nostalgic, threatening. Without one, your essay feels like a random list of details. You describe the blue walls, then the table, then the pots, then the floor, but nothing ties them together.

Think of it this way: if someone asked "What was that place like?" and you said "blue walls, big table, lots of pots," they'd have facts but no feeling. But if you said "It was like being wrapped in warmth," they'd understand immediately.

Why This Loses Points: Essays without a unifying theme lack coherence. Readers don't know what matters or what they're supposed to feel.

Before (No focus): "The kitchen had blue walls, a big table, lots of pots, bright lights, and a checkered floor. It was usually cold except when cooking."

After (Focused on "warmth and tradition"): "My grandmother's kitchen wrapped you in warmth the moment you entered. Copper pots, each dented from decades of use, hung above the stove. Sunlight pooled on the worn wooden table where three generations had shared meals."

How to Fix: Choose ONE dominant impression before you start writing. Peaceful, chaotic, nostalgic, eerie, joyful, pick one. Every detail you include should support that impression. If a detail doesn't reinforce your theme, cut it. Your essay should leave readers with a clear emotional takeaway.

Mistake #6: Poor Organization (Random Details)

Jumping from appearance to personality to childhood memories to appearance again confuses readers. It breaks their immersion. You're essentially asking them to build a mental picture while you keep changing the blueprint.

This happens when you write details as they pop into your head. You remember the fireplace, so you write about that. Then you remember your grandpa built it, so you add that. Then you notice the couch in your mental picture, so you describe that. Your reader can't follow.

Why This Loses Points: Disorganization disrupts flow and makes your essay feel amateurish. Professors notice when you haven't planned your structure.

Before (Disorganized): "The room was large. It had a fireplace. My grandpa built it in 1952. The walls were yellow. There was a couch from IKEA. The ceiling was high. A dog usually slept by the door."

After (Organized spatially): "I stepped into the room and immediately noticed the fireplace, hand built by my grandfather in 1952, dominating the far wall. To my left, a faded IKEA couch sat beneath yellow walls that reached up to the vaulted ceiling. Near the door, in a pool of afternoon sunlight, the dog dozed."

How to Fix: Choose an organizational pattern before you write. Spatial (left to right, near to far), chronological (morning to night), or by importance (most to least significant). Group related details together. Use transitions like "to my left," "meanwhile," and "above" to guide readers through your description.

Learn how to organize your descriptive essay effectively in our outline guide.

Mistake #7: Weak Introduction or Conclusion

Starting with "In this essay I will describe my favorite place" wastes your first impression. Ending with "In conclusion, the beach was beautiful" leaves readers unsatisfied. You're telling them what you're about to do or what you just did, they already know.

I've seen this hundreds of times: a student writes a beautiful, vivid essay with perfect sensory details... then slaps on a generic intro and conclusion that sound like they came from a different paper. Don't let weak bookends ruin strong content.

Why This Loses Points: Weak openings fail to hook readers. Weak conclusions miss the opportunity to reinforce your dominant impression and leave a lasting impact.

Before (Weak intro): "I am going to describe my favorite place, which is the library downtown."

After (Strong intro): "Silence isn't truly quiet. In the downtown library, it hums, the whisper of turning pages, the soft creak of chairs, the muffled cough from the third floor."

How to Fix: Start with a sensory detail, an action, or a surprising statement. Drop readers directly into the scene. End by reinforcing your dominant impression without summarizing. Never use "In this essay" or "In conclusion", just start describing or just conclude naturally.

Mistake #8: Inconsistent Point of View or Tense

You start in the past tense: "I walked into the house." Then you switch to present: "Everything smells like pine." Then back to the past: "I had noticed the grandfather clock immediately." Each shift breaks reader immersion and makes your essay feel careless.

This happens when you're deep in writing mode and forget what tense you started with. You're visualizing the scene so vividly that you slip into the present tense without realizing it.

Why This Loses Points: Inconsistency confuses readers and signals a lack of control over your writing. It looks like you weren't paying attention during revision.

Before (Inconsistent): "I walked into the house. Everything smells like pine. I had noticed the grandfather clock immediately."

After (Consistent past tense): "I walked into the house. Everything smelled like pine. I noticed the grandfather clock immediately."

How to Fix: Choose your tense before you start writing. Past tense works well for memories. Present tense creates immediacy. Pick one and stick with it. During revision, read aloud and highlight every verb to catch tense shifts. Use Find and Replace to search for tense markers like "is/was" or "are/were."

Mistake #9: Clichés and Overused Phrases

Clichés like "white as snow," "quiet as a mouse," and "cold as ice" are invisible to readers. They've read these comparisons thousands of times. Your professor has graded them in hundreds of essays. They show lack of original thinking.

When you write "her eyes sparkled like diamonds," your professor's eyes glaze over. They've read that exact phrase 47 times this semester. It's not that it's wrong, it's that it doesn't make them see anything anymore.

Why This Loses Points: Clichés make your writing feel lazy and unoriginal. They don't create fresh mental images.

Before (Clichéd): "Her eyes sparkled like diamonds and her smile was bright as the sun."

After (Original): "Her eyes caught the light with each laugh, and her smile made you want to tell her every secret you'd ever kept."

Common Clichés to Avoid

• Describing colors: "white as snow," "black as night," "red as a rose."
• Describing temperature: "cold as ice," "hot as fire."
• Describing size: "big as a house," "small as an ant."
• Describing speed: "fast as lightning," "slow as molasses."

How to Fix: Create your own comparisons based on your specific subject. Use unexpected similes and metaphors that readers haven't seen before. Ask yourself: has anyone said this exact thing before? If yes, rewrite it. Your comparisons should be unique to your experience.

Mistake #10: Not Revising or Proofreading

Submitting your first draft means submitting obvious typos, repetitive words, and awkward phrasing. You've probably used "beautiful" fifteen times without realizing it. You've left sentences that made sense in your head but confuse readers on paper.

Here's what really happens: you finish writing at 11:47 PM. The essay is due at midnight. You skim it once, think "good enough," and hit submit. The next day, you reread it and cringe at errors you'd have caught if you'd just waited an hour.

Why This Loses Points: Lack of revision shows a lack of effort. Errors distract from good content. Your professor can tell you didn't take the assignment seriously.

Common Issues in Unrevised Drafts

• Repeated words (using "beautiful" or "amazing" throughout)
• Awkward phrasing that sounds fine mentally but reads poorly
• Missing transitions between paragraphs
• Grammatical errors, especially subject verb agreement

How to Fix: Wait at least two hours before revising; fresh eyes catch more mistakes. Read your essay aloud to catch awkward phrasing. Use Ctrl+F to find repeated words. Run spell check and grammar check, but don't rely on them exclusively. If possible, have someone else read your draft and mark confusing sections.

Use our complete descriptive essay writing guide for the full revision process.

How to Self Edit for These Mistakes

Now that you know what mistakes to avoid, here's a checklist to catch them BEFORE you submit.

The Descriptive Essay Self Editing Checklist

SENSORY DETAILS

• I've included at least 3 of the 5 senses in my essay
• Every paragraph has at least one sensory detail
• I've used specific adjectives (not "nice," "good," "bad")

SHOW, DON'T TELL

• I've replaced "was/were" with action verbs wherever possible
• I've avoided abstract statements (she was nervous; her hands trembled)
• My descriptions create mental images, not just facts

LANGUAGE & STYLE

• I've used no more than 2 to 3 adjectives per noun
• I've avoided clichés (no "white as snow" or "quiet as a mouse")
• I've created original comparisons specific to my subject

ORGANIZATION

• I've followed a clear organizational pattern (spatial, chronological, by importance)
• My essay has a dominant impression that unifies all details
• I've used transitions between paragraphs

TECHNICAL

• I've stayed in one tense throughout (past OR present)
• I've stayed in one point of view (1st person OR 3rd person)
• I've proofread for grammar and spelling errors
• I've read my essay aloud to catch awkward phrasing

FINAL CHECK

• My introduction hooks the reader (no "In this essay")
• My conclusion reinforces my dominant impression (no "In conclusion")
• I've linked sensory details to emotions or meanings
• Every detail serves a purpose (no random facts)

Conclusion

Descriptive essay mistakes are common, but they're also fixable. The key is knowing what to look for, telling instead of showing, vague language, and ignoring non visual senses are the top culprits.

Before you submit your next descriptive essay, use the self editing checklist above. Go through each point systematically. You'll catch most mistakes before your teacher sees them.

Remember: even professional writers revise multiple times. The difference between a weak descriptive essay and a strong one often comes down to taking the time to identify and fix these common mistakes. Check out our descriptive essay topics for practice opportunities.