Writing tip: describe the picture!

Have you ever been struck with extreme writer's block? Perhaps you don’t know how to describe your product or service, or you’ve been tasked with writing a how-to blog and it suddenly feels like a gargantuan task. 

Here’s a tip I was given when I was fresh out of uni and it’s helped me ever since. 

Are you ready for it? 

Just describe the picture. 

What does that mean? Well, it can be quite literal. If you are writing a picture caption and are stuck, JUST DESCRIBE THE PICTURE. 

Imagine this scenario. You are writing a caption for this image. 

You want to create something pithy and witty. Something succinct that perfectly encapsulates what you want to say. Something catchy and cute. But you’re stuck and have been staring at your computer screen for an hour. The solution is to forget your grand plans and just describe the picture. Write what you see. Sure it’s not as fun but it’s effective and usually a better experience for the reader. 

Here’s how the picture/caption combo would look if you just described the picture. 

This room keeps it modern with a pink wall, black furniture and white tiles. 

It works right? The reader sees the photo, reads the handy caption and keeps scrolling. Problem solved. 

Describing the picture can be translated into many situations and it essentially means, just keep it simple. Get to the point. Say what you need to say and get it over with. 

Whether you are writing retail product descriptions or a landing page for a software offer. If you find yourself stuck simply stop, think about what your intention is and then just describe the picture. 

The Daily Mail actually describes the picture hilariously well. Have you ever read one of their news articles that is actually about nothing at all? The whole news article was literally just describing a picture of a celebrity. It’s hilarious and yet these articles get millions of clicks. It’s a tried and tested formula! 

Let’s use another example. Say you needed to write a product description or social media post for this red dress. 

(Image via: Farfetch.com.au)

Now it’s all well and good to write :

Spend the night on the town in this dazzling Bella Fiesta dress. A drop hem for easy movement and made entirely of silk for sexy silhouette. Strike a pose from any angle and BLAH BLAH. 

But perhaps you’re having a slow brain day or dislike product descriptions that try to evoke fantastical social scenes. That’s fine. What the customer actually needs is straight facts, what is it (they can see it but again Daily Mail)? What is it made of? What are the measurements? How does one wash it? 

Describing the picture would look something like: 

This red dress is made from 100% silk. We’ve double lined it to ensure it fits like a glove and it sits 4 cm below the knee, making it perfect for work and play. Hand wash only. 

See? It works just as well if not better. By the way, I have no idea if you can double line a silk dress. I just made it up in the heat of the moment to illustrate my point (I also made up the name Bella Fiesta). 

I actually prefer the “describe the picture” approach in many situations anyway. We are all taught to sell the solutions, sell the dream, sell the why! But sometimes this just leads to confusing copy and people with writer's block.

There is a time and place for dream selling but sometimes we just need to say things for what they are. Back to my product description examples, take a look at the Apple product page. They aren’t talking about how revolutionary every product is they just list straight facts and it works. 

So the next time you are stuck writing something. Stop. Breathe. Then chant to yourself “describe the picture, describe the picture, describe the picture”. 

You might be surprised with what you come up with.