pyko- You need to study- reading might not help if you don't know what it is you're looking for or just what it is that makes some people's writing better than others. Pick up some books on description- You can learn to elaborate more and paint more colorful pictures with your words- it's not really too hard once ya know which things need embellishing.
Say you're writing a piece on haunted houses in your neighborhood- instead of giving generic descriptions such as
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'the house we passed every day on our weay to school was spooky, and John and I always ran past it on our way to the bus stop."
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Breath some life into it by writing something like
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"John and I held our breath as we passed the run down mansion on the hill. Each morning we went through the same ritual. First we would walk a little faster as we neared the dilapidated old ruin, then we'd 'shush' each other as we strained to hear the odd sounds that oozed from the cursed building. At this point, John would innevitably panic and bolt for the end of the street where we caught the bus, and I'd spend the rest of the time trying to catch up to him. John was much faster than me, and it woulod take me several minutes to reach him. He would be standing there, bent over, gasping for breath -- spittle clinging to his shirt like the slime trail of a snail. He'd try to stand up straight, and brush the whole incident away, as if nothing nothing in the world could bother him. Deep down though, I knew John feared that old place more than death itself."
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Some good things to practice would be, 1: Describe things around you in terms of looks, 2: Describe these things in terms of sounds, 3: Describe them in terms of smells.
When you want people to 'see' hear' 'smell' the world you're painting, short descriptive 'bursts' will do wonders. One thing I've found helpful is to find synonyms appropriate to the mood your trying to portray ie: Fear = apprehension, alarm, dread, terror, etc. Yuo can pick up a small pocket synonym book pretty cheap- work some of these words in to describe events. Just don't go berzerk and over do it lol
Good writing can be learned when you know the tools to use, and learn where description is appropriate. One of the better books I've fiound on description is "Description' by Monica wood - you can find it on Amazon
