How to Write Wonderful Descriptions

Five Senses

        One way to be great at descriptions is to use the five senses - sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. This is especially helpful when you are describing a location.
        Which of the following paragraphs is more descriptive:

        PARAGRAPH ONE:
        I walk into the woods and climb my favorite tree. In my tree house, I look around. The view is great up here.

        PARAGRAPH TWO:
        I stroll through the forest, dry leaves crunching under my boots. The air smells like wood and pine. I can hear the stream gushing in the distance. When I reach my favorite tree, my limbs find the handholds automatically. I clamber up to the top, where my tree house is. Up here, I can see everything - the apple tree, with its small, tart apples that never get quite ripe; my old, rusty bike, leaning against the trunk of a tree; a chipmunk scurrying across a branch, mouth stuffed with acorns. The breeze, thick with fall chill, runs its slender fingers through my hair.

        The second one, right? Notice how I described the input from my senses- I could hear the dry leaves crunching and the stream gushing, I could feel the handholds on my favorite tree and the breeze in my hair, I could see the apple tree and my bike and a chipmunk, I could smell wood and pine, and I could taste tart apples. Next time you're describing a setting, think about what your character is hearing, what they're smelling, what they're feeling.