Anyone know a good exercise for writing descriptions?

[ChokeCherry]

I'm in the process of editing (and reediting) a manuscript, and two little scenes are giving me a ton of trouble. One scene is about a boy hanging upside down in a bush (shortly). So I found a nice, thick bush, stuck my head in it, and tried to suck in the sensation, but when I sat down to type it in, I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall.
Maybe going back to the basics would help free the mind and get the ideas flowing. And a little practice never hurts, right?

[Tabris]

What I like to do in a situation like that is go into the document and write the longest possible description I can. Once you have it all on paper, you'll see what doesn't matter and whack it all out like a gardener attacking that bush with pruning shears. Plus, you'll feel good when you reduce 150 useless words to 10 really good ones.

When you can't describe the feeling, describe his reaction to the feeling. Rather than describing the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome, you could show the slight grimace as someone rubs her wrists after typing for a while, and then you don't need to describe the pins and needles or whatnot.

[JeanneG]

Think five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. See if you can write a brief description focusing on each one of the five. That may may help you find the essential details you need for the scene.

And, as Tabris said, show us the emotional response rather than tell us about it. If the boy is frightened, for example, he could lose his grip on the branch or bang his head against a branch above him.

JeanneG

[Falen]

I'm with Tabris. I just describe the crap out of it, down to the tiniest detail, until it's waaaaay overwritten. Then you can pick and choose what works well and ditch the rest

[ChokeCherry]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to give it a try and write the most detailed experience that a boy in the bush as ever had!