A Tropical Paradise

What can you see on the beach, and what do you discover when you move into the sea?

Describe what you can see, and what you think you might hear, touch, smell, and taste.

How would this place make you feel, and why?

Look around you, from near to far, and from side to side. Take your reader on a sensory journey through your landscape.

How does it feel when you leave the land and go underwater?

Describe how the light changes, how far you can see, what you can touch, and how the water feels on your skin.

Explore how the way we describe light and weather, and the way we describe movement, can convey emotion.

For example:

• Bright sunshine might reflect a happy memory.
• Growing thunderclouds might be a portent of doom.
• Feeling unsteady walking on the sand underwater might express uncertainty
• Laying on a sunbed suggests carefree relaxation.

• Thesaurus.com has a useful list of prepositional phrases that can be useful when describing scenes.
• Here’s an adjustable soundscape – Dreaming Nautilus – for an underwater description.
• Read this extract from The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, which includes a rich description of landscape. 
• Have a look at this BBC radio podcast and article which explores the spectacular work of several underwater artists.
• Here’s a huge bank of undersea sound effects.
• And finally, here Octopus’s Garden by The Beatles.